Changes Sequel II Covenant
by Dark Phoenix Rising
Summary: In the battle against Apocalypse, Sinister and the 4 Horseman the XMen unite with other groups of the Marvel universe. But who will be the winner in this war and which weapon will decide it? And...who will survive in the end? Sequel 3 TEASER up! Jan 23!
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: **Here it is. The 2nd Sequel to Changes.

I won't be able to update frequently. I have 3 written exams and my B.A. exam coming up and especially for the last one I have to read 9 books and 10 short stories. YUK… So, as you can see, I'll be pretty busy until April 5th, but I want to write each Sunday as far as I can. Hope you understand that. ; )

"**(…)" means: Japanese is spoken!!**

**Thanks to sammygirl!! She helped me a lot with this chapter!!!**

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 1**

"Do you know what he wants?" Scott asked Hank and followed him down the corridor towards Charles' office, but the man could only shrug.

"As far as I know it is of importance," Hank replied and turned around the corner just to see Mystique waiting next to a more than pissed looking Storm. "Well, that finally explains the sudden change in weather…" Stopping in front of both women, he looked to and fro between them. "What's wrong? Why are you waiting here?"

"We waited for you," Mystique said and joined Scott's side.

"Why?" this one asked her with a questioning look on his face.

"You'll see," Ororo smiled cynically and crossed her arms. "Go ahead!" Nodding at the door, she waited for Hank to open it and both women followed the men with a short exchange of looks. It didn't take long and they heard hank snarling, while Scott let out a gasp. "Just wait for Logan to come down and we're in for a fight," she said and Mystique nodded.

"What is he doing here?" Scott asked aloud when Ororo closed the door behind her.

"Scott, would you please sit down first?" Charles asked and nodded at the empty sofa and chairs. "I'll explain as soon as everyone is gathered in this room…"

Smiling at them first until his eyes caught the sight of Mystique, Magneto's friendly look immediately faded. "So this is where you're still hiding, hm?" he asked and watched how she sat down next to Scott with a cold look in her yellow eyes. "I've see you've done quiet well for yourself, my dear...," he said sarcastically and received a deadly look from the woman next, before he turned around again. "You allowed her to stay here?"

"Mystique is part of the team now, Eric. She has proven that she wanted to be a part of the school and I am glad that she decided to stay," the Professor replied.

"If you say so…," the other older man nodded with a sarcastic smile on his lips.

"Can you finally tell us what he's doing here?" Ororo asked from the other side of the room, where everyone stood while Charles and Magneto occupied the opposite half of the office.

"Patience, my dear," Eric smiled and crossed her arms, ignoring the snarl of Hank. "I thought you were a diplomat…"

"Exceptions can be made," the mutant replied and glared at him. "Charles, I hope you are aware that the situation here will escalate as soon as Logan comes either down or catches his scent…"

"Oh right… How's the Wolverine doing?" Magneto smiled and turned a bit around. "It's a miracle to me how such an animal has two so nice looking children…"

"Leave them alone!" Ororo hissed and made a step forward as Kurt teleported into the office.

"Logan's not the animal here," Mystique added and made Eric chuckle.

"Of course this comes from you…," he nodded. "I knew he was the reason why you stayed here, my dear…"

"Shut up!" Scott said aloud and got up from the sofa.

Looking at him first and then at Mystique, Eric smiled. "I see… Can't have the one, take the other…"

"Eric, stop it!" the Professor demanded before he looked at his X-Men. "And you, too, please!"

"Easy for you to say. You didn't have to fight him back then," Ororo cursed and finally sat down next to Kurt. "Just wait until Logan's here and then tell him to…," she began as the door suddenly flew open. "Now have fun!" she smiled at Eric since one look was enough to tell her that the man, who'd just entered, was more than not happy with what he saw.

"Wolverine… Long time not seen," Magneto greeted him cynically and smiled when he heard a low growl emerging from deep within the man's throat. A familiar _snikt _echoed through the room next, when Logan made a step forward, just to freeze on the spot in the next second. "You really never learn, do you?" Eric asked with narrowed eyes and raised him into the air. Seeing it the Professor was about to say something when Logan suddenly fell down to the ground and Magneto crashed into the wall on his right.

"Actually, he does," a female voice hissed and Jean stepped into the room, holding Eric pinned to the wall. "What is he doing here?" she demanded to know with eyes full of hatred.

"Jean, please," Charles pleaded and gave his old friend, who gritted his teeth while the force pushed him violently into the wall.

"No, I want to know why he's in the school, Charles!" the woman said and heard how Logan got up from the floor again to approach their adversary with his claws still extracted. "Give me one good reason or he's history…," she added and her eyes began to glow fiery as she remembered what had happened during the fight years ago. She'd sworn back then that she would never forgive Magneto and she wouldn't start with it now.

"What does it feel like, bub?" Logan growled and touched Magneto's chest with one set of his claws. "Nice, eh? Give me one good reason why I shouldn't gut ya right here…"

"Sinister, maybe?" Eric managed to say and let out a hiss.

"He's not here as our enemy," the Professor added and looked at the couple on his left. "I asked him to come here. I told you I already made necessary calls…"

"Necessary calls?" Logan asked him with a cocked eyebrow. "That bastard is a _necessary _call?!"

"He is and you know that, Logan." Sighing, since he had seen this coming, Charles folded his hands and looked at Jean. "Please let him down, Jean and listen…"

Exchanging a look with her husband, who only shrugged and retracted his claws again before he crossed his arms, Jean withdrew her powers and stepped back. "Five minutes to convince me," Logan grunted and joined his team mates on the other side of the room.

Cleaning his clothes with a dismissive look at the two mutants, Eric got up again and stepped behind Charles. Both men exchanged a brief look with each other before the Professor turned to his X-Men again. "I called Eric because I think that we can need his help in order to fight against Sinister." Hearing some of them giving a short derisive laugh or snort, he cleared his throat. "You've seen what had happened during your mission to Canada, haven't you? You have also seen and I think you remember it very well, what had happened in the past two years… How devastating their attacks had been. We need every help we can get since we still don't know if Apocalypse will come back or if Sinister works together with him. If they have an army…then we need every help we can get," he explained and watched how the group briefly looked at the man behind him.

"So you want us to work together with him?" Scott asked and shook his head. "I don't know if that is such a good idea. Just to remind you but he wanted to kill us the last time we met the Brotherhood…"

"And he wanted to steal my children," Jean added darkly and glared at Magneto.

Sighing, Charles leant back in his wheelchair. "We need to unite our groups…"

"And then what?" Logan asked while he leant against the wall next to Jean. "Do ya really think he's gonna take any orders? 'Cause I won't follow his!"

"Right," Mystique and Ororo said at the same time.

"I'm impressed," Eric said and crossed his arms. "Your great character already rubs off on them… Good work, Wolverine!"

"His name is Logan," Jean hissed and became even more furious when the man chuckled.

"Right, right… Heard that before!"

"Five minutes are over," Logan suddenly growled and opened the door next to him. "I ain't convinced, so piss off!"

"Is he suddenly leading this school?" Magneto asked Charles with a questioning look that was rather ironical than serious.

"Logan, please!" Charles tried it again, but the posture of his team leader already told him that he was done talking. "We need help… And what Sinister is about to do might have devastating effects on the whole mutant population…"

"Then let me make some phone calls and you'll get your help, but I won't work together with him, neither will they!" Logan gave back and nodded at his group, knowing that they shared his opinion totally in that moment.

Nodding, Magneto took his coat and hat. "We'll see… Thank you for the invitation and the tea, Charles. We should meet and play some chess again, don't you think?" he asked with a brief smile before he walked towards the door. Holding Logan's gaze he stopped briefly next to him. "I'm really curious to see, if your cute little offspring is as _open minded_ as you, _Logan_," he sneered with a pejorative smirk and ignored the low growl of his opposite. Jean instantly stepped closer and laid her left hand on her husband shoulder. Seeing how the light was reflected on the two rings on her ring finger, Eric raised an unbelieving eyebrow, and turned his head in her direction. "Oh, please…," he said rather amused. "Of course, I knew that there was something between you two. Beasts know each other, right? But I would have never thought that you two would tame each other enough to play husband and wife..."

"What?" Logan asked sarcastically and cocked an eyebrow. "Ya can actually think?" Snorting in disgust, Magneto put on his hat and left the room just to see a small girl running towards him.

"Daddy!" the little red head called and made Logan, followed by Jean, step out of the room.

Stopping when she noticed the strange look the old man gave her, Rachel held his gaze and moved slowly around him.

"What's wrong, Ray?" Logan asked with a glare at Eric, since he could tell what the old man was thinking. "Move!" he therefore hissed at him before he kneeled down to take his daughter into his arms.

"Jamie's crying," the girl said and clung to her father, feeling uncomfortable by what she picked up from the strange looking old man in front of her, who was still eyeing her suspiciously.

"Right," Logan nodded and turned to his wife. "I'm upstairs. Make sure he's gone!" Nodding, Jean crossed her arms and waited for Magneto to move while Logan walked past him, but the man only smiled.

"How many times have the two of you already reproduced yourselves, hm?" Magneto sneered with a smirk at the girl. "Isn't it already enough that there are two animals in the world?"

Facing him with a growl, Logan gave him a glare but just walked past him. "Jean…," was all he grunted and the redhead came closer.

"Go!" she demanded with am angry look at their visitor, but Magneto only chuckled. Nevertheless, he walked towards the front door and opened it. "You know…," he said and turned around one last time to give her an amused look. "I never thought that a goddess like you would pick a worthless lower animal-like mutant such as him. He is a simple killing machine, by far not good enough for a unique goddess like you." With that he turned around and left, leaving Jean boiling with anger behind him. A satisfied smile appeared on his lips when he heard how the front door was slammed shut by a strong force from within.

Literally fuming with anger, Jean stormed back into her mentors office, shoving the door open with such force, that it bounced off the wall again. "How could you ask him to come here?" Jean hissed, trying hard not to scream at the man in front of her. "I know he once was your friend, but you know damn well what he did to us. All of us!" The redhead placed her hands on Xavier's desk, staring him squarely in the face. She took a calming breath before continuing with her speech. "I also know that we are in desperate need for help, if we want to win this war, but there have to be others out there who are willing to fight for their world. We don't need him, Charles! We don't need Magneto to win!" In a voice not more then a whisper, she added, "You can be assured that I will do everything within my power, to prevent a failure." Her eyes glowing fiercely, she hoped he got her message. With those words spoken, she pushed away from the desk and walked out of the room, head held high, to rejoin her family.

"I think she's right," Scott nodded. "Magneto is at least the last one I'd ask for help."

Behind his desk, Charles folded his hands and bent forward with a serious look on his face. "Believe me, Scott," he said and shook his head. "We will _need_ Eric's help in the end…"

* * *

When she reached their part of the mansion, she didn't hear Jamie crying, so Logan must have been able to calm him. Opening the door to the bedroom quietly, she saw Logan, with a sleeping Jamie in his arms, standing in front of the window. He turned around, when he heard her enter.

"He gone?" he asked and she nodded, the anger still clearly visible in her eyes.

"I can't believe the Professor asked him to come," she exclaimed softly, shaking her head in disbelieve. Not really expecting an answer, she stepped closer to her husband and youngest son, stretching out an arm to gently caress the baby's soft hair. She could feel Logan watching her intently, before she asked after a few moments of silence "Where are the twins and Ray?"  
He sighed. "In the twins' room, playing the new PlayStation game, Aunt 'Ro bought them." He furrowed his brows slightly disgruntled. "I swear she's spoiling the kids even more than I do."

Jean laughed quietly. "Softy," she said, before she planted a quick kiss on his lips. "You told them not to play longer than an hour I hope?"

"'f course," he smirked and placed a soft kiss on Jamie's head before he carefully laid him back into the cradle. "Which color do ya want for his room?"

"I thought about a nice yellow," Jean mumbled and stroked over her baby's cheeks softly. "Do you want to go and buy it today?"

"Yeah." He nodded and got his wallet. "Anything else we still need?" Logan asked while he walked towards the door, but Jean shook her head.

"No, actually we still have anything we need for his room…"

"Good." Placing a kiss on her lips, Logan got the car keys. "See ya later then!"

"Did you feed him?" she asked quickly over her shoulder, while folding a few items of the laundry pile on the chair.  
"Yeah. But he only took a few sips, before he fell asleep again," he answered, while seeming to ponder something. "I nearly got the impression that he felt something was wrong."  
Jean's head shot up. "You don't think that...because of Magneto..."  
Logan only shrugged. "Dunno. But it's possible, Jeannie." He gave her a meaningful look and she sighed heavily.  
"I know. I'm just afraid for him, Logan. If he really is developing the first signs of telepathy already..." She didn't need to conclude the sentence. The implications were as clear as daylight.

"We talk about it later, 'kay?" he asked and she nodded, still with a thoughtful look on her face. Looking down briefly, Logan finally turned around and left, leaving Jean with a more than worried look on the cradle.

* * *

"Hey," Scott greeted Hank when this one stepped into the kitchen. Holding Alex on his arm while he fed him, the former team leader leant against the counter and waited for his son to finish sipping on the bottle.

"Do you know where Logan is?" Hank asked him, but Scott shook his head.

"No, but I heard a car…"

Nodding Hank poured himself some coffee. "I wanted to discuss with him what we will do with the girl. We can't keep her locked up in the basement and feed her like an animal."

"Here you are," Moira suddenly said and came closer with a smile on her lips. Smiling back, Hank put down his cup to give her a kiss. "I was looking for you."

"Is something wrong?" he asked worriedly but she shook her head.

"Not really. But the girl is in some kind of Logan-like berserker rage and already destroyed the bed," the woman explained with a smile at the baby. "We need to do something about her."

"Yes I know," the blue mutant nodded. "I just asked Scott if he knows where Logan is but obviously he has just left. So we have to wait until he comes back." Turning his head he watched how Scott put the empty bottle aside and began to pat his son's back. "I still have to congratulate you."

"Why?" Scott asked and furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Well you and Mystique finally managed to agree on Alex Logan after your son is finally 6 months old…," Hank smirked.

"Funny!" the other man grunted and shook his head.

"Don't be a sourpuss now, Scott!" Moira smiled and wrapped her arms around Hank while they watched Scott leaving. "He's in a pretty bad mood lately, don't you think?"

"Yes, but don't ask me what the reason is," Hank shrugged as all of a sudden five children stormed into the kitchen and barely managed to evade the two adults. "Woah, not so fast!"

"Sorry!" Lily said and followed her siblings and TJ and Isa out of the back door.

Startling playfully when the door went shut with a loud Bang, Hank sighed. "Can you imagine what life will be like when Jamie, Tommy and Alex join those troublemakers?"

Giggling, Moira let go of him and sipped on his coffee. "Probably loud and a lot more interesting as it already is," she concluded. "I go back down to the lab. You coming?" Smiling, Hank wrapped an arm around her shoulder and left with her. "Maybe we can manage to calm the girl until Logan is back. I still think it is strange that she is completely calm when he is around, don't you think?"

Entering the elevator he shrugged. "Must be the genes…"

* * *

Later the day, everyone was gathered in the kitchen for dinner when Logan entered the room, closely followed by the dark haired and still mean looking girl, who he had managed to calm again after his return. Pulling her up he helped her onto a stool and turned to get a plate and cup for her while the girl gave the other a mistrustful look and began to growl. "No!" he grunted and put both things in front of her. Looking at him with her hazel eyes she watched how he put food onto the plate and laid a fork next to it. "Eat!" Logan demanded and sat down next to her to intervene if she suddenly went into a rage.

"Any progress with her?" Scott asked and watched with a frown how the girl looked at the plate as if she had never seen one.

"No, not really…," Logan grunted and had his eyes on the girl, too. "Eat!"

"Why is she not eating?" Ororo asked him in confusion while she handed Kurt the bottle for his son.

Handing her the fork, Logan nodded at her plate. "Eat!" he said again but the girl only looked at the object in her hand, then at the plate and back at him. "Jeez, kiddo! I ain't gonna hand feed ya," he said and went on eating his food before it got cold.

"Does she understand us at all? I've never seen her reacting to anything," Jean asked him and looked down on Jamie who was sleeping in her arms. "Maybe she doesn't understand English. Why don't you try the languages you know?"

Sighing he held his fork up and looked at the girl. "Fork?" he asked but she only stared at him with big eyes. "Tenedor? Fourchette? Vork?" Logan went on but didn't get any reaction from her. Thinking for a moment while he was closely watched by the others, he briefly scratched the back of his head. "Garto? Forchetta?" Sighing, he finally gave up and shook his head.

"Maybe German?" Kurt suggested and shrugged when Logan coked an annoyed eyebrow at him.

"Gabel?" he asked the girl and gave his friend a look when the result was the same. "So much to German, Elf…"

"Go on, Wolvie," Jubilee grinned at him and wobbled her eyebrows while she sucked on her straw. "It's very entertaining."

"Funny, Jubes," he growled and sipped on his beer.

"Did you try Japanese already?" Jean asked him but he shook his head.

"Nope. The Japanese eat with chop sticks, not with a fork… At least not all of them."

"Yeah, but maybe she understands it," the redhead suggested with a shrug.

Looking for the word while he was slightly pissed since his food was nearly cold by now, Logan finally turned to the girl again. "Fooku?" he asked and cocked an eyebrow when she shook her head.

"Hashi!" she said and looked up into his blank face.

"You're kiddin' now, right?" he asked with a blank look on his face and put his fork down.

"What?" Ororo asked him in confusion and watched how he shook his head with a sigh. "What did she say?"

"She wants chop sticks…," he grunted and looked at the girl again to explain it to her in Japanese. ("We don't eat with chopsticks here, kid. Use the fork,") he said and earned a frowning look from the others.

"What?" Scott asked him and looked at Jean next. "What did he just say to her?"

"That you're a dick," Logan grunted and went on eating. "Can't be that she doesn't understand English at all…"

"Well, ask her…," the weather goddess suggested and hid her amused smile when he gave her a warning glare. Clearing her throat she turned to the girl and smiled at her. "Do you want to drink something?" she asked but received a frown only. "Okay, your turn, Logan! Ask her if she speaks English!" Hearing him sighing in frustration, she gave Jean a look. "Why is he such a moaner today?"

"I ain't," he grunted and turned to the girl, but not without rolling his eyes since his dinner was by now cold. "Eigo o hanasemasu ka?"

„Iie..," she replied and looked to and fro between the adults, who were all looking at her in a strange way.

"No, she doesn't," Logan grunted and pushed his plate away.

"Great…," Scott said. "Well, then have fun teaching her English, Logan!"

"Me? Why me?!"

"Because you're the only one who speaks Japanese here?" the other man replied in an ironical way but also by using his best lecturer tone. Hearing the annoyed groan from the team leader, he couldn't hide his smirk anymore.

* * *

Three days had passed in a rush for everyone. Everyone but Logan, that is. His mood had turned from bad to terrible in the span of time that had passed. And all because everyone seemed to insist on teaching his "female self" their common language. He wouldn't have had a problem with doing it usually – not that he shared that secret with anyone besides Jean, of course – but the absolute unwillingness to learn that the girl had adopted, drove him to the edge of his patience regularly. This progress resulted in nearly everyone in the household diving out of his way as soon as he was in sight. The glares he threw everyone's way were bad enough in itself. They didn't want to risk anything further.

So on the evening of the third day, when everyone was in the kitchen eating dinner, Logan entered the room as well, a dark and gloomily look on his face and his ever present little shadow following behind him. "Already done?" Jean asked him surprised and wished instantly she hadn't said a word because of the look she received when he sat down on the stool next to her. "Forget that I asked!" she therefore quickly added and handed the bowl with potatoes.

Growling, Logan rolled his eyes and looked down when someone was pocking into his leg. "What the hell do ya want now?" he asked angrily and gave the girl a glare when she held up both arms.

"I assume she wants you to pull her up," Hank mumbled and sipped on his water.

"Forget it!" the other man grunted and put some meat onto his plate next before he handed Jack the bowl.

"I don't like her," the boy said and his sisters nodded in agreement. "She is mean…" Suddenly he yelped and jumped a bit, causing his parents to lock at him in surprise. "She hit me, daddy!" he whined and rubbed his burning left leg.

Sighing, Logan ran both hands through his face and gave his wife a pleading, but also helpless look. He definitely had enough from the girl for today. "What do you want me to do?" the redhead asked him shrugging. "She doesn't understand me, so I can't tell her to stop it, can I?"

"Daddy!" Jack shrieked again when the girl reached out once more.

Grabbing her arm roughly, Logan growled at her with narrowed eyes. "(Stop it!)" he said through clenched teeth and only let go when he felt that she opened her fist. "(Damn it, sit down on a free stool and try to stop goin' on my nerves for once today!") Pouting, she narrowed her eyes and glared at him with her hazel eyes. "(Sit…down!") Logan hissed once more and turned away again to go on eating his dinner. "She's a pain in the…"

"Ah, ah!" Jean quickly made and covered his mouth with her hand while she gave him a warning look. "May I remind you of the fact that your children are sitting right next to you and we said no swearing in front of them?"

"But she is a pain in the ass, mommy!" Lily said with a glare at the girl, being confused since Kitty and Jubilee had to giggle.

"Logan!" the redhead cursed but he only shrugged.

"Enhanced hearing, darlin'," he said with a smug grin and received a slap against his arm. "What? Blame their mutation for it!"

"No, I blame you for it, because I know perfectly well where they got this from!" she replied and narrowed her eyes warningly, still hearing the giggles around her. "They are seven and five and don't need to know such words!"

"Yes, she has a point there, Logan," Ororo nodded and put her glass down. "And I know what kinds of words you use when you swear for real."

"As far as I can remember, Storm, I heard you using the F-word two days ago in the kitchen and you, darlin' used the S-word upstairs while you cleaned the windows," he gave back with a look and crossed his arms, making both women blush. "And now ya gonna tell me I heard wrong, eh?"

"Up!" someone suddenly said and made everyone look down, just to see how the girl still held her arms up and looked at Logan.

"What?!" this one asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Up!" she repeated and tilted her head a bit. "Please?"

Letting out a snort he couldn't hide his annoyed smirk. "I try to teach her somethin' for the whole past three dam," he began and received a hard nudge from his wife. "Days," he corrected himself quickly and rolled his eyes. "And all of a sudden she understands it?!"

Grinning, Scott exchanged an amused look with Bobby and Peter, who had trouble to hide their amused smiles from their team leader. "Do ya want to take the piss outta me or what?"

"Logan!" Jean warned him once more, but he got off his stool.

"I've enough! Good night!" he growled and slammed his fork onto the counter before he left.

"You better stay here!" Ororo quickly said and stopped the girl, who wanted to follow him. "Ouch!" she suddenly yelped and rubbed her hand with a painful hiss. With a dropped jaw she stared at the others after the girl had left. "She just slapped me…" Still not believing it, she could only shake her head and sat down again. "Was he the same when he was a child?!" Sipping on her coffee, Jean only shrugged.

* * *

It knocked on the door a few days later and Jean went over to open it. Surprised she looked at her visitor. "Hey," Scott greeted her with a smile and looked into her face.

"Hi…," the redhead greeted him back and gave him a confused look since she had no idea what he wanted.

"Ehm…can I come inside? I need to talk to you."

"Sure…" Still confused Jean stepped aside and closed the door behind him. She watched how he took a look around before he finally turned towards her. "Did something happen?" she asked and beckoned him to sit down on the sofa next to the door, but he shook his head after doing so.

"No… Not really," Scott replied and bent over a bit to rest his arms on his legs.

"But something's wrong. I can see that," she said and crossed her legs while she looked at him more closely. Sensing that he wanted to reply, she turned her head when she heard Jamie crying. "Oh, I'm sorry," Jean excused and get up to get the baby from the bedroom.

He watched her coming back and sitting down again with the boy leaning against her chest. "Is Logan not here?"

"No, he's outside with the kids. Jack wanted him to teach them baseball," the redhead replied with a smile since her children had practically forced their father to do it.

Smiling, too, Scott nodded. "I thought Logan was more the hockey kind of guy?"

"Yes that, too," she nodded. "So, what is it you wanted to talk with me about?"

Looking down he began to knead his hands nervously. "Actually…I came to apologize."

Hearing it, Jean had to frown. "For what?" she asked since she couldn't remember that he had done anything wrong in the past weeks. Still with her brows furrowed, she met his gaze when he looked up again.

"For being an ass…"

"I still don't understand, Scott!"

Leaning back in the sofa, he still kept his eyes lowered even if she couldn't see them anyway through his visor. "I've been wrong about Logan," he finally said calmly and noticed that he confused her even more.

"In what way?" Jean therefore asked and kept on stroking over her son's back while the baby was sucking on his fist.

"I always thought he was…not good enough for you. I'd have bet that he would leave you after he had some fun, you know. Especially after you got pregnant. But I was wrong…," he explained and saw her shaking her head with a look.

"And what made you change your mind all of a sudden? Because I am not adding _told you so_ now…," she gave back and turned Jamie around in her arms so that she could look at him.

Scratching the back of his head Scott shrugged. "Well,…I heard and watched the two of you in the cabin…" Nodding, she stroked over the baby's cheek with a soft smile on her lips. "I just… Well, I've see what you meant by saying that you know his true self… I've seen how much you really mean to him," he went on and she cocked an eyebrow at him in disbelief.

"And you finally realize it after nearly 9 years and 5 children, hm?"

"Pretty late, huh?" Scott smiled with a blush and she nodded.

"And now he is not a dumb animal anymore?"

"No," he replied and shook his head. "After seeing that he'd voluntarily give his life for you…or for 'Ro if you want…I respect him. I realized that, well…I'd have been too afraid to just cut my artery open and risk bleeding to death. I mean…he just did it without thinking about it and only had saving you on his mind. I really respect him now… But still I'm skeptical about who he really is. Sometimes it's just as if we don't know him at all, you know." Looking up again he smiled when the boy yawned in his sleep.

"You can trust him, Scott," Jean assured him, being glad about what she had just heard of him.

"If you say so…," he shrugged with a smile. "You know there's something else that I've realized."

"What?"

"Seeing you in the cabin that night had made me realize something else. The two of us have never fit…," Scott said and immediately noticed the odd look she gave him. "Not as you might think now, Jean! I mean… We fit, but not as well as you and him. And I'm sorry for being such a pain in the ass…"

Smiling happily at him, she nodded. "It's okay, Scott…," the redhead said and paused for a brief moment. "What about you and Mystique? I never really see the two of you together."

Waving off, he let out a sigh. "Don't ask me!"

"The two of you share a room and have a child and you don't know what you have?" Jean asked him in complete confusion and saw him nodding once more.

"Yeah, ridiculous, huh?" I told her that I love her in the cabin, but she… Well, she hasn't said anything at all about it."

"Then ask her," she suggested and shifted her position in the chair to support the arm with which she held the baby.

"I know…," he replied when all of a sudden the door opened and Logan came back in.

"Jeez, what happened to you?" Jean asked her husband who was covered in mud and looked as if he'd fallen into a pool first and dirt next.

"What does it look like?" he grunted before he turned his head. "What's he doin' here?"

"I was about to go anyway," Scott said and got up. "See you later then."

"Yeah," she nodded and smiled at him, not seeing the look Logan gave her from aside. Turning, she couldn't help but sigh. "We only talked! And now tell me. What happened to you?"

"Let's say this happens when instead of 3 children suddenly Isa and TJ want to play too and you try to catch a ball while nearly all of them try it at the same time," he growled and got rid of his wet and dirty shirt, while she smiled in amusement. "Ya think that's funny again, eh?"

"Was it the pool or the pond?" she asked and went over to the bedroom to lay Jamie into the cradle again.

"Actually…both," he admitted and wiped his face clean with the shirt.

"Well, since you're already dirty, you could go on painting Jamie's room, don't you think?" Seeing his grin, the redhead cocked an eyebrow when he came slowly closer. "What?" she asked frowning.

"I am _dirty_?" Logan said huskily and grabbed her quickly before she could escape.

Groaning, she gave him a look. "Can you think about something else? You'd even think a potato was sexy, don't you?"

Kissing her neck while she desperately tried to keep her clothes from getting muddy, he chuckled. "If you eat it…yeah," he growled and made her squeal in the next moment. "You said I was dirty, darlin'…"

"And you are," Jean protested and pushed him away a bit. "Not only in your mind!"

"So are you now," he grinned and made his way to Jamie's room to go on painting with a satisfied chuckle.

"Oh, damn you, Logan!" he heard her cursing after she looked down on herself.

A few hours later it knocked again and Jean hurried to the door with some papers in her hands. "Hi!"

"Hey, is Logan here?" Ororo asked and her opposite nodded.

"Yes he is. Come in!" the redhead said and stepped aside to make room and close the door afterwards again.

"Is he in a good mood today?" the weather goddess asked carefully and looked around the room, noticing that it was pretty calm in the apartment.

Laughing a bit, Jean gave her a look. "Why? Do you plan on making him moody?" she teased her friend and searched through some papers on the desk at the windows.

"Well, I need his help with something…" Leaning against the wall, she watched her best friend nodding at the door.

"He's on the sofa. I'll be right back." Walking over to it Ororo gave her a look since Logan was obviously deeply asleep. Stopping at the door, the redhead gave her a smile. "He'll wake up soon."

"How do you want to know?" the other woman asked her with a frown.

Smiling with a look on her husband Jean opened the door. "He twitched and sighed. That always means he'll wake up within five minutes. Be right back!"

Hearing how the door was closed, Ororo sat down in the chair opposite the white sofa and watched smiling how Jamie slept on his father's chest. In thoughts, she suddenly startled when she realized that he was staring at her. "Jeez…," she made and laid her hand on her chest.

"What are ya doin' here?" Logan asked her with a cocked eyebrow, his voice still thick with sleep.

"Jean told me to wait for you to wakeup," she explained after her heartbeat had slowed down again.

Running a hand through his face and hair, he suppressed a yawn. "'n why?" he demanded to know while he sat up and held his son tight to his chest.

"I wanted to ask you something," Ororo shrugged. "The next topic in my history class is the late 19th, early 20th century. Since you've your memory back and lived through it, I thought you could tell me something about it. How people lived, what life was like… It's a different thing to read about it or hear it from someone who knows what he's talking about."

"And since I'm the only one of two people who knows, ya decided to ask me, eh?"

"Well let's say it'd be nice if you could be of help," she said and gave him one of her best smiles, remembering how Jean had told her once that either pouting or smiling made him go soft on something.

Seeing it, Logan hadn't had to think very hard to figure why the woman was doing it. Shrugging, he leant back in the sofa. "Can do that."

"Thanks!" Ororo said and smiled even wider.

Hearing the baby yawning in his arms, the man's eyes softened immediately. "Sleepy head…" Pulling him up a bit, he placed a kiss on his son's forehead.

"Where are the twins and Rachel by the way? It's so calm in here?"

"Probably outside with Miloh," he shrugged.

Nodding, Ororo looked down for a brief moment. "Can I ask you something?"

"Again?" Logan teased her with a smirk. "Ya can ask me anythin', 'Ro, but I don't have t'answer."

"It's just… Well… Is it really true that…that he's your brother?" she finally managed to say and looked at him nervously.

Watching her for a moment, he only shrugged. "Would it change anythin' if he was?" he asked back.

"You mean, would I treat you differently if he was?" Ororo asked and he nodded. "No. Yours and his abilities might be the same, but… You couldn't be more different from your look and character. I don't believe him…"

Not saying anything at all for a while, Logan watched his son again and carefully stroked over the dark hair. "And when I tell ya that both my parents had blue eyes? Or that his father looked exactly like me?"

Hearing it, she looked up with widened eyes and her heart began to beat strongly. "So Sabretooth really is your brother?"

"Half brother," he corrected grimly. "And I don't give a shit. Brother or not, I'm gonna kill him one day." Smiling at his baby again, he nuzzled him gently. "Right, pum'kin?"

Watching him, Ororo felt how eyes got wet. "He's never your brother…," she said in a whisper and shook her head while her eyes were fixed on the baby. "He would never treat a child like you do…"

Sighing, Logan met her gaze. "'Ro…," he began, but she cut him off.

"No, honestly… He's not capable of feeling something like love or affection."

"Because he never learnt it!" he gave back. "His father drank and hit him constantly. I can't remember a day without seeing him with bruises."

Giving a short derisive laugh, she crossed her arms and looked away. "Doesn't excuse his behavior…"

"I'd be the same, 'Ro."

"No!"

"Yeah," Logan nodded and she noticed that he really meant what he said. "I suppress that side in me. He doesn't want to. But if I let loose, I'm exactly like him."

Looking down Ororo began to play on her blue shirt while her thoughts drifted off to the accident last year. "You'd never do to someone you know what he'd done to me… He knew I was pregnant with Tommy," she hissed bitterly and could tell that he was looking at her.

"Right. I'd probably killed ya immediately. First, because ya smell of another man, second, because ya was carrying another man's kid." Shaking his head when she finally raised her head a bit, he sighed. "It's instinct, 'Ro. You've no idea how hard it is to keep something strong like that down. But his instinct is sick and psychopathic. And he just doesn't give a shit anymore…"

Nodding, she ran a hand through her face, hoping to be able to forget about the memories again. "I've never thanked you for helping me…" Getting up she sat down next to him to have a better look at the sleeping boy.

"And ya don't have to," Logan replied.

"I do. You risked your life…," Ororo gave back and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Thanks, Logan."

Smirking, he shook his head. "Don't mention it."

Leaning forward a bit, she reached out to stroke over Jamie's cheeks carefully. "He really is a sleepy head, huh?" she remarked since she hadn't seen the boy being awake for once today.

"Yeah…"

"Like his daddy," she added giggling and nudged him gently.

"When do ya need the history stuff?" Logan asked and looked at her from aside.

Thinking she began to recall all topics that she still had to work through with her class. "Next week I think."

"What about this evening then?"

"Sure. As long as you're not sleeping again." Smiling, she watched how he gave her a cocked eyebrow.

"Nah, won't happen!" Logan replied self-assured, but had to smirk.

Nodding playfully, Ororo crossed her arms. "Someone's convinced, huh? You still look tired, mister!"

"His fault." He nodded at the baby. "He kept me up all night."

Turning her attention towards the boy again, she had to frown. "How come? Does he cry so much?" she asked worriedly, but he shook his head.

"No, but he doesn't sleep at night."

"Never?!" Ororo asked in surprise and her eyes grew even wider when he shook his head as an answer. "Why?"

Shrugging, Logan shifted his position a bit. "Dunno…"Lost in thoughts he stroked over the small back gently.

"That's strange…"

"Yeah, I know," he said and turned his head in surprise when Jean reappeared.

"You have to come down," she said and looked to and fro between them. "We have a meeting. Hank found something out and said it was important." Exchanging a confused look with each other, Logan and Ororo followed her to Charles Xavier's office where the others were already gathered. With his brows furrowed, Logan handed Jamie over to Jean, who said down on one of the sofas next to Scott, Kurt and Mystique, while Ororo took one of the chairs and Bobby, Jubilee, Kitty and Peter occupied the second sofa at the opposite wall. Taking his casual position at the window, Logan crossed his arms and exchanged a brief look with the Professor, who was behind his desk, while Hank was occupied with setting up a laptop and beamer. Moira in the meanwhile searched through some files and put a CD into the laptop just to step aside next to give her partner more room to work. It didn't take long and Hank cleared his throat. If the situation wasn't serious, he'd probably begin to laugh since the looks the others gave him were just too funny. Looking over his glasses at each of them, he finally stopped at Logan, who leant, arms crossed, impatiently against the wall and gave him a look that made immediately clear _begin or you're dead_. "Well, I analyzed the second Wolverine's blood," he began and pushed a button on the laptop. It didn't take long and some scientific texts and pictures were projected on the wall behind him. "I found some of his blood traces on your uniform and compared tem with yours."

"'n why?" Logan asked with a frown since he didn't understand anything from this stuff.

"I wanted to know if Sinister had made any genetic change during the cloning process."

"What was the result?" Jean demanded to know and had still her eyes fixed on the image on the wall.

"Well… He didn't make any changes to the genes, but we were wrong with the age. The second Wolverine isn't around 20 years old as we assumed, but around 40 years."

Frowning, Logan looked at the ground for a brief moment. "40?" he asked and Hank nodded. "I haven't been with Weapon X in the 70's, bub."

Nodding, Hank pulled his glasses up a bit. "I know…"

"But…he can't be a clone then," the redhead said and looked at the others first, then at Charles, who obviously tried to figure the problem out by himself.

Nodding again, Hank searched another file on the laptop. "That's the point, Jean!" he said and opened the genetic fingerprint of Logan which was projected behind him. "That picture shows Logan's DNA fingerprint, " he explained since the other still looked at him in confusion. "The smaller Wolverine we met isn't a clone," he continued and opened another file that had the title _2nd Wolverine genetic fingerprint_ and it appeared right next to Logan's on the wall.

"What is he then?" this one asked with a cocked eyebrow from the window and didn't even bother to look at the wall. He could try to translate a book which he tried to read by looking into a mirror while he jumped off of the Empire State Building. It would have the same effect. It was completely useless. But a look into Hank's face, which suddenly was completely serious, spoke volumes and he watched how the scientist typed in another command and both pictures began to melt with each other, showing both DNA fingerprints combined now.

Turning around Hank gave him a look. "He's your son, Logan," was all he said…

**Guys, this chapter gave me the biggest headache possible. I never suffered from such a strong writers block and I really have to thank sammy-girl, who helped me out dozens of times. Thanks, girl!!! Anyway, this was the first chapter. I am not really satisfied with it, though. The last chapter of Sequel 1 was way better I think, but well… I blame the exams at college for it. Hope you guys liked it and I promise to come up with a better writing in the following chapters. Please review and let me know hat you think! See ya!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: **Guys, you are great : ) I read my emails on the next morning after posting Part 1 and I was shocked to see that so many of you have already read and reviewed. Thank you so, so much for the support!!! You guys are great: ) Hope you like that chappie here, too!

Oh, and for all J/L-Shipper who haven't seen the Japanese X3 movie poster yet, go here and just imagine Halle wasn't on it:

http://tomy-movie dot noblog dot jp slash photos slash uncategorized slash xmen dot jpg

And go to **youtube** and search for **X2 Bloopers**. ; ) Enjoy! And also go looking for: **Spiderman in X-Men movie** on **youtube**!!

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 2**

Turning around Hank gave him a look. "He's your son, Logan," was all he said…

Staring at him as if the blue mutant spoke in a foreign language to him, Logan didn't say anything at all first. Not even the tiniest reaction was visible on his face, unlike his teammates who were staring at their leader in complete shock. Suddenly Logan shook his head when the news finally began to sink in. "Son…," he said in a tone as if he'd just learned the word. "It can't be my son."

"He is Logan. The test has proven it to 99,99 and I made it three times," Hank assured him with a shake of his head.

"It's NOT possible, Furball!" the other man insisted on his opinion and turned around to look out of the window with a grim look on his face.

"Why not?" he heard Hank asking but didn't see how the mutant gave Jean a brief look as if he had to rethink if he should say what he wanted. "As far as I've heard you were quiet the womanizer back then…"

Giving a snort, Logan gave him a glare. "Right… Just with the exception that I only slept with my wife without protection ya idiot. So he can't be my son."

Sighing, Hank shut down the laptop and shook his head while he put his glasses onto Charles' desktop. "Logan, you're 118 years old…"

"117," the addressed growled and received a frowning look from the mutant in front of the desk. "Jeez, can ya calculate?"

Seeing the frown on Hank's face, Jean quickly intervened since she could tell that Logan was quickly running out of patience. "It was my fault, Hank. I miscalculated it. He turns 118 this year."

Nodding, Hank cleared his throat. "Anyway… You're nearly 118 years old… You can't know for sure that you haven't forgotten about it at least once."

"I do!" Logan grunted back and crossed his arms, a sign which instantly told the others that one wrong word was enough and he would snap. "'Cause I know how my body works, pal and that my semen survives a bit longer than yours. So do ya really think that with this knowledge I don't use any protection?" he asked growling and gave a snort before he turned back to the window. "I'm a lot but I ain't dumb…"

"Still, he's your son!" Hank gave back, sounding a bit annoyed due to the tone in which Logan was speaking to him. Feeling how Moira laid a calming hand on his arm, he gave her a brief smile and crossed his arms.

"That explains it…," Jean suddenly said and beckoned Moira to give her the file with the papers that she was holding in her hands the whole time through.

"Explains what, Jean?" Charles asked and watched how she quickly turned some pages around and read through them.

"Why Sinister was able to clone Logan…," she mumbled and didn't have to look up to know that everyone was looking at her. "I read in Logan's file that Weapon X tried it 22 times but failed since the sample they got from Logan was partly damaged. They were unable to salvage the Y chromosome of it."

"So?" Logan asked in a low growl and met her eyes briefly.

"So Sinister must have taken the Y chromosome of a sample of your son and combined it with the X chromosome of your sample," she concluded.

"But in that way the clone would have been damaged, Jean… You can't combine the genes of parents and children without risking irreversible damage to the clone," Hank said and shook his head, hearing Logan's annyoed sigh since the man didn't understand anything at all of their discussion.

"Not if he illiminated specific parts of the chromosome," the redhead replied and Hank had to nod.

"True…"

"But where does the son suddenly come from?" Moira asked and looked to and fro between the X-Men of whom most could only shrug.

While his eyes had been fixed on his son's gravestone in the garden, Logan suddenly began to frown even more. "They wouldn't do this…"

"Do what?" Jean asked him and watched how he turned around with an odd look on his face. Worriedly, she tried to reach out to him mentally but had to notice that he blocked her out. "Logan what's wrong?" Ororo asked him concerned and looked at her friend when he stared at the ground deeply lost in thoughts.

Suddenly looking up, Jean's eyes widened. "You mean…?" she asked and her jaw dropped in shock.

"Mean what?" Scott asked and looked to and fro between the couple, but Logan only nodded.

"Itsu…"

"Who's Itsu?" Hank asked him but figured that he wouldn't receive an answer from him, so he turned to the redhead that stared at her hands and was shaking her head in disgust.

"His former wife…," she replied calmly and made Ororo nearly drop off the sofa.

"Wife?!" the weather goddess shrieked and stared at Logan in shock who was glaring at the gravestones on the outside full of hatred.

"The one who was pregnant with his kid and was killed?" Scott asked and received a glare from Jean while Logan growled. "As a short summary…," he quickly mumbled and looked away.

"You really think they," Jean began when her husband gave a short snort.

"Cut her open after shooting her?" he asked darkly and she nodded. "Yeah… They'd do anything to get their hands on my genes. But I don't know who's behind it…"

"If it was Sinister then he had planned this a long time ago," Hank said with a shrug and the Professor nodded.

"But what about that kid? The female clone?" Scott asked the two men. "Why a female one?"

"Just for fun maybe?" Ororo said with a shrug since she had no clue. "So if the mutant really is Logan's son… What do we do? You've seen how dangerous he is."

"What if he's controlled by Sinister? Didn't you say he was controlled by a collar? Maybe he can't act on his own?" Jean asked Scott. "Sinister has some ways to make others do what he wants. We've seen it."

"The collar was activated to prevent him from attacking us, Jean," he replied and leant forward a bit. "And better ask…what do we do if he isn't controlled by anyone?" When the silence in the room became too uncomfortable he turned to Logan, who hadn't moved an inch up to now and was still glaring out of the window. "What will you do?"

"Tryin' t'find him."

"And then?" Hank asked with a cocked eyebrow. "You've seen what he's capable of, Logan. He tried to kill you and he attacked us."

"And?" Logan asked and turned around with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

"Well, you've killed him before…"

Snorting, Logan went towards the door when he heard his youngest son crying upstairs. Stopping there, he opened it and gave the diplomate a deadly look. "One thing, Furball," he growled barely audible. "Ya ain't a father!"

Startling a bit when the door slammed shut right next to her, Ororo exchanged a brief look with Jean and Kurt. "How can you say that?" the redhead asked Hank angrily and got up.

"Because it is the truth, Jean," this one defended himself. "Logan killed him before… He said that he could survive it and I doubt that the mutant or Sabretooth are dead. You've seen how dangerous he is."

"And that gives you the right to tell Logan that he should kill his son?" Jean asked him aloud and furious.

"He doesn't even know him, Jean!"

"Right, but this doesn't change the fact that he now has the knowledge that he has an older son," she shot back and glared at him. "And he would have raised him if those bastards hadn't killed his wife first and taken the baby next. And then you come and want him to kill his son without trying first if we can help him? Are you completely brain dead?" Slamming the door shut behind her she leant briefly against it to calm down again before she made her way upstairs.

"I didn't mean it like that," Hank said quickly since he saw Ororo's glare. "What I meant was that he has to take into consideration that he might have to kill him if we can't help him. Damn it, do you really think I would want him to just kill his son?" Getting up carefully with an angry look on his face, he limped over to the window and looked outside; supporting himself with a crutch.

"We still haven't solved the problem," Bobby said after a while and could only shrug since everyone was suddenly staring at him. "It was just a thought…"

After a pointless discussion and since they couldn't figure out any solution, the Professor had deceided to leave it for that day. A few days later at the beginning of October, the weather was still surprisingly hot. Gathered at the pool together most of them were swimming while others were sunbathing, Ororo pulled her sunglasses down a bit to have a better look at the upper level of the mansion. "Hey, where're Jean and Logan?" she asked and gave the other girls a questioning look while she kept an eye on Kurt, who was in the pool with TJ, and her son , who slept in the shadows next to her. "Usually they're the first with their kids at the pool." "Don't ask me," Kitty shrugged. "I haven't seen them the whole day through today. Maybe they're out for a day?"

"Nope!" Jubilee shook her head and let out a sigh while Bobby was putting cream on her back.

"Of course it's you again who knows more!" her friend groaned. "Any news about them we should know about?"

"Maybe," Jubilee grinned and sippped on her drink.

"Maybe," Moira said rather matter of factly and handed Hank, who thamkfully didn't need to wear a cast on his leg anymore, a bottle with water. "…they're not here because Logan is still in more than a bad mood?"

"You could be right…," Ororo nodded while she looked at the balcony on the second floor in thoughts. She could see that the door and windows were open, but not any of her friends or their children.

Upstairs, Logan handed each of his children a towel after he'd helped them to put crème on their backs. "Go ahead, but you wait for us before ya go into the water, got that?"

"Yeah," Lily nodded and took a ball to play with her while Jack and Rachel were already on their way to the outside followed by Miloh. Entering the bedroom where Jean was dressing Jamie for the outside, he began to cock an eyebrow at her. "Ya still haven't changed?" he asked and began to get rid of his wife beater, eying her jeans shorts and black shirt. "Don't tell me ya wanna go swimmin' like that."

Looking at him briefly while he changed into his black swim shorts, she smiled at her son. "I'm not going to swim so it doesn't matter…"

Freezing in his movements, he couldn't help but stare at her. "Why not?"

"Don't feel like it…"

"You're kiddin', right?" he said in disbelief. "You're always the first who's either sunbathin' or swimmin' and now ya run around as if it's nearly winter. What's the matter?"

Sighing she got her sunglasses and a book from the bedside table. "It's nothing, Logan… I just don't feel like it," Jean said again and got a small cap for Jamie next. "Can we go now?"

Shaking his head, Logan crossed his arms. "No, not before ya tell me what's wrong all of a sudden…" Noticing her annoyed look he came closer. "'Cause even if ya don't feel like swimmin', ya still wouldn't dress up like that. So what's wrong?"

Knowing that they'd stay here forever if she didn't tell him and that he could tell if she was lying, the redhead sat down on the bed and sighed. "I just don't feel comfortable in a bikini…"

"Why not?" he asked her in complete disbelief and gave her a look.

"Oh stop making fun out of me, Logan!" She cried and looked rather hurt at him. "You know perfectly well why!"

"Actually…," Logan said and leant against the wardrobe. "…no! I've no fuckin' idea what you're talkin' about, Red." Frowning when she began to glare at him all of a sudden, he shook his head. "Honestly!" Seeing that she now began to narrow her eyes, he sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Why don't ya tell me before ya kill me, so that I know what your fuckin' problem is?!"

"God, Logan!" she nearly exploded because of his ignorance but kept her voice low because of the baby. "Don't play the innocent here! You know perfectly well that I still have nearly 20 pounds too much, so how dare you telling me that you don't know why I don't feel comfortable?!" Feeling a strong urge to punch him when he suddenly chuckled and shook his head grinning, Jean clenched her fists. "What are you laughing at?!"

"You!" he said straightforward and came closer to pull her up.

"Damn it, what are you doing?!" she hissed and tried to push him away, but he just grabbed her shirt and pulled it over her head. "Logan!"

Pulling her short away next he grabbed her hand to shove her over to her drawer to get her black bikini out of it. "Get dressed, the kids are waitin'!"

"I told you I'm not going to w…," she began when he reached out to open her bra. "Stop it!" Stepping away, Jean quickly covered her breasts.

"Jean, you're ridicolous, really!"

"Easy for you to say!" she snapped. "You're Mr. Superbody here…"

"Right…" Logan nodded playfully and crossed his arms. "Jeez, Jeannie! You look good. So take that damn bikini and move your pretty butt down to the pool!"

"No!"

Groaning in frustration he dragged her over to the large mirror next to the wardrobe. "And where are those 20 pounds you're imagining?"

"Stop…making…fun….out of me!" she hissed in anger and pulled away, but only received an annoyed look from him.

"God, Jean!" Logan shot back. "Be happy that you're not as skinny as you were before the pregnancy!"

Fuming, Jean narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms slowly. "_Skinny_?!"

"Yeah," he nodded and put the suncreme onto the pile on the bed. "Skinny."

Letting out a snort she threw her bikini at him. "Asshole!"

"For tellin' the truth?" he asked angrily. "Jeez, Jean! Look into the mirror, damn it! You still look as good as before the pregnancy and that bit ya weight more looks good on ya, don't ya get that?!" Turning around again, he took notice of her hurt look and sighed. "You look good, Jean," he assured her once more. "Show me a woman who looks even better than before she got a baby nearly three months ago… And now come on! Ya think way too much, girl!" Taking the infant car seat with Jamie in it, a bag with things for his boy and his towel, he went towards the door and made his way down to the garden.

At the pool he ran into his pouting children, who were waiting for their parents to finally show up. "Daddy, we're waiting!" Lily complained and crossed her arms. "What took you so long?"

"I'm here now, so jump into the pool," Logan replied and placed the seat with his youngest carefully onto the ground in the shadows of his lounger, before he put the bag next to and the towel onto it. "Come on, off ya go!" Exchanging a look, the twins ran off laughing and jumped into the cold wet.

Shrieking since a wave hit her, Jubilee sat quickly up . "Oh, you!" she cried. "I get you for this!" As an answer the twins only stuck out their tongues and dived.

Watching them sadly, Rachel turned to her father, who looked impatiently at the backdoor and waited for Jean to show up. Since his youngest daughter still couldn't swim, it was up to him to split his attention. "Kitty," he said to the girl, who pulled her sunglasses down a bit. "Can ya watch over Jamie until Jean's here?"

"Sure," she nodded and received a thankful nod from him.

"Come on." Walking over to the pool, he glided into the water and held up his arms to pull her into it. Holding onto him, the girl climbed onto her father's back. "But don't choke me again, 'kay?" Logan teased her and she nodded smiling.

"'kay!"

"Ya wanna swim or dive?"

Watching them, Ororo turned her attention to her right all of a sudden while she cradled Tommy in her arms. "What took you so long, girl?" she asked her best friend and sat up a bit to give the redhead a look.

Waving off while she looked around rather nervously, Jean sat down on the lounger with Logan's towel on it and put her book and sunglasses next to it. "What?!" she asked rather annoyed after a moment since the weather goddess was eyeing her from aside.

"I…am…jealous!" this one commented and shook her head. "Didn't you tell me about two days ago that you still have 20 pounds or something too much? Were you kidding?" she went on in disbelief. "Look at your curves, girl! Mine are nearly ruined and I've got my old weight back for months now…"

Looking at the pool, Jean took notice of Logan's winner-smirk he always gave her when he'd been right, knowing that he had heard everything Ororo has said while he taught Rachel how to swim. "So it's not…looking bad?" she asked insecurely and gave the woman next to her a look.

"What?"

"Me and the bikini? Because it was Logan who talked me into it…"

"You're joking right?" Ororo asked with a cocked eyebrow. "Go into the city like that and I can assure you that ten fingers are not enough for each man! Although…I doubt a specific mutant here would even let you go into the city like that," she added with a smirk. "Look into your husband's face and see that nasty, naughty smile he has since you showed up here!"

Getting up to walk over to the pool, Jean was stopped by her best friend when this one reached out to grab her hand. "Oh and Jean?"

"Yeah?" the redhead asked with a frown.

"You know that there are children here, right?"

Furrowing her brows even more, she gave her an even more confused look. "Why?"

"Well…," Ororo grinned and leant back again with her sunglasses dangling in her left hand. "Because your hubby gives you this out-for-a-hunt-look… But,…never mind!" Showing her teeth with a grin, she turned her attention back to her son, who had begun to play with her glasses.

Only shaking her head, Jean proceeded towards the pool and watched how Lily and Jack were playing with the ball, accompanied by Scott, Peter, Kurt, TJ and Isa. Switching her gaze towards her left, she sat down and watched how Logan held onto Rachel's hands only while the little redhead desperately tried to keep her head up. Lost in thoughts she moved closer to the edge and watched how her feet disappeared in the cold water.

"That was good," Logan smiled and pulled Rachel up into his arms. "I think you've got enough for today, hm?" Nodding the girl tried to catch her breath and was pulled out of the water by him. "Go and drink somethin', kiddo." Watching her heading towards the lounger, he turned his head with a smirk, seeing that his wife was still lost in thoughts. As calmly as he could he swam over to her.

Shrieking when she was pulled into the water all of a sudden, Jean had trouble to realize first what had happened, but soon made out the source of the trouble. "Logan!" she cried and heard him chuckling while he held onto her. "Damn you!"

Kissing her he wobbled his head. "Got wet, darlin'?" he asked with a smug grin and received a look from her. "Oh right…there are children in the pool, got it." Cupping her butt briefly before he let go of her, he swam over to his twins while Jean received wobbled eyebrows from Ororo.

Later, after the children were already inside for dinner and only a few of the adults remained at the pool, Jubilee and Kitty exchanged a look while they watched Jean and Logan in the pool. With her legs wrapped around his waist and her arms around his neck, the redhead held onto him, whereas he had both hands on her back. "Do I have to commend on this?" Jubilee asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Actually…," Kitty replied and shook her head. "…no!"

Turning her head to the older woman, it was now Ororo who received a look from her. "Is THAT allowed?" she demanded to know and pointed at the couple that was totally absorbed in a slow and gentle tongue kiss. "M-rated stuff in a school's pool?!"

"They aren't doing anything forbidden, Jubes. Let them have some fun," the weather goddess sighed and began to pack her things.

"Fun? I bet they have that fun everyday," Kitty gave a laugh.

"You are only jealous because you have no such fun with your dear hubby!"

Snorting, Jubilee received a look from the other girl. "As if Bobby would do that with you, girl!" she shot back and rolled her eyes as Jean began to giggle. "God…they behave even worse than newly weds…"

"See?" Jubilee giggled. "Jealous!"

"Shut up, Jubes!"

"Come on," Ororo intervened and got up with her bag. "Let's leave them alone."

"Alone?!" the Asian-American girl shrieked playfully. "If those lovebirds are alone, they gonna do M-rated stuff!"

Sighing, the weather goddess rolled her eyes. "I doubt that and even if… It's none of our business. So move!" Impatiently she grabbed her arm and pulled her with her back to the mansion's back door.

"It is! We still have to swim in it," Jubilee protested.

Sighing, Logan took a look over the edge of the pool. "Finally…," he grunted in annoyance and received a smirk from Jean while she pulled him closer with her legs and arms.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Smirking he turned them around that it was now the redhead who was pressed against the border. He leant forward to pull her into another passionate kiss whereas his hands began to caress her. "Told ya you look good, baby," he said huskily and sent shivers down her spine as he licked and sucked on her neck softly.

"'Ro noticed your out-for-a-hunt-look, mister," Jean smiled and tilted her head a bit to give him better access.

"Screw her…," Logan growled and grabbed her neck quickly to pull her into another passionate tongue kiss, while his free hand touched the pant of her bikini.

Noticing what he was about to do, Jean quickly pulled away. "No!"

"Why not?" he asked with a frown and still held her tight. "We did it before."

"Yeah, and it was night and we knew that everyone was asleep," the redhead corrected him and heard him sigh in frustration first before he looked into the sky.

"It's nearly dark…"

"But they aren't asleep!"

Groaning, he gave her a hurt look. "What do ya want me to do? Walk upstairs with a tent?"

Giggling, since she could feel the obvious pressure against her leg, Jean bit her lip. "Think that's funny?!" Logan growled and pushed his groin against her, making her gasp. "C'mon…"

"Logan…," Jean tried again but was silenced with another kiss while his hand disappeared in her pants. Not being able to help it, she threw her head back a bit and bit her lip hard.

"Jeez…"

"Come on…," Logan tried it again and began to suck on her neck once more, knowing that her restraint was falling apart. He always knew how to get to her and it made him smirk.

"I'm not on the pill, Logan, "Jean said calmly with a look around and hoped it would stop him, but he only grinned.

"Thought about that…," he smirked and pulled a small package out of his back-pocket.

"But…," she tried to complain once more and still kept on looking around nervously, but he shook his head with a seductive growl.

"No way in talking us out of it, gorgeous!" Seeing that his eyes were way darker than usual, she knew that it was not only his talking. Only staring at him, she let him push her against the border a bit more with a growl and closed her eyes when he began to lick on her neck again. "I want ya…," Logan whispered huskily into her ear and made her shiver. "…here and now."

* * *

Opening the door to his room, Scott noticed that Mystique was already lying in bed. Walking over to the cradle at the end of it he made sure that Alex was sleeping before he went into the bathroom to get ready for bed, too. Thinking about his conversation with Jean and the advice the redhead had given him back then, he knew he had to do it; the sooner the better. Moving back to the bed he laid carefully down and turned towards the woman next to him who appeared to be asleep. But he knew better. "Can we talk?" 

Sighing Mystique opened her eyes. "About what?"

Sitting up he pulled his legs close. "You know about what…"

"Enlighten me."

"You're avoiding me since the cabin," Scott explained and looked at her through his visor. "And I don't understand why…" Seeing that she looked away, he heaved a deep breath in frustration. "I mean… We live in that room together, sleep next to each other, have a son, but I don't get what we, the two of us, have at all. Explain it to me!" Since she remained silence he let out a sigh. "Would you just say something?"

Staring at the blanket, her fingers began to play with it. "You just surprised me…," she suddenly said barely audible and made him frown.

"Why? I told you before that…," he began but Mystique shook her head.

"Not that! Never that!"

Not saying anything first, Scott ran a hand through his hair. "If you don't feel the same, it's okay… I can deal with it!"

Looking at him for a while, she sat up a bit, holding the blanket tight to her body. "So,…you actually meant what you said?"

"Of course!" he answered with a nod. "Do you think I'd just say it out of fun?"

Shrugging, she pulled her legs close and hugged them with her arms, resting her head on them. "Because of Jean…"

"I love Jean and will always love her. But not more than a very good friend, Raven," he explained and shook his head, realizing that he said it for the first time. "I'm over her."

Meeting his gaze, she still didn't know what to think about it when he suddenly bent forward and pulled her closer into a soft kiss. "I love you…"

"No one ever did," Mystique replied sadly and looked away. "Not for longer than one night anyway…" Knowing that it was true, she pushed the old memories back in her head. Her past was what had marked her and changed her into the hard woman she was now. And even if she wanted to believe him, her fear of being hurt again was just too strong.

"But I do," Scott said and pulled her close. "And I want us to finally be a real family." Waiting for a reply, he watched how she stared at him as if she was looking for something in his face. Sighing, Mystique rested her head on his shoulder. "Okay…," she said calmly and closed her eyes. Smiling happily, Scott laid down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips before he pulled her close. "But I need a bit more time to get used to it," she added and raised her head a bit.

"That's okay. Take your time." Switching off the light, he turned towards her and she cuddled up to him. "Good night."

"Night," Mystique replied and still laid awake after he'd already drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Even if he was still pissed, Logan went on teaching the girl their language each day after his classes. Watching her while she held a book in her hand and read aloud what stood in it, he tried to find any familiar feature in the girl. She had his hair and eye color, but in contrast to him her hair was straight and her eyes still looked strange. It surprised him a lot that she made such a fast progress and had already learned a lot. Noticing that she was done and waited for a reaction from him, he nodded. "Good. That's it for today." Taking the book from her he closed it and looked at her for a while. "We need a name for ya, kiddo…" 

"Name?" she asked confused and he nodded.

"Yeah, a name." Logan handed her the book. "Here, take the book back." Watching her doing so, he crossed his arms and leaned back in his stool. "What did the bad boys call ya, huh?"

"Animal…," she replied and looked curiously at the other books after putting the old one back.

Letting out a derisive snort, Logan nodded knowingly with a brief movement of both brows. He should have known it before... "Right… Nothing else?"

Kneeling down she looked briefly at him. "X-23…," the girl replied.

"That ain't names, kiddo. Forget about them," he grunted and watched how she took another book from the shelves in the library and eyed it from all sides. He could tell that it was _Laura's star_ from where he sat.

"Lau…ra…," she began to read and turned to him all of a sudden, holding the book up. "Laura!"

Getting up, Logan moved over towards her and kneeled down a bit. "What about it, kid?" he asked with a frown and gave the book a brief look.

"Name," she answered and pointed at the title.

"Laura, huh?" he asked and the girl nodded. Shrugging he put the book back. "Fine with me…" Getting up again he looked briefly at his watch and sighed. He was too late again and his children would probably give him jealous looks again since he'd spent time with the _mean _and _strange_ looking girl they hated. "Come on, time to eat!" Leaving the room followed by her, he went down to the kitchen for dinner. Frowning he stopped at the door since only the adults were gathered in the room. "Where're the kids?"

"They had dinner before," Ororo replied. "They kept on going on our nerves for hours, so Jean and I cooked something for them and they ate about an hour ago."

Snorting he sat down next to Jean. "And they couldn't wait one more hour, eh?"

"You know them, don't you?" the redhead asked and watched how the girl climbed onto a stool next to him. "You hungry?"

"Yeah," she nodded and looked at the others with a skeptical look.

"Jeez, Logan," the weather goddess cried and handed him the meat. "They wanted something to eat, so stop giving me that look of yours!"

"Just because _they_ want somethin', it doesn't mean that they _always_ have to get it, right?" Logan shot back and put some food onto Laura's plate, too.

"Moody, huh?" Hank asked him and sipped on his water. "What did she do again?"

"It has nothin' to do with Laura, but with the fact that the kids always get what they ask for. How are they supposed to learn that there's a word called _No_, huh?"

"Laura?" Jean asked him in confusion and he nodded at the girl next to him.

"She picked that name," he grunted and began to eat. "Where are they now?"

"Upstairs," the redhead replied and watched how he only shook his head.

* * *

"He looks funny," TJ commented and titled her head when she eyed Jamie, who laid on his parents bed, curiously. 

"He doesn't!" Rachel gave back and her opposite received a glaring look.

"Well, he kinda does," Isa nodded. "Look at this small nose. How can he even breathe?"

Staring at the nose for some time, TJ moved closer. "I heard something!" she whispered and looked around the room to make sure that they were really alone.

"Heard what?" Jack asked and played with his brother's hand while he cocked an eyebrow at the girl.

"Well, we heard some older boy's talking…"

"About what?" Lily asked annoyed and looked to and fro between the girls.

"Well…," Isa began and made a dramatic break, which annoyed the twins only more. "They said something about him." She nodded at the baby, who looked around with his green eyes.

"And what?" Jack grunted, rolling his eyes about the fact that he had to ask instead of just getting the answers.

"They said that someone else said," TJ explained again in barely more than a whisper. "That he's supposed to be the most powerful mutant of the planet!" Isa nodded quickly to show that it was the truth.

Exchanging a look, the Grey-children looked at their brother. "He?" Jack asked in disbelief and again both girls nodded eagerly.

"How can someone with such strange looking hair be powerful?" Lily asked and crossed her arms to examine the baby closer.

"Right," Rachel nodded. "If he was that powerful he would get himself a proper haircut!"

"But they said it!" TJ pouted and crossed her arms, too. "They said he's so powerful because your mommy is powerful, too, and your daddy is dangerous."

"My daddy isn't dangerous," Jack shot back with a growl. "My daddy is the best daddy in the world!"

"And your daddy tells ya now to get ready for bed," a voice suddenly said from the door and all of them turned their heads to see that Logan was leaning against the doorframe with his arms crossed. "Come on, off ya go!"

"Still they said it!" TJ said again and Isa nodded once more. "Night!"

"Night," the adult replied and hugged Isa briefly before he waited for them to leave. "And now to you," he said and sat down on the edge of the bed. "First, why is Jamie layin' on the bed?" Seeing that his children only exchanged glances, he gave Rachel a look. "Don't ya ever dare to use your powers on him again, understood?" he asked a bit more harshly and the girl looked down. "Ya can practice with any non-living objects but never with a livin' human being and it ain't the first time I tell ya this!" Pulling the baby up he briefly checked if the boy was hurt. "Second, we eat together and it'll stop that ya always think ya can have a special treatment, 'kay? You know pretty well that we always eat between 7 and 8 p.m. so next time you're hungry eat an apple or wait one more hour and stop talkin' others into making exceptions. And now get ready for bed."

Quickly making their way out of the room, Rachel and Lily were the first in the bathroom, whereas Jack briefly stopped at the door. "But you're making exceptions for this stupid girl, too!"

Growling at him warningly, Logan narrowed his eyes. "I ain't and now get ready for bed."

"But she isn't your kid, so why…," the boy went on but ran quickly towards the bathroom when his father got up.

"What's wrong in here?" Jean asked him with a frown and only saw him shaking his head.

"Your daughter sent Jamie flying through the room, 'cause he laid on the bed."

"Yes, because they asked if they can show him to Isa and TJ, so I put Jamie on the bed," she said and crossed her arms as she noticed his look. "Oh don't tell me you gave Ray a sermon?"

"How am I supposed to know that it was you, eh?" Logan gave back and brought Jamie over to his room to prepare him for bed. "Ya could have said somethin', damn it!"

"Would you stop being so grumpy all of a sudden?" Jean asked and got fresh clothes out of the small drawer for the boy. "What's wrong with you?"

Sighing, he finished dressing the boy and placed a kiss on his cheek before he laid him down in the cradle. "I'm off to Japan for two weeks," Logan replied and left the room as the redhead said good-night to the baby.

Freezing in her movements, she turned her head towards the door and quickly made her way to the bedroom. "What?!"

Packing some clothes into his duffle bag, he gave her a look. "I said I'm…"

"I know what you said, Logan!" Jean cut him off. "But I don't get it why you have to go…"

"Because I need to know if it's really him, Jean!" he shot back and sighed. "I need to know…"

"I thought you were so sure about using protection," the redhead gave back and crossed her arms.

Turning away from her he took some more clothes from the drawer. "I had a third wife…," he admitted barely audible and her arms dropped

"What?!"

"I had a third wife in Japan…," Logan repeated and met her gaze guiltily.

Giving a short laugh, she shook her head and ran a hand through her long hair. "And you have the nerve to just….say it? Just like that, as if it was the most normal thing of the world?" Meeting his eyes, she felt anger coming up. "Who is she and don't even dare to tell me that you're still married to her, Logan!"

"Mariko. She's dead," he replied seriously. "She was poisoned."

Looking down, Jean still couldn't believe what she'd just heard. "Why didn't you tell me before?"

Dropping his bag on the ground he ran both hands through his face. "Because it doesn't matter…"

"It obviously does, otherwise you wouldn't be packing!"

Sighing in frustration, Logan stopped in front of her. "The marriage doesn't matter to me anymore, Jean. But I need to know if I had a child with her, too, and if not if those bastards really cut Itsu open and stole my baby!"

Seeing the determined, but also hurt look on his face, the redhead finally nodded. "Two weeks?"

"Yeah, it shouldn't take me longer…"

Nodding she kneeled down to get his bag from the ground. "But be careful and call… I don't want to sit here and wait again without knowing if you're fine," she demanded barely audible and was pulled close by him.

"I'm sorry…," Logan mumbled and closed his eyes for a moment.

"Did you already tell them?" Jean asked and he nodded again.

"I told them earlier today." Getting his leather jacket, he pulled the duffle bag over his shoulder and kissed her. "I'll make it quick. Promised!"

Holding his hand for a moment, Jean gave him a sad smile. "Just be careful…" Seeing his nod, he turned around and left.

**That was part two. It took me again a bit longer, since I still haven't completely arrived somehow. LOL It's still very hard to come up with anything at all, but I can assure you that I have already pre-written 27 scenes and I already know how the sequel will end. Two days ago I came up with another mini-plot, but I am not sure if I'll use it, since it's a more shocking one and you'll hate me. LOL Anyway, hope you guys liked it and forgive me my terrible writing. : ( I really don't know what's wrong… Please review!! See ya!!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note:** Regard that chapter as a "getting through" one. It doesn't happen much but it "builds up" the plot for the upcoming chapter in some points. In chapter 4 or 5 is a short jump in time and some guests will appear. One of them will mess something up pretty much. ; ) So, you guys are warned! Tanks again for all the reviews!!!! Hope you guys like that one here, too and I'm still not really satisfied with it. : ( Anyway, enjoy!

And I promise for the upcoming chapters: I'll have less scenes in the kitchen! LOL

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 3**

Sitting in the kitchen while it was raining on the outside, Jean had her eyes fixed on the small droplets on the window without even realizing that her best friends was speaking to her. Lost in thoughts she stirred the spoon in her coffee with her thoughts and nearly jumped off from her stool when Ororo nudged her. "Where are you, girl?" the woman asked her with a shake of her head and waited for a reply. "Did you listen at all?"

"No," Jean replied and blushed slightly. "I am sorry, but what did you just say?"

Sighing Ororo opened her mouth to begin again as the telephone down the corridor began to run and the redhead ran out of the kitchen. "I don't believe this! He's only gone for a week…"

"You know them by now, don't you," Scott said and turned the page while his son sat on his lap and sucked eagerly on his bottle. "Hey, not so fast!" he scolded him but the boy already began to cough. "Told you so…"

"It's for you Hank," Jean suddenly said and sounded more than disappointed while she handed him the receiver. Sitting down on her stool again she let out a sigh.

"Come on," Ororo tried to soothe her. "You said yourself they don't have a phone in that village."

"Right, why don't ya just use your powers? Saves money!" Jubilee suggested and received a look from the redhead.

"Maybe because it's not the same?" Jean shot back with a low growl.

"Wow! Now she already talks like him!"

"Oh, shut up, Jubes!" Ororo cried and watched how Hank put the receiver onto the table. "Something important?" she asked but he shook his head as the receiver began to beep once more.

Groaning the blue mutant picked it up once more. "Can't I just eat breakfast in silence for once?" he mumbled and pushed the speaking button. "Xavier's School for Gifted…," he began and narrowed his eyes. "It's not bullshit to say it every time again Logan and next time someone uses the phone not knowing that you try to call from Japan, I make sure that he or she makes it brief. Yes, I'll shut up now and let you speak to your wife," he grunted and handed the receiver over to Jean. "God is he in a good mood today…"

"Well, no sex for a week already," Jubilee whispered with a giggle and watched how Jean's face became immediately brighter as soon as she heard her husband's voice on the other side. "I'd bet you can already make plans to watch over their children as soon as he's back," she added with a wink.

"Because he was that nice to me I can assure you that I won't do it," Hank replied and got up to hug and kiss Moira. "Had a good night?" he asked her with a smile which she returned.

"Why didn't you wake me?" she asked in return and received a shrug.

"Because you looked so cute while you were asleep."

"Ah, please!" Kitty cried and covered her ears with her hands. "Not so early this morning…"

"When will you be back?" Jean asked and drew circles with her finger in the counter. "Well you said not longer than two weeks… I know, but I miss you…" Hearing the loud complaint of her children she couldn't hide your smile. "And before I'm attacked I better say your children, too…"

"Hank, better prepare for babysitting," Jubilee grinned and was slapped on her arm. "What was that for?"

"We ain't babies!" Jack growled and gave her a glare.

"In fact," the girl gave back. "You are!"

"That's not true!" Lily pouted and crossed her arms.

"Daddy calls mommy baby, too, and she isn't one," Rachel added and Jubilee burst out into laughter.

"That one was good, kiddo, I have to give ya that!"

Only shaking her head Ororo turned to her friend when she put the receiver down. "And? When will he come back?"

"He said he doesn't know. They got snow in the mountains and currently there is no way to get through to the city," Jean replied sadly and ran a hand though her hair.

"Hey you know that he'll fight through it if he has to," the weather goddess smiled and put a hand on her shoulder encouragingly.

"Mommy!" Rachel cried and pointed at the still laughing Jubilee. "She's teasing me!"

Sighing since she had to deal all alone with her children teasing each other constantly until one of them began to cry for a whole week now, the redhead gave the woman next to her a helpless look. "I hope you're right!"

* * *

While preparing a bottle for Jamie a few days later, Jean looked from time to time out of the window to have a better look on what her other children were doing. She smiled when she saw that the "gang", as her children, Isa and TJ were called by now, was still occupied with playing hide and seek. Nevertheless, she also heard TJ's loud complaint about no powers, since Jack had easily sniffed her out. Right now the girl was trying to slap the laughing boy, who quickly ran up the stairs of the terrace and was jumping of the banister next. The redhead inside could only shake her head. Again it was too obvious who was responsible for the feral side in the boy. Sighing she watched how Jamie began to suck on the bottle eagerly and looked at her with his green eyes. "Promise me something," Jean smiled at him. "Just be a bit calmer, okay?"

"Jean," Ororo suddenly said from the door and made her turn around. The weird look that was visible on her best friend's face made her heart skip a beat.

"Did something happen to Logan?" she immediately asked, but Ororo shook her head.

"No, no!" the weather goddess waved off. "But… There are two people at the door who are looking for you…"

"Two people?!" the redhead asked confused and began to walk towards the door.

"Yes. A man and a woman."

"Did they say their names or what they want precisely?"

"The woman said her name was Elaine and that she wanted to talk to you," Ororo replied and saw how her opposite's face turned completely pale. "Something wrong?"

Looking down in shock, Jean handed her the boy and had to support herself against the counter. "They found me…," she whispered and immediately began to shake.

"Who?" the other woman asked worriedly. "Jean, what's wrong all of a sudden? Do you know them?"

"Where are they now?" the redhead asked frightened.

"In the main hall." Shaking her head Ororo gave her a look. "Jean…what's wrong?"

"Make sure the children stay here," was all the addressed said and went out of the door towards the main hall. She had known since their trip to the park that they would find her sooner or later. The only problem, which scared her to death, was that she now had to face them alone. With Logan gone there was no one at her side that knew the truth, except Charles, and could help her against the two people she hated most in her life. Walking around the corner their voices reached her ears and she paused for a moment.

"Have you seen those children on the outside?" she heard Elaine asking. "This place is supposed to be a school and they play with fire… I told you it was wrong to invite this Charles Xavier to our home. You should have told him that he should stay away. God, what is taking her so long…"

Taking a deep breath, Jean made her way around the corner; trying to show as few emotions as possible, especially not that she was scared. "What do you want here?" she asked them darkly and crossed her arms. "How did you find me?"

Elaine turned around while the man next to her still leant against the wall next to the door. "Jean…," she said as if she was happy to see the woman in front of her. "It's so good to…"

Giving a short laugh, the redhead made a step back. "Don't give me the _Oh it's so good to see you_ version, mother. Tell me what you want and then leave!"

"It's your own fault," the man said and came closer to put a hand on Elaine's shoulder. "We wanted to talk to you in the park but you just ran away with those children. Do you even know what it has cost us to find you? Of course we should have known that you've stayed at this school for all those years," putting as much disgust into the word school, he shook his head.

Looking to and fro between them with a cold look herself, Jean cocked an eyebrow. "Are we done then?" she asked and nodded, not waiting for any reply. "Good. I think you'll find your way out alone." About to turn around she heard Elaine making a step and addressing her next.

"Jean, we are worried," she said and met the redhead's gaze when she turned around. "Taking care of children and not having a real home…and then your disease…"

"I don't have a disease!" Jean nearly yelled in anger and gritted her teeth.

"You're still denying it then?" the man asked in disbelief.

"Jean, you've heard what the doctor had said back then… Denying it makes it only worse," the woman added.

"Leave!" Opening the door telekinetically with a loud bang that made both adults startle, Jean felt how a deep fury began to rise again. "I don't want to see you ever again. I have a family and a home and I am NOT sick as you might think. The only sick people I know is you!"

"Watch your words!" the man barked nearly as loud back as the woman had spoken to them. Not caring that Scott, Ororo and Hank had come closer to see what was wrong, he ran a hand through his hair. "We took you back in and that's how you thank us?"

"You took me back in?!" Jean asked aloud with a short laugh. "If I hadn't acted as if I was fine again you'd have let me rod in that psychiatry. You never cared that those people there made me sick, that they forced me to take one pill after the next, you never gave a damn!"

"Jean, this isn't true," Elaine replied as calmly as she could. Then to the man next to her, "I told you it was too early to take her back home. It's even worse than back then…"

"Worse?" the redhead asked through gritted teeth. "You want to know what is worse?" Making a step forward with furious eyes, she didn't see how her friends turned their heads to each other as some objects began to shake violently. "It is worse to have a family that pretends to love you, but in fact they don't care. Since you threw my father out you did everything to prevent him from seeing me!"

"Because he never understood that you're sick!" the man shot back. "Stop talking to your mother like that!"

"Who are you to tell me what I have to do, Richard?!" Jean yelled and a vase crashed against the wall.

Seeing it the man only smirked at her arrogantly. "So you are not sick, hm? What was that then?" he asked and nodded the shattered object on the ground. "What kind of person are you to have children knowing that you are a complete psycho?"

"Richard!" the woman next to him tried to intervene, when Jean's eyes began to glow.

"I am NOT a psycho!" the redhead hissed completely outraged and every window in the mansion began to vibrate.

"Jean," Ororo said frightened and saw how the Professor approached. "We have to do something, she's getting too furious!"

Seeing the man and the woman, Charles' face turned into a mask. "I knew this would come…," he mumbled more to himself and turned around the small group to face the adults. "I must ask you to leave!"

"There is the right man," Richard spat and pointed at the furious redhead. "Look what you've done! It's even worse than before!"

"How could you not tell us that she was living here?" Elaine asked him in anger.

"After what you've done to her?" the Professor gave back. "I had to protect her from you!"

"Protect her FROM us?!" the man shot back furiously. "People have to be protected from her! How can you allow her to take care of those children or even go out?"

"Shut up!" Jean roared and covered her ears with her hands crying. "Make them go…"

"Go!" Charles said again and moved over to the door to make his demand more clear. "You are not welcome here. So please leave voluntarily or my people will make you go!"

Hearing their thoughts, which rushed like a wave over her, Jean backed off crying and looked at them in despair. The thoughts she heard too clear in her head were so full of shame, hatred and disgust that it made her sick. "Stop it…," she pleaded barely audible and shook her head.

"See?" Richard asked while he turned to the Professor. "She needs help! She is sick!" Looking at Elaine next he gave her an angry look. "I told you to send her back to the psychiatry. At least she was locked in there! She can't even take care of herself!"

About to touch Jean's shoulder, Scott froze when the redhead's head shot up in anger. "I can't take care of myself?" she asked aloud and more and more objects began to float. "Do you even know what I had to do after you just throw me out of my home without any money or food?! Do you?!" she demanded to know crying. "I had to sell myself to survive so don't give the shit that I can't take care of myself!" Staring at her in shock, Scott exchanged a look with the others. "I can't even tell you how much I hate the two of you for what you've done to me!"

"Hate us?!" Elaine asked her in shock. "Jean I am your mother!"

"You don't even deserve to be called a mother!" Jean shot back and shrieked when Richard was suddenly about to hit her. Closing her eyes and waiting for the pain, it didn't come. Slowly opening them again, she stared at the man in shock.

"Do ya ever dare to lay a hand on her once, bub, and you're dead," Logan growled and pushed the man roughly away. "You alright?" he asked her and positioned himself in front of her. Crying even harder, the redhead wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her face in his chest.

"I know you…," Richards suddenly said while he eyed Logan suspiciously. "You were in the park, too… Who the hell are you?!"

"Her husband," the mutant grunted and laid an arm around his wife's shoulder protectively. "And if I am not mistaken I heard Chuck telling ya to leave, right?"

Snorting in disgust, the man took Elaine's arm roughly. "I swear to God, Jean," he hissed and met the redhead's gaze. "Those children will not stay with a sick psychopath like you, mark my words! We'll do anything possible to take them home with us!"

"So that you can do the same to them you did to me?" Jean asked through gritted teeth and full of hatred. "I'll kill you if you ever lay a hand on them!"

Sighing, Elaine shook her head. "Do you start with that again, Jean?"

"Start?! How often did I tell you, how often did I came to you and begged you to help me?" Jean yelled at her crying even heavier. "You never believed me! Your own daughter, but this sick man!" Cocking an eyebrow at Richard, Logan began to think hard.

"You are sick, really," the man laughed derisively, since everyone was staring at him and then at Jean again. "We go!"

Watching them turning around, Logan made Jean look at him. "Did I just get this right and this bastard touched you?" he growled, but one look was enough to answer his question.

"No!" Jean shrieked and grabbed his arms sobbing. "Please, just let them go!" Burying her face in both hands she shook her head. "I only want them to leave…"

"Jean," he roared in a strong fit of rage. "This son of a bitch touched ya and ya just want me to let him go?!"

"What did you just call me?!" Richard barked at him and turned around with clenched fists.

"A son of a bitch, ya fuckin' asshole!" Logan shot back and glared at the man full of hatred, seeing that this one came closer. "If I were ya I'd think very carefully about my next actions, bub…" Growling he already went into a position to attack as Richard suddenly froze and looked at all of them in an odd way.

"I'm sorry again for the interruption," he said and turned around. "Come on, we go."

"Yes," Elaine nodded, behaving as oddly as he did.

Only staring at the couple in a confused way the mutants watched how the door was closed calmly. "What was that?!" Ororo asked and looked at Charles, while Jean clung to Logan crying who was as stunned as the others.

Moving closer to them, Charles looked at the picture of misery in Logan's arms with sympathy. "I erased every memory that had to do with Jean and made them believe they were mistaken about the address…"

"Does that mean they don't recognize Jeannie as their daughter anymore?" Logan demanded to know while he rocked her slowly back and forth.

"Yes. They never had a daughter with that name," the Professor explained and the man nodded. "When did you arrive?"

"Only a few minutes ago. I came in through the backdoor and heard her yellin'," Logan replied and stroked through Jean's hair soothingly. "You alright?"

"No…," she sobbed and clung even more to him.

"Jean…," Scott suddenly said calmly ad came a bit closer. "What did you mean with you had to sell…"

"Leave it!" Logan immediately growled warningly and cut him off; still remembering Jean's and his conversation in the hotel on their family trip. She'd said back then that she didn't want anyone else to know the truth about her past and he'd make sure it would stay that way.

"But…"

"No!" he hissed once more and pulled Jean with him. "Come on, we go upstairs!" Briefly stopping to take Jamie from Ororo he didn't react to the woman's confused look and only wrapped an arm around his wife to bring her into "safety".

Watching the couple Scott ran a hand through his hair and still had problems to understand what was going on. "What was this?!" he asked Charles, who still looked grimly and only waved off. "What did she mean with…?"

"Scott," the man replied and moved his wheelchair towards his office. "You heard what Logan said… Just leave her alone."

"So you know what's wrong all of a sudden?" Hank asked while Charles moved past him.

"Yes, I do…"

* * *

Upstairs, Logan went over to the bedroom after he'd placed Jamie into the cradle and sat down on the bed. Jean's desperate and heavy sobs only fueled his anger to extreme levels. If it was up to him, he'd first chop off this Richard guy's dick before he'd kill him slowly and painful. Reaching out he stroked over the red head's back soothingly, while she had her legs pulled close and the arms wrapped around herself. "Why did ya never tell me, Jean?" he asked calmly and bent down a bit. "Why did ya never tell me that your father abused ya?"

"He isn't my father," she replied through heavy sobs completely disgusted and had to cough. "My so called mother began to date this asshole after she threw my father out…"

"Hey, come here," Logan said and pulled her over into his arms since she'd to cough heavily again. "Ya need to calm down first. I don't want ya to choke yourself…"

Clinging to him she buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I hate them so much…," Jean sobbed after a moment and pulled a face. "Because of them the others now know what I am…"

"Which is?" he asked and stroked through her hair again. "Ya ain't this person anymore, darlin'. Ya only tried to survive on the streets and you've been a kid back then…"

Sitting up a bit she shook her head in pain. "You haven't heard their thoughts, Logan…," she said in barely more than a whisper. Noticing her hurt and suffering look his heart contracted painfully. Not able to hold his gaze the redhead looked down ashamed. "You haven't heard it…"

He couldn't help but look at her for a while before he sat up a bit to pull her close. "Ya know nothin' can change the way I think or feel about ya. I only don't get why ya never told me what this asshole did to ya…"

Resting her head on his shoulder tiredly, Jean wiped her tears away still sniffing from time to time. "Because I was over it… I was over it until I saw him again…"

"Did he rape ya?" he asked carefully and his heart began to hammer in his chest.

"No…not that." She shook her head. "I think he thought I wouldn't notice because of the pills they gave me…"

"What about guys in that psychiatry?" Logan asked after a moment and looked down on her while he still held her close. "Did anyone of them…"

Playing with his shirt absently, the redhead avoided his gaze. "Two had tried…," she replied barely audible.

"Bastards!" he growled and narrowed his eyes in hate.

Heaving a deep breath, Jean ran both hands through her face and sat up while she straddled him. "What about you?" she asked and met his eyes, entwining her hand with his as he reached out to touch her. "Have you found out anything at all?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

"Itsu's?"

Again Logan nodded but broke eye contact. "Yeah. Kawashima didn't know it. He went with me to a man to a neighboring village, who'd lived in Jasmine Falls before and who'd buried her. He told us then that she had a deep cut on her lower abdomen…"

"Those bastards…," she cursed through gritted teeth. Touching his cheek Jean pulled him close next.

Just holding each other for a while Logan gave her a serious look all of a sudden. "We need to sit down and talk…"

"About what?"

Sighing he leant his head against the wall behind him and just looked at her. "I need to tell ya some things…"

While her heart was in her mouth all of a sudden, Jean looked down. "You're…you're not got to leave me, are you?" she asked and raised her head only a bit since she was afraid of what he might say next.

"No!" Staring at her as if she had lost her mind, Logan cocked an eyebrow. "What makes ya even think that?"

"Because you sounded so determined and serious all of a sudden…," she replied barely audible.

Only shaking his head he pulled her into a kiss. "Nothin' can make me leave ya, Jeannie. I told ya before that I'd only leave if ya wanted me to…" He stroked over her cheek gently and smiled a bit when she leant into him again.

"I don't want you to leave ever," she mumbled into his neck and he had to chuckle.

"Well that's good to hear…"

* * *

Still playing the game on the outside, Jack didn't notice how Ororo beckoned them to come back inside for dinner first. Occupied with running around and trying to find a good spot to hide while it was Isa's turn to look for the rest, he nearly bumped into Laura, who was standing next to the stairs which led up to the terrace and back door. "Watch it!" he growled and wanted to run past her when he heard a growl from her. Narrowing his eyes he saw how the girl obviously went into a position to attack him. Not knowing what was wrong all of a sudden, he startled when she extracted her claws on both hands and went into a deep crouch; her coal black eyes burning into him. First making few steps back, the boy suddenly paused and began to growl back, not realizing that he had popped his claws in both hands, too.

In the meanwhile Isa had left the pond and began to look for her friends in the garden. She laughed when she saw TJ's glowing yellow eyes staring at her through the thicket. "Gottcha," she giggled and clapped both hands together.

"How?" the girl pouted and came out of it with a disappointed look.

"Your eyes," Isa laughed and took her hand to look for the others, just to let out the same shrill shriek as the girl next to her when they past the corner and saw the fight.

Inside the kitchen no one was aware of it until Logan suddenly stormed through the room and nearly smashed the back door to pieces when he opened it in a rush. "What was that?" Ororo asked the others since she'd only seen a shadow moving, but heard her daughter crying aloud all of a sudden. "Jesus, what's going on there?!" Getting of her stool she was greeted by TJ running towards her sobbing aloud and clinging to her legs while Isa threw herself at her father not minder crying.

"What's wrong?" Bobby asked worriedly and quickly checked if the girl was hurt when she wrapped her arms around his neck sobbing. He exchanged a questioning look with the weather goddess but she could only shrug.

"Oh…," Hank made and stared at the heavily breathing boy as Jack entered the kitchen covered in blood and still with a feral look in his eyes. "I think that explains everything…" With widened eyes he scanned the clothes of the boy that looked as if they'd lost one round against a shredder. "What happened to you?"

"He had a fight with that mean girl," Lily explained as she entered the kitchen, followed by Rachel.

"A fight?" Scott asked and gave him a proper look. "If he looks that worse what does she look like?" Watching how a deep cut on the boys arm and cheek began to heal he turned around a bit and whistled when a more than only pissed looking Logan reentered the kitchen. "I wouldn't like to be in your shoes now…," he added with a look on Jack, who only glared at his father.

"Go upstairs!" was all this one hissed angrily and crossed his arms. "And you can bet your butt that you gonna stay inside for the rest of the week!"

"But she attacked me!" Jack defended himself aloud and received another glare.

"I don't give a shit!" Logan shot back aloud. "I told ya not to use your claws against anyone else ever! You did it so deal with the consequences! And now get out of my sight and stay in your room!"

Clenching his fists while his eyes turned black in anger, Jack began to pant when tears filled his eyes. "She used them against me! I only…," he began when his father narrowed his eyes growling.

"Go…upstairs!" he said even louder and the boy turned around just to give the trash can a hard kick on his way out, nearly causing it to empty its contents on the clean floor. "That's two weeks!" Logan barked angrily and only heard how the door to the West Wing was slammed shut by his son. "God dammit…"

"What happened?" Ororo asked him worriedly and pulled TJ up into her arms.

"What happened?!" he grunted and gave her a pissed look. "My son and this copy thought it'll be nice to make ground meat of each other."

"And where is Laura now?" Hank asked him with a look out of the window.

"Hidin' on a tree," came the growled reply before he heaved a deep breath. "Sit down and eat," Logan said more calmly towards his daughters and went over to the fridge to prepare a bottle for Jamie.

"You're not mad with us, daddy, are you?" Rachel asked shyly and received a cocked eyebrow from her father while he froze in his movements.

"Why should I be mad with ya, pum'kin?" he asked and she shrugged. "See? Now eat somethin'. I'll be right back."

"Isn't Jean coming down to eat?" Ororo asked him in surprise but he shook his head. "Why not?"

"She has her reason, okay?" Logan gave back and left the room with the bottle in his hand.

"Jeez, is he grumpy again today…," the weather goddess sighed and sat down on her stool again.

"Isn't he always grumpy?" Scott asked her with a raised eyebrow and briefly turned his head towards the window. "What about Laura? It's already getting dark on the outside…"

"I don't want her inside," Lily said and gave him an angry look. "She attacked Jack."

"Well, but as far as I've heard he," the man began when a growl could be heard from the backdoor and a dirty and bloody Laura stood in the entrance. "I don't have to say anything else, do I?" he asked with a shocked look at the girl, whose eyes were fixed on Lily and Rachel. Seeing it the little redhead jumped of her stool and began to run away quickly, accompanied by a frightened cry. Upstairs she ran into her father who was just about to go downstairs again.

"What's wrong now?" he asked her in confusion since the girl clung to his legs with a firm grip.

"Did something happen?" Jean asked and came out of the bedroom with Jamie on her arms who was sucking on the bottle. "Sweety, what's wrong?"

"Is it her again?" Logan growled and pulled his girl up into his arms while he tried to soothe her.

"Yeah," Rachel cried into his neck and wrapped her arms around his neck firmly. "She's scary…"

Sighing in frustration he gave Jean a look. "I'll bring a tray up for ya later, okay?" he asked her and she nodded before she disappeared into the bedroom again.

"But Logan…," he heard her saying before he was about to close the door. "…let her live, okay?"

"I'll try," he replied with a grim look on his face.

**Okay, that's it. I know it doesn't happen a lot, but I had to deal with Jean's parents and explore the relationship between the kids and X23, since it will change in the next chapter. I know this one was short, but, hell, I still have writer blocks when it comes to Changes. LOL Hope you liked it and please review!!! See ya!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's note: **I hope the first scene isn't too long. I thought about splitting it, but well… I know the conversation is way too long, so please forgive me!!!

I remembered a review from **Ginnia** to Changes where she asked if Logan came up with the names of Jack and Lily, so in that chapter is the answer to it. ; )

Again this chapter is very J/L-heavy, sorry for that!

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 4**

It was a sunny and warm day in late October and Jean took her time to look around while she sat on the edge of the pond, whereas Logan sat cross-legged in the grass opposite of her. "What is it you want to tell me?" she asked after a moment and met his gaze, being able to tell from the way he looked at her that it was either something important or something shocking.

Sighing he leant back in the grass and supported himself with both arms as he raised his head a bit to watch a cloud in the blue sky. "About some things from my past," he replied and she could only nod. "I think you should know about it before any new surprises come up…"

"Like other wives and children?"

"There ain't other wives or children, Jean," Logan said with a look at her. "How much do ya know about Itsu?"

Recalling what she had been told during their stay in Japan, Jean shrugged. "Only what Ken told me… That you met her in Jasmine Fall, married her after four years and that she became pregnant… And that she was murdered…"

"Did he tell ya why I wasn't with her that night?"

"No." She shook her head and watched how he shifted his position in the grass.

"'Kay," Logan said and fixed his eyes on it, remembering what had happened back then. "Well the things he said are right. Back then I went to Jasmine Falls to tame the beast in me. I arrived in that village in 1970 and they allowed me to stay there. I had to build my own house and was further trained as a samurai. I met Itsu, we became closer and married after four years. One night she told me that she was pregnant. Every time a wife became pregnant they made a so called _test of worthiness_, a traditional celebration which is a fight between the husband and men of the village without any weapons, in which the husband has to prove his honor and worthiness to raise his own child. If he failed he had no right at all to care for it," he explained without looking up one. Still sitting on the pond Jean had listen attentively and paid attention to any changes within him she could usually pick up with her powers. But right now he was blocking her out. "Well,…I screwed up. There was an explosion in the mountains and my claws came out. Somethin' which hadn't happened in all those four years… I injured one man accidentally and failed the test. My wife was ashamed of me and I was regarded as unworthy. Since I'd lost my honor I spent the night at the waterfall and decided to leave and not to comeback before I was worthy enough to face my wife again, since I'd already lost the right to raise my child," he went on and heaved a deep breath. "So I went back and suddenly smelled her blood in the air. When I reached our house I found her dead on the floor. Someone had shot her. Since I could still pick up the scent of her murderer I went lookin' for him."

"Did you find him?" she asked but he shook his head.

"No… I ran into a group of samurai who'd waited for me. They caught me and the last thing I can remember is that I laid in the snow and couldn't move, while someone slaughtered them. All I know is that the scent was the same as I picked up before…"

She could tell that it still hurt him. Especially due to the new circumstances they'd become aware of only a few weeks ago. "You didn't go back to the village then?"

"No… I wanted to find that bastard," Logan replied darkly and clenched his fists behind him for a second.

"Do you think…," Jean began and looked for the right words. "…if Sinister was behind it that he wanted to lure you away so that he could get his hands on the baby?"

Meeting her gaze and not saying anything at all for a moment, Logan shrugged. "I don't know… The samurai-guy I met said that he wanted to free my inner beast, to purify and strengthen it before he'd forge it into something new."

Nodding with a frown the redhead briefly looked at the mansion. "How many months pregnant was she when it happened?"

Thinking hard he shook his head. "7 or 8 months… I don't know…"

"Did you…pick a name back then?" she asked carefully and noticed how he looked down with a strange expression in his eyes she'd rarely seen him use before.

"She wanted to name him Ichiro. It means first son…," Logan replied barely audible and his thoughts immediately drifted back again to the conversation he and Itsu had back then on a sunny day at the waterfall.

"And if it had been a girl?"

He let out a short derisive laugh. "Strangely as it is Yuri…"

"What's so strange about it?" she asked in confusion.

"It means Lily…," he said and gave her a look. "And I asked myself after the twins were born why I came up with that one…" He had to admit that he had never realized it before…

Thinking about what she had heard so far, Jean looked up into the sky again. "Funny thing is…," she said with an ironical shake of her head. "If it had never happened we'd have probably never met… Our children wouldn't exist, my life would probably be a mess because it was you who'd protected me back then after I came back… Rogue would be dead, we'd have very likely not been able to stop Magneto from wiping out half of New York City… Stryker would have gotten his hands on more children…" He chuckled all of a sudden. "What?"

"What are ya doin'?" Logan asked with a smirk.

"Thinking about the _what if_'s if she hadn't been killed and you' have stayed at Jasmine Falls with your wife and child… Or children which is more likely…," she explained and looked down when he shook his head.

"I wouldn't have stayed…"

"Why not?!" Jean asked with a frown.

"Thinkin' about it now it's not a life I could have let for long."

"But… I thought you were happy?"

"I was," Logan nodded just to shake his head briefly afterwards. "But in my training they taught me to keep my dark side hidden. And that's somethin' I can do for a while, but not forever. You've seen what happened if I keep him down for too long and he begins to hate it."

Remembering their fights, the redhead nodded. "Did you meet your other wife before or afterwards?" She watched him attentively and could tell that he was thinking very hard by the way his brows were furrowed. Up to know she only knew that she and the Professor had helped to bring a vague order into his returning memories. But she didn't know if it was a correct order or not.

"Before… I went to Japan after the Second World War," Logan said but sounded not so sure himself.

"You've fought in it?!" Jean asked since the fact surprised her more and he nodded. "In others, too?"

"Haven't counted'em," he shrugged.

"Logan…," she sighed and gave him her best _don't make me ask again_-voice.

"Why do ya wanna know?!" he asked annoyed and gave her a brief glare.

"Because you're my husband?!" she shot back and crossed her arms. "In which ones did you fight?"

Sighing, but knowing that starting a quarrel was the wrong thing to do, he gave her the desired answer. "First, Second, Vietnam…others…"

"The First?! But… How come you've fought in the first?!" Jean asked in total confusion and calculated quickly how old he had been back then. "I thought you lived in Alberta and worked in a mine?"

"I didn't fight in it from the beginnin', Jean," he briefly explained and watched how she ran a hand through her face first and shook her head next.

"But… Why did you leave Alberta?!"

"I had to…"

"Why?" He sighed again. "It was you who wanted to tell me some things, Logan!"

"Yeah, I know…," he quickly waved off with a growl. "But it leads back to my childhood…," Logan added and hoped she would leave it at that, but Jean didn't. Instead she shrugged and sat down next to him in the grass and he knew that she wanted all of it now. "Shoot!"

Sighing again he fixed his eyes onto the grass once more. "I had to flee after my mother threw me out. My teacher brought me away after my grandfather gave us some money and told us to leave and never come back…"

"Why did you have to flee?" she asked calmly and hugged her legs.

He let out a snort. "'Cause my dear half brother told them it was Rose and me who killed my parents and his father…"

"Who's Rose?" Jean asked with a frown since she'd never heard that name before.

Pausing for a moment, Logan met her gaze briefly and thought very hard what he should tell her about Rose. He wanted to tell her the truth and only the truth…. "My father brought her to our house so that I had someone who kept me company and taught me. I was pretty sick as a child and couldn't go outside very often…"

She nodded, remembering that he'd told her once how sick he'd been as a child. "So she went with you to Alberta?"

"No, we fled to British Columbia. Since we had nowhere else to go we ended up in a mining colony and stayed there. She renamed me into Logan and I had to work since otherwise we wouldn't have been allowed to stay…"

"But I thought you were sick?"

"My mutation kicked in when my father was shot. But since I'd been sick before and never had to work in my life before that day it was pretty tough…," he explained and gave her a brief look from aside, noticing her sympathetic look.

"So you lived together and what happened then?" Jean asked after a while and tried not to imagine what hi life must have looked like back then.

Fixing his gaze to the front again, he briefly cracked his neck. "She told me one day that she'd leave with my mentor and he wanted me to become the boss there…," he growled and instantly narrowed his eyes.

"But something happened?" Jean asked almost knowingly.

"How can ya tell?" Logan replied cynically. "Sabretooth showed up and we ended up fightin'. I didn't remember anythin' back then 'cause my mutation had made me forget what had happened in the house. But when he showed up I began to remember again. When I wanted to finish him, Rose showed up…"

"What happened?"

"She ran into my claws and I stabbed her…," he said calmly and lowered his head. "Well, I ran away and lived in the woods for some time. But I needed money and food so I ended up in the army in 1917."

While she had listened to him, the redhead had begun to play with the grass next to her. "Did you love her? Rose I mean…," she asked calmly and didn't turn her head when he nodded weakly.

"Yeah… Yeah I did…"

Nodding, too, Jean hugged her legs again and rested her head on it. "And after the war you met your wife?"

"Yeah. I travelled around a bit since I couldn't remember again what had happened before and landed in Japan. I met Mariko and we became close, but since her family was an old traditional one I wasn't good enough for her. Her father beat me in a fight and told her I was nothin' more than a lower animal and not worthy for a family like them. A few years later I went back and beat him. She decided to marry me no matter what her family said…"

"And they poisoned her?"

"Yeah… Nice as they were they picked a poison which didn't kill her instantly but slowly and painful. Since she was sufferin' so much, she asked me to kill her…"

Raising her head a bit she tried to get a look on his eyes. "Did you do it?" He nodded barely noticeable. "Do you have any children with her?"

"No… But we adopted a girl," Logan replied and she sighed. "Jean, I swear I didn't remember it first! And I didn't want to hurt ya…"

She shook her head. "I can't expect from someone who's nearly 118 years old that he never had other women, Logan…," Jean tried to soothe him. "Where's the girl now?"

"I don't know. When I left I brought her to a friend who wanted to take care of her…"

"How old is she by now?"

Thinking, Logan looked into the sky again and suddenly frowned. "I was wrong…"

"About what?" she asked confused.

"I met Mariko before Vietnam for the first time and returned after the war. Afterwards I went to Jasmine Falls…," he corrected and looked at her. "Sorry, but some things are still…blurry. Amiko must be…in her mid forties by now…"

"Have you ever tried to find her?" Jean asked but he shook his head.

"Well I can't reappear after so many years again, can I? And I doubt she'll recognize me. She was three or four years old when we adopted her…"

"Any other women I should know about?" the redhead asked next.

"I lived with a Native American woman for some years…," he replied truthfully. "Silver Fox…"

"What happened to her?" Jean demanded to know knowingly since he had that look in his eyes again.

"Sabretooth raped and killed her…"

Sighing in frustration, she couldn't help but shake her head. "What is the story between the two of you? Why does he kill nearly every woman you're with?"

"I don't know…," Logan said and gave her a brief look. "We were best friends as children, but the older he became the more he turned into a psycho, thanks to his father…"

She saw the hate in his eyes. "I think he's your father, too…"

His head jerked into her direction with a warning look in it. "My father s the man who raised me! Not that drunkard-son of a bitch," Logan growled coldly and made her look down.

"But if he hates his father… Why does he hate you so much?"

"I think he loved his father in a sick way. And he hates me for killin' him and lookin' like him… But in fact, I don't know…"

Waiting for him to say anything else, she noticed that it obviously was all he wanted to tell her. "Nothing else?" Jean nevertheless asked and received a cocked eyebrow.

"Well, what else do ya wanna hear?"

"Two things actually…"

"'n what?" He watched how she touched his legs and parted them to sit down on his lap astride. Seeing it Logan had to frown even more. "Wasn't it you who bellyached about others being able to see us in the pool?!" he asked and received a look from her.

"I always wanted to know…," the redhead said and looked at his eyes curiously. "…how your senses work…"

"Eh?" he made and only waited for her to pull a scalpel out of nowhere.

"I mean what seeing and hearing is like for you," she explained.

"Loud'n sharp," he grunted and made her sigh.

"Seriously Logan!"

"How do ya wanna test it?!"

"By taking a look…," Jean said and raised her hands a bit. "Do you mind?"

Still sceptical since he hated to be experimented on, he nodded at them. "Will it hurt?"

"No… Maybe feel a bit funny. I don't even know if it'll work at all."

"Try…," Logan shrugged.

"Look at something which is far away," she told him and waited for him to turn his head and look at the flowers in front of Ororo's and Kurt's bedroom, which she couldn't even really see from where they sat. Her hear began to race in curiosity and she took his hands into hers, concentrating in his mind. She suddenly gasped as she suddenly sees the small yellow flowers through his eyes, seeing the finest and tiniest detail if them. She heard leaves moving in the wind as loud ad if it was stormy, heard voices from within the mansion as if people were directly standing next to her… The small droplets that fell from the highest point of the pond into the water were so loud as if someone was clapping his hands right at her ears. Jean used his eyes to take a look around and stop at a net curtain at a window that was far away and saw it so clear that she could count the stitches if she wanted to. On the inside a kettle suddenly whistled and she had to let go of his hands with a shocked gasp, since the sound was roaring in her ears as if someone was blowing into a whistle right next to her ear. "Jeez…," Jean panted and held her head with a painful look. "How can you deal with that?!"

Rubbing his eyes briefly, Logan shrugged. "Experience… I only hear things as loud as ya might have now if I really want to. Satisfied now?" he asked slightly amused but also worried since she was rubbing her temples. "Believe me, ya don't want t'know what noises I can pick up sometimes at night… What's the other thing?"

She shook her heard briefly to get rid of the roaring in her ears. "I want an honest answer on this one!"

"'Kay…"

"You still have nightmares, haven't you?" she asked and he looked away. "Every time I wake up at night you're gone… Do you have nightmares again?"

"Not really…," Logan replied calmly.

"But?"

"Some memories come up from time to time… And I feel when Jamie's awake."

"But those memories are nightmares?" Jean demanded to know with a stern look.

"Sometimes…"

"Why didn't you tell me?!"

"'Cause it ain't that bad, Red," he gave back but still she sighed. "Anything else?"

"No…," she grunted and gave him a look.

"Sourpuss," Logan mocked and kissed her. "Can we stay here a bit longer?"

Jean shrugged. "Yes, I think so…"

"Good." With and easy movement of his arm he'd grabbed her waist and let himself fall backwards with her half on top. The sun shone warm and he closed his eyes to enjoy it while he stroked over her waist, whereas Jean rested her head on his chest and wrapped her arm around his waist.

"Satisfied now?"

"Hm…," Logan made and used his free arm as a pillow.

Only smiling, she closed her eyes. "I take that as a yes…"

* * *

Later that day while they prepared to go down for dinner, Logan went into the twins' room and found Jack sitting on the bed, legs pulled close and glaring at him. "You comin'?" he asked but the boy shook his head. "How long do ya wanna sit here and go on poutin'?" Logan asked and leant against the door with him arms crossed. "It won't change the fact that ya stay inside for two weeks, kid!" 

"But she attacked me! I only defend myself," Jack began to cry and threw his pillow to the ground. Seeing it, Logan sighed and closed the door behind him to sit down on the edge of the bed. "And you said that we should defend ourselves if someone attacks us. And I did!"

"But not with your claws!" the adult shot back with a stern look. "There are other ways to defend yourself without makin' ground meat of each other." Hearing the boy sobbing into his soft wolf, he sighed and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Look… I'll teach ya, okay? But I don't want ya to use your claws ever again except your life is at stake, do ya understand that?"

Jack nodded still sniffing. "Good. And now come on. Dinner's ready."

"No…"

"Why not?" Logan asked in confusion when the boy sat up and pulled on his messy hair angrily. "I see… Come on." Pulling him up he walked over to the bathroom and put him down on the toilet before he looked for his beloved hair gel. "Don't tell mommy!" he warned since Jean thought their children first, didn't need any of _this stuff_ already, except it was for a special occasion, and second, she thought it was rather cute when the hair of her two men stuck up into every direction. Logan didn't even remember anymore how often he'd left the bathroom in complete frustration since she had hidden his hair gel again in hope he would leave his apartment like that. Thank God he always knew where she hid her things and one sniff was always enough to find his gel anyway. Looking at his work, he had to smirk when his son cocked an eyebrow at him. "Like that?"

"No…," the boy pouted and crossed his arms. "I wanna have them like you…"

Scratching the back of his neck Logan shrugged. "'Kay… But I think it's too short for that."

"Then I'll let it grow," Jack said and made his father chuckle. "And when mommy wants to cut my hair again, I'll hide."

"Good," Logan smirked and concentrated hard on his son's unruly hair.

When they reached the kitchen later, he received a groan from his wife. "What?!"

"Look at that," Ororo commented and looked at Jack curiously while his sister began to pluck on his hair, which he commented with a growl. "Now he really looks like a small copy…"

"Stop that!" the boy cried and slapped Lily's hand away to protect his hair.

"You found the gel again?" Jean asked and crossed her arms while she received a smirk from her husband.

"Yeah, got a problem with that? And besides it was either hair or hiding in the room for your son," he said and sat down on a stool.

"But I like it more when it's…fluffy," the redhead pouted and made the girls in the room giggle.

"Fluffy?" Moira asked and gave Logan's hair a sceptical look.

"Yeah, fluffy," Jean said and sat down next to him while he gave her a glare, since he hated the word _fluffy_ being in one sentence with his hair.

"Logan's hair is fluffy?" Ororo asked not minder sceptical than Moira and made all men except Logan grin in amusement. "That's news…"

"Right, make a big red X in your calendar, 'Ro, in case ya forget about the news," Logan grunted and began to eat.

"Now he's a sourpuss again," the weather goddess joked with a smirk at Jean.

"Where's she?" he asked instead and everyone new instantly who the _she _was.

"In her room," Scott replied while he had a hand on Mystique's shoulder and looked at his son in her arms. "Said she doesn't want to come out…"

"Good," came the grunted reply.

"I'll get her," Jean said and got up to hand Jamie over to Logan when she received a glare from him. "She needs to eat!"

"Then bring her somethin'," he growled and eyed his youngest son curiously. "What have ya done with his hair?!"

"Tamed it," she gave back and left the room, not seeing the smirk on his lips.

"Come over here for a second," Logan said to Jack who did as he was told and frowned when his father touched his hair first and began to run this through Jamie's next.

"What are you doing, daddy?" Lily asked him curiously and leant forward to have a better look.

"Annoying your mommy again I suppose," Hank mumbled and shook his head with a hidden grin. "She'll kill you Logan…"

"Now ya look good!" this one smirked and kissed the baby on the cheeks.

"Yes, she will definitely kill you for that," Ororo added and had to giggle as Jean already came back with Laura on her hand.

"Here, sit down," she said gently and helped the girl onto a stool before she filled a plate and glass for her. She noticed that the girl glared at her children but avoided Logan's eyes on purpose. "What are you smirking at?" the redhead asked in confusion since he had this dangerous glint in his hazel pools which always told her that he was up to no good. And the giggles she could hear from her children only made it worse. Then she saw it… "Oh, Logan!" Jean cried and stared at the four long spikes that stuck up into every direction and which had been Jamie's thick, but soft hair before. "You are such a big child!" she scolded him and tried to change it. "Go upstairs and wash his hair!"

"Nope," he smirked. "I'll sit here and eat now, darlin'!" Receiving a glare for it she was about to reply something as Isa suddenly let out a loud shriek and her stool made a shattering noise when it hit the ground. Being awoken by it, Alex and Tommy began to pull a face, but Jamie only opened his eyes briefly before he fell asleep again.

"Mommy!" the girl cried and ran around the corner to throw herself at the smiling woman, who suddenly stood inside the door. Beginning to sob heavily Isa wrapped her arms around Rogue's neck. "Mommy…"

"That's a surprise, " Ororo mumbled and looked to and fro between Rogue and Remy.

"I missed you so much," Rogue sobbed and pulled her daughter even closer since she had last seen her on Isa's birthday in August when the girl had visited them in France.

"Where are you guys suddenly come from?" Scott asked them and tried to soothe the crying boy on his arm again while Mystique patted the baby's back.

"We decided to move back," Remy replied, his voice still thick with a French accent. "Remy wanted to call, but den we just left, non?" Kissing her daughter once more, Rogue let go of her and stood up, seeing the surprised look the girl gave her belly.

"Someone was either bored or had a lot of time, eh?" Logan smirked and handed Jean the boy when Rogue had spotted him and began to walk over.

"Logan," the young woman said happily and pulled him into a strong embrace. "God, I've missed you, too!"

Chuckling he kissed her cheek. "That's good to hear!"

"Logan, her skin!" Ororo suddenly shrieked and made him jump since he hadn't noticed the contact. Frowning he reached out to take her hand into his.

"What's that?!" he asked with a cocked eyebrow.

Smiling happily, Rogue shrugged. "It just happened… I was at the beach while Remy was at work and suddenly a boy screamed for help in the water. I had no other choice than help him, but when I touched him nothing happened… Somehow I can switch my powers on and off all of a sudden. I don't know…" She shrugged. "But it's great!" she added with a happy smile.

"You should tell Charles about it," Jean said and the woman nodded before she hugged Bobby and the rest of her friends.

"Boy or a girl?" Hank asked her smiling with a nod at her belly.

Touching it, Rogue smiled. "A boy…"

"Congrats," Scott smiled.

Coming closer again with Isa on his arm, Remy wrapped an arm around her waist. "Remy can see dat some dings 'ave changed," he said and nodded at the boy in Mystique's arms. "Many babies, non?"

"Many is good," Hank laughed. "Call it a baby boom we had this year, my friend!"

"You have another baby?" Rogue said excited and Jean waved off.

"Don't look at him too closely," the redhead warned while Marie looked at the baby curiously. "This nursery child of a husband is acting childish again today." Logan answered with a snort only.

"Isn't that always the case?" the younger woman laughed and touched the spiky hair briefly. "What's his name?"

"Jamie," Logan replied and Rogue nodded before she looked at Scott.

"And yours?"

"Alex," the man said with a proud smile, just to receive a hard nudge from aside and groaned in annoyance due to Mystique's glare. "Okay… Alex Logan, but he's called Alex."

"I see," Marie smiled. "And yours, 'Ro?"

"TJ!" TJ cheered but Ororo shook her head smiling.

"Tommy Joshua, but it's only Tommy," she explained and giggled when her daughter pouted.

"Remy dinks someone else 'ad too much time, non?" Remy smirked and gave each new parent a look. "What do you think, mon petite?"

"Definitely!" Rogue laughed. "And who's that?" she asked with a nod at Laura and could tell that the mood suddenly changed in the room. Frowning she looked around.

"Long story," Scott only said. "But since I'm sure the two of you have a lot to tell us…"

"I'd bet not as much as we have to tell them," Hank corrected him.

"True. Anyway, we do an exchange later, what do you think?"

"Sure," Rogue smiled and leant back against Remy.

"You must be hungry," Jean smiled. "Come on, sit down. I'll just get two more stools."

"Remy will help you," the man said and followed her.

"They have grown a lot," Rogue said to Logan and nodded and his children. "And he's really too cute," she smiled at the boy and saw his smirk. "Yes, I know… Of course he is, since he's your kid." She giggled when he nodded. "How old is he? And I can't believe you didn't say anything at all on the phone!"

"It's a long story!" Logan replied and remembered the attack on the mansion too well. "And he was born on August 17th."

"August 17th?" she asked and he nodded again. "But…Jean wasn't pregnant in January as far as I know. You would have told me…"

Hearing the rather disappointed undertone, Logan met her gaze. "As I said, long story. I'll tell ya later!" Only nodding, Rogue waited for Remy to return. "When are ya due?"

"Around the last week of December…"

"That's soon," he commented and she nodded. "So…ya wanna stay or do ya intend to go back again?"

"Actually I asked the Professor if we can move in again…," the woman replied calmly and received a cocked eyebrow. "Well, we had some problems in France…and I want to see Isa more often. So he said he would be glad if we moved back in due to some circumstances he wanted to tell us later about."

"I see," Logan nodded. "I can tell ya so much that the circumstances have to do with the long story-part," he added and reached out to sip on his soda when Jean and Remy came back in. The look she gave him spoke volumes. "Would ya hold him?" he asked a surprised Rogue, since Jean had practically ordered him to come outside with him.

"What?" he asked and closed the backdoor behind him while she gave him a glare.

"Why can't you just accept her? Or even at least try it?" she demanded to know angrily and ignored the looks the others gave them from inside, since no one of them understood what was wrong all of a sudden? "And don't give me that look now, Logan! You know perfectly well who I am talking about!"

"I doubt she gives him a sermon because of the hair," Mystique commented and watched how Logan began to cross his arms and glare back at his wife.

"It's because of her," Jack grunted at nodded at Laura, who growled back.

"It's always because of her," Rachel added but looked away when the feral gaze of the girl bore itself into her.

"Don't ya think I did?" Logan shot back. "I tried to find any connection to her, but I can't!"

"No, you won't!" Jean gave back.

"No, I can't!" he growled and looked away.

The redhead only nodded. "So you can honestly say that you absolutely don't care about her?" she demanded to know with a knowing look, since she knew that he can't.

"Call it whatever ya want," he grunted with a simple shrug.

"You've never been a good liar!" she spat and began to walk towards the backdoor again. "And besides, she's jealous. That's the only reason why she keeps on attack our children. She's lonely Logan…"

"It's her own fault, ain't it?" he asked arrogantly.

"Oh, don't even dare to try that on my now!" Jean said angrily. "She was sitting in a corner of her room and cried. Damn it, Logan, she seeks a connection to you, don't you see that? So stop behaving like a complete asshole when it comes to Laura and take care of her!" With that she opened the door and went back inside, followed closely by the looks of the others and him. She only rolled her eyes in annoyance since the look he gave her spoke volumes.

"Why should I take care of her, eh?" Logan asked after a moment and gave Laura a brief look. "Guys," Ororo quickly intervened. "Please, not now! First, we want to eat, second, here are children in the room and third, you don't want to do this in front of her, right?" she asked with a nod at Laura.

"I don't give a shit if she's in here, Storm, or not," he shot back with a low growl and a warning look in his eyes.

"But I do care if you are using words that are not meant for children's ears, Logan!"

"Bite me!"

"Would you stop that now?" Jean scolded him sharply.

"You started it, darlin'! So deal with it and now lemme eat!" he hissed and ignored her, while Laura jumped off her stool panting and with clenched fists. Thinking that she would start another fight, the others were surprised when she gave him a hurt look only and ran out of the room.

"Great Logan!" Jean hissed angrily. "Well done! Go after her and get her back!"

"Hell I'm gonna do," he shot back. "Ya care for her, then keep her company, but she's not layin' a hand on my kids ever again!" Groaning in anger while her eyes glowed for a brief moment, she slammed her fork onto the table and left the room. Hearing the annoying _tap tap tap _Ororo made with her nails on the table, he began to growl. "Would ya cut it off?!"

"No," she gave back. "Get her back, Logan!"

Rolling his eyes he gave his children a look. "Ya in for a pizza?" he asked and ignored the woman's loud protest completely. "'Kay, then come on. Would ya be so nice and take care of him?" he asked Rogue next and nodded at Jamie, who only looked to and fro between him and the furious weather goddess, but nodded weakly. "Thanks!" Logan growled and was about to walk through the door when a loud _kraboom_ on the outside made the windows vibrate violently. Cocking an eyebrow at the sudden heavy storm which made it impossible to go out, he slowly came closer and gave the woman with the complete white eyes a furious look. "Ya think that's funny?"

"Go…and get her back!" Ororo hissed and another lightning bolt hit the ground.

"No…I won't," Logan gave back in the same low voice and his children hid behind his legs since they'd never seen her aunt being so mad before. "Go on playin' _Ice Age _if it makes ya happy, but ya can't make me do it, Storm!" He beckoned his children to follow him, while Ororo gritted her teeth in anger.

"I could have told you before that your show is useless," Hank shrugged. "You know him… As stubborn as the Great Wall of China in a folded version. And you know perfectly well how he reacts if someone attacks his children!"

"So you think that was okay just now?" Scott asked him, but the mutant shook his head.

"No, I said he has a point, he just doesn't know how to express it in a proper way… At least not when he's angry…"

* * *

A few days later after the whole situation had calmed down a bit again, Logan helped Ororo to prepare the dinner, since it was again his duty for the week. "Where are your children?" she asked him since it was so calm in the house, but he only snorted. 

"Ordered to play outside with that copy," he growled and threw the potato into the water.

"Come on… It's good if she has contact with the others. It doesn't mean that they won't get along or that anything happens…"

"Whatever," he grunted when the backdoor opened and his three children stormed back inside, followed slowly by Laura, who waited at the door and watched them in interest.

"Daddy?" Lily pouted and hugged his leg, a sign which told him immediately they wanted something and if possible, now. "Can we have an ice?"

"Please?" Rachel added and used her best puppy-dog eyes look she had.

"Ice, huh? Ya know that we have dinner in a bit more than one hour, right?" Logan asked with a cocked eyebrow and Lily cuddled up to his leg.

"Daddy, please?" she pouted and he let out a groan.

"Alright, alright…" Waving off he walked over to the fridge to get three popsicles out of it. "But…," Logan added and held them back when they reached out to take them from him. "I wanna see ya eat normal stiff later, got that?" he asked with a stern look and they nodded.

"Thanks, daddy!" Jack smiled and ran out of the backdoor again, followed by his sisters.

"Don't tell Jean!" Logan warned Ororo playfully, but she only giggled.

"My lips are sealed!" she assured him with a wink and took a pan, when someone suddenly pulled on his shirt and made him look down.

"Me, too, daddy?" Laura asked and jumped when the pan hit the floor with a shattering noise as Ororo turned her head to stare at her in shock. Staring at the girl with widened eyes first, who didn't know what was wrong all of a sudden, she looked at Logan, who had his eyes narrowed and was clearly boiling from within.

"Please?" Laura added with a look at him and watched how he walked over to the fridge and handed her an ice later. "Thanks!" she smiled and walked towards the backdoor again to join the others at the pond, not seeing the looks of both adults that followed her.

"She…she can call you daddy?" Ororo asked him in disbelief.

"No… She only repeats what she hears. She doesn't know what it means," he growled and turned to the vegetables again.

"Yeah, but still she just called you daddy…," the woman gave back and stared out of the window.

"Not for long, mark my words…," Logan growled and threw another potato into the water.

* * *

November past and December arrived in a rush, turning the warm air on the outside into a freezing cold surrounding. Even if there wasn't any snow up to now, to the great disappointment of the children, who kept on begging Ororo to change it, the cold wind was simply something you'd gladly miss. While she strolled around in the garden, Ororo stopped in surprise when she saw Jean sitting on the edge of the pond and staring into the frozen water. "Hey," she said and the redhead turned her head in surprise. 

"Hey…," came the whispered reply which made the weather goddess frown in concern.

"Did you cry?" she asked and sat down next to her, laying a hand on her friends shoulder. "Hey, what's wrong? Did something happen?"

"Logan is going to kill me, 'Ro…," Jean replied with a suppressed sob and bit her lip hard.

"Why?" Ororo frowned and tried to figure out what was so wrong all of a sudden.

"I still haven't gotten my period…."

"But Jean… Maybe it just takes a bit longer. Especially your body has made changes during the pregnancy with the healing factor and all," she tried to soothe redhead and squeezed her shoulder briefly.

"You don't understand!" this one said aloud and got up. "Especially because of the healing factor my body should work normally again. Logan said that it woks in that way…" Running both hands through her face, she shook her head in despair. "God, he said that he'll kill me…"

"Ten he should have watched it!" Ororo said with a sharp undertone to show her that she couldn't blame herself.

"He wanted to. He even tried to steel condoms from Scott and Hank. It was me who pushed him too far," Jean explained and sat down again to bury her face in her hands.

"Make a scan…," the other woman tried to soothe her and patted her back. "Maybe it's nothing…"

"The darn scanner is broken again."

"Then a test?"

"We don't have any tests anymore. I already looked for them and turned the whole basement into a garbage dump."

Sighing, Ororo ran a hand through her face in search for any solution. "A blood test?"

"I don't want anyone else to know…," the redhead cried.

"Well, you can do it," the other woman shrugged and earned a look.

"You know that I can't. I can't stand drawing my own blood…" Heaving a deep breath she sat on the edge like a picture of misery. "Tell me what to do…!" Jean said despaired and crying.

"Logan won't kill you Jean!" Ororo tried once more to soothe her. "Ask Moira to make a blood test. You know that she isn't one for gossiping around. And now come on. It's cold and Logan was already looking for you since dinner is ready."

"I can't face Logan like that," Jean sobbed and wiped her tears away.

"Then tell him a lie!"

"You know perfectly well that you can't lie to him. He can always tell if someone's not saying the truth…"

"Come on!" Groaning in frustration, Ororo just took her hand and dragged her over to the back door. When they entered the kitchen, Logan immediately turned his head and gave his wife a suspicious look. "Where have ya been?" he asked with a frown and watched her sitting down next to him. "Did ya cry?"

Trying to smile, Jean shook her head. "I'm okay…," she assured him.

Only nodding, he turned towards his food again. "Okay, huh. Sure… Ya always cry when you're okay…," she heard him saying mentally and her heart kicked into high gear. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she replied on the same way and was glad that he didn't say anything further. Later she laid awake in bed four hours and couldn't find any sleep as the light was suddenly switched on. "That's it, Jean! Ya gonna tell me now what's wrong and don't give me the _I'm fine_-shit!" he grunted annoyed. "Why are ya cryin' again?" Reaching out since she didn't say anything he turned her around. "What's wrong? What are ya so scared of?"

"You…," Jean whispered and let out a sob while he stared at her in confusion.

"Me?" Logan asked in disbelief and shook his head. "Why me?!"

"Because you said you'd kick me if something happens…," she cried and sobbed into her pillow.

"Jean… What are ya talkin' about?" Logan asked confused and watched how she pulled her legs close; a gesture she always did when she wanted to protect herself.

"The night on the balcony…," she said barely audible after an eternity and closed her eyes tightly, waiting for his outburst.

Sitting up in a rush when the news sank in he couldn't help but glare at her. "Damn it, Jean!" Logan said aloud and made her wince. "I told ya it was possible!"

"I know…," she gave back crying and looked at him with a tearstained face.

"How do ya wanna do it, eh? With four children, that copy and Jamie's powers already showin'? How do ya wanna handle another kid?"

"I don't know if I'm pregnant!" Jean gave back angrily through her sobs and watched how he got up and shook his head growling.

"Then make a damn fuckin' test, dammit!" he roared and left to go downstairs. Right now he needed to calm down and a beer, maybe a cigar, too. Entering the kitchen he glared at the two persons who were already in it. "What are ya doin' here?"

"Actually…we live here, if that's okay for you," Hank replied.

"Someone got out of the wrong side of the bed, hm?" Moira added with her hand still on Hank's shoulder.

Watching how Logan opened a beer roughly and sat down with a more than pissed look on his face, the blue mutant quickly figured out what the problem was. "Is it because of the blood test Jean asked for?" he asked carefully and only received a snort.

"Well, you know that you've no reason at all to be pissed off, right?" the woman added and a glare was her answer. "Jean can't become pregnant without you adding a part to it!"

"Would ya just shut up?!" Logan hissed in a low voice and made Hank get up.

"Come on, let's go!" this one said and led Moira back to the door, where he stopped again. "Just for you to remember, Logan, but it was you who said after Ray was born _if she wants four, it'll be four and if something happens in between it happens_! So deal with the consequences and stop behaving like a complete asshole!" Glaring at him briefly, Hank left the room angrily.

Upstairs, Logan entered the bedroom again after nearly an hour of glaring at his beer, just to find Jean standing at the window and staring out of it. Remaining at the door first, he finally closed it and went over to her, pulling her close from behind. "What do we do if I'm pregnant?" Jean asked him barely audible and still crying silently.

"Deal with it…," he replied calmly into her neck and made her turn around in his grip.

"Logan we can't have a baby. Not now. Not with everything that is going on right now…"

"What else do ya wanna do?" Logan asked in return and she looked down. "Get rid of it? I know ya could never do that!"

Leaning her head against his chest with a deep sigh, she shook her head. "But I can't deal with another baby right now… God, I don't know what to do…"

"How about sleepin'?" he asked and shoved her over to the bed again where he laid down next to her after he'd tucked her in. While she stared at him he bent over her and pulled a strand out of her face. "If you're pregnant we'll become this child. I'd never accept if ya get rid of our baby," he said softly and wiped the new tears away gently. "It's our fault so we'll deal with it somehow, okay? You're not alone in this…" She sighed. "And now sleep!" Kissing her softly, Logan turned around to switch off the light.

On the next morning Jean went down early to prepare the breakfast since she couldn't find any sleep anymore. "Hey, has Logan calmed down again?" Ororo asked her, who was already putting plates onto the counter and looked at her curiously.

"What do you mean?" the redhead asked her in confusion.

"Hank was here a few minutes ago and said that Logan was in more than a bad mood at night. He's still mad with him for snapping at them," the woman explained and crossed her arms before she leant against the counter. "So you told Logan I suppose?" The redhead nodded weakly. "And his reaction was not so nice, huh?"

Sitting down with a cup in both hands, Jean shook her head. "No… At least not at the beginning…"

Being surprised Ororo sat down next to her. "He changed his mind afterwards? How come?"

"I don't know…"

"And what did you guys decide?"

"He said that it's our fault so we'll deal with it. But he has the same opinion like me… I don't know what to do if the test is positive, 'Ro…," Jean replied with a sigh and put the cup down to support herself with both elbows on the counter before she lowered her head, burying her hands in her hair. "Logan said he'd never accept if I'd an abortion and I could never do that, but…" She shook her head while heaving a deep breath. "He said if I'm pregnant then we become the baby and deal with it somehow, but I can't find any solution for the somehow, you know?"

Nodding, Ororo laid an encouraging hand on her shoulder. "Well, you know that the two of you have plenty of help here, right?"

"I know… But it's not just dealing with a baby after the birth, it's everything that comes with it. Especially now…," Jean said and turned her head a bit.

"And what would be if Jamie didn't show any powers already?" Ororo asked her. "What would you do then?"

"It would be a different thing. But I doubt I'd be so happy about it either…," the redhead replied and moved over to her casual stool as the others entered. She was thankful that her children were still asleep, due to the fact that it was Saturday and they loved to sleep as long as they could. Being not completely with it the whole time through, Jean didn't notice how Logan sat down next to her first, and that Moira appeared only minutes later after the others were nearly finished with their breakfast.

"Hank left this for you. He's worked the whole night on it," she told them and made Logan and Jean look up. "I haven't read it."

"What's it?" he demanded to know and handed Jean the envelope.

"The test results, I suppose," Moira answered and yawned. "If you don't mind, but I go back to bed!"

Turning his head, while Jean was staring at him frightened, Logan beckoned her to open it. Doing it with shaking hands he watched her closely and focused his senses on her, as she got up and read through the paper. He only saw how she suddenly began to pull a face and leant back against the counter with her back to them, while her hands slowly sank and the paper fell to the ground. Burying her face in her hands, whereas the others, except Ororo, exchanged confused glances, Jean began to sob…

**Actually I wanted to end it where Laura calls Logan daddy, but well, you know that I'm evil. LOL Thanks for all the nice reviews and I hope you liked the chapter. The scene here is pre-written and continues in the next chapter. I also worked on a plan yesterday, so that I know what will happen in the upcoming chapters. I can only promise you…you'll be more than surprised. ; ) At least I hope so. LOL Anyway, please review and see ya!!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Author's note: **Guys, I just noticed that I messed up with the timeline. LOL And that totally. I miscalculated some things and have to change them. So, forget about Logan's age. In this chapter here is the correct one. I only have to correct the old chapters. So, here is the correct timeline:

**Changes: **begins 2006, the twins were born May 10th 2008, the wedding was May 10 2009

**Changes Sequel: **begins May 11 2013, since Ray was three and was born February 15th 2010, Logan goes to Japan and comes back June 2014, Jake was born February 15 2014, Jamie was therefore born August 17 2015.

**Changes Sequel 2: **Plays 2015, therefore, since Logan was born 1897, he's not as mentioned earlier 114, but 117 and Jean's already 40 in this sequel.

**I am so, so sorry for this confusion but I just noticed it!!!**

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 5**

"What's wrong?" Scott asked in confusion and watched how Logan got off his stool, completely ignoring the others, to pull the crying redhead close. He got even more confused when Jean wrapped her arms around her husband's waits and sobbed into his chest. He knew something was wrong, seriously wrong indeed when she was crying that heavily and he had a grave look on his face. "Hey, what's wrong?!"

"What does it say?" Logan asked her calmly and heard her voice answering in his head, since she was unable to speak at all due to her heavy sobs. Pulling her even closer, he began to rock her slowly back and forth, knowing that it usually soothed her.

Turning his head, Scott frowned since everyone except Ororo seemed to don't know about the situation. She was watching the couple in sympathy and it made him suspiciously. "Jeez, what's wrong?" he asked her. "Which results?"

Ignoring him, the weather goddess looked at Logan. "Logan?" she asked carefully and waited for him to look at her. "Is she?" As an answer he only shook his head and she let out a sigh in relief. "Thank God…"

"What?!" Scott asked again and she groaned in annoyance.

"Nothing!"

Since she'd waited at the door, Moira took the letter and envelope from the ground to read through it quickly. "Maybe you only need to wait a bit more…," she suggested and Jean, who still leant against Logan's chest, nodded sniffing.

"Now stop cryin'… And don't shock me again like this!" Logan said calmly. "Ya nearly gave me a heart attack, Red!" He frowned since Moira had a second letter in her hand and was reading through it with a frown.

"But there's something wrong with your blood…"

"What?!" he asked and Jean turned her head to stare at her in surprise.

"I don't know, but Hank has left a note that he'd like to check on it… We check later, okay?" Moira asked tiredly and put both letters back before she left the kitchen, leaving a shocked and scared redhead behind her.

"Hey, maybe it's nothin'…," Logan tried to soothe her and pulled her close again. "Try to calm down…"

"Mommy?" a voice suddenly said from the door and made Ororo turn her head. Rubbing her eyes sleepily, TJ had her favorite plush bear, which hung down to the ground, in one hand and looked at her yawning

"What is it, dear?" the woman asked and walked around the corner.

"Tommy is crying. I can't sleep…," the girl pouted and was lifted up by her mother.

"Is daddy still sleeping?"

"He's running around the room," TJ answered and only her mother could understand what that meant.

"Okay, come on," Ororo said and left with her quickly, hoping that the boy hasn't already reached his high pitched voice which always made her ears roar. When she reached the corridor, she could already hear the baby and it didn't take long before some door opened and a more than tired looking Kitty and Jubilee appeared. "I am sorry!" the weather goddess instantly said with sympathy in her voice.

"If I know one thing," Kitty replied. "…then that I won't have a baby with him. He doesn't even stir in his sleep."

"Right, Popsicle, neither," Jubilee yawned.

"That's the point!" her friend replied. "And what tells us this great behavior? That it would be us who have to get up every time. So…no thanks!"

"I'm really sorry that Tommy woke you," the woman said again and opened the door to her room, finding Kurt just about to sit down on the bed while he rocked the baby back and forth in his arms. "What's wrong with him?" she asked and put TJ down, who immediately walked back to her own room.

"I don't know," he shrugged and handed her the baby worriedly. "I already tried everything that usually helps…"

"Hey, baby, what's wrong?" she asked and kissed the boy tenderly, but it only made him cry louder. After nearly twenty more minutes and more complaints of her daughter, Ororo gave up. "Hank and Moira are still sleeping since they've worked all night…"

"What about Jean?" Kurt asked while he patted his son's back.

"She isn't feeling very well. She got some bad news, of which hope they aren't bad in the end, but…" She sighed. "It won't help. Come on, we have to ask her…" Walking down to the kitchen, they looked into it and still found Jean leaning against Logan, while he held her and sipped on his cup. She hesitated for a moment, not knowing if it was the right time to ask her friend for help, but the loud crying of his boy was something she couldn't endure anymore. She hated to her babies cry. "Jean?" Ororo asked carefully and the redhead turned her head. "I know it's the wrong time, but since Hank and Moira are still sleeping…" She closed her eyes briefly when Tommy reached the highest point of his crying again. "But could you check on him? He doesn't stop crying…"

Running a hand through her face, Jean let go of Logan to walk over to them. "For how long is he crying already?" she demanded to know and touched the boy's forehead.

"Nearly an hour," Kurt replied and saw how the woman frowned.

"He's feverish," she mumbled. "Come on," Jean added and led the way down to the infirmary, while Scott nodded at Logan.

"What's wrong with her?"

"Nothin'," came the grunted reply and Logan put his cup away before he put the envelope into the garbage can.

"Nothing?" the other man asked skeptically. "Right, that's why she was crying her eyes out, huh? What was that test Moira talked about?"

Groaning in annoyance, Logan gave him a glare. "Mind your own business, One Eye, will ya?"

"Jean's a friend of mine, Logan, one that I know way longer than you live here at this school," Scott shot back angrily and Kitty, but also Jubilee, began to look to and fro between them, not knowing what was going on this time. "So I have a right to know! What's wrong with Jean and why is she so sad?" Returning the silent glare he received from the other man he cocked a surprised eyebrow at the crumpled envelope that was thrown over the table into his direction. Frowning, he began to open it and read through the two letters, just to let out a whistle. "You really don't let an opportunity go past you, eh?" he asked and threw the envelope back. "How can you…," he began but stopped with a shake of his head. "Be happy that it was negative!"

"Shut the fuck up!" Logan growled and threw the envelope away again before he left the kitchen.

Later the day Jean sat on the examination table in the infirmary and was kneading her hands nervously, while Logan stood next to her with his arms crossed and his eyes fixed on the ground. He turned his head briefly to give her a look, noticing that she was shaking. He didn't have to use his senses to figure that he was scared, so he did the only thing he could and pulled her close. "What if I'm sick?" she mumbled into his chest crying when he stroked over her hair and back.

"Ya ain't… Maybe the healing factor has screwed up your system," he tried to soothe her and she wrapped her arms around him to pull him closer.

"I'm scared…"

Sighing he nodded. "Me, too…" The door opened and Hank stepped back in, his eyes fixed on a chart while he obviously was thinking very hard about something. Seeing the look on his face, Jean tightened her grip on Logan's shirt. "What's wrong?" this one asked, but the blue mutant shook his head and stopped next to them.

"I don't know," he replied truthfully and sighed.

"What do ya mean ya don't know?!" Logan grunted and gave him an impatient look.

"There are some strange irregularities… But…," he made a brief pause to turn a page on the chart, just to shake his head. "The fact that her blood example from yesterday doesn't match the new one from today, makes it even stranger…"

"What do you mean they don't match?" Jean asked with a frown and frightened look in her eyes.

"I really don't know, Jean…" Hank said and looked up. "From what I can tell, even if it doesn't make any sense, your cells are destroying themselves…"

"What?!" Logan made and stared at him while the woman was like dead frozen all of a sudden.

"I'd like to do another test," the scientist said and put the chart away. Being too shocked to realize anything at all, the redhead only stared at the ground without even feeling how Hank drew blood again and disappeared shortly afterwards. Still standing next to her, Logan stared at her and waited for any reaction. He noticed that her face was even paler than before, that her heart was racing horribly while he smelled strong fear on her. Just as he was about to touch her she suddenly began to sob heavily and clung to him quivering.

"I don't want to die…," she managed to say during her strong sobs and had her eyes closed tightly.

Logan cupped her face and made her look at him. "Ya ain't going t'die!"

"You heard what he said…," Jean sobbed and shook her head. "My cells are destroying themselves…"

"All I heard was that he doesn't know what's wrong and that he wants to do another test. So we gonna wait and see what he finds out, understood?" he asked determined and she nodded weakly.

* * *

"Aw, he's really too cute," Rogue smiled while she looked at Jamie in her arms.

"Well, you know what Logan would say now, right?" Ororo smiled and handed TJ an apple. "I wonder what takes Hank so long…"

"I think he'll check on everything to make sure that nothing's wrong wit her," Moira shrugged and looked at her watch. "But 6 hours by now is very long indeed…"

"Do you know anything at all?" Rogue asked her worriedly, but the woman shook her head. "I hope Jean's alright…"

"We all do…. I'm off checking on Tommy," Ororo said and walked towards the door when Lily bumped into her. "Hey there."

"Where's daddy?" the girl asked and looked into the kitchen. "He said he wanted to teach Jack how to defend himself and I want him to teach me, too…"

"You daddy is busy, Lily," Moira replied and gave the girl a smile.

"But classes are over…," the girl said with a frown.

"He and your mommy have to do something. I don't know how long it will take them, but I'll tell him that you're looking for him, okay?"

Obviously disappointed the girl nodded. "'Kay," she pouted and ran off again.

"I still can't believe they have claws," Marie suddenly said. "It must have been hard for Logan when he found out, wasn't it?"

"Oh, don't even mention it," Moira waved off. "First he gets his memories back, then he finds out that his claws were real and then this psychopath takes his son away…" She shook her head. "Hank told me about the clones. I still can't believe. And then he only wanted to compare the bloods and finds out that killer machine is Logan's son and not just a clone…"

"Wait a second…," Rogue said and furrowed her brows. "What do you mean…his son? Which son?"

Realizing what she'd done, the woman slapped her forehead. "Jeez, sometimes I should just keep my mouth shut!" she cursed.

"Moira…"

"Okay, it's already too late anyway." Sighing she ran a hand through her hair. "Logan has an older son. He didn't know about him. From what we know so far, Sinister must have planned all of this a long time ago, since he uses him as his private killing machine."

"Logan has another son?!" Rogue asked in disbelief with a look at the sleeping boy in her arms. "Oh my God… What were you guys doing?! I was only gone for a year and everything has changed!"

"Don't ask me. But please don't tell Logan it was me who told you!" Moira begged and sipped on her tea when Hank entered with a stern look on his face.

"You should see that!" he only said in an urgent tone and beckoned her to follow him. With a last apologetic look at the younger woman, Moira followed him to the lab.

Still waiting in the infirmary fir agonizing hours, the couple had laid down on the bed by now and Logan had finally managed to talk Jean into trying to sleep a bit. While he laid behind her with one arm around her waist, he kept in stroking over her arm absently whereas his thoughts dealt with complete different topics. He looked up when the door went open once more and immediately had to frown when not only Hank, but also Moira entered. Awoken by Logan's sudden movement, Jean opened her eyes and sat up instantly when she saw both mutants coming closer. "All I can say is that it's strange," Hank told them and looked at some papers in his hand.

"Very strange," Moira corrected him and crossed her arms next to the bed.

Sighing in annoyance, since his temper barely existed anymore, Logan closed his eyes for a second. "Could ya just say what's wrong with her, damn it?!"

"As I said, her cells are destroying themselves," Hank said calmly and Jean, who'd nearly crushed her husband's hand in tension, only lowered her head sobbing.

"No, no, wait!" Moira intervened and touched the redhead's shoulder. "Go on listening!"

Waiting a moment for Jean to calm down again, Hank went on. "They destroy themselves, just to be replaced by newer and younger cells."

"Like my healing factor?" Logan asked confused, but received a shake from Hank's head.

"No," Moira answered. "It doesn't repair something. Old cells are just replaced by new ones." She shrugged.

"'n why?!"

"We don't know… I doubt it is an after effect of your healing factor. She had it twice, but it can not trigger a new mutation just like that," Hank explained and laid the papers away. "We rather think that Jean's powers… Well… That it slows down her aging process rapidly all of a sudden…"

Not able to understand anything at all, Jean only looked to and fro between them when Logan spoke up again. "So she ages slower? Like me?"

"We can't tell for sure… It's possible that she even ages way slower than you due to the fact that she's level 5. At least it explains why she hadn't changed one bit in the past years, but still we don't know why it has an impact on her body functions all of a sudden. This could have something to do with Jamie, but we can't tell for sure. Anyway, this new addition to her powers makes it impossible to determine her biological age. She is 40 in years, but biologically she could be way younger."

"Meaning that it is theoretically possible for the two of you to have children even if she's 60 or older one day," Hank added nodding. "And since the two of you have this strong slower aging process it is more than likely that it affects your children, too. I'd like to do some tests in you, too, Logan to compare it with each other," he went on and received a look. "I know you hate to be experimented on, but in that way we can determine how strong your children already are. It was you who told me that you think that Jamie already develops powers, weren't you?"

Sighing, Logan scratched the back of his head. "Fine…"

"So…," Jean suddenly said barely audible and sounded far away and very confused. "…I'm not going to die?!"

"No!" Moira replied shocked and shook her head. "Despite this new development you couldn't be in a better condition. You're perfectly healthy! I am sorry that we scared you first!" Wrapping her arms around Logan's waist, the redhead lowered her head and began to sob in relief.

* * *

It was the second of December and still early when Logan awoke. Still with his eyes closed he turned around in bed and reached out to the side next to him, just to touch emptiness. Frowning, since his sleepy brain still registered that something was missing, he opened one eye slowly and sat up a bit. Thinking that he's overslept again, he gave the watch on his bedside table a brief glance. It was 9 a.m. early, meaning way too early for him on a weekend's day. But the thing which bothered him the more was that he couldn't hear a thing. The apartment was silent, he couldn't pick up anything from downstairs or the garden…, he knew something was wrong. After getting dressed, he walked down to the kitchen, all corridors completely deserted, checked even the rec-room and classrooms, but somehow he was completely alone. No one was in the garden, too, and usually the children played outside if they were up early. Staying in the doorway to the kitchen, he crossed his arms and concentrated harder. He picked up they scents, but that wasn't something unusual. What bothered him was that he called out to Jean mentally and there wasn't a reply. Alarmed by now, Logan concentrated on her scent and followed it, just to frown when it led him to the door to the great hall where they'd celebrated Christmas and New Year. He opened the door slowly and went inside a bit, but everything was calm. Reaching out he switched the lights on…

"Happy Birthday!" everyone cheered all of a sudden and made him cock an eyebrow at them in confusion.

Walking up to him, Jean embraced him tightly and kissed him tenderly. "Happy Birthday," she smiled and watched how he gave her a blank look first, then the others, then her again.

"Eh?!" was all Logan was capable of right now and she gave him a look.

"Your birthday… Don't tell me you've forgotten about it," the redhead said and stepped aside a bit.

"Actually…yeah…," he replied and was hugged Ororo next, who gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"How can you forget about your own birthday, silly?" she asked and shook her head, but he only shrugged.

"'cause I never had one?!" Logan said and received a playful slap against the chest.

"Now you do! Come on!" Ororo gave back and walked back to the other, while Jean took his hand to shove him over to them, too.

"118…and you still look better than me. It's not fair, Logan," Hank teased him with a smile and hugged him, too, whereas Logan, since he was manly, only patted his shoulder briefly.

"Happy birthday, Logan!" Moira said next and hugged him, too, just to be shoved out of the way by three pouting children, of which two glared at her. "Oh, sorry!" she apologized and quickly stepped aside to make room.

Kneeling down before they would throw themselves at him all at once, Logan embraced his children firmly and received next to kisses a _Happy Birthday, daddy, _before Jubilee pointed at a table behind her. "Come on, Wolvie! Open your presents and then I wanna have a piece of this good looking cake your wife and 'Ro made."

"Ours first!" Jack protested and took his father's hand to drag him towards his and his sisters' gifts, which were three rolled up self-drawn pictures and a hand-made picture frame with a family picture that Ororo had made in late summer of them. Listening to their explanations who in their pictures is who, he hugged and kissed them again, before he went on with his other gifts. After unpacking cigars, a voucher for his bike and a six-pack of Canadian beer, of which he still asked himself where they'd gotten it from, he opened a bright yellow card and cocked an eyebrow at it. "Jubes…," Logan said and gave the girl a look.

"Yes?" the girl asked innocently and with a bright smile.

Sitting next to him, Jean read through the card, which said _Make use of it so that I don't have to baby-sit even more babies! _briefly and had to giggle when she saw a small anime picture at the end, which only one of them could have drawn.

"Peter?" the redhead asked and nodded at the stressed anime-Wolverine who was surrounded by crying mini-versions of him. "Nice!"

"She made me do it!" Peter apologized. "I'm sorry, but she really made me do it!"

Taking the yellow package into his hand, Logan cocked an eyebrow at his wife. "Do I really wanna see what's in it?" he asked her and she nodded.

"Open it!"

Sighing he did so and gave Jubilee a glare. "Thanks Jubes! Very nice…"

"Yes, ain't it?" the girl smiled at him.

Bending over to see what was in the package, Jean couldn't help but blush when she recognized a large box of mixed Trojan condoms. "Ya sure ya don't need them more than I do?" Logan asked, but Jubilee gave a short laugh and waved off.

"Yeah, very sure! Absolutely convinced!" she replied. "But don't even dare to ask for more tomorrow!"

"Ya still have enough for yourself then?" he teased her back and received a nod again. "Frustrated, huh?" Smirking when she let out a playfully outraged sound, he sighed and shook his head and put the package away before he went on unpacking the others. Later, while everyone was eating from the cake, he smiled when Jean wrapped her arms around his waist. "And we go out later…," she said and played with the buttons on his shirt while he pulled her closer.

"Get out, huh?" he asked and tilted his head a bit when she smiled with a nod. "And what else?" he added huskily while he kissed her neck. "Now that we have an annual stock thanks to Jubes…I could think about something else."

"Just wait and see!" Jean gave back with a smile and kissed him tenderly again.

* * *

"So did she say where they're going to?" Rogue asked and helped Ororo with drying the dishes.

"Since they went in casual clothes, I doubt they visit a restaurant or anything," the other woman replied. "Maybe to see a movie or something…"

"Is that really true what I've heard?" Jubilee asked while she chewed on a gum. "She's developed new powers?"

"Well, as far as I've heard she hasn't _developed_ new powers," Kitty corrected her. "They rather suddenly occurred."

"I think they were there before, but no one had noticed it," Ororo said and began to clean the sink.

"Oh, I am so jealous," Jubilee cried. "He's 115 and looks hot like hell and now she's doing the same. That's so unfair! We'll look like raisins in a few years and they still young and hot…"

Listening to the conversation for a while, Ororo dried her hands and crossed her arms before she leant back against the counter. "I would call it a good advantage, you know…"

"Why not?" Kitty asked her and put her glass down. "They age slower, will look young and good for years…"

"…will see their friends age and die and if their children haven't inherited this power, they will outlive them," the weather goddess corrected her and could tell that both women haven't thought about this before. "I can't imagine something more horribly. The good thing is you live longer and look young, the consequence is that you'll see friends and family pass away. And if I never want anything in my life, than it is to outlive my children… That'll be the most horrible thing for me."

"I haven't looked at it from that perspective…," Kitty said calmly and looked down.

"And it would even be worse for them if they lose another," Rogue added while she put the last dishes away. "At least I wouldn't want to live for decades all alone without the one I love…"

"Chérie?" a voice suddenly said from the door and made her look up. "Remy doesn't know how dis works," Remy said and held a half naked Jamie in one hand while a new diaper was in the other. "Dis is too complicated for Remy…"

"Men," Rogue groaned. "And he'll be a father soon, do you believe that?"

"Better don't tell Wolvie that you carry his son around naked," Jubilee giggled while Rogue began to put on the new diaper.

"There you go, sweety," Rogue smiled and began to put on new clothes for the boy.

"Oh, they still have them?" Kitty said and smiled widely.

"Of course," Ororo replied. "As far as I know they still have all old clothes from the twins… Aw, that looks just too cute." Smiling she looked at the boy in the white wolf-like baby suit. "But it's still a bit big for him…"

"By the way," Rogue said and handed the baby back to Remy. "Is it just me or does he sleep a lot?"

Stroking over the babies nearly black hair, the weather goddess nodded. "Logan told me he sleeps at day and is completely awake at night."

"Than that's the reason why Logan is always looking so comatose in the morning, huh?" Kitty said.

"You sure that he's the reason?" Jubilee asked her and received a look. "Anyway, Remy ya definitely need private lessons!"

"And not only in putting on a new diaper," Rogue said with a look on the man, who only shrugged. "Are the twins and Rachel already upstairs?"

"Where do you live?" Jubilee mocked playfully. "It's 7:30 p.m. and that means Anime Time. Ya can find all kids sitting in the rec-room and watching Sailor Moon and all this other stuff."

"And just an advice," Ororo added with a smile. "Don't even dare to interrupt them! I did it once and have learned my lesson." Sighing she stretched briefly. "I'm upstairs. Tommy needs his med. Good night!" Leaving the kitchen she made her way upstairs and stopped briefly at the staircase. At the wall next to the rec-room stood Laura and looked into the room where all other children were gathered. "Hey," Ororo said softly and the girl turned around. "Why don't you go inside and sit with them? You don't have to stay here…" Only shaking her head the girl turned around and ran up the stairs, leaving a perplex woman behind her. "I really don't understand her…," she mumbled and briefly looked into the room, before she turned around to head for her room.

* * *

Logan had both hands in his leather jacket pockets while Jean had linked arms with him and was leaning a bit against him. After having eaten something they were now walking down a street in New York City in silence for a few minutes as she suddenly stopped. "How about a movie?" she asked and nodded at a theatre on the other side of the street. Walking over to it he spent some time to eye the program closely whereas she waited for him to say something.

"Ya only want to drag me into some romantic chick movie, darlin'," Logan said and pointed at a specific one on the program.

Smiling she shook her head. "It's your birthday, so it's up to you to pick a movie," she replied and leant into him again. She watched how he read through the program again before he suddenly pulled her over to the cinema box-office. "Which one?" she asked and handed him the money.

"You'll see," he said smirking and she waited for him at the entrance, thinking about which movie he'd probably picked. She knew it was definitely not a romantic one or one she would probably enjoy even a bit. Walking inside with him, he handed her a card. "I'll get popcorn and somethin' to drink, 'kay?"

Nodding, she already went over to occupy two seats. While Jean let her eyes travel around a bit she noticed that there were mostly couples or singles around and wondered if he had picked the only M-rated movie which was aired to that late hour. At least she knew he was capable of it… "Excuse me?" Turning her head in surprised, Jean noticed a good-looking man, probably of her age, standing next to her with a smile, "Is that seat already taken?" he asked and nodded at the one right next to her.

"Yeah!" came a grunted reply on her other side and she saw Logan shooting a warning glare at the man first before he sat down next to her.

"Right…," the man nodded, sounding rather disappointed. "Sorry…"

Watching him leave with a glare, Logan cocked an eyebrow at Jean when she suddenly giggled. "You could have been a bit nicer, hon…," she scolded him playfully.

"I _was_ nice, darlin'," he replied and handed her a coke with a smirk.

Only shaking her head smiling while he laid an arm around her, handing her the popcorn with the other, she gave him a look from aside. "So which movie is it?"

Chuckling he gave her a grin. "Just be patient, Red…"

"The M-rated one?" she asked with a cocked eyebrow, but he only shrugged in amusement.

"Maybe…"

Sighing she leant back and waited for the commercial to be over. When the movie began she gave him a surprised look. "I said it's your birthday…"

"Yeah, but I know that ya wanted to watch it," Logan gave back and swallowed some popcorn with a smirk. Only shaking her head smiling, Jean leant over to kiss him and rested her head on his shoulder.

Back at home she laid on her belly in bed with him on her back next to her. "Liked your birthday?" Jean asked after her breathing had calmed down a bit again and heard him chuckle before he turned around. She shivered when his hand began to stroke down her sweaty back and his lips placed a soft kiss on her shoulder.

"Ya really have t'ask?" Logan asked huskily and kissed her neck next. "If it ends every time like that I could have birthday everyday, darlin'…"

Giggling first she bit her lip next when he reached her inner thighs. "Still not having enough?"

"You're serious?" he growled playfully into her ear and straddled her a bit from behind to not crash her with his weight as he reached over her to rummage in Jube's present. "Let's see…," he said and looked at three packages. "_Mint tingled_?" he asked in disgust. "What the hell do we need mint tingled ones for?" Throwing them onto the ground he looked at the next one, while Jean couldn't help but start laughing. "Jeez, she has a taste… What about these, darlin'?" he asked with a smirk while he laid on her back. "_Extended pleasure_, do we need them?"

"Actually no…," she giggled and took them from him to throw them onto the ground, too.

"Obviously, she does," Logan mocked and groaned when he read the next one. Since this one landed on the floor, too, he took the whole box and went on searching through it. "_Her pleasure_?" she heard him reading next and could tell he had cocked an eyebrow. "Do ya need that?" She only shook her head grinning. "Good." He threw the package onto the floor, too, and finally smiled happily. "Got a normal one…"

"Well, that's good isn't it?" Jean teased him and squealed when he bit into her neck softly. "I take that as a yes, hon!"

"Ya better should," he growled huskily and tore the packaging open.

* * *

It rang at the door a few days later. Since it was his time to watch over Alex while Mystique held her Mutation classes, Scott left the rec-room to open it. "Hi," he said frowning and eyed the people in front of it suspiciously.

"Hi," a woman with long blonde hair and blue eyes smiled. "Ehm, we're looking for Logan."

Looking to and fro between them, Scott finally nodded. "Yeah, come in." Stepping aside, he closed the door behind them while he still asked himself who they were and in what kind of trouble Logan was this time. "He's probably in the garden." Leading the way he gave the second woman with long red hair and green eyes another suspicious look, before his eyes switched to the tall man with black hair and brown eyes. He'd never seen them before and wondered if they were government guys again, who wanted Logan to do a mission again, but then they looked too friendly to be that kind of people. Still, he noticed their curious looks when they looked around the mansion. He stopped on the terrace and pointed into the direction of the pool where Logan helped Ororo, Kitty, Jubilee and Moira to cover the pool for winter. "He's over there. I'd lead you to him, but my son's getting too cold."

"No problem," the man smiled and Scott watched, still suspiciously, how they walked down the stairs and approached the pool.

Concentrating on his work at the pool, Logan didn't hear how someone started into a dead run behind him. "Logan!" hearing the happy voice he turned around and nearly fell down as someone threw himself at him. Only seeing red and blonde hair, while the X-Women exchanged confused glances, he stared at the two women and the man in disbelief. "God, it's so good to see you again!" the woman with red hair said while she still hugged him firmly.

"You guys are already here?" Logan asked perplexed.

"Of course," the man said smiling.

"Do you really think we could wait any longer after finally hearing from you again?" the woman with blonde hair said and hugged him firmly, too.

"Am I wrong or are you taller?" the woman with red hair asked while she held onto his arms and scanned him from head to toe, making him chuckle before the man hugged him, too.

"Maybe…," Logan replied smirking.

"And still quiet the womanizer, eh?" the man asked him with a look at the woman at the pool. "Nice place by the way."

"Ehm… Logan?" Ororo suddenly asked with a questioning look on her face and made him turn around.

Noticing the looks of the others, he realized his mistake. "The friends I told ya about, 'Ro," he briefly explained, referring to their last meeting in which he'd offered once more to call old friends for help.

Letting go of the now fastened cover, Ororo walked over to them and held out her hand. "Ororo Munroe. Nice to meet you."

"James MacDonald Hudson," the man said with a friendly smile and shook it before he turned to the red haired woman. "This is my wife Heather."

"Hi," that one said and took the offered hand.

"And I am Narya. Nice to meet you, too!" the blonde haired woman smiled.

"Does Charles already now?" Ororo asked Logan, who shrugged.

"Dunno. What doesn't he know, 'Ro? He's a telepath."

"I go and tell him," she offered. "We're done here anyway." Turning around she gave the girl who still stood next to Moira a look. "Isa! Come on, it's getting too cold for you. Time to go back inside."

"No!" the girl pouted and crossed her arms.

"No discussion, girl! Come on! I don't want you to get sick and your daddy told me to keep an eye on that."

Coming closer the girl looked at her godfather for help. "Don't look at me, kiddo! Ya heard what she's said."

"Now come on!" Ororo said again and Isa groaned in annoyance but finally obeyed.

Shaking his head, he nodded towards the mansion. "Let's go inside and talk," Logan said and led the way back. "You guys wanna drink something?"

"Yes, a soda would be nice," James replied and still couldn't get enough from the garden and the impressive mansion.

Opening the fridge to get some drinks Logan gave him a smirk. "We don't have anything else besides that and chocolate mild anyway." Handing each of them something they decided to sit down on the terrace, since the day was cold but sunny.

"How long are you already at this school?" James asked him after a moment and leant back in his stool, eyeing his old friend curiously.

"Ehm…," this one made and began to think about it very hard. "2000 or something like that."

"12 years already?" Heather said surprised. "Jeez…what made you stay here so long?"

"Good question! I mean the place looks awesome, but…well it's not like you, you know," Narya added and made him chuckle while he turned his head since he could hear his children, accompanied by the usual trouble makers, running down the stairs on their way to the back door. It didn't take long and they ran past them down the staircase and into the garden. He smirked when he saw Isa, who'd obviously managed to either sneak away or talk her parents into letting her play outside a bit more.

Watching the children, Heather suddenly began to frown when she spotted a boy with unruly dark hair and very familiar looking hazel eyes. Looking at him more closely, she switched her gaze to Logan and back to the boy. "You have a son?!" she asked completely surprised and noticed the smirk he gave her for the first time, since he'd watched her.

"How can ya tell?"

"Come on! Those eyes, the hair…and girls chasing after him. It had to be your son," the woman said and he chuckled. "Why didn't you tell us?"

"Sorry," Logan apologized and briefly turned his head to make sure the children stood away from the pool.

"You've changed…," James commented all of a sudden and received a cocked eyebrow.

"Have I?!"

"Yes. You seem to be…," Narya began and looked for the right word. "…more at peace. You're eyes are so full of life."

"You're too calm, Logan!" Heather laughed and touched his arm briefly.

Nodding James sipped on his bottle. "Yeah, how come?"

Only shrugging, but with a smirk, Logan leant back into his stool. "Things change," was all he had to say, but the other man shook his head.

"No! You changed!" Grinning suddenly, he gave his friend a nudge. "And I bet it's a girl…" His bottle nearly dropped to the ground when Heather let out a shocked, loud shriek and took Logan's left hand.

"Look at that!" she whispered and stared at the man in complete shock and disbelief. "You're married… And we weren't even invited?!"

Not believing his eyes either, James shook his head. "I don't believe this… She must be very special that you changed so much."

"Believe me, bub… She's far more than that!" Logan smiled proudly and emptied his bottle.

"I'm mad now!" Heather said and crossed her arms. "I'd have given everything to have seen you in a tux. Do you have any pictures of it? Or a movie?"

Since he remembered too well how he'd looked on that day, he shook his head. "Forget it!"

"When did you marry?" Narya asked calmly and looked at him curiously.

"May 6 years ago."

"And you didn't even tell us," Heather added disappointedly.

"Here you are…," a voice suddenly said from the back door and all heads switched towards the red haired woman in the door who held a baby in her arms. Being fully aware of the looks, she smiled at the guests while coming closer. "Hi, I'm Jean!"

"Somethin' wrong?" Logan asked and sat up a bit, buts he shook her head.

"Hank needs my help in the lab. Could you take him?"

"Sure," he replied and got up to take his youngest from her, receiving a thankful kiss.

"Thanks! See you later," she smiled before she nodded briefly at the others. "Bye!"

"That was your girl, huh?" James smiled and nudged him carefully while also the woman had gotten up to look at the baby. "And who's that?"

"Jamie," Logan replied and began to move towards the door. "Let's go inside. It's too cold for him."

"So, married for 6 years and two sons, right?" Heather asked and closed the door behind them, while Logan gave the others a sign to sit down on the stools.

"Not really…," he said and cradled his son in his arms.

"Why? Is Jean not the mother of the older boy?" Narya asked in confusion and received a look from him.

"'f course…"

"But?" the redhead asked and smiled at the baby, who yawned briefly just to go on sleeping afterwards. "Jeez, how cute…"

"Actually it's married for 6 years and three sons and two daughters…," Logan replied truthfully and noticed the stares of the others. "What?!"

"Someone has been pretty busy, huh?" James said teasingly and received another look from his friend. "Or had a lot of time…"

"We've twins, bub!"

"Really?" Heather asked interestedly. "How old are your children?"

"Jack'n Lily are seven, Ray's five and this one here four months old."

Narya began to frown. "Didn't you say three sons?" she asked and noticed that his eyes changed briefly while he looked down with a weak nod. "I only heard about two…"

"Jake's dead…," he replied calmly. "He was born too early."

"Oh…I'm so sorry, Logan," Heather said sympathetically and laid a hand on his shoulder, but he only shook his head.

"Can't be changed…"

"When did it happen?" Narya asked him.

"Last year while I was in Japan," he replied and suddenly looked up.

"Daddy!" Lily cried and the door was opened in a rush, his three kids approaching.

"What's wrong, pum'kin?"

"Keith is mean again!" she said and gave the strangers, who looked at her curiously, an odd look.

"Yeah, he's bullying TJ this time!" he brother added and noticed how his father began to cock an eyebrow at him.

"Is that blood on your shirt?!"

"He shoved Ray and Isa," the boy defended himself quickly but knew that his father wouldn't accept that so fast.

"Did ya start the fight?" Logan asked with a warning look in his eyes since they had this discussion only days before, while he'd taught them self defense in the gym. "I'm not teaching ya this stuff to start fights, boy!"

"No!" Lily quickly shook her head. "We tried to help them and Keith hit him, daddy!"

Sighing, Logan shook his head as the door went open once more. "Uncle Logan!" Isa sobbed heavily and clung to his leg, while TJ took the other.

"Hold him for a second, will ya?" he asked Heather and handed Jamie over before he kneeled down. "What happened?"

"Keith his us," Isa sobbed into his neck and TJ nodded.

"Yeah and he threw me into the pond!"

"Jeez, kid!" Logan said and noticed for the first time that the girl was shaking and completely wet. "Go to your mom and get into dry clothes. You'll get sick!" Seeing how the girl nodded and ran out of the room, he turned to his son. "And you'll go upstairs and put fresh clothes on, too," he added before he turned to Ray and Lily. "And you two take her down to the lab to mommy, okay?"

"What about him?!" Jack asked him angrily when his father got up while the girls left the room. "I'll deal with him. Now of ya go!" Watching them heading off he ran a hand through his face. "That boy is a real pain in the ass…"

"Your son?!" Heather asked shocked.

"Nope! Keith," he hissed and sat down again, giving his, thanks to TJ, wet left leg a look.

"Let me guess… The girl with the dark hair and hazel eyes is Lily and the girl with th green eyes and red hair is Ray?" Narya asked.

"Yeah…"

"And the other two?" James asked him.

"My godchild Isa and the dark blue one is TJ, Ororo's kid," he explained and received a nod. "But thankfully my other godchild is too small to cause any trouble, otherwise I'd gladly stab myself… And I bet Hank makes me a godfather next…" He sighed when he only imagined it.

Laughing, James could only shake his head. "That's…. Jeez, I don't know what to say. I don't believe this…"

"What?!"

"You with wife and children, living in a school with lots of people around you and being a godfather, too," Narya said with a smile. "And the next thing you're going to tell us is that you teach, too!" she added jokingly and her jaw dropped when she noticed his look. "Seriously?! You teach?!" He nodded. "That's…crazy!"

"Yeah… To me it seems as if I have to get to know you again," Heather smiled with a look at the baby. "I don't recognize our Logan anymore."

"Maybe because I ain't that one anymore," Logan said and wobbled his head.

"Yes, we can see that!" James nodded smiling. "So, anymore changed we should now about?"

"Nope. And you guys?"

"Everything like it was. Some new additions to the team, but else… And even if, nothing would be more surprising and shocking like you. I really still can't believe it, even if I see it with my own two eyes!" the man replied as suddenly Heather made an odd noise when she noticed that Jamie began to pull a face and soon began to cry aloud.

"What does he want?" she asked hysterically and looked at Logan for help. "Or did I do something wrong?!"

"No, he needs a new diaper. Come on!" Getting up he lead them to the West Wing and opened the door to the apartment where he was immediately greeted by Miloh. "Inside again, huh?" he commented with a sigh and shook his head. Hearing how the wolf began to growl at the others, he quickly intervened. "No!"

"A wolf? Isn't that dangerous?" Narya asked when the animal had stopped and went back into the living room. Entering the warm apartment she took a look around.

"Nope. He won't attack his pack," Logan explained and closed the door. "Jack!"

"Yeah?" came the reply out of the twins' room.

"Take Miloh to the outside."

Coming out of the room in fresh clothes the boy gave him a look and hugged the wolf. "But we're playing a game…" Seeing the look his father gave him he groaned. "But what if Keith hurts him? And you know that he howls at night when he's alone…"

Only nodding into the direction of Jamie's room next to the bathroom, Logan led the way to it and took the still crying boy from Heather, before he began to change diapers.

"I can't believe that I lived long enough to see that!" the woman smirked and watched him closely, just to turn her head when the small redhead entered and eyed her suspiciously.

"Something wrong?" Logan asked his daughter and looked at her for a moment, but she shook her head, still with her eyes on the strangers. "They're friends, Ray," he said smirking. "They won't bite ya!"

Trying to show the girl that she meant no harm, Narya kneeled down smiling. "Hey…"

Seeing it Rachel quickly clung to her father's legs and tried to hide, making him chuckle. "You're such a scaredy-cat, ya know that?"

"Not like her daddy, huh?" Heather teased him as he pulled Jamie up again and gave him a kiss.

"She doesn't like strangers that much, sorry," he apologized and looked down. "What is it, pum'kin?"

"Can Miloh stay here?" Rachel asked him with puppy dog eyes.

"He's not a dog, kiddo. A wolf lives on the outside."

She began to pout when also Lily came into the room. "Come on, daddy, please!" she said and began to pout, too. Heather and Narya began to giggle, while James smiled, nevertheless Logan could only groan.

"I said somethin', didn't I?" he asked them with a stern look.

"But Miloh likes to be with us…," Lily tried again and Rachel nodded.

"Yeah, he belongs to us… He's family."

Only shaking his head, he sighed. "Fine, but if he makes a mess, you clean up, got that?"

Cheering aloud the girls hugged his legs firmly. "Love ya, daddy!" Lily smiled and ran off.

"Me, too!" Rachel added and quickly left, too.

Laughing Heather patted his shoulder while he cocked an eyebrow at her. "They really know how to get to you, huh?"

"But they're too cute!" Narya smiled.

"Well, they're my kids," Logan smirked.

Crossing his arms with a smile, James took a look around. "So, when do we have a chance to get to know your wife?"

"Yeah, I'd like to get to know the woman, who's changed my Logan so much, too!" the redhead nodded. "And I still want to see a picture of your wedding!"

Sighing he nodded at the door. "Left wall to the windows," Logan said and they left.

"When do we have a meeting? You sounded pretty urgent on the phone yesterday" James asked him and met his gaze.

"I think after dinner when all kids are in bed. The meeting is held in the basement and we have to make sure first that the alarm system works correctly and everything's locked down. Bet Chuck offers ya to stay for a few days anyway. We've plenty of guest rooms here."

"I see," the other man nodded and remained silent for a while. "I'm really impressed, you know…," he said. "I'd never believed that you'd ever settle down one day. Especially not with a wife and children…"

"Me neither," Logan replied with a look at his boy, not seeing his friend's smile.

"But how come? What made you do it?" he wanted to know. "You always needed your freedom, hated it to be at one place for longer than a few days… And I don't even want to mention your girls…"

"She did."

"Come on! You can't tell me you arrived here, saw her and woosh you were in love… I mean she's pretty, but you always had good looking ones," James said in disbelief and gave him a skeptical look.

Leaning back against the wall while he cradled his son in his arms lovingly, Logan shrugged. "Sorry to disappoint ya, bub, but it was like that," he gave back with a look. "And she's not pretty!" he added with disgust of the word that he'd used. "She's beautiful. Extremely if I may add!"

"You and love at first sight," James smiled still in disbelief. "And you really stayed here and never took off at least once until your wedding?"

"No. I took off twice," Logan said and looked down. "Once a few days after I arrived here and the second time I wanted to return to Canada. When I visited you guys…"

"But she haunted you, huh?"

"Yeah…"

Laughing James shook his head. "I don't believe that!"

"Me neither!" Heather suddenly said from the door and came back in with Narya.

"Why?" her husband asked and put an arm around her waist.

"He really cut his hair and shaved for the wedding…," the blonde woman told him and gave Logan a look. "The two of you looked awesome on that day! And I really can't believe you did that!"

Chuckling Logan only shrugged and heard how the front door was opened, accompanied by a happy shriek of her children, who immediately jumped up and ran towards it.

"Mommy!" Rachel cheered and hugged her mother.

"Where have you been?" Lily asked and did the same.

"Uncle Hank needed me, sweetheart," Jean smiled and kissed them. "Is Jack here, too? Because dinner's ready."

"I'll get him, mommy!" Lily smiled and ran off, followed by her younger sister.

Only shaking her head Jean closed the door behind her. "Go ahead, okay? We'll be right there!" she called after them and only heard an _Okay!_ out of their room before she looked around. "Logan?"

"In here…," came the reply and she went over to Jamie's room.

"Hey," she smiled.

"Done helpin' the Furball?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yeah. 'Ro wanted to tell me that dinner's ready."

"Already?" he frowned and looked at his watch, realizing that already four hours had passed since the Alpha Team had arrived. "Jeez…"

"How did you manage to make him cut his hair, shave and wear a tux for the wedding?" Heather asked her and received a smile, while Logan pulled his wife close with one arm.

"Actually I only had to ask…"

"Let me guess…," Narya said with a wink at Logan. "You made a lot of girl very jealous that day, hm?" Seeing how the redhead's cheeks blushed slightly she smirked. "As I thought…"

"We usually eat in the kitchen during the week and on Sunday's in the larger dining room, but the Professor decided to do it today, too, since you're our guests," Jean explained and Logan began to pull her over to the door, leading the way downstairs.

* * *

"What do you think of them?" Scott asked hank and Ororo, nodding carefully at the other table where the Alpha Team sat with Logan and Jean.

"I don't know. I haven't talked to them so much," the weather goddess shrugged. "But they seem to be nice."

"For how long will they be staying?" Hank asked them. "Where's Jubes? If someone know then it's her…"

"I don't know," Scott replied. "But don't you think it's…suspicious? I mean first the thing with this S.H.I.E.L.D. group and now they appear here… I wonder if they have something to do with this Fury guy."

"Nah," Ororo made and shook her head. "They don't look like that."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Call it female intuition. And besides, you are questioning Logan again!" she scolded him. "And he can hear you!"

"As if I gave a damn," he gave back. "We don't know anything about him. And I think it's weird that obviously has a very deep running background but refuses to tell us anything about it."

"Jean knows, that's enough for me," Hank said and smiled at Moira when the woman said back down next to him. "What do you think what he is, Scott? Honestly? A mole who was sent by some crazy government agents who wants them to wipe us out? Give Logan a bit more credit, will you?"

"Did I say that?" Scott asked him angrily and glared at him through his visor. "Remember what Logan said during the Magneto-meeting! _Let me make some phone calls and then you'll get your help_. Did you never wonder what he meant with it?"

Sighing, since she could tell what the topic was about again, Moira leant back in her stool. "Maybe that he has contacts which could be allies in an upcoming war?"

"And who are those _allies_?" Scott asked her cynically.

"Ask him if you want to know," Hank said and wiped his mouth with a serviette. "Come on. We go back upstairs. I still wanted to show you some new development in mutant genetics."

"The topic we discussed earlier?" she asked interested and got up.

"Exactly," he smiled and laid an arm around her waist, while Logan was about to shove his children out of the room and prepare them for bed. Seeing it, Ororo quickly got up before Scott could say anything else and sat down next to Jean at the other table. Smiling at her, she kept an eye on their guests and saw how James suddenly smiled at the redhead.

"So you are the woman who changes our feral friend so much," he said since he finally had a chance to talk with her.

"Did I?" Jean asked with a smile and put the glass she'd sipped on before down.

"We are shocked," Heather nodded and Narya did the same.

"Right. I really don't recognize him anymore… He looks like our Logan but his behavior is completely different," the blonde woman said. "So, how do you get to know him?"

"Yes, that's a thing I'd like to know, too," the man added ad leant forward a bit, seeing how Jean briefly exchanged a look with Ororo.

"Well…," the redhead began and Narya frowned.

"What? Was it that embarrassing?"

"No, but… It…it hadn't been a normal way to get to know someone, you know?"

Laughing, James waved off. "Nothing's normal with Logan around. You can't shock us, Jean, believe me!"

"Okay," the woman nodded and looked at the table. "He was unconscious when he was brought to the infirmary and I examined him."

"Oh, so he woke up, you two looked at each other and that's it?" Heather asked with a smile in hope that it was really that romantic. If, she had something to tease him with.

"Actually…he suddenly jumped off the table and chocked me," the redhead said truthfully and raised her head to look directly into completely blank and shocked faces. Ororo couldn't help but hide a giggle.

"Okay…," James nodded slowly after a while. "Haven't heard of that one before. And then you guys got together? After, as I hope, he apologized?"

"No, I was engaged with Scott back then."

"So you left Scott for him or did Logan seduce you?" Narya asked, making both women frown. "I wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter…"

"It's more complicated than that…," Jean replied, still thinking about what the first thing could have meant.

Raising a hand, Heather furrowed her brows. "But there is still one thing I don't understand…"

"What? Maybe I can help you."

"Who was the woman he'd lost a few years ago?" she asked. "Logan was in such a bad condition when he came to us in 2006 that we were really worried…""

"Yes, I've never seen him so… I don't know how to describe it," Narya went on when James intervened.

"Devastated?" he offered and she nodded.

"Yes. He only said that he wanted to return to Canada since he'd lost someone who was important to him and we figured that it could only have been a woman. He mourned so hard that we were afraid he'd lose it."

"So, as you can see, it confuses us now that the two of you are a couple for so many years. I know Logan… If he really mourns for someone, it's impossible to reach through to him," James explained and Jean listened attentively with a frown on her face. "And he obviously loved that woman more than his life."

"He was in Canada in 2006?!" the redhead only asked and the man nodded.

"Yes, he said he couldn't stand the place he'd been anymore."

Breaking eye contact, Jean shook her head briefly. "I thought he stayed…," she mumbled and suddenly turned to her best friend. "Why didn't you tell me back then that Logan had left?"

"When?" the woman asked since she had briefly turned to Kurt behind her before.

"After Alcatraz… I thought he'd stayed," the redhead went on. "I can't believe that he just left you alone…"

"Jean…you haven't seen him back then," Ororo said. "I only waited for him to pack his thing and leave. It didn't surprise me that he was gone one morning. I thought he'd gone for good and wouldn't come back."

"But why did he come back then?" Jean challenged her, but her opposite could only shrug. "I don't understand…"

"I don't know. He never told me and I also didn't want to ask. I was only glad that he did come back after two weeks, since I was worried like hell that he'd so something stupid."

"But who was that woman that he lost?" Heather asked them and made Ororo frown.

"Jean," she said with a nod at her friend, as if it was obvious and the question completely ridiculous.

"What?" the complete Alpha Flight Team asked at once and stared at the woman in disbelief again.

"As I said…it's complicated," Jean apologized.

"Well not really. He'd to kill you, you came back, you guys got together…," Ororo began but her voice trailed off when she noticed the looks of her opposites. "I'll better shut up now and give you the long version later…"

"Kid's are sleepin' now," Logan suddenly said behind them and cocked an eyebrow when he noticed the looks. "Did I miss somethin'?"

"You have a lot to explain, my friend!" James nodded and shook his head at the same time.

"Yeah?" Logan asked innocently.

"Yes!" Heather replied. "A lot is an understatement!"

Unnoticed from them a beautiful Asian woman had entered the room, wearing an Alpha Flight jacket and looked around the room as if she was searching for someone. As soon as her eyes caught Logan's sight, a mysterious smile occurred on her lips…

**I'll end it here and start the next chapter now. Thanks to all reviewers again!! You guys are more than great! Hope you liked this one here, even if it was a lot of dialogue. LOL**

**Anyway, I'll keep on typing. ; ) See ya! PS: I wanted to update yesterday, but the server was down. :(**


	6. Chapter 6

**Author's note: **The beginning refers to the X-Men 3 scene, which wasn't shown in the movie, in which Logan returns to Canada and meets the barman of X1 again.

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 6**

Logan entered the bedroom after leaving the bathroom and closed the door behind him. He was completely aware of the strange mood which lay upon the room all of a sudden and it made him feel uncomfortable. He could tell something was wrong since dinner, but he didn't know what or why. Watching his wife closely he laid down next to her and noticed the look she gave him. "What's wrong with you all of a sudden?"

"You lied to me…," she said barely audible and made him frown first and cocking an eyebrow next.

"About what?!"

She sat up a bit and looked away. "You told me back than that you'd stayed at the mansion after Alcatraz…"

"Yeah and I did."

"You were in Canada," she said and gave him an angry look since he didn't admit it.

Sighing, Logan ran a hand through his hair. "Only for two days, Jean," he said and remembered how he'd run into the barman again, who had thrown him out of the bar after two man had attacked him after a cage fight. It had been where everything had started… He'd met Rogue, then the X-Men… He couldn't even remember how many beers he'd drank that day, but he did remember too well that the barman had been surprisingly nice all of a sudden. He'd actually even cared about him, since Logan had been so devastated back then. The barman's question if he was heading home had hurt him a lot. Back then, after Alcatraz, he hadn't had a home anymore, nothing actually he cared for. So he'd replied with a grunted _Somethin' like that_ and had continued drinking until it was dark, then morning…

"Two weeks," he suddenly heard her hissing and felt anger rising with him. He always told her the truth, never lied, only she knew the complete truth about him and his life and now she doubted him?

"No, two days! Afterwards I just drove around!" he growled with a glare.

"Why?" Jean asked and sat up to look at him. "You left 'Ro alone with the school! Logan, I thought you'd been here, so how could you just leave? After everything that happened?"

Sitting up in a rush, he glared even more at her. "Ya really wanna know?" he asked in a very low voice.

"Yes!" she gave back, being angry about the way he talked with her all of a sudden.

"Because that place was killin' me, Jean. Because you were haunting me! No matter what I did, where I went, even if I left at night, you've been everywhere and it drove me crazy!" Logan said through clenched teeth and her face changed. "So, yes, I left and I didn't intend to come back, but it was the same in Canada. And in Washington and California and every other fuckin' state I drove through. You were everywhere. So since I couldn't get ya out of my head, I decided to come back and let this place kill me instead. 'Cause there was no difference anymore and I just didn't give a shit…"

Staring at him with tears in her eyes the redhead looked away. "I'm sorry… I…I didn't know…"

"Now you do," Logan replied hissing. "Do ya really believe I'd left without a reason? This place became meaningless, Jean. Even Canada became meaningless, so did everythin' else."

"I'm sorry…," she said again and looked at him while she bit her lip.

"And what's the thing about chocking ya on which Heather gave me a sermon?" he asked with a glare. "I never chocked ya before!"

"You did!"

"Nope!"

"You left a bruise on my neck, Logan!" Jean said with a look that spoke volumes and he gave a snort.

"If I'd really chocked ya, I'd broken ya neck! And besides, ya wanted to poke me with that needle!" he shot back and she let out a short laugh.

"That's your excuse, huh?"

Smirking, he began to cock and eyebrow at her before he came slowly close. "No, it's the truth!" Logan said huskily. "It's your own fault if ya strip me half naked and smell so darn good, darlin'."

"Right. So you choke every woman that smells good and gets rid of your shirt," Jean nodded skeptically, but still tried to figure out what he was up to.

Chuckling, he slowly began to straddle her, but as Jean thought he was about to kiss her, Logan stopped right in front of her face; causing her heart to kick into high gear while an incredible heat began to spread in her body. "Come on, don't tell me ya wouldn't have loved to find an excuse for getting rid off my pants, too, darlin'," he said huskily and made her shiver. Still she tried to keep up her cool demeanor.

"Don't overestimate yourself, mister…"

Keeping his eyes locked on hers, he let his hand travel up her leg. "Hm… So ya wanna tell me ya hadn't second thoughts, huh?"

"Yeah…"

Smirking, he chuckled low. "Who's lying now, darlin'? Do ya want me to show ya how your fingers stroked over my arms?" he asked and grinned when she tried to give him another cool look. His senses told him otherwise…

"I was examining you, Logan!" Jean gave back and made him chuckle again.

"Sure thing, darlin'! That's the reason why you were all flushed, huh?"

Blushing, Jean shook her head. "I was not!"

"And also why your heart was racing…," he went on and parted her legs slowly. "And why your breathin' changed…" With his hand on the back of her neck he began to pull her closer. "Or to be more precisely…why you reacted as ya do now, gorgeous!"

"You must have dreamed, Logan," she said and bit her lip, while she couldn't take her eyes from his.

"So I also dreamed that ya enjoyed touchin' me after Liberty Island while I lay on the table again, huh? Or that ya blushed after I grabbed your hand…," Logan gave back and tilted his head a bit while his thumb caressed the side of her neck. "Ya can't deny it, baby…"

Managing to cock an eyebrow, Jean smiled. "So if you're so convinced of it, then tell me why Narya said that it wouldn't surprise he if you seduced me," she challenged and now it was Logan who raised an eyebrow.

"Did she?" he asked huskily and his free hand disappeared under her tight black tank top.

"Yes… She said that I wither left Scott for you or you seduced me. And she wouldn't be surprised if it was the latter…"

Chuckling he briefly scanned her body. "So…, ya think it'd have been impossible for me to seduce ya back then?" he said and wobbled his head while she nodded self assured.

"Yes!"

"Hm…," he made and the sound was a deep rumbling, almost a growl in his throat, whereas another sound accompanied it. With his eyes still fixed on her, he let something fall to the ground with a smirk. "You'd have landed in my bed, Red, if I'd really tried…"

Jean couldn't help but give a laugh. "No, Logan! I wouldn't have!"

"Convinced, huh…?" he asked and parted her legs a bit more with a smile, his senses picking up every change in her body, while he knew that she too absorbed in his eyes that she didn't even realized what he was doing with her. Or that something else landed on the floor next to the bed.

"Yes" the redhead said again.

He only chuckled and noticed how goose bumps spread on her skin. He had her exactly where he wanted her to be. "Ya don't realize what I'm doin' right now, hm?" Logan asked in a low voice and tilted his head, noticing with a smirk that she moved hers with him.

"What you're doing?" she asked like in trance.

"Yeah, darlin'… Or better what I've done…" His smirk turned into a satisfied grin as he realized her slightly parted lips and that she was moving her hips barely noticeably.

"You haven't done anything…"

"Hm…told ya you'd have landed in my bed, darlin'. Because if ya weren't too absorbed in starin' at me, you'd notice that parts of ya are movin' on their own without me doin' anythin'…"

"No…," Jean whispered and shook her head.

"Yeah…," Logan nodded and flipped with his fingers, making her close her eyes and shaking her head.

"What…," Jean said and saw his smug grin. Realizing that she was still moving her hips, she quickly stopped it. "What did you do?!" she asked in complete confusion.

"Nothin'…," Logan said innocently with a smirk. "It was you who got off."

"I did not!" she said outraged with a blush and realized something else in shock, she hadn't noticed before. "God, Logan…why did you have to cut through my clothes?" she asked, trying to hide the shock that she hadn't noticed before that she was naked. He grabbed her head quickly and made her look at him.

"I'd have gotten ya into my bed, baby. And there would have been nothin' ya could have done about it," he said in a very low voice and let go of her neck.

"Jeez…someone has his arrogant macho moment again, hm?" the redhead gave back, sounding self assured, but she only saw him smirking and gasped aloud when he made her touch herself.

"Go on lying to yourself, Red. But I know better!" With a last victorious smirk he rolled off her and laid down on his side again. "Ya didn't realize for a second what I was doin' to ya or what I could have done without ya bein' able to me, darlin'. And what ya just felt on your own proves it!" Logan lectured her and crossed his arms behind his head.

Still completely blushed about her defeat, Jean's look suddenly changed into a mean smile. "So…you think you're the only one here who's good in playing games?"

Holding her gaze, he shrugged. "Somethin' I can still smell on ya is the proof, darlin'."

"Hm… Wanna bet I can make you beg for letting you touch me?" she suddenly asked completely self-assured and he began to frown.

Suddenly Logan gave a laugh. "Never!" he smirked. "I'd never beg, Red!"

Only smiling she moved over and sat down opposite of him on the end of the bed. She enjoyed that he, despite his cool demeanor, was trying hard to figure out what she was doing. His eyes were watching every move with a suspicious cocked eyebrow. She knew that he knew she was up to something and she smiled even more when she thought about what she would teach him now. Shifting her position until she sat comfortable, Jean spread her legs and bit and gave him her best seductive smile. "What do I get if I win?" she asked challenging and received a snort.

"Pick somethin', 'cause it won't happen!" he replied self assured.

"'Kay," she shrugged innocently. "If you win, what do you want me to do then?"

"Hm…," Logan made smirking. "I'll think about somethin' nice, darlin'…" About to shift his position, he suddenly frowned. He couldn't move… "That's unfair!"

Hearing his growl, she cocked an eyebrow at him. "Is it?" Jean purred and her hand began to leave her belly to travel upwards. "You don't realize that I can just make you watch me without _you_ being able to do anything, right?" Hearing his low growl, she only smiled. "I could just lay here and watch your reaction to me…and the mighty Wolverine can't do anything at all without my permission…"

Hissing while he watched her he was unable to fight his reaction to it. Logan cursed under another growl as she began to send explicit mental pictures of what she could really do to and with him, while he was forced to watch only. She enjoyed his groan as the pressure in his lower body parts became more than uncomfortable for him without him being able to do anything against it. "Jesus…," Logan cursed and had to close his eyes when she kneeled down in front of him and went on with her game.

"Enjoying it, honey?" Jean purred.

"You're a bitch, Jean!" he cursed under his heavy breathing, but she only let out a laugh and he could have sworn that her negative was enjoying having this power over him. "I didn't use any powers!"

"You did! Yours only have another form," she corrected him. "You're only pissed now because I'm using it against you…" Beginning to feel more and more uncomfortable as he watched her game, she suddenly gave him an innocent smile. "Just say _please_ and you're free…"

"Forget it!" Logan growled and his eyes blackened slightly, since also his counterpart wasn't too happy about the situation.

"Hm…," Jean made playfully disappointedly before she smiled lasciviously again and kneeled down a bit more, but without touching him at all. "I won't stop. I can push you so far to the edge and just let you hand there," she said in a seductive low voice and giggled when he squeezed his eyes shut with another groan. She had him exactly where she wanted him and she would make sure that he paid for his actions.

"You'll regret it, darlin'! Mark my words!" Logan growled. While his groans had been of frustration before, he suddenly shut his eyes tightly and suppressed a moan.

"What? Someone's sucking but in fact there is no one?" Jean laughed and her emerald green eyes briefly turned from fiery to black and back again.

"Jesus…," he panted when it suddenly stopped as he was close to the edge. "Damn it!"

"Liked it?" Jean asked innocently and looked directly into his black and furious eyes.

"I swear ya gonna regret that!" Logan hissed once more, even lower than before, but she only smiled and lowered her hip onto his a bit. As soon as she could feel him, she stopped and wasn't even able to stop the shudder through his body with her powers. Nevertheless, she enjoyed to see how he desperately tried to move his hip.

"One word, Logan… It's only one little word," the redhead said, but he only glared at her warningly while sweat ran down his face. "I can keep on doing this forever. And you know that…"

"Do ya also know what's gonna happen to you as soon as I can move again?" he shot back growling.

"Oh, do I get punished then?" she asked purring and he let out another frustrated groan when she squeezed him.

"God, Jeannie, please…,"Logan whimpered in defeat. "You're killin' me…"

"That was my aim," she smiled triumphantly and got off him to lay down again, before she finally let go off him. Growling, he was about to leap at her when Jean stopped him again. "Forget it!" she said and narrowed her eyes. "I'm not having sex with you after you doing that mean game with me!"

"What?!" he growled. "Who was mean here?" Trying to grab her again, she pushed him a bit away with her powers.

"You!" Jean shot back. "If you need help with your problem down there, find someone else. Good night!"

"Jeannie…," Logan growled threatening. "You're kidding now, right?"

Smiling she shook her head. "No, honey, I'm not! Put ice on it or take a cold shower. Maybe that helps…" Roaring he grabbed his clothes from the ground furiously and left while she switched the light off with a satisfied smile on her lips; hearing him cursing on the outside with words, she'd never heard him using before.

* * *

"Morning," Ororo greeted the redhead when she entered the kitchen together with her children. "Just one thing… Can you tell me what's wrong with Logan?" 

"Why?" Jean asked innocently and began to prepare the breakfast for her children. "Did he say something?"

"Non, but Remy dinks dat Logan est très furieux," Remy said while he ate pancakes.

"He's what?" the redhead asked since she didn't speak French.

"Mad," Jack said and stole a cake from Remy's plate with a grin.

"Still?" Jean said and shook her head.

"Did you have a fight?" Ororo asked worriedly, but her friend shook her head. "But it must have something to do with you… I asked if you were already up, too, and he only snorted and growled."

"We hadn't had a fight," the redhead explained and handed each of her children a plate with their breakfast. "I only taught him a lesson…"

"You taught Logan a lesson?" Rogue asked surprised. "In what?"

Smiling, Jean shrugged. "Let's say in not playing games with me…"

"And what did you do?" Ororo wanted to know and watched her friend closely.

"Something which will make him think twice next time," was all her friend had to say.

It didn't take long and also the others appeared to get read for the day, but Logan didn't show up. "If you look for him he's either in the gym and killing punching bags or in the Dangerroom," Scott told her and briefly read through the newspaper.

"He's really childish," Jean only mumbled.

"What if he takes revenge?" Rogue asked, but the redhead shook her head.

"No, he won't. Since we have classes, I won't run into him till evening and I think he has cooled down until then."

"Ehm…so no one told you?" Ororo asked and made Jean look up with a frown.

"Told me what?"

"There are no classes today," Kurt replied.

"Charles wanted an exchange between us and the Alpha Flight Team and has cancelled all classes today," Hank added.

"So what are we going to do then?" Jean asked and looked to and fro between them

"Logan gives a self-defense class first and then we have a Dangerroom session with them," Ororo replied and raised an eyebrow as her best friend's face turned pale. "You sure he will have cooled down within 10 minutes?" she added, sounding rather amused since she could tell what was going on in Jean's mind.

"Oh God…," that one only said and leant back into her stool.

* * *

It surprised her… When she entered the gym with the others, Logan didn't look at her once. Even when it was her turn to fight against him, he blocked her out completely. She couldn't tell if he was mad, just a bad loser or hurt in his manliness, but the fast that he obviously wasn't interested in taking revenge made her more than suspicious. She'd seen that Wolverine had come to the surface, too, as a reaction to the Phoenix and she knew the animal was furious about what she'd done. The Wolverine never surrendered, especially not to a woman and least of all to his mate. After they'd changed into their uniforms and entered the Dangerroom, Jean and Ororo spent their time in explaining everything to the Alpha Flight Team that looked around the large room in awe. "Who's your team leader by the way?" James asked while they still waited for Logan to show up, who still had a meeting with Charles, who wanted to give him further instructions. "Scott?" 

"No," Ororo replied and opened her mouth to explain it as Logan entered, still occupied with putting the gloves on. Noticing that everyone turned to him and looked attentively, James began to frown.

"Okay," Logan began and looked at them. "Chuck wants us to run a team battle modus. So we split into two groups."

"You're their leader?" James suddenly asked in shock and also Narya and Heather stared at him in utter disbelief.

"I thought you knew that Logan's our leader…," Hank said in surprise. "Why are you so shocked about it?"

"Because I offered him the leadership of Alpha Flight years ago and he turned it down…"

"Well it took quiet some persuasion before he agreed, but…," Ororo said and was cut off.

"Is that here a coffee party or training session, Storm?" Logan grunted, sounding more than pissed. "Want me to cook some for ya? Some cookies, too?"

"Sorry," she mumbled in a low but surprised voice, before she gave Jean a glare. "I really want to know _what_ kind of lesson you taught him that he's in that mood!"

"Team One, Nightcrawler, Collossus, Iceman, Cyke, Mystique, Gambit, leader Cyke," Logan went on, ignoring Jean's look. "Team Two's with me, Beast, Shadowcat, Jubilee, Storm, Phoenix," he went on and looked at the three Alpha Flight members. "If one more of ya was here we could split ya more easily…"

"It'll work," a voice suddenly said from the door and the beautiful Asian woman, dressed in an Alpha Flight uniform, stepped into the room. With her eyes fixed on Logan, she ignored the looks from the X-Men, especially the odd ones from the X-Women. "Hi, Logan!" she purred and touched his shoulder briefly with a smile before she joined her team.

Having watched her like a hunter but with a cocked eyebrow, Logan gave James a look. "What is she doin' here?!"

"She joined the team last year," the man explained with a shrug.

"And she was actually told to stay at home," Heather added with a warning look at the woman.

"Whatever," Logan grunted. "Guardian, Snowbird in my group, Vindicator and whatever her codename is in Cyke's group. Make sure your headsets are workin'," he went on and activated his before he looked up at the ceiling. "Aim is to beat the other group. The program ends for those who got captured. Computer, start simulation X135!"

"Everything goes?" Cyclops asked while the room began to change and holograms appeared.

"Everythin' goes," Wolverine replied before the two groups were separated by a brick wall. "Snowbird, take a look around." Nodding, Narya changed into a white snowy owl and took off.

"Wow," Storm gasped and watched the bird fly towards the ceiling. "I've never seen that before. I mean changing into people, but an animal…"

"It's not the only thing she can," Guardian smiled. "What now? What's your strategy?"

Concentrating on his surroundings, Wolverine turned to him again. "I bet Cyke wants to try to surround us. He's more the defense strategist, so he wouldn't risk attack us directly. We have to be careful because of Mystique, she could be anyone…"

"What do you suggest?" Storm asked.

"We use a codeword. If we get separated and run into one of our team, we ask a question and the other one gives the answer." Thinking about something, he suddenly grinned.

* * *

"Can you see them?" Cyclops' voice cracked through the headset. Hanging from the ceiling with his tail, Nightcrawler used his ghostlike form and took a look around. "No, but I saw Kitty before I think," he replied. "I'll keep my eyes open." 

"Okay, report as soon as you see them and think about what I said," Cyclops said. "You know Logan. Best defense is a good offence, meaning he will try to get as close as possible and attack as soon as he sees one of us. So be careful!"

"I will," Nightcrawler replied and teleported to another spot at the ceiling. The darkness up there and his ghostlike form made it nearly impossible for others to see him, but he knew that Logan could smell him and Storm would probably look at the ceiling first. Waiting for a while he made some more teleports until he thought he saw a movement. He watched how a snowy owl crossed the room and had to frown. He'd never seen before that the Dangerroom could produce animals, too, but he could have bet that the owl had looked at him for less than a second. Not caring about it anymore, he began to use his artistic abilities to cross the room as quietly as possible.

Making his way through a dark corridor with Collossus covering his back, Cyclops stopped at each corner and carefully looked around it. Raising his hand, he gave his partner a sign to walk after he was sure that there was no danger and it was now to him to cover Colossus back. Going on with this procedure, they soon reached a door. "Quiet!" he warned him and touched the doorknob. "Ready?"

"Da," Colossus nodded, his skin shimmering silvery in the dim light. "I'll cover you…"

Nodding, Cyclops carefully opened the door and risked a look into the room. They had fought in this surrounding before and normally he would know what would follow, if the Professor hadn't made some additions to the program. The facility had the same look as it had back then when they'd fought against the artificial Brotherhood, a session which had cost him the leadership of the X-Men, but the rooms were arranged differently. The one they had in front of them was large with 2 floors, a metallic staircase leading its way down, while a banister ran along the walls to the other side of the room where two other door were. "Looks clear!" he whispered and opened the door completely. With a last look at Colossus he went through it, then his teammate, unaware of the shadow lurking above them. Cyclops only heard a hollow _bam_ and his partner gasping as something blue swirled around in the air, kicking Colossus over the banister and him to the ground. Hearing how his teammate hit the ground, followed by Wolverine's typical roar, he knew that he just had lost one member of his team and reached up to his visor. Getting up as quickly as he could, he began to fire his beams at the quick rotating Beast, who managed to evade most of his attacks with an angry snarl, as lightning hit his back and forced him onto his knees with clenched teeth. Nevertheless, he wouldn't give up that fast. While he got up again, he saw how Beast leapt at him once more and Cyclops quickly ducked, using his adversary's speed to send him flying against a surprised Storm, who didn't managed to rise into the air that fast. With another hollow _bump_ both hit the ground and he was about to call for help as he was pressed against the wall.

"Forgotten about me, bub?" Wolverine snarled and the simulation ended for Cyclops.

"Damn it!" he cursed and left the room angrily, just to see Colossus, Mystique, Shadowcat, Jubilee and Iceman already waiting on the outside. "When did they catch you?" he asked Mystique in surprise.

"Oh, right at the beginning?" the woman spat, still more than pissed off.

"Did Wolverine…?"

"No, he wasn't even there."

"Then how…," he asked confused since he knew that only Wolverine could smell it if she tried a masquerade.

Crossing her arms, she leant back against the wall, ignoring the amused looks of Jubilee and Kitty. "_He_ obviously told his team to ask a question. If the answer was wrong they knew it was me…"

"And what was this question?" Cyclops asked and leant next to her against the wall.

"Who is the dickless wonder," Jubilee grinned at him while she ignored Bobby's glare who was still plucking on his scorched hair, thanks to her attack. "The answer was you by the way…"

"This…," Cyclops hissed through gritted teeth in a fit of rage and suppressed the desire to a, slam his fist against the wall and b, go back in and strangle Logan. He turned his head when the door opened in hope it was his desired object of revenge, but let out a snort since it was Beast, followed by Storm. "Finally gotten caught, huh?"

Looking at her half burned coat, Storm sighed. "We should tell Remy that one card is sometimes enough…," she said and reached out to touch Beast's fur on the back. "Moira will kill him if she sees that!"

"That bad?" he asked her and tried to get a look on it. "Well, I need a new haircut anyway…"

Only smiling, Storm shook her head as a hollow explosion sounded through the door. "I think Phoenix just met Gambit…," she mumbled and waited for the next one to come out of the door.

* * *

He quickly jumped aside as she threw one barrel after the next at him, just to counter with more cards of his own. Since Phoenix could easily block it with her powers and took hold of him while her eyes burned, Gambit suddenly smiled. "Remy doesn't like dis, mon petite," he purred and his red eyes were fixed on the movement behind her. "Remy dinks you could use a break, non?" 

"The only one who makes a break is you!" Phoenix hissed and was about to throw his to the opposite side of the room as she heard a familiar _bamf _right above her head and was too late to stop Nightcrawler from falling onto her back. While she hit the ground she let lose of her mental grip on Gambit who gave his teammate a short "Mercy" and began to load more cards, as a snowy owl began to dive and changed back into a human form as she approached. "What the…?" he asked and hit the ground as Narya bumped into him. "Remy dinks this wasn't nice…"

"Don't care!" the woman smiled and evaded his stick just to punch him hard next.

In the meanwhile, Phoenix enjoyed playing with Nightcrawler and making him rise and fall non stop in the air. "Like it?" she asked with a smiled and wondered if his blue would turn green if she kept on doing this further. From afar she could hear Guardian fighting with Vidicator. The energy blasts they used kept on hitting the wall behind her and she wondered if two mutants with powers that were so alike could every win a battle against each other. Sighing she stopped her play and turned her gaze to watch how Narya was about to transform again as Gambit hit her with his stick and a card next. She had to shield her eyes. "That wasn't a nice thing to do," Phoenix lectured him. "Attacking when the enemy has his back turned on you…" Seeing that he only grinned at her, she smiled back and rose a bit into the air, creating a firebird around her. "I have to teach you some manners, hm?"

Swallowing hard, Gambit completely forgot about the cards in his hand and backed off, thinking that she would use the firebird to attack him. Instead he only saw a shadow being thrown out of the fire into his direction, causing him to fly backwards against the wall. When he opened his eyes again, he found Nightcrawler being spread over his lap. "Remy dinks Kurt should use a toilet before…," he began as Nightcrawler already had to puke. "Mercy…," Gambit added in a low growl and picked his friend up to leave the room.

"I think we should use such a technology, too, what do you think?" Guardian asked his wife and used his force field to block her attack before he threw his energy blast into her direction.

"Maybe, honey, maybe," Vindicator replied and did the same. "This is useless, you know?"

"Yes, I do," he smiled and began to approach her. "How many of your team are left?"

"Wolverine and I," she said and began to encircle him, her body glowing white due to the force field. "How about you?"

"Yukio and I," he answered and sighed. "Doesn't sound good… Why is she here anyway?"

"You know why," Vindicator spat. "Let's call it a drawn, shall we? Or do you want to go on for hours?"

"I could!" Guardian said flirtingly and winked.

"I know you could…," she smiled and stopped when he did. "But maybe you want to waste your energy on other things." Hearing aloud roar from afar she turned her head to a door on the upper level. "There they go…," she added calmly as he suddenly pulled her into a kiss.

"Other things like that?" he asked with a grin.

"Maybe," she gave back. "So, where is the door?"

* * *

With his claws out Wolverine watched the smiling woman in front of him attentively while she had taken an attacking position and waited for the tiniest move. He knew how she fought, new her tricks and how deadly she was. Like him, she was a trained, masterless samurai and master in Martial Arts. "Why are ya here?" he growled and both began to move in circles, never leaving the eyes of the other. 

"Not happy to see me?" she purred with a wink.

"Why are ya with them? Ya ain't a mutant…"

"I can do whatever I want, Logan," the woman gave back. "You of all people should know that by now." Clenching her fists, ready to attack, she nodded at his claws. "Too afraid if me that you have to use them? I mean you lost several times, but I never really hurt you, did I?" Hearing a _snakt_ followed by a low, threatening growl, she smiled. "Good boy…" With that she jumped at him quickly and kicked, just to feel his fist hitting her belly hard. Holding it while she stepped back a bit, the woman smiled. "That's how I like it… Now we can start…"

* * *

"How long will it still take them?" Kitty groaned and pulled her legs closer while she sat on the ground between Peter's legs. "Jean's still in there, Logan, too and that strange woman… Is she that powerful that the two of them can't deal with her?" 

"Actually she isn't even a mutant," Narya said and earned odd looking glances. "She's a Martial Art expert who was trained as a samurai."

"Not a mutant and still it takes them that long to take her out?" Bobby asked in disbelief. "Jean could blast her, Logan could stab her, so where is the problem?"

"That she beat Logan several times before," James told him. "And since Logan will definitely be more than pissed because of her being here, she will enjoy making it as long as possible."

"She defeated Logan? A woman who isn't even a mutant?" Scott asked in disbelief first, leaning with his arms crossed against the wall, as suddenly a smiled occurred on his lips. "Oh, I want to see that…"

* * *

Growling while she held him in a firm grip and forced him onto his knees, Wolverine's eyes blackened in rage. "You didn't lean anything new," she said in disappointment and sighed, while she tightened the muscles in her legs, which were around his waist and crossed on his back until he groaned. "Give me a bit more credit…" 

"I'll give a good punch, girl!" he grunted and grabbed her arm roughly as she poked into a nerve on his back and made him hiss. Hearing her laugh, he narrowed his eyes. "That's it," he growled and grabbed one leg in a painful firm grip while he used his other arm to twist her arm. Waiting for her to show a reaction to the pain, Wolverine let himself fall backwards quickly and used his speed to kick her over his head. Before he heard her even hit the ground, he jumped up and leapt at her to pin her immobile to the ground with his weight. "Thing is, darlin', I learned a lot…," he growled into her ear and pinned her arms to her back, but she laughed.

"If we were in bed, Logan, I'd really like that," she purred with a dirty grin.

"Logan?" Jean's voice suddenly echoed through the room and made him look up before he could reply. "She's the last…"

"Good" he grunted and let go of the woman to turn to the computer. "End simulation!"

"Simulation ended," replied Moira's computer generated voice and the room turned into blue holograms first and into the icy blue room next.

"I need a shower," Logan growled and turned around without looking at each of them. He didn't saw the glare Jean gave the woman, who slowly got up with a smile at the redhead. Only turning around, she followed him through the door, hearing how he said something about a meeting later and saw how everyone went back into their changing stall, while he turned to his own, since he still had his clothes and things from his work-out before in it. Walking past the door, Jean entered the woman-changing stall and got rid of her uniform.

"Fits again, huh?" Ororo winked at her and made her smile. "I don't want to know what you did to lose 20 pounds…"

"'Ro!" the redhead sighed and took a large white towel and something to shower out of her locker when the Asian woman entered the room.

"He beat you this time, hm?" Narya smirked at her and brushed through her hair.

"He wouldn't have if she hadn't intervened," came the reply and Jean turned to her best friend to cock an annoyed eyebrow.

"How many women are in here, by the way?" Jubilee suddenly called from within the shower.

Quickly counting them, Ororo entered it. "Eight, why?"

"We only have six showers," the young woman said. "And I need a loooong one!"

"You only want to give Bobby time to cool down again after you melted his hair." Ororo said and turned the water on. "How did it happen anyway?"

"Oh, she just had fun to turn him into a second Xavier by accelerating an upcoming bald head," Kitty added and was hit by a sponge in her back.

"He's not an upcoming bald head, you…," Jubilee said and looked for a word.

"Now she's speechless," her friend teased her laughing. "Wonder's will never cease!"

Starting to laugh, too, Ororo briefly turned her head to see that Jean gave her a sign that she would shower elsewhere.

With the towel wrapped around her body and her shower gel in her hand, Jean slowly approached the teacher's changing stall and knocked on the door. She couldn't hide that her heart was in her mouth, but she also hadn't had the time to wait for the others to finish with their shower. Moira and Rogue were watching over the children and by now it was nearly time for dinner, meaning her youngest needed something to eat and she couldn't expect them to prepare dinner and to baby-sit at the same time. She opened the door calmly and heard the water running in the shower; the hot air in the room stroked over her cool skin. "Logan?" the redhead asked carefully and looked around the locker, just to find his clothes on the bench. Frowning she turned around the corner to enter the shower but it was empty. In total confusion, the redhead shook her head and took the towel to hang it at the hook on the wall before she entered the shower. She put the gel away and closed her eyes as the water began to pour over her hair and face first, just to let out a loud shriek next as she was pressed against the wall. Gasping when she felt a hand between her legs, she blinked against the water and held her breath as she stared directly into his pitch-black eyes. Her heart even gained speed as Wolverine suddenly grinned darkly at her and entered the shower. She couldn't help but press herself against the wall.

"Payback's a bitch, eh?" he growled and chuckled low…

* * *

Later after dinner, and after Wolverine had managed to make his made apologize to him about five times until he voluntarily stepped back again, Jean laid next to Logan in bed and absently stroked over the bite mark on her shoulder his counterpart had left. After Logan had seen it, he had apologized but had also given her his typical _that was your own fault, Red_-look. Right now he laid next to her with his eyes closed but still awake and was stroking through her hair, while she rested her head on his chest and played with his chest hair. She recalled a thought she had before, in fact had for days after seeing it, and bit her lip while she tried to figure out if she should tell him or not. Otherwise, he couldn't become more than angry, which was in fact very likely… "I was thinking about something…," Jean began carefully and could tell that he'd just opened his eyes. 

"About what?"

Sitting up a bit she hugged her legs and looked at him from aside. "Why don't we take Laura to us?"

He cocked an eyebrow and didn't say anything first. Always a bad sign, she thought. "Ya mean take her to us as in adopt her?!" Logan asked monotonous and she nodded.

"Yes…"

"Nope!" was all he said and sounded more than determined.

Sighing, Jean ran a hand through her hair. She'd seen this coming but in the end, she was as stubborn as he could be. "But why not? She already calls you daddy…," she tried it again.

"She ain't my kid, so my answer is no!" he growled back and narrowed his eyes warningly.

"Just because she isn't your real daughter, doesn't mean she isn't your child in some ways!"

Sitting up, too, he only stared at her for some time. "She's a darn clone of me, Jean," he gave back as if he thought his wife was brain dead and he could feel she became angry.

"Is that all what you see in her? A clone?" Jean demanded to know and couldn't believe that he still thought about Laura like that.

"At least I ain't seeing her as my kid and I don't wanna have her in my rooms," he growled back and hoped she would just stop it and let him sleep.

"Jeez Logan…," the redhead cried instead and shook her head in disbelief. "Why are taking care of her then"

With a smirk Logan turned a bit more to her. "Maybe to make sure she doesn't kill anyone around here? But actually I said that before, didn't I?" he asked her cynically and she narrowed her eyes.

"You can't tell me you have no feelings at all for her… You take care of her!"

He nodded ironically. "Because she's a kid. Not because I see her as my daughter or have any positive feelings for her!" he said and briefly rubbed his eyes.

Watching him for a moment, Jean let out a brief gasp. "How can you be so cruel?!" she asked him, since she wasn't used of him being so cold.

"Cruel? Me?!" Logan asked her in disbelief and received a nod. "Did I ask them to clone me?!"

"Did she?!" Jean shot back, but he only rolled his eyes in annoyance. "She was created to be used as a weapon by men who did who knows what with her, She didn't ask for it as you didn't ask for the adamantium!" she lectured him, feeling without even using her powers that he only became more pissed, but she didn't care. For her it was time that someone said it. "The only person she can relate to is you! She trusts you…," she added more calmly and he sighed. "Damn it, Logan, we aren't treating her any better than those bastards! The only difference is we don't lock her up. She's always alone in her room, has no friends or a family."

"Yeah, because she's dangerous!" Logan snapped and had enough of that discussion.

"So are you, and I and everyone else around here," Jean replied. "How is she supposed to learn that there's more than violence and hate in this world if we don't give her the chance or teach her?"

"Then throw her into a room with Jubes, but she ain't living here with my kids, Jean!" was all he said before he turned his back to her and laid back down.

Jean only shook her head. "I know that this is not the reason, Logan…," she said barely audible and turned her back to him, too, while she stared at the opposite wall. "You blame her for what those bastards did with you. But guess what! You said yourself, she hadn't had a choice in this…" Closing her eyes she pulled her pillow closer. "You're not any better than them!"

In a rush he got up and walked towards the door, but stopped at it completely furious by now. Especially about her last words. "What the hell do you now?!" he asked and gave her a glare when she sat up.

"I know that she could have a father and family if you would give her a chance to live! But by blaming her for this cloning thing, just because you don't know who else could be blamed for it, you take this chance away from her," Jean said angrily and tried not to start yelling because of her children. "Have you ever seen how she looks at you when you play with our children? She wants to be a part of it, but she feels that you hate her…," she added and broke eye contact when she felt how tears came up. She just couldn't understand how he could be so cruel…

"Night!" Logan hissed darkly and left the room to walk down to the kitchen. Before he'd even reached it, he caught a scent and couldn't help but growl. Nevertheless he advanced and entered the room. "What are ya doin' here?" he grunted and gave Laura, who sat at the counter and ate cookies, a brief look before he opened the fridge.

"Hungry…," she only said and he nodded.

"Be happy that ya can't get stomachache." He took a beer out of the fridge and sat down opposite of her, ignoring the fact that she looked at him. "Can't sleep?" he asked after a while and she shook her head. "As I thought…" Just drinking his beer, he got up again and threw the empty bottle away, not noticing that she watched him. When he reached the door to the West Wing he turned around with a glare. "What do ya think you're doin'?" he growled and made her stop. Pausing for a moment, he made sure that she had understood what he meant and began to climb up the stairs, just to stop in front of the apartment door. "Damn it, kid! Go back to bed!" he said a bit more loudly and noticed that he had probably scared her a bit, since she looked at him with widened eyes.

"Not alone…," Laura replied barely audible and he nodded.

"Right, ya ain't alone, so go back to your room and sleep," Logan grunted and opened the door to his rooms, when she grabbed his hand.

"No, daddy…," she cried and shook her head. "Not alone, please…"

Pulling his hand roughly away with a low growl, he gave her a glare. "I ain't your dad, kid! Now piss off!"

"What's wrong here?" Jean demanded to know, since he heard him speaking loudly. "The children are asleep, damn it!"

"Nothin'!" he only hissed and walked past her back to the bedroom.

Turning her head to the crying girl, the redhead lowered herself a bit to the ground. "What's wrong, Laura?" she asked softly, even if she could tell what the problem was.

"Not alone, please…," the girl said again and looked up when her air was touched.

"You don't want to be alone?" Jean asked and received a weak nod. "Then come…" Just pulling her up, she closed the door behind her and already prepared herself for the next inevitable fight behind the bedroom door.

"What do ya think you're doin'?" Logan immediately growled after she'd closed the door behind her and watched her with a cocked eyebrow.

"Going back to bed?" Jean asked ironically and came closer.

"She ain't stayin' here, Jean!" he hissed through gritted teeth and watched how she only gave him a challenging look and put the girl down first, just to lay down next to her.

"She's afraid, Logan!"

"Jean…"

Meeting his gaze she narrowed her eyes. "No! She's afraid of being alone and she's sleeping here, Logan! If you're not fine with it, sleep somewhere else!" Jean said determined a bit louder and switched the lamp off. "Night, Laura," she added more gently and instantly heard him growling in the dark. "Stop intimidating her!"

"Then tell her not to touch me!" Logan shot back furiously and heard her sighing in frustration.

"She feels safe when she's close to you, damn it!"

"But I don't wanna have her close to me," he grunted and backed off once more.

Suddenly feeling how an incredible fury rose deep within her, Jean's eyes filled with tears. "I never thought that you can be so cruel, Logan…," she whispered and heard him only giving a short snort.

"Now ya figured out, darlin'," he hissed angrily, just to start growling a second later again. "Damn it, keep your hands away!" Locking up when the light on his side was suddenly switched on again, he watched how she grabbed her pillow and a blanket angrily. "What's that now?" he demanded to know as she walked towards the door.

Turning around with a disappointed, but also more than angry look, Jean met his gaze. "I don't like cruel man, especially not when I'm married to them," she hissed and felt how his demeanor immediately became cooler. She had hit him with it and now he tried to protect himself and act as if he didn't care. Nevertheless, she just left.

"Fine, then piss off and take that thing with ya!" Logan snapped and gave Laura a push towards the bedside. "Go!" Switching the light of again he just tried to ignore that the girl was still sitting next to him. Finally he felt the bed moving and heard how the door was opened and then closed again. Sighing he ran both hand through his face and shook his head. "Finally…"

**That's it for today. Hope you guys liked it and that the server isn't down again. Anyway, thanks for the reviews and I'll try to update soon again. It's funny that some of you already don't like the Asian woman. ; ) I only say: Just wait and see. LOL See ya and please review!!!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note : **In one scene with Laura I refer to a scene of the comic "X23: Lost Innocence"! Oh and Chichi is Japanese for father!

**Oh and stupid me has forgotten about something: Reviewer 50 can wish again for something! ; )**

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 7**

The first sunbeams fell gently through the red curtains and began to spread in the dim room. With his pillow in a firm grip Logan lay on his belly and was still deeply asleep. But somehow, while he slowly awoke, he could tell that something wasn't quiet right. He could smell her and felt the light pressure on his shoulder and arm, but his subconscious still told him that she couldn't be here… Heaving a deep breath, he began to stir and slowly opened one eye just to look at dark and not red hair. He raised his head a bit and figured that it was Laura, who had cuddled up to him and was deeply asleep, but still he could smell Jean nearby. When he turned his head, he found the redhead sitting with her arms crossed at the edge on the end of the bed. "What's that?" Logan grunted and nodded at the girl who held his arm in a firm grip.

"Well, she couldn't sleep and wanted to sleep by her daddy…," she replied still in a chilly tone, since she was still angry with him.

"I ain't her daddy!" he growled and tried to pull his arm away when his wife gave a snort and a shake of her head before she got up.

"Explain that to a child who obviously loves you," Jean spat and opened the door. "Breakfast's ready!"

Growling in anger he tried to get up, but the girl let out a whimper and tightened her already firm grip on his arm. "Damn it, get off me!" he hissed and pushed her from his shoulder a bit. Being awoken by the impact since he just got up, Laura opened her eyes drowsily and looked around in confusion. "Don't ya ever dare to do this again, got that?" she heard him growling, but couldn't understand what he meant and watched hoe he pulled a shirt and jeans on before he left the room. The girl frowned and remained on her place for a moment before she quickly followed him and found him sitting on his casual stool and glaring at his breakfast. She could tell that he was ignoring her.

"Laura, come here, you can sit on my lap," Jean offered, but the girl shook her head beckoned Logan instead to pull her up. Watching it for sometime, the others could tell that the redhead wasn't only close to explode. Especially Ororo gave the porcelain in the cupboard a frightened look. It wouldn't be the first time that they had to buy completely new one…

"Chichi?" the girl asked and Jean let out a half snarl.

"Would you please do something?!" she snapped at him and received a glare only.

"'n what?" he asked her provocatively and would have bet that her eyes had sparkled for less than a second, still he wouldn't be the one to give in.

"Jeez, I don't believe that! Thank God I don't have a child that isn't yours," she said and was thankful that her children were already sitting in their math class with Scott. Otherwise they would have been forced to watch how their mother strangled their father. At least that's what she wanted to do now since his stubbornness pissed her more than off.

"That would be a different thing!" he growled back and she cocked a skeptical eyebrow.

"Would it?"

"Yeah," was all he said before he went on eating and tried hard to ignore the hand that was pulling on his jeans. "You'd be the mother…"

"Right…," Jean nodded darkly. "Well then ask a tank or green liquid to pull her up, maybe they do it as her parents!" Slamming her serviette angrily onto the counter she got up and left, leaving Ororo and Hank back who began to glare at their team leader this time.

"She's right," the weather goddess said. "You're cruel!"

"Fine. Then I am, Logan grunted and let out an annoyed ground next.

"Up!" Laura said a bit louder this time and returned the glare he gave her. "Please!"

"Jeez, Logan!" Ororo exploded and electricity sparkled from her hands. "She hasn't got any disease!"

Snorting dismissively, he grabbed the girl roughly and pulled her up. "Satisfied?" he shot back and began to growl as the girl wrapped her arms around his waist and leant against him. "What did I say about not touchin' me?!"

"Jesus!" Hank said and couldn't hold back his opinion anymore. "If you treat her like shit now, you could have just killed her at the cabin. Would have been better if you ask me…" For that comment he only received a glare. "And don't even dare to look at me like that, boy!"

"Do you even know how much you hurt Jean with your behavior? She was crying while we prepared the breakfast, because she never thought you could be so cruel to an innocent child!" Ororo added and made Logan cock an eyebrow.

"Innocent?!" he spat.

"Yes, innocent!" she nodded angrily. "Look at her and then tell me she's some kind of monster. She has the same gentleness that you normally have, but lack completely in the past days!"

"Shut up!" he growled and pulled Laura away from him to leave the kitchen fuming.

"What has gotten into him?" Hank asked and looked at Ororo, but she could only shrug.

"Don't ask me," she replied and turned her head a bit to look at the confused little girl. "Sweety, do you want top eat something? You must be hungry…" Shaking her head, the girl pointed at the door and made her sigh in frustration when the girl left. "Jean said he would become soft on her anyway, but I highly doubt it by now…"

"Well, maybe it has something to do with Wolverine that he reacts that way," Hank suggested. "We can't tell, can we? You know that Logan loves children."

"Yeah, but could you love a child knowing that she is you?" she asked and made him think hard. "Especially if you have his senses. I mean we don't know what he picks up from her."

"If it was because of the senses, 'Ro, she would react the same way to him as he does to her. And you've seen that this isn't the case."

Heaving a deep sigh in frustration, the woman good up. "Well, I have to go. My classes start in ten minutes. Thanks again that you and Moira watch over the children this time, Hank!"

"No problem, my dear," he winked and left the room with her as she suddenly smiled at him.

"What about a little Hank by the way?" she teased him with a soft nudge. "Or a wedding? The two of you are a couple for nearly a year by now."

Blushing slightly he cleared hi throat. "Well…"

"Come on, the two of you get along so well. I haven't seen you arguing only once, you have the same interests," Ororo laughed. "And the two of you would make great parents!"

"Can you keep a secret?" he asked after a while and she nodded.

"You know I can."

"Logan has asked me the same a few weeks ago," Hank told her.

"And?" she asked with a frown before she stopped next to her classroom.

"The rings are hidden in my drawer, I just don't know when or how to ask her," he admitted calmly and she clapped her hands together in joy before she hugged him.

"That's great Hank!" she cheered with a smile. "I promise I'll decorate the garden as good as I did on Jean's and Logan's wedding, and Kitty's and Peter's of course, too."

"'Ro," he cut her off with a look. "I have to ask her first and it doesn't mean that she'll say yes."

"Oh come on, Hank!" Ororo scolded him playfully. "Of course she will! And now excuse me, but my students will be here soon." Smiling again, she entered the room and didn't see how he heaved a deep sigh before he went upstairs.

There, he entered his room he shared with Moira and smiled, since the woman was laying on the bed and acted all childish while she played with Tommy. "Hey," he greeted and sat down next to her to place a kiss on her cheek.

"Hi," she smiled and went on making the small boy laugh. "He's feeling better."

"That's good to hear. Where's Jamie?" he asked and looked around.

"Oh, actually I am still waiting for Logan to bring him," Moira replied and shrugged.

"That explains a lot," he mumbled in a low voice and waved off when she gave him a confused look. Hearing the boy laugh aloud all of a sudden he smiled. "Someone's really feeling better, hm?" Hank asked and stroked over the boy's black hair while he looked into his blue eyes. He still tried to find a suitable description for the boy's skin color. Right now, it wasn't Ororo's color, but also not really Kurt's dark blue. The funny thing was that it seemed to change constantly depending on the light. In the shadows the skin was darker than Kurt's, but as soon as the boy was in the sun it was more Ororo's soft mocca skin color.

"What are you thinking about?" Moira asked him after a moment and he awoke out of his daydream.

"Oh, it's nothing," he said." I was only thinking about a suitable word for his skin color, you know. It's funny how it always seems to be a different one."

"Yes, that's true," she nodded as it knocked on their door. "I'll open." Getting up she found a more than stressed redhead in front of it. "I thought Logan…," Moira began when Jean snorted.

"Don't even mention that name!" the other woman hissed and handed her Jamie. "Thanks again for watching over him. Just one thing," she said and nodded at Laura. "Could you watch over her, too? I don't want her to be alone the whole day through until dinner…"

"Of course," Hank said and beckoned the girl to come inside. "Where is the Alpha Flight team by the way? I haven't seen them so far."

"They had a meeting with Charles first and now they wanted to take part in Mr. Insufferable's class," Jean replied.

"That bad?" Moira asked her in surprise, referring to her description of Logan and Jean nodded.

"Yeah." She bent over to give her son a kiss and stroked over Laura's hair briefly with a smile. "I've got to go. Thanks again!"

Closing the door behind her, Moira put the boy down on the bed, next to his older friend, who turned his head to look at Jamie. "No fights, okay?" she smiled at them before she turned to the girl, who still stood at the door and looked around curiously, before she walked over to the bookshelf. "Do we have any books that she can read?" she asked Hank but he shook his head and watched how the girl sat down on the ground with a book in her lap. "Do you need help with that?" she asked her but Laura shook her head and began to read. "How come she can read it but barely speaks at all?"

"Maybe because she doesn't use what she's learned. Logan told me that she can read by now without problems, knows what those words mean, but since she hasn't any contact to others, she isn't used of using language," Hank explained.

"What has Logan done by the way that Jean calls him Mr. Insufferable?" Moira asked him with a raised eyebrow but he only sighed.

"Don't ask!"

* * *

"You don't really mean that!" Rogue said and gave the man in front of him a glare. 

"Why not, chérie?" Remy asked and shrugged rather helplessly. "Remy dinks it is a good name, non?"

"I can't even spell that name," she cried and crossed her arms over her very pregnant belly, while she went on looking for baby stuff in the store. "What about…Michael?"

"Non," he shook his head more or less disgusted. "Guillaume?"

"Definitely not!" she instantly said. "Don't even think about that!"

"Jean?" he asked next and put two packages with diapers in the cart when she laughed.

"That's a girls name here, Remy! Even if it's pronounced differently in French!"

"Remy likes dat name," he snapped and heard her sighing. "And Remy wants a prénom français for his fils."

"Then pick one that sounds nice, not weird and which I can spell and pronounce," Rogue shot back slightly angered about his stubbornness. "We still need baby food and some boy clothing." With that she just turned around the next corner and left him frustrated and annoyed behind her, while his hand, which was in his jacket pocket, still played with a small box.

* * *

It was night and Logan roamed the mansion due to a heavy thunderstorm that was raging on the outside. He had his hands in his sweatpants pockets and walked through the corridors to make sure everything was alright. He couldn't sleep by this noise anyway, especially not since every lightning bolt made the windows vibrate heavily. He heard that most students were sleeping as he went through the dormitory corridor, while those, who were awake, were talking with each other quietly. As he reached the last door on the corridor his sensitive ears picked up on suppressed whimpers and sobs. Logan remained at the door and waited for them to stop, but as another loud roar on the outside made the windows vibrate again, he heard a frightened shriek. Sighing, he grabbed the doorknob and opened the door to go inside. His hand searched for the light switch and soon the room was illuminated a bit. His eyes searched through the bedroom with a frown, but couldn't find the source of the sobs and whimpers before he walked over to the bed. Behind it in a corner sat Laura with her legs pulled close while her arms tried to cover her head. He could tell why she was so scared. In Sinister's facility she'd been isolated from the world, something like thunderstorms were unknown to her and with her hearing abilities she was probably even more scared than a normal child would be. Logan stopped in front of her and watched her for a moment, meeting her gaze when she looked up sniffing. "It's only thunderstorm, kid. Nothin' can happen to ya…," he said calmly as another bolt stroke and made her jump at his legs in fear. Sighing in frustration he suddenly had to frown as he noticed the blood and deep scratches on her arms. Confused and with furrowed brows he kneeled down on the ground next to her and took her arms into his hands to examine them further. "What happened to your arms, kid?" he asked and looked at the deep cuts. "Did you do that?" he asked since he knew too well what cuts looked like if they were caused by his claws. Especially on his own arms… She nodded. "Why?!" Logan asked shocked and made her look down. Trying to calm down a bit since he felt that she was scared, he got up. "Come on. Let's clean your arm." With her on his hand he walked over to the bathroom and took a cloth before he began to clean the wounds. Afterwards he couldn't help but stare at them. He just couldn't understand why she did it. "Why did ya do that?" he asked her and held her arms up so that she had to look at it. 

"Punishment," she said after a moment and Logan cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Punishment for what?"

"Being a bad girl…"

"What makes ya think ya were a bad girl?!" he asked incredulously.

"Daddy hates me…," she said barely audible and had her eyes fixed on her arms.

Only staring at her Logan looked down, too. "I don't hate ya, kid and ya weren't a bad girl," he said calmly and met her gaze when she raised her head again. He nodded at the cuts. "This is wrong, do ya understand? I don't wanna see that ever again, got that?!" he said sternly and she nodded slowly, just to let out a shriek next as another bolt stroke. Somehow, Logan thought, he wouldn't be surprised if this was Ororo's doing. Sighing he looked at the girl, who clung to him whimpering, in thought and got up which obviously startled her.

"No!" Laura shrieked and held onto his hand.

"Get your things, kid," Logan said and she frowned. "Come on, hurry up!" He left the room and waited at the door, while she followed him and stopped at her bed. She obviously didn't know what to do, but figured that he was waiting for her so she grabbed her blanket from the bed and walked over to him. "Only the blanket?" he asked while he switched the lights off and she nodded. "'Kay." Shrugging he pulled her up and walked back to his rooms again. "Be quiet!" he whispered and closed the front door to walk over to the bedroom. Reaching it, he could only shake his head, since the twins and Rachel lay in the middle of the bed next to Jean and were deeply asleep, while Miloh rested at the end of the bed. Logan dropped Laura to the ground and laid carefully down next to his children, realizing that the girl just stood there. "Come here, kid and sleep," he said barely audible and pulled the sheets up for her. Next to him, Jack sighed and rolled over to cuddle up to his left arm while he pulled the sheets over the girl "And now sleep…," he said and tried to get comfortable in this limited space as she clung to his other arm due to another lightning bolt. Sighing, Logan could only shake his head in frustration and closed his eyes tiredly.

When he woke up later he noticed that it was still dark on the outside but that somehow the light was switched on. With a frown he turned his head just to look directly into Jean's dogmatic face. He knew what follow next, but he decided to just wait and see. The redhead was staring at him, one hand supporting her head while she laid on her left side and suddenly she raised an eyebrow. "No feelings for her, hm?" she asked in her best _I was right, you were wrong_-voice and nodded at the sleeping girl next to Logan who had her hand on his chest. "I told you that you are a bad liar!"

Only shrugging he tried to find a way out of this endless discussion. "We need a bigger bed…," he only said and made her frown.

"Why?"

"Well as soon as Jamie can walk it will become pretty crowded with five kids and a wolf during a thunderstorm, don't you think?" Logan asked innocently and nodded at Miloh, who still slept at the end of the bed.

"_Five_ kids?" Jean asked and gave him a look, but he only nodded.

"Yeah…"

Just let me think… I remember someone saying _She ain't my kid so she's not stayin' here with my kids_…," Jean repeated and received an annoyed look from him since she'd imitated his voice. "And this someone looked surprisingly like you…," she added and had again this dogmatic look on her face.

"We also need clothes and a bed for her…," he tried again to just end this discussion but knew it was too late when she sighed heavily.

"Logan…," Jean said warningly and he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, alright! I was a bastard and an asshole and you've been right the whole time through and I'm sorry," he quickly said with a look. "Satisfied?! 'Cause I ain't going down on my knees!"

"So we adopt her?" she only asked and he shrugged before he turned to the girl.

"How old is she anyway?"

"From the way she looks she could be as old as the twins…maybe older. But from the way she behaves three or four. If you ask me her behavior is an aftereffect of the way she was isolated. She has to catch up with a lot." He nodded and noticed the look on her face again. "But you still didn't answer my question!"

"We've to discuss it with the kids first," Logan grunted.

Letting out an annoyed groan she shook her head. "Can you just answer it? Would _you_ adopt her yes or no??

"Would she sleep on me if not?" he shot back not minder annoyed.

"Told you so," she smirked. "Bad liar! I told 'Ro from the beginning that you would get soft on her anyway. Still you were a bastard, Logan!" she scolded him afterwards.

"That means?" he sighed and ran a hand through his face.

"No fun for you in the next four weeks!" she only replied and he would have sit up in a rush if the girl wasn't sleeping.

"Four weeks? Now you're cruel!"

"It's the right punishment for you!" Jean gave back and laid back down. "I'd say five but…"

"But what?" Logan asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Well, let's say I know you'll punish me if I said it," she shrugged with a winning smile.

Only snorting he gave her a glare. "I'll punish ya for four, too. Mark my words!"

"We'll see," she yawned. "At least you finally have a heart again," Jean added and heard him growling.

"How many more times do ya want me to say I'm sorry?" Logan asked and tried to keep his voice low because of the children.

"You can't apologize often enough for what you've done!" she gave back and switched the lights off again to go back to sleep.

Suddenly he chuckled since he knew a way to get to her. "We'll see, darlin'," he only replied and closed his eyes again with a smug grin on his face.

* * *

On the next morning Logan stood in the kitchen to prepare a tray to take it back upstairs with him. Watching him for a while, Hank knew what this was supposed to mean. "Someone either has to do breakfast or tries to apologize with breakfast in bed, hm?" he teased his friend while Jubilee grinned. 

"You sure ya can make _it _before the coffee's cold, Wolvie?"

"Jubes…," Logan grunted with a growl but she only wobbled her eyebrows, just to turn her head to the door as Ororo stormed into the kitchen.

"What's wrong?!" Scott asked her worriedly since she looked to and fro between them in panic.

"Is she here?" the woman asked and he frowned.

"Who?" Hank asked.

"Laura! She's gone," the weather goddess only mumbled and looked up when Scott suddenly jumped off his stool.

"What?!"

"And I'd bet this is your fault, Logan!" Ororo continued angrily and turned to the man at the stove. "You treated her like shit and now she ran off!"

Sighing, he gave her a look. "'Ro…," Logan began but was cut off by her.

"No! Put the pan down, get onto your bike and find her!" she demanded and received a look from him. Not impressed by it she crossed her arms.

"'Ro…," he tried once more when she became even louder.

"Logan! Go and look for her and better hope that she isn't hurt or I swear to good that…"

"Would ya just shut up and listen?!" he asked as loud as she was talking to him, but angered her the more.

"Listen to what?!"

"She's upstairs," he explained and she shook her head.

"No, she's not! I've been there to bring her down for breakfast and she was gone and _this_ is all your fault!" Ororo went on angrily and he could have bet that she would start crying soon.

"Great, Logan," Scott suddenly said from behind the counter. "Well done!"

"I told you that…," now Hank began and was cut off.

"She's upstairs!" Logan nearly yelled in anger since no one was listening to him.

"She is NOT!" Ororo gave back in the same voice and watched how he turned back to the pan again with a shake of his head. "How can you just go on cooking if she's somewhere out there and all alone?!" she demanded to know completely outraged by now and was about to grab his arm when he turned to give her a glare.

"'cause I know that she'd been upstairs sleepin' in Ray's room and is now in the gym for her first day of classes," he hisses annoyed and saw how she closed her eyes to heave a deep breath as if she had to calm down before she would start choking him.

"Logan…I'm telling you again she's not up…," the woman began and suddenly frowned. "Did you just say Ray's room?!"

"No, I said I flushed her down the toilet…," he grunted and rolled his eyes.

"What do you mean with Ray's room?" she asked and still had her brows furrowed.

Putting the pancakes onto a plate, Logan turned to look at the wall clock before he gave her a look again. "That she's stayin' with us from now on…"

"Did he just say she's staying with them?!" Hank asked and looked to and fro between them as the Asian woman entered. Seeing Logan, while he just ignored her, she only smiled and went over to him to touch his shoulder.

"Hey," Yukio said softly and made him turn his head for a brief moment. She caught him by surprise and pulled him down into a hungry kiss that made the jaws of the other drop in shock. Still, she didn't reckon with him pushing her roughly away and against the fridge in the next second, just to wipe his mouth in disgust with the back of his hand. While she looked rather surprised, he was more than pissed off. "What?!" the woman asked confused.

"Do that again and you'll fly through that window!" Logan growled warningly and packed the rest onto the tray, still she smiled.

"I'd rather thought you'll make breakfast for me…," she purred and played with her long black hair, enjoying the perplex stares of the others when he only snorted and looked away.

"Why should I make breakfast for ya?"

"Right… We never made it to sit down on a table anyway," she smiled and received a glare.

"Cut it off!"

"For whom is it?" Yukio asked and nodded at the tray when he picked it up and walked over to the door.

"My wife…," Logan grunted and she laughed.

"Wife?! You?!" she asked in disbelief and rather amused. "What kind of drug did you take?"

"Not some illusion brining ones as ya obviously did," he shot back and watched how she leant back against the counter, still with an amused smile on her lips.

"Is she that good in bed?" Yukio spat in a scornful voice and crossed her arms. "You can't tell me some kid is any better than me…"

"Actually…," Logan replied and turned around with an arrogant smile. "…ya ain't any good at all!" He enjoyed seeing her fuming with anger before he left.

"Never attack his wife!" Jubilee mocked. "It's your own fault…"

"Really?" the woman asked her. "And who are you to talk to me?"

"Woah, calm down, girl!" Ororo intervened not bothering to hide his disgust for that woman. Only giving a short snort she grabbed an apple and left the kitchen again. "What the hell was that?"

"Dunno…," Jubilee shrugged. "But I'd bet something's about to happen…"

Upstairs, Logan opened the door to the bedroom calmly and entered. He put the tray carefully onto the bedside table before he sat down on the edge and pulled a strand out of Jean's face. Smiling and hoping that his plan would work, he bent down and placed a soft kiss on her neck. Sighing, she began to stir in her sleep and heaved a deep breath. He couldn't help but smirk and kiss her again. "Jeannie…"

"Hm?" she made sleepily and opened one eye a bit.

"Time to get up, darlin'."

"Why do you have to say that?!" Jean groaned playfully and buried her face in her pillow.

Chuckling he pulled on her blanket. "Come on, get up or your coffee will be cold soon."

Hearing the magic word, the redhead raised her head in surprise. "You made breakfast?" she asked and sat up, smiling happily when she saw the tray next to her. "I know what you're up to!" she added knowingly when he handed her a cup and moved over to sit down next to her. Despite their fight on the day before she kissed him before she began to examine her breakfast. "Scrambled eggs with ham and buttered toast…," Jean nodded and turned her head with a smirk. "Usually that means you want something, hon, and since you've already apologized about five times by now, I think you want something else. Am I right?"

"Maybe," Logan smirked and began to eat.

"And what?" she asked and took her plate into her hands.

"Is it okay if I go out today? The guys and I wanted to show James the city a bit," he explained and she shrugged.

"Sure. You don't have to ask…," she said and smiled suddenly. "Then the girl and I have finally some time to relax."

"I see…" He nodded playfully with a cocked eyebrow. "Maybe I should stay away for a few days so that ya have some more time to relax, huh?"

"Don't even dare!" Jean gave back and sipped on her coffee.

"Oh, then ya gonna miss me, eh?"

"You know that perfectly well!"

"Right…" She noticed that he suddenly became serious after they were done eating. "Do ya promise not to freak out?" Logan asked her carefully and Jean became instantly suspicious.

"Why?" she asked with a frown.

"Well, before someone else tells ya, I better do it…"

"Logan, what happened?" the redhead asked and sat up a bit, immediately thinking that he had treated Laura wrong again and the girl was now crying somewhere.

"When I made breakfast Yukio came in the kitchen and kissed me…," Logan quickly said and watched how she let her cup sink in a way that would put slow motion to shame. Knowing her he knew that he had three seconds before she would probably explode. "Jean, I swear I didn't do anythin'! She did! Ask Hank or Jubes!"

"_Why _did she kiss you?" Jean asked instead and crossed her arms, knowing full well that there was more behind it than he offered her now.

"How am I supposed to know?" he gave back.

"Logan, I doubt she just kissed you out of fun! What's the story between you and her?!" she demanded to know with a more than threatening and warning look in her eyes.

Seeing it he sighed. "We never were a couple if ya mean that…," he admitted after a moment.

"But?!"

"It was only a fling. Nothing more. There are no feelings or anything like that, so ya don't have to worry about it," Logan went on but she only made a face. "Jean, ya know I love ya and that there's no reason at all for me to have a thing with someone else…"

Seeing the look he gave her she shook her head. "I'm mad with her, not with you."

"Well, she already hit the fridge…," Logan mumbled and noticed the slight change from black to fiery in her eyes that was visible for less than a second.

"And if she ever touches you again it wasn't the last thing she hit!" Jean hissed and made him smirk. "What?" she asked angrily and wiped her mouth with a serviette before she put the tray onto the ground. Hearing him chuckling next she couldn't help but glare. "What?!" she snarled.

Slowly straddling her he began to kiss her neck. "I love it when you're jealous, baby," Logan growled playfully and made her shiver.

"I doubt you'd love it if I'd seen it!" she gave back but he only shrugged with a smirk.

"Depends on if you'd hit me or her, gorgeous… What about a shower?" he asked and wobbled his head. "I could apologize by scrubbing your back…," he offered and kissed her neck once more. "Or clean other parts…"

Giving a short laugh, Jean shook her head and pushed him away a bit. "As far as I know, my dear, we've to be downstairs for our classes in 20 minutes. And I know that if we shower together I'm not coming out of it so fast. And the children have to get ready, too." About to get up she noticed his grin.

"Actually, the children are already downstairs and ready and I moved your watch forwards by 30 minutes, so… We've plenty of time," Logan smirked.

"You manipulated my watch?" she asked and looked at it before she turned her head to look at his. "So that means I actually still had 30 minutes to sleep?!"

"Hm….yeah," he nodded and received a slap against his chest.

"You bastard!" Jean cried and got up. "No shower for you with me!"

Getting up he caught her around her waist quickly. "Too bad, darlin'!" he purred. "I haven't taken a shower so far and by now it's too late, so… We have to shower together," he added with a victorious grin and heard her groaning playfully.

"You are such a manipulative thing sometimes, you know that by the way?" Jean asked and walked over to the drawer and wardrobe to get fresh clothes out of it, while he did the same and held the door open for her afterwards with a smug grin on his face.

"Yeah! I do."

* * *

Later the day during a break from classes Logan and Jean were sitting in the living room with their three children to talk with them about the decision they'd made earlier that day. Explaining the situation to them and what they were planning to do, Jack only looked to and fro between them and jumped off the couch. "No!" he protested, remembering too well what the girl already did to him before. 

"Jack," Jean sighed but the boy shook his head.

"No! I don't want her here!"

"Why not?" the redhead asked and noticed the look in her son's eyes.

"I don't like her," was all this one said before he crossed his arms.

"Have you ever talked with her?" Jean asked him and he shook his head. "See? How can you say you don't like someone if you haven't talked with that person only for once? It's wrong to have prejudices against another person without even bothering to get to know that one for real. And you know that! It's not what your daddy and I taught you…"

"She attacked me, mommy! And daddy hates her, too!" the boy defended himself and looked at his father in hope to get any support, but was rather shocked when this one shook his head.

"I don't hate her," Logan replied. "I judged her hastily and I was wrong."

"But I don't want her in my room!"

"It's not _your_ room, Jack, but Lily's and your room," his father corrected him with a warning look, but saw that the boy became even angrier.

"She doesn't want her either," Jack gave back and turned to his sister. "Right?!"

Looking down, Lily shrugged. "She was never mean to me…," she said calmly and heard him growling as suddenly Rachel pulled on her father's shirt.

"She can stay in my room, daddy…," the girl said calmly and startled a bit when her brother turned towards her.

"Are you crazy?!"

"Jack, would ya cut it off?" Logan asked him aloud and angered, making the boy turn around and going to his room.

"I don't like her!" he said again and closed the door when Jean quickly touched Logan's arm to stop him from saying anything else.

"He's only jealous…," she tried to soothe him. "You know that he only wants to protect his sister's…"

"I don't mind her being here," Lily suddenly said. "But don't tell Jack!" she quickly added and made Logan smile.

"So it's okay for you then?" he asked his daughters and they nodded. "Good… No hurry up, or you'll be late for history." Nodding again, they quickly ran over to their rooms to get their books, Lily even managed to shove her still fuming brother towards the door and they headed down to their class room. Sighing, Logan leant back into the sofa and rubbed his eyes. "That'll mean fun…

"He'll get used to it," Jean said and looked at him. "Hurry up or you'll be late for your class, mister."

Chuckling he gave her a look and touched her cheek. "What's that suppose to mean, huh?"

"Well, if you're too late, you can start sniffing out your students again because they'll think they don't have classes today because you're not there…," she smiled. "And it happened once, don't forget that!"

"That was on my first day, Red!" he gave back and got up to get his sports bag. "So, you're watching over Jamie while I have my class, and then I'll come upstairs and watch over him while you've your class, right?"

"Right, have fun!" she teased him an he growled before he kissed her briefly. "Bye!"

"He needs a new diaper," Logan quickly said with a grin before he closed the door behind him.

"Nice," Jean mocked and good up to go over to her son's room.

* * *

After all classes were over, Logan brought Laura up to Rachel's room. "You're sleepin' here from now on, okay?" he asked the girl, who only nodded at him. "Ray lives in this room, too. I don't want to see ya ever attacking her or the others or even growlin' at them, got that?" 

"Yeah…"

"Good! Wait here, she'll be back from her classes soon," he added and stopped at the door briefly. "And don't be afraid of the wolf. He won't attack ya." Waiting for her to nod again he left her alone.

Looking around the unfamiliar room, Laura went over to a shelf and began to look at the books in it first. She then took a cuddly toy from the ground and looked at it curiously from all sides. With it in her hands she went on examining the room for a while until her eyes caught some pictures on the wall. Climbing onto the bed she looked at them. One of them was a family picture, probably taken somewhere around Christmas while the other showed the children with the wolf only at the pool in summer. "Hi…," a voice suddenly said behind her and made her turn around quickly. Looking at the redhead in the doorway, who looked back, she watched how the girl entered the room and dropped her school bag next to the desk at the window. Realizing that she still held the cuddly toy in her hand as Rachel looked at it, Laura quickly dropped it onto the bed. Climbing onto the bed, too, the redhead took the yellow Carebear into her hands. "Aunt Jubes gave it to me on my last birthday," she explained and reached the toy over to the other girl. "You can borrow it until you have one of your own…"

Laura looked at the toy in her opposite hands first and finally took it to pull it close. "Do you want to play a game?" Rachel asked her after a moment.

"Play?" Laura asked with a frown since the word was new to her.

"A game or something like that…," the redhead went on. "I can do my homework later. So, do you want to play a game?" she asked again and her opposite nodded. "How about playing catch?" she offered and received a shrug. "Come on!" Jumping of the bed, she took Laura by her hand who dropped the bear on the bed quickly, to drag her over to the door and then downstairs. "I'll catch you first, okay?" Rachel asked her.

"Okay," Laura replied with a frown.

Waiting for a while, the redhead tilted her head a bit. "Well, you have to run away first…"

"Hm?" the other girl made in confusion.

"You have to run away and I have to try and catch you…," Rachel explained and noticed after a moment that the girl had no idea what she was talking about. "Did you play that before?!"

"No…"

Staring at her opposite in complete disbelief, the redhead didn't know what to say first. "Okay… I'll show you," she offered and began to explain it again.

* * *

Some of the X-_Men_ and James went to a bar later the day after showing the man from Canada the city a bit. Already sitting in it for about three hours and talking about different things, Logan began to look around and asked them if someone wanted another beer. Receiving only no's, he shrugged and got up to go over to the barman to get another drink for himself. By doing it, he was carefully watched by James, who still had his problems to cope with his friend's new behavior which was completely unusual in his eyes. He watched, while the others kept on talking, how Logan leant against the counter, waiting for his drink and kept on looking around. One thing, as James new, which would obviously never change. He remembered him doing it every time they went to public places. It was his way of making sure that everything was alright and that there was no danger at all. "At least some things never change…," he mumbled and made the others turn towards him. 

"What?" Scott asked and saw how the man nodded towards a blonde, very good-looking woman that stood next to Logan and asked him if he could light her cigarette.

James began to frown since his friend only shook his head and looked away, just to take his new coke next and come back to their table. "Okay…," he said and nodded his head slowly, earning a cocked eyebrow from Logan. "I just don't know which of the three things bothers me the most…"

"Which three things?" Logan grunted.

"First, you don't drink any beer, then a hell of a woman begins to flirt with you and you just ignore her and then…I haven't seen you smoking once while we're at the mansion!" James listed and shook his head. "What the hell is wrong with you?!"

Sipping on his beer Scott shrugged. "He's married…," he commented but still James shook his head while he looked at Logan.

"Logan?" Bobby suddenly asked after a moment and grinned rather embarrassed at Logan, who'd just emptied his coke. "Sorry, but…," he held up his empty bottle and received a glare from the man. "…you sit on the edge, you know…"

"I just asked," Logan growled and rolled his eyes when Bobby shrugged.

"Sorry…"

Sighing he got up again to get another drink for the younger man. "Is he really that different?" Scott asked after a moment with his eyes on Logan. To him the man hadn't changed at all…

"You bet!" James nodded and had his eyes fixed on the man, too. "Is he happy?" he asked after a moment and sounded rather concerned.

"He's moody today," Peter shrugged.

"And he'll kill you if you empty that bottle now, Pete," Bobby warned him and nodded at the drink in his friend's hand.

"No, I mean… Is he really happy with Jean?" James corrected himself and looked around, earning only looks that practically screamed _Are you crazy_ at him.

"Are you kidding?!" Scott asked. "The two of them can't stay away from each other for longer than a week." Remembering something he grinned. "Jean was on a mission once for a week…," he began when Bobby cut him off.

"Five days!" the man corrected him and Scott nodded.

"Right! And he was so grumpy that there were more fights in the school within those five days than we usually have within a month!"

"It's just strange that he does without things he usually loves," James said in thoughts. "I don't know him that way…"

Coming back with a new bottle in his hands, Logan reached it over to Bobby. "Thanks!" this one said, still sounding slightly embarrassed, since he noticed the look the older ma still gave him.

"I'm off then," Logan only grunted and took his jacket.

"Where're you going?" James asked him in confusion and made his friend freeze.

"Home?!" this one said as if the other man was completely brain dead and saw how he looked at his watch.

"It's 11:40 only…"

"And?"

"Well for you it's still way too early…," James shrugged. "Why do you have to go?"

"Ehm…'cause I have four kids and a baby at home?!" Logan gave back in the same strange undertone, just to receive a stare.

"You really drive back home now?" James asked still thinking that his opposite was joking. "Seriously?!"

"Ehm…yeah?!" Logan replied with a cocked eyebrow while he searched his pockets for money and put a note down on the table. "So, see ya later!" he added and searched for his keys next. As he turned around the blonde woman touched his shoulder smiling.

"Can you give me a ride home?" she asked with a seductive smile.

"No…I can't," he grunted in annoyance and nodded at the others. "Ask one of them!" Just letting her stand there he left the bar, making James jaw drop.

"Have you seen that?!" he asked the others. "What have you guys done to him?!"

"Nothing," Scott shrugged.

"He never stays away for longer than 11 p.m.," Peter explained. "It's already late for him actually…"

"No beers, no cigars?" James asked.

"Well, it's not that he doesn't drink or smoke at all anymore," Bobby replied and Peter nodded.

"She really has him under her thumb, huh?"

"No, he does it voluntarily," Scott said with a shake of his head. "Jean would never forbid him anything. He can do what he wants as long as she can do what she wants. She knows that he needs his freedom." Only whistling James sipped on his drink again.

* * *

Feeling how the bed moved Jean switched the light on in surprise. "You're already back?" she asked sleepily and looked at her watch on the bedside table. "It's midnight only…" 

"Did I wake ya?" Logan asked as he pulled the sheets over him, but she shook her head.

"No… Why are you already back?!" she asked and sat up a bit to rub her eyes.

"Do ya want me to go again?" he teased her. "You know that I'm always back before midnight."

"Yes, but I thought you might have wanted a bit fun with your friends…," she replied with a yawn. As he pulled his pillow over to her side and nuzzled her neck.

"Nah…"

Switching the light off again, she laid back down and closed her eyes tiredly. "You don't have to come back earlier because of me," Jean mumbled. "You can stay away as long as you want, you know that…"

Cuddling up to her, he kissed her neck softly. "I know. But I don't want to…" Kissing her again, he leant his head against her shoulder. "Night…"

Smiling, Jean heaved a deep breath. "Night."

On the next morning, Kitty and Jubilee came down, looking more than sour and froze at the door to the kitchen. "You're already up?!" Kitty shrieked and gave the man at the counter, who was occupied with eating breakfast, a shocked look.

"Why shouldn't I be up?!" Logan asked perplexed and handed his son the bottle with syrup for the pancakes.

"'Cause you guys came back at 7 a.m.?" Jubilee asked in disbelief. "How come ya look so awake after two hours of sleep, Wolvie?"

"He was back at midnight, that's why," Jean said and went over from the stove to the counter to put more cakes onto the plate.

Only snorting, Kitty rolled her eyes. "Great! And Peter's snoring upstairs and I bet he has a hangover." Sitting down on a stool she began to pile pancakes onto her plate, looking sour than ever.

"Same goes for Popsicle," Jubilee added with a growl, making Logan chuckle.

"Why didn't you tell them to leave, too?" Kitty demanded to know and received a look.

"Why should I?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow. "They're grown-ups and don't need to be babied anymore. Ya want them to come home earlier then tell them!" Getting up he put hi dishes into the dishwasher and kissed Jean briefly. "I'm upstairs to shower…"

"Okay," she smiled and watched him leaving before she had to turn her head to Rachel, who was poking into her side.

"Can we go out and play?" she asked.

"Sure, but put your dirty dishes away first and get your warm clothes from upstairs."

"Why isn't it snowing this year?" Jack pouted and walked towards the door. "Can't Aunt 'Roro make it snow?"

"Sorry, my dear but I don't manipulate the weather just for fun," Ororo winked. "But I can assure you it will snow sooner or later this year. Don't worry." Sighing she looked at her daughter, who had given her puppy-dog eyes looks the whole time through. "And yes, you can go outside, too, but before you do you get warmer clothes from upstairs!" Cheering the girl jumped off her stool. "And, young lady, the same goes to you!" TJ's mother added and held up her daughter's dirty plate. Groaning the girl took it and put it into the dishwasher, before she headed of with Isa on her hand. "Can you imagine what will happen as soon as Tommy, Alex and Jamie join them? And Rogue's boy?" she added with a playful groan and leant her head on her arms that rested in the table. "I don't even want to think about it…"

Laughing, Jean shook her head. "We wanted it that way, 'Ro!"

"I know, I know…"

"Where's Mrs. Prettyface by the way?" Mystique asked and kept an attentive eye on the baby monitor next to her.

"Oh, I hope that woman keeps away from here," Ororo immediately added and heard Jean's snort. Nevertheless, she didn't tell her what she actually wanted to say.

"The only thing I know is that she will regret it if she ever lays her hand on Logan again," the redhead hissed darkly and her eyes glowed for a brief moment.

"You know?!" Mystique asked her in shock, since she herself hadn't seen and only heard about it from Scott.

"Yes I do…"

"How?!"

"Logan told me," Jean replied with a look.

"Logan told you that she kissed him?!" Ororo asked her incredulously. "He tells you about such things?"

"Of course," the redhead said with a shrug. "He always tells me if a woman tried to flirt with him… Why shouldn't he do it?"

"Wow," Mystique made. "I wouldn't tell Scott. That's for sure…"

"Why not?"

"Because it only means trouble," the blue woman replied and sipped on her coffee when Moira, Hank and Heather, followed by Narya entered and wished them a Good Morning.

"I think it only means trouble if you don't tell your partner and this one finds out about it," Jean said after a moment. "That's why we agreed on no secrets at all."

"You know his history with Yukio then?" Heather asked her and was surprised to see the redhead nodding. "Everything?!"

"He told me that it meant nothing to him and that he has no feeling for her. That's all I need to know," came the rather chilly reply and it didn't take long for Jean to narrow her eyes as Yukio entered the room.

"Good morning," the woman greeted and took a cup to pour herself some tea. Noticing the look the redhead gave her she smiled. "So…you really believe that he's your man, huh?" she asked. "Let me tell you one thing about Logan, honey. He never had one girl only. He doesn't share his girls but he also doesn't care that we have to share him." Ignoring the looks of the others, she enjoyed the fuming view of the redhead. Beginning to smile arrogantly, she sipped on her tea briefly. "I bet he'd only married you so that you're his nice little housewife, who takes care of his home and children. Or it must be the sex, but I doubt that there's anything else. He can have any woman he likes, so why should he pick you out of everyone, huh?" she asked and watched how Jean put her cup down very slowly, but didn't see the warning look Ororo gave the others, since she knew what would come if the woman went on like that. "You've a pretty face, a nice figure…," Yukio went on and scanned the redhead from head to toe. "But other than that…you're just an ordinary girl…"

"Someone's really frustrated, hm?" Jean gave back with a purring undertone and felt her negative slowly taking over. "Or pissed because he showed you the cold shoulder maybe?"

Coming closer with a smile, Yukio held her gaze. "He came back home late, didn't he? Never asked yourself where he was that long or…who was with him?"

Giving her the same arrogant smile, Jean narrowed her eyes warningly. "I know where he was, honey… So don't even try that shit on me!"

Giggling her opposite shook her head. "He always came to me, no matter if he had a girl or not. So what makes you think it's any different with you?" she snapped.

"Jean…," Ororo tried to intervene and closed her eyes tightly as Yukio's cup hit the wall loudly.

"Bitch," the redhead snarled and her eyes began to change their color.

"What's happening?" Narya asked and stared at the woman panicky as she picked up the suddenly coldness that was radiated by Jean. Her eyes widened as she watched how the skin of the woman darkened and her eyes began to blacken while her hair turned suddenly into a fiery red. Staring at it, too, Yukio still tried to figure out what was happening as she was suddenly raised in the air.

"Jean, please calm down again!" Hank tried it, but was silenced with one look only. "You can change into a bird, can't you?" he turned to Narya. "Can you fly up to Logan's room and…," he went on as the man reached the room bare-chested and his hair still wet from showering.

"Jean!" Logan said and went quickly over to his fuming wife to touch her shoulder while the others had backed off after a sign of Ororo and were staring at them in shock. "Come on, let her go!" he pleaded and was pushed against the counter by the furious Phoenix.

"Oh, so you do care for her?!" she asked him in her demonic voice and with a more than low hiss.

"No, but I do care for ya and know that you'll feel bad afterwards again," he said as calm as possible and heard the windows vibrating under her strong power while the cupboards began to tremble. "So put her down and just ignore her, c'mon!"

Just staring at each other for a while, Phoenix finally dropped Yukio back onto the ground but still held her in her grip. "It's my last warning, bitch!" she hissed. "Leave me man alone or you'll fit into a matchbox!" Carelessly pushing her away with a psychic wave she pushed her negative back into her cage and blinked briefly.

Looking into her emerald eyes, Logan touched her cheek to make her look at him. "What did she say or do to piss ya off that much?!" he demanded to know and heard how the other came slowly closer again.

"Nothing!" Jean hissed through clenched teeth with a glare at Yukio. "Make sure that bitch stays away from me and you or something ugly _will_ happen!"

"We'll see," Yukio snorted angrily and straightened her clothes as Logan turned towards her in a rush with black eyes.

"Shut up!" he roared and received a raised eyebrow from her as he pushed Wolverine back.

"What do you want with a psycho like her?" she asked him with a look.

"Yukio, it's enough!" Heather warned her since Logan began to growl.

"One more word and I'll forget that you're a woman!" he snarled and saw how she was about to say something. "ONE…more word!"

With a short derisive snort Yukio turned around to leave. "As if such a psycho-slut like her is any good for an animal like you," she hissed and heard Ororo shrieking as the woman beckoned the others to back off quickly. Turning around she directly looked into four pitch-black eyes.

"Animal?" Phoenix asked in a low snarl and made a step forward, while Wolverine clenched his fists.

"Slut?!" he'd asked at the same time and narrowed his eyes in fury.

"That's bad…," Jubilee whispered and tried to hide behind Hank's broad shoulder.

"That's more than bad…," Kitty corrected her and looked at Ororo for help.

"What's wrong all of a sudden?" Narya asked them since she didn't know why everyone was so afraid all of a sudden. "What's wrong with them?"

"Their negatives…," Hank briefly explained and looked outside the window to make sure that none of the children were on their way back inside.

"That means?"

"Their dark sides," Ororo said. "I thought you knew Logan…"

"Yes, but I have never seen him like that," Narya said and watched how the weather goddess made a careful step forward.

"Logan?" she asked and received a growl and glare from him. She knew what she'd done wrong in an instant. "Wolverine…"

"What?!" he snarled and Phoenix turned her head too while she began to lean against him.

"Could the two of you please calm down again… And change back?" Ororo asked as friendly as possible and made Phoenix laugh.

"Stay out of it!" the woman hissed next and gave her a good few on the flames which slowly began to cover her body.

"No, I won't!" Ororo shook her head. "Jean, please, change back…"

"Jean isn't here now, girl!" Phoenix smiled. "And I said keep out of it!" With an easy movement of her hand Ororo hit the counter hard.

"Wow…," Narya made impressed but also scared by now.

Turning to Wolverine, Phoenix smiled at him before she nodded at Yukio who was again in her firm grip and kept on looking to and fro between her opposites. "I'm sick of her…"

"Hey!" Hank intervened while he helped Ororo up again. "What are you going to do?!"

Ignoring him she laid a hand on his cheek and met his dark eyes with a strange smile. "Darling, I'm really sick of her…," Phoenix purred. "Why don't you do me a favor and get rid of her?"

"Logan, don't!" Mystique said alarmed.

"Ignore them!" Phoenix hissed.

Looking at her first then at the other Wolverine closed his eyes with an angry snarl. "Change back!" he said and looked at his wife with hazel eyes.

"What?!" this one hissed and backed off a bit.

"Step back," he demanded again and ignored the furious glare she gave him, just to cock an eyebrow next when the woman suddenly came closer with narrowed eyes. He knew she was beyond anger by now.

"Do you give me orders?" Phoenix asked and pushed him against the counter again. "Who are you to give me orders?!"

Not impressed by it he met her gaze. "Your husband," Logan growled before he sighed. "Come on, you got your revenge, everyone is scared now let Jean control it again…" With a nod at the garden he gave her a look. "Think about the kids…," he added more softly and watched how she'd followed his gaze before she fixed it again on the woman.

"Why is it not working?" Mystique asked Hank and Ororo. "I thought he can control her?"

"I don't know…," the man shrugged when Logan spoke up again.

"C'mon, Red," Logan went on and reached out to touch her cheek. "She ain't a danger for us… And you know that. Now let her go…"

Pausing for a moment Phoenix sighed and closed her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, Jean began to shake her head and looked around in confusion. "What…?" she began and tried to figure out what bothered her. "What happened?" she asked him and noticed the looks of the others. Looking at each of them her eyes widened when she saw how Ororo held her shoulder. "Oh my God, 'Ro, I am so sorry…," Jean gasped and covered her mouth with her hand in shock. "I didn't mean to do that…"

"Can someone please explain to me what is wrong?" a voice suddenly said and the Professor entered the room. "I picked up on a very strong rage inside this room. What happened?" he asked slightly angered and noticed how Jean stared at the ground in shame. "Jean?"

"I'm sorry," the woman stuttered. "I…I became angry and lost it…"

"Why?"

"Because of her," Logan growled and nodded at Yukio. "I don't know what she said but obviously it was enough to make Jeannie furious." Pulling his wife close to protect her while she was shaking in shock about her loss of control he heard how Mystique came closer.

"That woman wanted it that way," she explained and glared at the woman behind Charles. "She didn't stop even after she was warned. It's her own fault…"

"Is everyone alright?" the Professor asked after a moment and squeezed the back of his nose with a sigh.

"Yes, everyone is fine," Ororo said and looked at Jean when the woman raised her head in surprise.

"You okay?" Logan asked Jean and stroked her hair back.

"I'm really sorry Logan… I really didn't mean for this to happen," she cried and bit her lip.

"Hey I lost it, too," he shrugged with a wink and kissed her before he went over to grab Yukio's arm roughly. "And the two of us will have a nice talk now!" he snarled and forced her to follow him.

Still standing rather lost in the middle of the room, Jean felt the stares on her. Especially the still scared ones of Narya and Heather. Feeling exactly the same as back then when she had returned from the dead, she was about to run away when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Honestly, I'd hope you would roast her," Mystique smiled and Ororo nodded.

"That woman really is a bitch."

"'Ro, I'm…," Jean began when the weather goddess waved off.

"Don't worry. I'm fine," the woman smiled. "Professor, is there anything else?"

"Yes, I actually came to tell you that Forge finally managed to create a uniform that makes use of the technology of our enemies. He only made one prototype so far and wants to tests if this one works properly, before he goes on to produce more. He said he would be here within a week," Charles told her. "Jean, I know you are aware of your fault, but please… Next time you feel that you're getting too furious try to keep control and just go away. You are in a school with children!"

"I'm sorry," Jean mumbled and looked at the ground ashamed.

Only sighing the Professor exited when Logan came back. Seeing the picture of misery he pulled her against his bare chest again. "Nothin' happened, darlin'," he tried to soothe her when she wrapped her arms around his waist and leant against him.

"But something could have happened," the redhead gave back.

"But it didn't…," he smiled and kissed her again. "Now come on, ya owe me a shower…"

"I don't feel like showering now, Logan," Jean sighed when he dragged her over to the door.

"How about a bath then," he smirked. "Because of ya the whole floor is flooded and I'm not really in for cleaning the bathroom again…" Trying to cheer her up somehow and intending to get her away from all the looks he pulled her with him. "So let's flood the floor a bit more, shall we?"

"I said no fun for you within the next four weeks," Jean scolded him as a reminder when he stopped at the door to hold it open for her.

"Who said I wanna have that fun? I only wanna have a shower or bath," he teased. "And you're not keeping to four weeks anyway, darlin'!"

Exchanging looks in the kitchen, Mystique could only shrug while Ororo cocked an eyebrow. "_She'_s not keeping to it?" she said knowingly. "It's him who'll get frustrated after two weeks…"

* * *

The kitchen was crowded like never before after dinner. Even with the children being already in bed and the adults sitting together and talking, it was barely room left with both groups together. Peter and Bobby did their best to ignore the angry looks of their wife and girlfriend while they waited for the Aspirin to take effect, while Ororo tried to persuade Hank with her looks that this evening could be perfect to ask Moira. Jubilee on the other hand took her time to announce the next X-Girls evening for next week and invited Heather and Narya to the party, too. Since she was more or less tired the whole day through by now, Rogue went upstairs first with Remy on her hand whereas Mystique still tried to figure out why Scott hadn't had a hangover. Getting up, Jean got another beer from the fridge to hand it over to Logan and sat down opposite of him again as he suddenly froze while he wanted to sip on the beer. Frowning she watched how he had his eyes fixed on the counter and began to narrow his eyes as if he was concentrating on something. "What's wrong?" she asked and was about to get up since she thought Jamie was crying, but figured that it was something else since he didn't reply. By now also the others were looking at him in confusion when Logan turned his head only a bit, just to meet Jean's gaze next and tap the side of his head. She nodded whereas the others only exchanged more than confused glances with each other. "What's wrong?" she asked again this time through their mental link and he put the beer down slowly. 

"They're here…," was all he said and she noticed the alarmed look on his face…

**Yeah, cliffie time again. ; ) Hadn't had it in a while. LOL Hope you guys liked it and I am curious to read your guesses of Who is there! ; ) Thanks to all reviewers again and I hope you review to this one here, too. See ya!!!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note: **Reference to Wolverine Origins 11 in this chapter !!!

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 8**

"They're here…," was all he said and she noticed the alarmed look on his face.

"Who?" Jean asked and reached out with her power but was unable to pick up anything unusual. Not knowing what was going on the others could only exchange glances and watched them. They knew they were talking over their mental link but they couldn't tell why.

Putting his bottle down, Logan briefly listened in to the noises he picked up from the wood and made sure he really had come to the right conclusion. "Sabretooth and my son… And a third person," he replied mentally. "They're in the garden now."

Staring at him with widened eyes since she knew what that meant the redhead tried to behave as normally as possible. "What can we do?"

"Explain the situation to the others mentally. Then you go upstairs and bring the children to safety. I go and tell Chuck," he said. "Tell the others to behave as normal as possible! They can hear you…"

"Okay…," she gave him a barely noticeable nod.

"I'm off," Logan said aloud and emptied his bottle before he got up to throw it away. Since no one was asking him why he behaved so strangely before, he could tell that Jean was already warning them mentally. "Night!" he added with a last look on his wife and left, juts to start into a dead run as soon as he was in the corridor.

In the meanwhile the others stared in shock and tension at Jean when they became Logan's instructions from the redhead. Looking at Kurt, Ororo gave him a brief nod and yawned as normal as possible. "Let's go to bed, too. It's already late," she suggested and he nodded. "Good night!"

"Wait, we come with you, too," Hank said and took Moira by the hand. "Good night!"

Watching them leaving Scott began to turn the bottle in his hands impatiently while Mystique looked at him. Knowing that she wanted to leave, too, to bring their son into safety, he shook his head. If they would leave the room now, it would probably look a bit too conspicuous. "What now?" he asked Jean mentally and hoped she would pick up on it.

"I'm waiting for Logan to tell us what to do," she replied on the same way.

"We need to bring our children and the students into safety, Jean!"

"I know. Hank, Moira, Ororo and Kurt are already doing this," she gave back with a nervous look at the wall clock that showed just past midnight. "They're brining them down to the hiding place right now. But if Sabretooth and the others make a wrong move and the security system picks up on them…"

Just as she'd said it a loud alarm echoed through all corridors and all windows and doors were instantly blocked by thick steel doors. "Damn it!" Scott cursed and jumped off his stool. "Sabretooth made it through them the last time. We need to hurry!" he said panicky and turned to Jean.

"How can we help you?" James asked and looked to and fro between them while also Narya and Heather looked more than alarmed.

"If they wear their uniforms, you can't," Mystique told them. "They are designed to block our powers completely…"

"Jean!" Logan's voice echoed from the door and she turned around.

"Have you found them?" she asked. Referring to their adversaries but he shook his head just to through something at her next.

"No. Wear that and go to the hiding place with the others to protect the children and students," he ordered and was about to turn around again when Scott stopped him.

"Do you have a plan?" the man asked and received a look.

"How about _Try to survive_?" Logan grunted.

"We really can't do anything at all?" Narya asked him and he shook his head.

"You can only attack if they are far enough away. As soon as they're getting closer, your powers are useless."

"What are you planning to do?" his wife asked him after she had put the coat on.

"Try to find'em."

"And then?" Scott asked.

"We'll see," Logan said. "Get the children!" he added and his head jerked aside suddenly. "They're already inside! Hurry!"

Stopping him, Scott gave him a look. "I'll help you!"

"They'll kill ya!" Logan growled and pulled his arm away from the man.

"They'll kill you, too, if you get too close!"

Looking at the others, Logan finally nodded. "Fine… Take them downstairs , Jean!"

"What about our children?!" she asked him with a frown.

"'Ro and Kurt get'em. Now hurry!" he gave back and left with Scott while the redhead turned to the Alpha flight Team.

"Follow me," she only said and laid the way to the hidden entrance quickly. As soon as they were through it, they ran down the dark tunnel until they reached another, still open, thick steel door. Even so far underground they could still hear the loud alarm from the mansion. Entering the room, the redhead quickly looked around with panic in her eyes as she noticed a movement on her left.

"Mommy," Lily cried and threw herself at her mother, who quickly pulled her close.

"Everything will be alright," Jean tried to soothe the sobbing girl. "Where are the others?" she asked and cupped her daughter's face.

"In the other room. Aunt 'Roro is getting Jamie…," Lily sniffed.

"Okay. I want you to go to your siblings and stay there, okay?" the redhead said calmly, despite her own inner turmoil, and wiped the girl's tears away.

"Where's daddy?" Lily asked after her mother had given her a gentle push towards the second door in the room.

"Daddy makes sure that everything will be alright. Now go, I'll be right there," Jean said and watched her daughter leaving before she turned towards the Alpha Flight Team to give them instructions.

* * *

"Come on, hurry!" Scott said aloud to some students that were still on the corridors and shoved them over into the correct directions before he gave Logan a look. "Can you tell where they are?" 

"No… But I bet they've entered through some backdoor. Hey wouldn't use the roof," that one grunted while he tried to block out the annoying loud noise of the alarm. Reaching out to Jean mentally for help, since his sensitive ears began to roar, he let out a relieved sigh when the noise finally stopped thanks to her.

"Okay, then let's go," he heard the other man saying and stopped him as soon as Scott had made hi first step.

"Listen, they can…," Logan began but only received a warning glare. At least he thought so.

"I want the same as you, Logan. I want to protect my family and home no matter what, so don't even bother to try to stop me! I'm aware of the risk and I'm willing to take them as much as you," Scott snapped and his opposite cocked an eyebrow.

"Wow…"

"What?!" he asked annoyed since if he didn't want something now than it was any smug remarks.

"Never thought we'd have the same opinion only for once, bub… Kinda scary…," Logan said and made Scott smirk, as he suddenly picked up on something and pulled the other man with him down the corridor.

* * *

"Is everyone here?" Mystique asked and looked around the room. "Hank have you counted the students?" 

"All students are here," he confirmed and turned to look at her.

"Anyone else missing?" the woman asked and tried on her own to figure out if someone was still missing.

"'Ro's still not here," Kurt said and made Jean turn around in a rush.

"What?!" the redhead asked as suddenly Lily came out of the room with widened eyes.

"Mommy, Laura and Jack are gone!" the girl cried.

"What do you mean gone? You said they were in the additional room," Jean said and walked over.

"They were," the girl nodded. "But they are suddenly gone…"

"We can't just sit here and let Logan and Scott do the fighting," James intervened. "They need help if the uniforms of our enemies really block our powers…"

Running a hand through face sighing, Jean tried to calm down.

"Jean?" Charles said and touched her arm. "I know what you're thinking… But if they attack us down here, you're our only defence. I am sure Ororo is fine and is on her way down here with Jamie."

"If she's not here within five minutes, Charles, I go looking for her," the redhead gave back and started to look in the other room for her son and Laura. "Has anyone seen Jack or Laura?" she asked the others but Hank shrugged.

"They can't have left the rooms," he said. "The door is closed and too heavy for them to open it and they were here before. I've seen them!"

Coming back into the other room he received a glare. "And where are they now?" Jean snapped and used her powers to find the two missing children. "I'm telling you they are not here! And I can't see Jubilee, too."

* * *

Moving as carefully, but also as quickly through the corridors, Jubilee looked into each one frightened before she proceeded. She'd been on her way to the hiding place before after helping Bobby and the others to evacuate the students, but as soon as it was her turn to bring herself into safety, her way had been blocked by an approaching Sabretooth and two other weird looking men in the same uniforms. As quickly as she could, she'd turned around and was now heading for a second hidden entrance. She only hoped that the others had made it and were fine… Shrieking as a hand touched her shoulder she swirled around and created a firework with her hands, just to hear another terrified shriek from her opposite. "Jack!" she cried and quickly stopped her powers to give the boy an angry look. "Damn you! Don't do that again!" With her hand on her chest she tried to calm her racing heart again, just to frown next. "What are ya doing here?!" Jubilee shrieked. "You're supposed to be in safety! God your mommy will roast me after your daddy sliced me into neat little stripes…" 

"Laura's gone," the boy said and looked at her with his big eyes. "Have you seen her?"

"No, come on, I'm sure she's fine and with your mommy." Taking him by the hand she pulled him with her down the corridor.

"No, I have to find her! Daddy told us to watch over the others," Jack complained and pulled his hand away from her to head down the corridor.

"Wait!" the woman cried and ran after him. "Your daddy will be more than pissed off if he finds out what you're doing, you have to…," she began aloud as she heard an angry growl behind her all of a sudden. "Oh damn…there he is." She swallowed hard and closed her eyes tightly. "Logan, I swear I told him to…," she began and turned around just to let out a shrill shriek next when one of her adversaries leapt at her. Due to the impact she hit the ground hard and found herself pinned down by the man next. Panting she stared at him and followed his gaze as he glared down the corridor. "Damn it, Jack, run! Go to your mommy!" Jubilee screamed and held onto the man's uniform hard to try to stop him going after the boy as this one obeyed.

"He's the wrong boy…," the man growled and made her frown.

"Right…," she laughed panicky. "The wrong one… Completely normal, you know…and annoying! At least he can be, so why don't you just leave him alone…?"

"Shut up!" her adversary roared and made her whimper. "Where is the boy?" he asked in a low growl and tightened the firm grip on her wrist until she bit her lip hard to suppress her tears.

"Which boy?" Jubilee asked innocently and screamed next when one of her wrist made a loud and sounding _crack_.

"The boy?" the man asked again, more forcefully and gritted his teeth.

Whimpering in fear and pain, she shook her head. "I don't know… There're many boy's here…"

Pulling her up with an angry roar he slammed her against the next wall. "The boy," he hissed again and she met his gaze. "Where's he?"

Looking into his furious hazel eyes she suddenly frowned. "I know you…," Jubilee whispered and looked at him even closer. "I know you…," she said again and was chocked by him next.

"Tell me where the boy is and you might live…," the man growled before he let go of her throat and watched her coughing heavily. "Where…is…the…boy?!"

"I'm not gonna tell ya, ya mean dirtpack!" she spat during two sobs, just to shriek and close her eyes next as he took a good swing to hit her. But instead of feeling pain rushing through her body, she heard a loud crash and opened her eyes again. Not far from her, the man laid on the ground, smoke emanating from his back and a huge hole on the wall behind him.

"Jubes, come here!" Scott ordered, still with his hand on the visor while Logan had already extracted his claws and was ready to attack if necessary.

"Wolvie," the young woman cried and ran quickly over to him. "It's him!" she sobbed and looked at the man, who slowly got up again with a low growl. "Your son…"

Looking at their adversary in surprise Scott watched how Logan only nodded slowly. "I know…," he grunted barely audible and still had his eyes fixed on the younger man. "Go to the hidin' place and stay there!" Nodding, she took off.

"What now?" Scott asked as he heard how their enemy cracked his neck loudly and turned around with an angry glare. "You've seen what he can do in Canada…"

"Surprised?" the man suddenly asked and Scott figured that he wasn't talking to him but Logan. "Thought you can kill me by breaking my neck? You should know better,…_father_…"

Hearing how he put as much disgust as possible into the word, Logan looked briefly down. He couldn't believe what he saw. The eyes, the hair, the figure was his, but the outer appearance was clearly Itsu. Being shorter than him, his son's Asian background couldn't be denied. Nevertheless, he now knew why the others had thought the younger man was him in the dim light. It was also too obvious at the same time that he was the father…

"Logan, what now?" Scott asked again.

"Go!" came the grunted reply and the man stared at him.

"What?!"

"I said go! Try to find Storm and bring her into safety," Logan ordered and held his son's gaze.

"I'm not leaving you alone with him!" Scott shot back and nodded at their enemy.

"I'm not tellin' ya again to go! This is my business, so stay outta it," his opposite growled with a warning glare and the other man finally nodded.

"I'm right around the corner. If I hear him attacking you, I'll shoot!" Scott hissed and took off, leaving Logan turning towards his son again.

"What now? Father-son talk?" the man asked with a low laugh.

"Why are ya doin' this?" Logan asked in return and retracted his claws, but his son only shrugged.

"Why should you care?" he spat and came slowly closer. "I only want the boy… I don't give a shit about you!"

"'Cause you're my son?" Logan said, ignoring the second thing completely.

Giving a short laugh, the man stopped right in front of the taller one. "Son?" he asked as if it was the last word he would ever refer to. "You dare to call me that after abandoning me? _Father_?!" he said in a low growl and narrowed his eyes full of hatred.

"Abandoned ya?" Logan asked. "Who told ya that? Sinister?" Holding his opposite's gaze, he shook his head. "They killed your mother while she was pregnant with ya… I thought you died with her. I didn't know ya were still alive!"

"Of course…" Nodding his son gave a short snort. "Trying that tour, hm? I've been told you would say that…"

"'f course! 'Cause it's the truth…," Logan gave back and yelped in the next second as three claws went right through his abdomen.

Pulling him closer while he saw Scott coming around the corner fully alarmed and with his hand on his visor, he glared at the man on his claws, who had his teeth gritted in pain. "I only came to tell you…_father_…that I can't wait to spill your blood and watch you dying!" he hissed and pulled his claws out again, enjoying the painful his he heard.

"Step away from him!" Scot yelled and was ready to strike, but had to keep the distance because of his adversary's uniform.

"If you excuse me now…," the man said with a glare. "But I have to find that boy!" Swirling around quickly, he used his chance to leave three long and deep gashes on Logan's chest. Dropping to his knees this one pressed his hand on it to stop the bleeding. "Ichiro…," Logan panted and made his son turn around at the door.

"My name's Daken," this one growled and headed quickly off before Scott's beam hit him.

"Are you alright?" this one asked and laid a hand on Logan's shoulder while this one got up.

"Yeah…"

"Sure?"

"I said yeah, didn't I?" Logan growled annoyed and slapped Scott's hand away. "They want Jamie…"

"They won't get him. I'm not intending to fight my way through snow and mountains again just to give them a good kick in the butt," his opposite said as they heard a loud roar, followed my a shriek in another corridor. "Who was that now?" Scott managed to ask before Logan started into a run. "Can you just say the name first?" he mumbled and went after him quickly.

Holding her close to his chest, Sabretooth extracted his four pairs of claws on one hand to stop the girl from fighting. Of course his ears had already picked up on the two approaching X-Men, who arrived only shortly after the girl went dead still in his arms.

"So that's where my lil' toy was…," he chuckled and his eyes glowed in bloodlust when Logan extracted his claws on both hand with a threatening low growl. "Let her go!" Logan barked as soon as he'd spotted Laura in the arms of his nemesis.

Baring his fangs, Sabretooth pulled her even closer to keep her immobile against him and inhaled the girl's scent briefly. "Still so sweet…," he purred while the girl whimpered. "Ya should taste her, Jamey…"

Hearing Sabretooth's low chuckle, Scott began to frown and his hand sank a bit from his visor. "What did you do to her?" he asked but received a grin only from his adversary, just to hear him letting out a loud, painful howl next while his hand held his groins in a whimper.

Reacting quickly, Laura extracted her two claws on each hand and one on each foot and began to growl, her eyes constantly changing into blackness before she leapt at her torturer with a loud roar.

"Kid no!" Logan barked. "Run away!" Seeing another movement behind the still howling Sabretooth, his eyes widened. Standing behind the large mutant with the same black eyes in rage and his claws extracted was Jack, who began to jump at his adversary's back with a loud, furious growl. "Damn it!"

"What now?" Scott asked since he couldn't use his blast without risking injuring the children.

Growling through gritted teeth while she'd just left two long gashed on Sabretooth's face, Laura was about to slash at the mutant's neck next, while Jack tried to stab into the groins again.

Getting up with a loud, angry roar, Sabretooth bared his sharp fangs and grabbed the boy quickly. "Yer father can scratch off yer remains from the ground with his claws when I'm finished with ya," he roared and saw how Logan began to leap at him, while Scott was trying to get a hold onto Laura. Being quicker, he managed to tear the girl away and threw her at Scott, while he threw the boy into another direction.

Hearing the loud yelp of his so as he'd finally managed to bury his claws in the larger mutant, Logan's eyes widened when he had to watch how Jack hit the wall hard and dropped lifelessly to the ground. "No!" he yelled and heard Sabretooth laughing at him. It was enough to make him go into a full berserker rage…

In the meanwhile, Scott quickly pulled Jack up and grabbed Laura, who wanted to leap at the Sabretooth once more, with the other hand, before he headed off to the hidden entrance and forced the girl with him down the tunnel and towards the thick steel door. "Jean?" he yelled and hammered against it furiously. "Open up, quickly!"

Hearing it on the inside the redhead used her powers to open the heavy door, just to turn completely pale next. "What happened?" she asked after closing the door again and looked at her son in shock.

"They were suddenly there and Jack attacked Sabretooth after this one threatened Laura…," Scott briefly explained and watched how she took the bleeding boy from him to carry him over to the adjoining room. She laid him carefully down on one of the beds and began to quiver. Only staying at the door, still with the girl on his hand, Scott watched her while the other stared at him in shock.

"I…I didn't check…," he said panting and suddenly felt fear spreading in his chest. "Is he still alive?"

Only nodding, the redhead watched how Moira immediately began to check on the boy, whereas Hank pulled her over to the door. "You need to get away with that coat, Jean! Otherwise he won't start healing and as heavy as his inner and outer wounds are, he needs to start healing quickly!" he said and she looked up at him through wet eyes.

"But…"

He shook his head and shoved her out of the room. "You can't stay here…," he said again. "You need to leave. He'll be fine, I promise…" With a last look, he closed the door and left Jean staring at it. Feeling how someone laid a hand on her shoulder, she turned to Scott crying while he pulled her close.

"He'll be fine..," he assured her calmly and stroked over her back soothingly. "Hey, he's Logan's kid… You know that he's a small copy of his father, so he'll be alright."

Heaving a deep breath, she let go of him to run a hand through her face. "Have you found, 'Ro?" she asked sniffing and began to frown when she saw the look on his face.

"I thought she was already here…," Scott replied.

"What?!" Jean shrieked and ignored for the moment that Laura had jumped because of it and quickly ran over to Lily and Rachel.

Looking at the others, who were as shocked as him, he shook his head. "We haven't seen her anywhere, Jean… Logan would have noticed if she'd been in closer proximity…"

Staring at the door with widened eyes while her mind was racing, she ran towards it. "Jean! Where are you going?" Charles asked her quickly and received a glare.

"Finding my son!" she hissed and opened the door.

"But the children… You're our only defence, you know that!"

Turning her head again, he saw how her eyes began to glow in anger after she was through and the door slammed shut in his face. As on their own all bolts began to lock.

"What now?!" Scott asked the Professor as the children suddenly began to shriek in fear. Turning his head he saw how fire began to cover the door first and a huge firebird was blocking it next.

"She's splitting her powers…," Charles mumbled.

"How?"

"She blocks the door with her powers. Let's only hope that the enemy can't get through it…"

"Where's Logan?" Mystique asked Scott and laid a hand on his shoulder. Her eyes began to scan him from head to toe to make sure that he was fine.

"Fighting with Sabretooth. He attacked him to protect his children…," he explained and saw how her eyes widened.

"But Sabretooth can kill him! Logan can't heal with his powers being blocked…"

Nodding darkly he sighed. "He knows that, Raven," he said seriously and exchanged a brief look with the Professor, who obviously knew what he was talking about, before he gave the crying Lily a look who held onto Rachel and Laura. "As I said…he wanted to protect his children…"

* * *

Reaching the upper level again, Jean quickly sealed the door, too, and began to reach out with her powers to find Logan and Ororo. Only picking up on her husband downstairs, she headed that way and it didn't take long before she could hear painful cries and Sabretooth's angry laughter from afar. It only fuelled her anger the more. While she was running through the corridors her body began to glow completely. As she turned around another corner a full grown firebird was covering her and was sent off to attack Sabretooth, who hadn't noticed the danger while he added some gashed to his enemy's body. He heard the loud shriek when it was already too late and was sent backwards through another wall. Jean waited for him first, ready to strike again if the mutant reappeared but figured soon that this wasn't the case. Therefore, she ran quickly over and kneeled down to Logan, who was bleeding heavily. She began to grit her teeth in fury as she noticed that he was covered with deep gashes, cuts and bites. "Are you alright?" she asked worriedly and laid a hand on his shoulder carefully. "You have to go downstairs to heal…" 

"What are ya planin' to do?" he asked through his heavy pants and managed to look at her.

"I'm looking for, 'Ro," Jean replied and his head jerked up.

"What?!"

"She wanted to get Jamie, but she's still not downstairs…," she told him worriedly and watched how he gritted his teeth in order to force himself to get up. "You need to leave. You can't heal while I'm next to you with the coat…," she said again and got up, too. "Your loss of blood is too great…"

"I'll be fine!" Logan grunted and held his side while he began to sweat heavily in exertion.

Stopping him with tear in her eyes, the redhead shook her head. "Jack is already badly injured and I don't want to have to sit on your bed, too… Please go downstairs and heal…"

Logan looked at her for a moment before he shook his head. "I ain't leavin' ya alone! Your powers are weakened by their uniforms and ya know that!"

"Please!" Jean tried again and gave him a more than only pleading look by now.

About to reply, they heard Ororo screaming. Only exchanging a brief look, both began to run; Logan leading the way while Jean followed directly behind him. They were surprised that their way ended on the roof, where they remained hidden first to gain an overview of the situation. On there right was Ororo, held in a deadly firm grip by Sabretooth. "How did he manage to get up that fast?!" Jean asked and turned to Logan, who was panting and sweating heavily by now.

"Dunno…," he replied.

"No!" Ororo shrieked aloud and tried to reach out, but Sabretooth only chuckled. "Don't even dare to touch the baby!"

Coming slowly closer, Logan and Jean saw two other men in the shadows. Recognizing the Horseman uniforms in an instant, he knew that one of them was his son and watched how they approached the boy, who laid on the ground. "No…," Jean gasped and wanted to jump, but he held her back.

"Is ya use your powers now, you'll risk throwing him off the roof, too…," Logan whispered, but saw that Sabretooth had already spotted them and gave him his best grin.

Beginning to yell through her cries, Ororo began to fight against the larger man. "I said don't touch him!" she barked and tried again to summon Mother Nature for help.

"Make her shut up!" Daken hissed and gave her an annoyed look.

"I still want to have some fun with her later…," Sabretooth growled back and pulled the woman closer against his chest as it began to rain.

"Then get over with it now…," the other man snapped and turned back to the baby.

"Your son…," Jean gasped and gave Logan a surprised look, but he only nodded bitterly, just to narrow his eyes next as Daken exited the shadows to face Sabretooth. "He nearly looks like an Asian version of you…," the redhead said and couldn't help but stare when the man grabbed Oroo's face roughly.

"What do you want with a bitch like her?" he spat and gave the larger mutant a disgusted look.

"She tastes sweet…," Sabretooth chuckled and couldn't help but lick on the woman's neck.

"Yeah, that's what you said from that little girl, too…" He turned around when a third man joined them. "Are we done then?" Daken asked rather bored and gave the baby a dismissive look.

"Yes…," the other man nodded. "He's sleeping."

"No!" Jean screamed aloud and made all three of them turn around.

"Jean! You have to stop them!" Ororo yelled and shrieked as Daken hit her so hard that she passed out.

"Put my son down!" the redhead demanded furiously and felt that Logan was right next to her with his claws out.

"The almighty Phoenix…," the third man smiled and gave her a look before his hazel eyes switched to Logan next. Phoenix noticed the brief change in them. "And James…" Seeing how Logan began to frown, the man began to look to and fro between him and Sabretooth. "I don't have to ask who the winner was, do I?"

"Put…my son down!" Phoenic hissed while she began to glow fiery in anger, but still she could feel that she was weaker than usual. She clenched her fists in fury.

"Try to get him!" Daken smiled provocatively as the third man put a hand on his shoulder to cut him off.

"It was nice meeting you, my dear. And of course you, too, James!" the man said as an object on his belt began to glow and a portal was opened behind the,

"Who are you?" Logan asked him with a frown and received a wink only.

"You'll see…" Turning around, while the portal grew, Sabretooth clicked his tongue at Logan provocatively and pulled Ororo with him. He didn't saw how the redhead's eyes began to blacken and she forced all of her remaining powers to create a firebird that covered her body within seconds. He only turned his head briefly as she let out a shrill, bird like sound in her rage, causing Jamie to open his eyes and look at the unfamiliar man that held him.

Smiling down on the boy this one touched his head briefly. "Your time has come my dear… Now we can finally finish what we've started…," smiling even wider at the boy, he used his power to block Phoenix's attack first and Wolverine next as this one began to leap at them with an angry roar. Helplessly both mutants watched as the three man turned around again and entered the portal, just to feel how an incredibly heat was radiated next that was accompanied by a powerful wave. Being hit by it, Logan instinctively pulled Jean close as they were thrown backwards onto the ground. He had to close his eyes and gritted his teeth painfully, as a loud roar echoed through the night and a blinding bright light was spread. Both didn't reckon with the giant explosion that threw both off them off the roof and far into the garden. Everything happened so fast that he didn't even feel the pain and heard Jean's painful yell after they'd hit the ground hard. Everything was over in less than five seconds… As soon as she noticed it, Jean let go of Logan, ignoring the numbing pain in her shoulder and stared up at the spot on the roof where their adversaries, friend and child had been before. Seeing that there was no roof left and how thick smoke rose into the sky, she dropped to the ground with a shocked cry. "No…,"she panted in shock and began to cry. "Please, no…"

Having trouble to breathe properly due to his injuries, Logan couldn't help but stare at the completely destroyed part of the mansion, too. Even with his sharp eyes he couldn't see anything. There was no Sabretooth, no Storm, no Jamie… With his mouth open in shock, he didn't even notice first that Jean had turned to him sobbing and was now clinging to him while she cried heartrendingly into his chest. About to pull her close, she suddenly raised her head in a rush and looked at the destroyed part again. Logan frowned as she got up and quickly spread her coat over him, before she ran towards it. He couldn't tell what she was doing. His ears were still roaring so much that he barely heard anything at all. Nevertheless, he forced himself up again and followed her.

Reaching the still smoking remains of the part of the mansion, Jean began to look around eagerly. Her eyes quickly scanned the area and stopped at a specific spot when she caught the sight of Ororo, who was buried under some remains in the rain and was still unconscious. Not thinking twice she used her powers to free her best friends, just to let out a gasp next. Turning to Logan, who still looked at her with a frown, she pointed at the spot next to the woman on the ground. Following her lead, he switched his attention to it and his eyes widened. Walking over to it, Jean dropped onto her knees sobbing and pulled the crying boy close to protect him from the rain. Next to her she heard Logan dropping to his knees, too and turned her head to look at him. "We need to get back inside…," he panted and she nodded, still in shock. "You have to lift her up," he added and nodded at Ororo.

While she held the boy close, Jean gave him a worried look. "Are you alright?!"

"In a minute…," he replied and forced himself up again. "They're gone… My ears still roar, but I can't sense them anywhere…"

Getting up again, Jean used her powers to pull Ororo up just to let her eyes travel around, too. "Sure?"

"Yeah…," he nodded and stumbled back inside, followed by her, just to lean against the first wall within the mansion and drop to the ground with a groan.

"I already told the others," Jean told him while her eyes were fixed on him and she placed Ororo carefully onto the ground next to Logan. "You sure you're alright?" she asked him again and sounded doubtful. "Are you healing?"

"I will in a minute…," Logan mumbled with his eyes closed and still waited for the coat to take effect.

Looking down on the wet, but calm boy, Jean gave her husband a concerned look. "You're in heavy pains… I can see that…"

"Yeah, 'cause he turned my body into a cheese…," he growled and opened his eyes a bit to look at her. "Get upstairs and dress him into dry clothes. I'll watch over 'Ro…"

Hesitating first, the redhead finally nodded and headed off, whereas Logan leant back against the wall again and closed his eyes, holding his abdomen. "If that F-guy doesn't hurry up with those new uniforms, I'm gonna gut him personally…," he growled, just to let out another hiss again as his hearing came back. "Fuck!" Cursing due to a sudden skull-breaking headache he could hear fast moving in the corridors and knew the others were approaching him…

**I know this one is shorter than the previous one, but well…it was at least a fast update, wasn't it? ; ) Thanks to the reviewers again! You guys are great!! I wrote those 18 pages today, since I need the weekend to learn for my exam on Monday. So, I hope you guys liked it and that you review again. ; ) See ya!!!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Author's note**Well, I'm back ! I am sorry for not updating in weeks, but as I've told you before I had my oral Bachelor of Arts exam in Anglistics coming up and I thankfully passed it on April 4rth. Since I had to read so much for it, I really had no time for typing anything. But well, now I'm back and I still have a bunch of pre-written stuff laying next to me. So enough things to write and type. ; )

This chapter is L/J-heavy for a reason. You'll see why in Chapter 11 or 12. ; ) And it also has more funny scenes after the dark stuff in the previous chapters.

PS: I just made some changes to the story. You can see by paying attention to the writing style that the end (from the mall onwards) was written today and about two weeks after the rest. I'm happy that I finally got my old style back. LOL I hope I can keep it now. : )

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 9**

Gathered in Charles's office after the attack nearly every X-Men was occupied with his or her own thoughts while Charles talked to them and looked to and fro between Moira and Hank. The man being occupied in dressing Jean's dislocated shoulder, he could hear Logan's annoyed noises while the woman checked on his eyes and ears. His eyes briefly switched to Jubilee, who sat next to Bobby, and was pulling on the cast on her broken wrist and to the others that were watching the injured ones carefully. Moira began to push the chair in which Logan sat back into a half-lying position, being kept under surveillance by Jean, who could tell that her husband was quickly running out of patience; only glaring at Moira when she began to check on his pulse, ignoring the fact that Charles was still talking to them. This one and also the others startled when they heard the loud and angry roar that suddenly echoed through the room. Stopping their movements, their eyes switched toward Logan, who was fuming and glaring at the woman above him that was staring back at him with widened eyes, her hands being in a more than firm grip while she has his shirt pulled up the half way. "Is something wrong?" Charles asked concerned and gave each of them a look.

"Tell him that I need to check on internal injuries!" the woman complained.

"Tell her that this ain't a pettin' zoo!" Logan growled back and made the Professor run a hand over his forehead with a sigh.

"Logan, she only wants to make sure that you're fine."

"I am fine!" the man grunted and yelped in the next second since Moira had poked onto a just healed wound. "Damn it!"

"Fine, hm?!" she asked, ignoring his growl and gave him a look. "If you don't stop that I'll ask Jean for help and strip you naked while she pins you into that chair, mister!" she threatened and while everyone knew that she was capable of it, he only chuckled low with a smirk.

"Wanna see ya tryin' it!" he hissed pissed and pushed his shirt down again.

"Jean?" Moira asked playfully and made the other woman sigh in frustrated, while she pulled her shirt over her bandaged shoulder and came over.

"Sometimes, you're really like a big child, Logan!" she scolded her husband and pulled his shirt up again to examine his still healing abdomen with her free hand.

Only shaking her head, Moira walked over to the couch where Hank had sat down next to the Alpha Flight team and pulled Jamie into her lap to examine him carefully. She couldn't hide her smile when she heard a hiss. "I'm not saying told you so now, Logan!"

"We should do a scan," Jean suggested and met his eyes when he took her hand to make her stop.

"It's healin'…," Logan said calmer, making her shake her head with a sigh in defeat and allowed him to pull her onto the couch with him after he made room for her.

"Did you find out anything else besides that they wanted Jamie?" Charles asked them, but they shook their heads.

"No…," Jean replied and looked up when Moira laid Jamie down on Logan's chest.

"He's fine. But his father has a pretty concussion," she told them and gave the man a warning look. "I wouldn't be surprised if someone feels very sick later, even with a healing factor…" Receiving another annoyed look she raised both hands in defeat. "Just a thought! I am in the infirmary with Ororo and Jack."

Hearing her leaving, Logan looked down on his son and pulled him protectively closer while Jean stroked over the hair and back soothingly. He couldn't believe their luck that he hasn't taken any damage during the explosion and fall from the roof. It was a miracle to him…

"You said something about a third man…," Charles interrupted and made them look up. "What did he look like?"

Shrugging the redhead tried to remember. "A bit taller than Logan maybe, dark hair…," she said and shook her head. "I couldn't see his face that well. It was too dark…"

"His hair's a bit longer than…" Logan looked around and nodded into one direction. "Hank's… From the haircut I mean. His eyes were either hazel or brown."

Nodding, Charles sat back in his wheelchair, one arm resting on the armrest while his other hand was on his mouth. He appeared to be more or less lost in thoughts to those who didn't know that he was thinking hard. "And you said Logan's son was with them, too?"

"Yeah…," the man grunted with a look on his son that still laid on his chest. Letting out a hiss, he heaved a deep breath and let his head sink back against the back of the chair. Noticing it that he had his eyes closed tightly, Jean could tell that he obviously already felt the after effects of the concussion.

"What is he like?" Hank asked, referring to the son.

"Hot!" Jubilee stated and frowned when all looks were suddenly fixed on her. Realizing that she had thought aloud, she blushed a bit, especially by noticing the look Bobby gave her. "Okay, maybe pretty violent and mean, too…," she quickly added, but he only snorted.

"I think he's with them 'cause it's his chance to take revenge…," Logan said calmly and rubbed over his left temple.

"For what?!" Jean asked him and touched his neck and cheeks, noticing that they were burning up. She knew that he was in a major healing now and gave him a worried look.

"He thinks I killed his mother and abandoned him."

"But that's not true!"

"He thinks it is. It's his truth…," he said and closed his eyes again for a moment. "And he made pretty clear that he only waits for the right moment to kill me…"

Nodding, the Professor let his hands sink. "All of them worse the same uniform you did as Death?" he asked and received a careful nod from Logan. "Hm…," he made while thinking and had his brows furrowed. "The Horsemen consist of four… So we can be sure that there's a forth one to them."

"But who could it be?" Scott asked him.

"I don't know, Scott. There's only one thing which is more than unusual to it."

"And what?" Hank asked while he had his arms crossed.

"Logan was one of the Horsemen. Now it is Logan's son and Sabretooth, his half-brother…," Charles replied with a look at Logan, who had his eyes opened again to meet the other man's gaze. "Are you sure that you don't know the third man?"

"Yeah."

"But he knew you by your real name," Jean said and looked at him from aside.

"Real name?" James asked her and looked from her to Logan and back. "I thought your name's Logan…"

"It is!" that one replied in a growl and wished he could just lay down and sleep before his head would explode. On the other hand he hoped it would do it now, at least he would get rid off this dizzy and painfully throbbing feeling he had the whole time through…

"I meant the name his parents gave him," the redhead explained quickly and turned back to Charles. "The man knew it. So I'm convinced he knows Logan well, too."

"Jean, if he knows me, I must know him. And I've never seen that guy before in my whole life!" Logan gave back with an annoyed look and closed his eyes briefly again.

"Maybe someone from your past?" Heather suggested.

"If you had your memory back…," Narya began and was cut of by him.

"I have my memory back and I'm tellin' ya I don't know him!"

"You have your memory back?" Heather asked shocked and exchanged a look with her comrades, not able to believe it until she saw Charles nodding.

"Why didn't you tell us?" James asked him but Logan waved off.

"Later!"

"Another thing… Where did that giant explosion come from? And especially where are our enemies all of a sudden?" Scott asked next.

"I don't know, Scott…," Jean shrugged. "I attacked them, but my powers were blocked and they entered some kind of portal. And then…" She shrugged again, since she absolutely had no explanation for it. She was only happy that no one got killed and that she had her son back.

"Maybe your attack reached through but delayed?" Hank suggested.

"Anyway," Logan intervened since he was sick of talking and wanted to end this endless discussion for today, to go down, check on his son, go upstairs, see his other children and then lay down and sleep. "…when is this F-guy plannin' to arrive here? 'Cause I'm sick of losin' against that son of a bitch every time I meet him."

"Forge said within a week," the Professor replied. "He wanted to test the prototype first."

Logan cocked and eyebrow at him. "And if that one doesn't work?!"

"Then he'll have to try again…" For that he received a frustrated groan.

"We need to think about something, Charles," Mystique suggested. "A plan or something like that for a worst case scenario…"

Nodding, the Professor thought about it as he recalled something. "Logan… You said you can make some phone calls. Who else besides the Alpha Flight Team can you contact?"

Shrugging the addressed thought about it. "Groups I worked for, old friends who still owe me a favor…," he listed.

"For example?"

Sighing, Logan rubbed his eyes. "The Cap and his Avengers… Maybe that Parker kid and Murdock from NYC. He could ask his chick, too… Richards and his group…" He shrugged. "Maybe I can talk Nick into makin' some calls and help us, too… It should be in his interest that a psycho doesn't turn mutants into his slaves…"

"You mean that S.H.I.E.L.D.-guy?" Scott asked him, sounding not so pleased with it.

Giving him a glare that spoke volumes, Logan nodded. "Yeah, I mean _that_ S.H.I.E.L.D-guy…" Hearing a snort from his opposite he turned back to the Professor. "I can contact them, but there's no guarantee that they will help us!"

"Asking them won't hurt," this one replied. "You should think about Eric again, too…"

Getting carefully up, Logan cocked an eyebrow at him. "Ya can ask him _after _I asked the others and all of them said no!"

"Want me to take him?" Jean asked and nodded at Jamie, since she had noticed that he felt obviously dizzy.

"No, I'm fine," he smiled a bit." Come on, let's check on Jack and go to bed. I'm done for today…" Nodding Jean led the way to the door when Scott stopped him.

"Are they military, too?"

"Who?" Logan grunted annoyed and gave the man a short glare to make him understand that he only wanted to walk out of the door.

"Your so-called friends…," was the answer and he heaved a deep breath.

"Never said they were my friends, right?"

Nodding, Scott got up and crossed his arms. "So they're military or have anything else to do with the government of whatever country."

Stepping closer, while he still held Jamie close, Logan tilted his head a bit. "Is there any problem here, Scooter?" he asked in a low voice that told everyone to be alerted instantly.

"Yeah," the other man nodded and stepped further towards the desk to bring enough space between him and his opposite. "You are my problem, Logan."

"Jesus, Scott," Jean intervened and stepped next to her husband. "Do you have to start this again?"

"Yes, I have!" Scott replied a bit more harshly. "If those guys are military, our school's exposed to them and I am against foreigners being here and probably endangering us, the school and students, not to forget our children. We already have enough problems with Sinister and now also, thanks to Logan, with his son, who's more than dangerous as we've seen it!"

Getting up to step between the two men, Hank raised a calming hand. "I understand Scott's opinion. He has a point here. But Logan never said something about calling them from here or meeting them here, Scott."

"If they agree on helping us, then there is no way around meeting them here," Scott gave back.

"What about usin' your own pretty head, ya prick?" Logan growled.

"Come on, just lets go see Jack and go to bed then," Jean tried to soothe him and took his free hand to guide him out of the room before the situation would escalade. She knew Logan was tired and only wanted to sleep and she was also aware of the danger of provoking him while he already was on the edge of his patience.

"How can you trust him with it, Jean?" Scott asked and made her stop again.

"Because I am married to him?!" she gave back in a tone that implied she thought of him as being braindead.

"And what do you know about him when it comes to what he did in his past?" Scott demanded to know. "Wasn't this S.H.I.E.L.D.-guy enough?"

"Ya don't know anythin' about me because you're not worth knowin'," Logan growled and walked past Jean out of the door.

"Just for you to write down, Scott," the redhead said not minder angrily." I know everything about him. About his childhood, about how and where he grew up, what he had been through, who he worked for…everything up to now. So you can stop sleeping with a knife under your pillow and just let him be! Night!" Turning around she shut the door noisily and joined Logan, who waited at the elevator for her.

"Scott, by now you're really pissing me off with your suspicions," Ororo sighed and got up.

"Oh, so you know everything about him, too?" he asked cynically when she walked towards the door with Kurt.

"No, but if you used your head, you would know that Jean wouldn't be staying with him, if there was anything wrong with Logan," she shot back and opened the door. "I understand your worries, but he would never endanger us. If you want a complete resume of him so desperately, then ask him to type one! Good night!"

Laying in bed on his belly later, after checking on his son, who was healing and deeply asleep in the infirmary, Logan rested his head on his arms with closed eyes and still waited for his head to explode. He could hear how the door was opened calmly and could tell that Jean was coming closer. Despite Hank's complaints, she had gotten rid of the bandages and held her injured arm close to her body that was covered with a black, silky nightgown. Reaching out, after sitting down clumsily, she put an ice pack onto his neck, causing him to let out a groan. "Moira warned you…," she remarked and received a snort from him before he buried his head in his arms again. She moved a bit closer to carefully stroke through his hair with her fine arm while she laid down. "Is it bad? I mean do you need a bucket?"

"No…," came the muffled reply and Logan heaved a deep breath before he dared to turn his head a bit to have a look at her. She stopped stroking through his hair when she became aware of his frown and watched how he took the ice pack from his neck. "That looks bad," he said and nodded at her shoulder that consisted more or less of every possible color but didn't look like anything close to her usual skin. While he moved a bit closer to put the ice pack onto the spot, he began to scan the rest of her body for injuries.

"Well, I'm only glad that nothing's broken," Jean said and closed her eyes, enjoying how he carefully ran the pack over her shoulder.

"Does it hurt a lot?"

"As long as I don't move rapidly, no."

"Hm…" Looking at it while he still cooled it, Logan suddenly noticed something else.

"What are you doing?" she asked and opened her eyes again as he took her other arm into his hand. It was then that she became aware of a cut on it.

"Takin' care of it," he simply said and made her frown.

"By doing what?" She watched how he began to lick softly on it for a while before he withdrew again. "It's gone…," Jean said in surprise and turned her arm to look at it from all sides. "You never told me you could do that…," she added in surprise.

"Works only with smaller wounds," he explained and stroked carefully over her injured one. "Won't work with that…"

"It'll heal…," she smiled and received a smirk.

"That's my text!" Reaching over to switch off the lights on her side, he gave her a gentle kiss. "Night."

"Night…," Jean replied and tried to get comfortable.

"Let's change sides," he suddenly suggested and she felt him moving over to lay on her side of the bed.

"What are you up to?" Jean asked a bit confused and still searched for the logic when he beckoned her to move over a bit so that he could lay behind her, before he pulled her close with his right arm.

"In that way ya won't risk sleepin' on your shoulder," Logan yawned and closed his eyes again.

"My hubby the thinker," she teased him sleepily and covered his hands with hers before she slowly drifted off to sleep.

* * *

When he woke up hours later Logan looked at the redhead, who laid next to him and had her legs pulled close. Frowning since she looked as if she was in pain he supported himself with both arms and raised his head a bit, giving her a cocked eyebrow. "Jeannie? What's wrong?" he asked calmly and she opened her eyes briefly. "Are ya in pain?" 

"It's nothing," she mumbled and shifted her position a bit but it was clearly written on her face that moving obviously caused her pain.

He sniffed briefly when a specific scent reached his nose and nodded in understanding. "I see… Finally this time of the months again, huh?" Nodding in responds she heaved a deep breath and he could guess that the pain and the one from her shoulder were more than uncomfortable. "Need anythin'?"

"Can you get me tea?"

"Sure. Which one?" he asked and waited for her reply before he gave her a kiss and got up. "Be right back."

Downstairs he entered the crowded kitchen with a mumbled "Mornin'", not caring that he wore his black pants only and began to prepare the tea. While he waited for the water to start boiling his eyes scanned the room. "Do we have a hot water bottle or something?" he asked while looked through the cup boards.

"Ehm…somewhere on your right," Ororo replied with a frown and watched him searched through everything that was on his right side. "Don't tell me you've tummy ache, Logan."

"Funny, 'Ro!" he grunted and used part of the hot water to fill the bottle after finally finding one before he filled a cup with the rest.

"Don't you want to eat anything?!" she asked him since he walked toward the door again, but received a more or less audible "Later" from him only.

Upstairs he entered the bedroom again and frowned since Jean wasn't in it. He sat down on the edge of the bed to place both things onto the bedside table as the door opened and the redhead entered, even paler than before and with her hand on her belly. "Jeez… Are ya sure you're alright?" Logan asked and got up to lead her to the bed and help her lay down. "Here." Smiling a bit when she noticed the hot water bottle, she took it from him thankfully. "You're an angel," Jean said barely audible and heaved a deep breath while laying down.

Smirking he briefly stroked over her cheek. "Yeah, I know," he replied and moved over so that he could lay down behind her again. "Mind if I hug ya?"

"Since when do you have to ask?" Jean mumbled.

"Since you're not feelin' well…," he gave back and wobbled his head slightly, but she took his hand and pulled him closer. Still he paid attention not to touch her belly. "Try to sleep a bit more," he added and kissed her neck. "It's weekend so no one will care anyway."

"Hm…," she made sleepily.

Logan kept on stroking up and down her back until she was sleeping again, before he got up to tuck her in and left the room to shower. Minutes later, while he was occupied with taming his hair, the door behind him opened a bit and he turned with a frown. "What are ya doin' here?!" he asked. "You're supposed to lay in bed!"

"I don't like the bed down there. And the rooms stink," Jack replied and watched how his father washed his hands.

"You're fine again?" this one asked and received a nod. "Then you're in for a sermon, pal!"

"Why?" the boy asked with a frown and stepped back a bit.

"Why?!" Logan repeated the question a bit louder and looked at his son. Only able to shake his head he nodded at the door. "Get your jacket. We go for a walk!" he added demanding, but still the boy stared at him in confusion. He couldn't tell why his father seemed to be mad with him.

"But…"

"Now!" Logan cut him off and left the room to get dressed in the bedroom. When he closed the door behind him he found his son waiting at the front door fully dressed. Walking towards him, he left the apartment first. "Come!"

Following the adult with a strange feeling in his stomach, Jack entered the kitchen where the others where still having breakfast. "Hey, you're not supposed to get up yet, Jack!" Moira said as she took notice of the boy.

"Not now, Moira!" Logan grunted and held the backdoor open.

"But I need to check on him first, Logan," the woman protested and furrowed her brows.

"I said not now!" he growled and gave her a look before he beckoned the boy to move. "Come!"

Still frowning, Jack came slowly closer, still not quiet sure what to think about it. "I didn't do anything…," he said again and walked past his father to the cold outside.

"You gonna see what ya didn't do, pal!" Logan snapped and closed the door behind them.

"Oh, he's in for a sermon," Hank guessed and turned toward the others again before he bit into his bread.

"That was obvious, if you ask me," Mystique remarked and sipped on her coffee while she gave Scott an annoyed look, since the man was still reading the newspaper.

Moira only nodded. "And understandable. The boy could have been killed. Or better without a healing factor he would be dead now…"

Hank turned his head again to look out of the window. The day wasn't sunny and the grey clouds announced either snow or rain. "If he's like Logan, he can't even remember what he's done."

"Doesn't change the fact that he didn't listen," Ororo gave back. "And you know how much Logan likes it if someone doesn't obey his orders…"

Snorting, Scott turned the pages. "Especially because he's the shining example when it comes to obeying, hm?"

"Shut up!" Mystique snapped with a glare and put her cup down. Hearing it and noticing the tension between the couple, the others only exchanged a short glance.

"Part of it is our fault," Moira said calmly. "We should have watched the children better…"

On the outside, Logan finally stopped walking. "Sit down!" he ordered and sat down in the grass, while Jack reluctantly did the same. Since his father didn't say anything at all for a while, the boy switched his eyes from him to the black stone and back to the adult. He still didn't understand why his father was mad. He couldn't remember that he had done anything wrong. He didn't even know why he had slept in the infirmary and not in his bed. After looking at the grass or a moment, he noticed that the adult was staring at the stone. "Do ya even realize in what danger you've been in?" Logan finally asked and glared at the boy.

"I don't know…," this one replied barely audible and looked at his hands quickly. If he couldn't stand something that it was to look into his father's eyes when this one was mad with him.

Sighing, Logan ran a hand through his hair. "Do ya remember how mommy felt after losin' your brother?" he asked instead and received a nod. "How?"

While he pulled at the grass Jack shrugged. "Mommy was very sad…"

"Knowin' that what made ya run away from safety?" his father asked him angrily and the boy winced.

"I…I wanted to bring Laura back…"

"I told ya not only once to listen to us if there's an emergency and I said that I want ya to stay with the others where ya safe!"

Looking up with tears in his eyes Jack tried to hold his father's angry glare. "You also said that we have to look after one another…," he gave back sniffing.

"But not by riskin' your life!" Logan shot back and the boy winced again. "Do ya think mommy and I want to have another stone here with your name on it?! Do ya realize what this would do to us?" he demanded to know.

"But…I…I haven't done anything wrong," Jack cried and shook his head, just to watch his father getting up.

"You have! Ya risked your life and nearly got killed," Logan growled in anger. "It's the hundredth time that I'm tellin' ya to keep your feral side down. Why else are we practicing it everyday? Then I'm tellin' ya over and over again to listen to us, to obey orders and that you're not like me. You can get hurt very seriously, even get killed…" Looking away when his emotions became to strong, he buried his hands in his pockets. "You're a kid, Jack! You've risked your life and what ya did was wrong! And I never want to see ya doin' somethin' so stupid like that ever again! Got that?" He gave the boy, who only stared down at the ground while he still kneeled in the grass sobbing, a last look before he went back to the backdoor. Back in the kitchen he began to prepare the breakfast for his kids and Jean, ignoring the looks the others gave him. He didn't feel like discussing anything right now. First he had to get his emotions under control again. And to him this was the hardest part. He was still more than angry with Jack for doing something so stupid, but he was mainly angry with himself for not being able to protect him. He should have reacted faster… If his son hadn't had his healing factor… He refused to think even further.

"Where's Jack?" Ororo asked him after a moment since the boy still didn't show up.

"Outside…," Logan grunted when the backdoor suddenly opened and the boy stormed inside, crying even heavier than before. He ran around the counter towards his father and clung to his legs sobbing, before he buried his face in the blue jeans.

"I'm sorry, daddy…," he manage to mumble between trying to fill his lungs with new air and the next sob.

"What are you doing?" Nary asked the adult after watching the scene and since Logan went on with his work.

"Cookin'," was all he grunted.

Heather, who was watching the scene, too, exchanged a look with the woman next to her. "Would you please soothe him?" He shook his head and she couldn't help but gasp. "No?! How can you just go on cooking while your son's crying?" she asked outraged and got up when Logan shot a glare at her.

"Sit…down!" he hissed warningly and made her instantly stop.

"Can you tell us what has gotten into you all of a sudden?" Ororo demanded to know, since she, too, couldn't understand why he was doing what he was doing.

"This is none of your business, Storm. So stay outta it!"

"Then just tell us why you're doing this?" Heather asked and crossed her arms.

"He's to learn that he did something seriously wrong," Logan grunted and turned around again, ignoring that Narya snorted.

"How?" she asked. "I doubt this will teach him anything at all, but that you're cruel to him."

Still leaning against his father's legs Jack dared to look up sniffing. "I didn't do anything…," he said again and Logan looked down.

"Ya did!"

"But I can't remember…," the boy whined.

Throwing the towel onto the counter Logan turned and crossed his arms. "That's the point!" he shot back and looked down. "I trained ya everyday since your powers showed first and what did ya learn?" he asked his son. "Nothin'!"

"Logan…," Ororo intervened and shook her head. "Do I have to remind you of the fact that you're talking to a child and not a teenager?"

"Stay outta it, Storm!" this one snapped instantly and the woman raised her hands in defeat with a sigh, just to shake her head briefly afterwards. "No, I won't!"

Glaring at her, Logan narrowed his eyes a bit. "Stay.out.of.it!" he growled since he hated if someone intervened his way of teaching his children a lesson.

"But he said he can't remember!" the weather goddess shot back, being angered about his stubbornness by now. "Right, sweety?" she added and gave the still sobbing boy a sympathetic look, while this one nodded.

"And why don't ya remember? Logan asked him. "Because ya didn't listen to me!" he added harshly. "I told ya how important it is to keep this other side down. This side of ya doesn't know what fear is and makes ya not realize what you do. Therefore, ya can be killed! How often did I tell ya this, Jack?!"

Sniffing the boy looked at the ground. "Often…," he replied barely audible and winced when Logan spoke again.

"And did ya listen?" he heard his father asking and shook his head. "See?" Logan finished angrily and pushed him towards the counter. "Sit down and eat your breakfast. And when you're done you'll go upstairs, into your room and I only want to see ya for lunch and dinner today, understood?" Nodding sadly, Jack turned and climbed onto the first stool he saw through his blurred vision, while Logan left with a tray for Jean, to wake the others and feed Jamie.

After she exchanged a look with the other two remaining women in the kitchen, Ororo got up from her stool to sit down next to the boy, who used his fork to shove the scrambled eggs from one side to the next. "Hey…," she said soothingly and stroked over his unruly hair when the girls suddenly entered and took their casual seats to begin eating. She noticed the glare the boy gave the food.

"What's wrong?" Lily asked and gave her brother a look, but this one didn't even bother to look up.

"Nothing, dear, just go on eating," Ororo said and gave her a faked smile.

"Daddy's mad with him, right?" Rachel asked and received a glare from her older brother.

"Well, it's your own fault," Lily shrugged. "You didn't listen…"

"Jack!" Ororo shrieked when this one slashed at his plate al of a sudden, just to jump off his stool and leave the room.

"Yeah, definitely his son…," Heather remarked with a look at Narya, who only nodded.

"Better help me to clean this mess before Logan sees it!" Ororo said and began to tidy up as this one came back. Before he could say anything at all, she spoke up. "Logan… I still can't believe that you can be that harsh with your son. What has gotten into you?!"

"Ya don't understand so stay outta it and mind your own business," he grunted and put the tray back before he began to clean the bottle.

"Then explain it to me!" she demanded and gave the girls a sign to leave after they were done eating.

"Explain what?!" he snapped and closed the dishwasher roughly. "You know what I'm like when he takes over. And I don't want Jack to be like me, because I know the trouble that comes with it."

"But you're an adult, he's not," Narya replied and sipped on her tea.

"Ya ain't a parent!" Logan shot back with a growl. "And you don't know what this side does to ya! How hard it is to keep it down or the consequences it brings with it. I know and I don't want him to be like me."

Sighing, Ororo put the remains of the food into the trash can. "But he's already like you…"

"And this is wrong!"

"Why?!" she demanded to know since she didn't understand at all what his problem was.

Turning around while he tried not to slash out at something, he crossed his arms. At least he could make sure that way that this wouldn't happen. Or better he hoped so… "Because I learned that lesson in my life. I know the consequences and why it's so important to keep that side in me down."

"And?" she asked back. "You should be proud to have a son who's so much like you, Logan!"

"I ain't!"

"You're not proud of your child?" Narya asked shocked and stared at him with widened eyes.

"That's not what I meant, damn it!" Logan snapped and walked over to the door since he was sick of discussing it.

"What is it then?" Ororo asked and threw her arms in the air in frustration.

"I'm not willin' to lose another kid, Storm. So he will learn that his actions were not only completely wrong, but also nearly deadly for him," he shot back angrily and left, leaving her to stare at the door as it suddenly hit her.

"Now I understand," she mumbled and leant slowly back against the counter.

"What?" Narya asked her and met her eyes when the weather goddess turned around.

"It reminded him of Jake," she replied but suddenly became thoughtful. "The weird thing only is that I thought he was over it, since he never showed any emotions."

"Obviously you're wrong," Heather said and got up.

"So it seems…," Ororo nodded slowly.

* * *

Later the day, Jean dared to get up and made her way to the kitchen very slowly. After sleeping and resting a bit more she was finally feeling better, even if her shoulder still hurt a bit. When she entered the kitchen all eyes switched to her and especially Logan gave her his best _What the hell are you doing here?_-look. "I'm fine," she assured him while she sat down and before he could ask. "Really." 

"Sure?" he asked and eyed her from head to toe but she only nodded.

"Where's Jack?" the redhead demanded to know after missing her oldest son and saw him shrugging.

"Obviously still in his room."

"And why?"

"Because daddy's mad with him," Lily replied. "And now Jack is mad with daddy."

Sighing in frustration, Jean gave her husband a look. "You did give him a sermon, even if we decided not to, didn't you?" she asked him.

"'f course I did," Logan replied and gave her a _What else?_-look. "He could have been killed because he didn't listen and ya really think I'd just accept it?"

"We had a discussion about it!" she gave back with an angry look. "We've decided not to punish him before we haven't sat down together and explained everything to him."

"Jean…," he began with a sigh but she shook her head.

"No, Logan! You'll go upstairs now and talk with him and I want to see my son down here for dinner within 5 minutes." With a determined look she met his glare and waited for him to move. It took a moment, but Logan finally let out a short snort and hopped off of his stool to leave the kitchen, obviously pissed as everyone noticed.

"Wow," James nodded his appreciation. "You really have to tell me how you always manage to do this…"

"I have my ways," the redhead replied and began to fill her plate with food.

Upstairs, Logan entered the apartment with one hand in his jeans pocket and went directly over to the twins' room, where he found Jack sitting on the bed, his legs pulled close and his head turned away from the door, since the boy head heard him coming. "Ya comin'?" Logan asked with one hand on the doorknob and leant against the white door, but the boy shook his head. "Jack, c'mon. Ya need to eat…"

"I'm not hungry," the boy replied with a grunt and made his father sigh.

"C'mon, mommy wants ya to come down for dinner."

"And you?" Jack asked with a look at his father.

Taking a very deep breath Logan walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed. "What do ya think? That I want ya to stay here and starve?" he asked. "Look, I'm sorry for bein' so harsh to ya before, but I was angry, okay?" The boy only shrugged and looked on his hands that pulled on the blanket. Just looking at his boy for a moment, Logan gave his wrist watch a short glance. He had three minutes left and he knew that he would be in for a real sermon if he wasn't back with his son within that time. "Jack, I know you're mad with me 'cause ya can't understand why. But ya really scared the shit outta me and I thought I was gonna lose ya when ya got hurt."

"I don't remember," the boy grunted again and gave him a glare.

"I know," his father nodded and looked at his watch again. "So, ya gonna forgive your old man and come down for dinner, or do ya wanna see mommy kickin' my butt for bein' mean, huh?"

"The second," Jack replied and looked away.

"What?!" Logan asked playfully outraged and grabbed the boy, who squealed in surprise. "So you wanna see mommy kickin' your daddy's butt?"

"Yeah," the boy replied and tried to free himself from his father's grip.

"You little…," Logan growled and threw the kid over his shoulders. "Mark my words that's not gonna happen, kid!"

Grabbing his father's shirt, Jack tried to poke him into the ribs. "I'll tell mommy that you forced me to come down and that I didn't want to, but that you were too afraid of her!" he protested aloud and let out another squeal when Logan grabbed the waistband of his jeans to pull him up.

"Ya wouldn't dare, kid!" he growled playfully back and descended the stairs with the boy dangling from his fingers. "Believe me, ya wouldn't dare!"

"Daddy!" Jack protested wriggling and squealed again when Logan smirked first and let him fall down a bit. "I tell mommy you're mean again!"

"Yeah?" came the reply when Logan entered the kitchen. "Go ahead'n tell her. But remember I know where ya live, kid!"

"What are you doing now?" Jean demanded to know and watched how her son practically hanged from her husband's fingers.

After he sat on a safe stool, Jack began to pull on her sleeves. "Daddy's mean to me, mommy!" he pouted when Logan sat down three stools away from him.

While Ororo only hid her giggle, Jean gave a frustrated sigh and looked at her. "Why did you never tell me that I have five children and not four and a supposed-to-be-an-adult husband?"

Shrugging playfully, the weather goddess emptied her plate. "Well, I thought you knew that."

"Mommy!" Jack said. "Daddy forced me to come down for dinner."

"Did he?" the redhead asked and gave Logan, who only shrugged innocently, a look.

"Yes, he did. And he said that you would kick his butt if he wasn't able to drag me down and that you would give him a sermon."

"No, I didn't," Logan shook his head.

"And he said that he was afraid of you kicking his butt, so he just grabbed me and carried me down," Jack went on and had his eyes fixed on his father when this one bent forward a bit to give him a warning glare. "And he used the s-word in front of me and I could have fallen down the stairs, since he held e on my waistband only," he went on and heard his mother sigh, while his father began to narrow his eyes. "But he said he was really scared of you and he threatened me, mommy!"

"Ya little…," Logan began and got of his stool, but Jack was faster and ran out of the kitchen squealing with his father chasing after him.

"I assume they are friends again?" Moira asked with a look on Jean, but the redhead only waved off with a nod. "Well, I can't remember anyway that he was ever mad with him for longer than a few hours."

"You know him, don't you?" Hank said with a smile and watched how Logan managed to get a hold on his son on the outside. "Vicious in battle, a softy to his kids…"

"No, not into the water!" Jack protested and tried to hold onto his father arms, while this one only smirked and held him only inches above the water of the pond.

"So, you gonna apologize to your old man?"

"No, because you're mean again!" the boy pouted and grabbed the shirt in a firm grip.

"Am I?" Logan asked playfully and let go of him for a second just to catch him again, earning him another squeal from his son. "So, ya promise to listen to mommy ad me from now on?"

"Yeah," Jack nodded quickly and gave the water underneath him a look. "Pull me up…"

"And you're not gonna tell mommy things that ain't true ever again?"

"Yeah. Daddy, pull me up!" Jack pleaded and wrapped his arms around his father's neck after this one did so.

"Don't do that again, kid, ya hear me?" Logan asked with a serious look at the boy. "I really thought I'd lost ya, too. And I just can't lose ya, too." Pulling the boy close he turned to walk back to the mansion.

* * *

A few days later Logan entered the kitchen, where his wife was sitting around the counter together with Ororo, Moira, Mystique, Heather and Narya. "Jean?" he asked and sounded rather urgent, ignoring for a second that they were doing their chick-talk, as he called it, again. 

"Yes?" she replied and turned her head.

"Do we need anythin' else from the supermarket?" he asked and waited with a list and pen in his hands, while she thought about it.

"Actually yes."

While putting on his leather jacket, he gave her a look, hoping that it wasn't what he thought about just now. "'n what?"

"I need new shampoo and shower gel…" she said and he wrote it down while Ororo gave him a surprised look all of a sudden. "Oh and napkins," she added, earning a groan from him.

"Forget it!" Logan replied instantly since it was exactly what he had on mind before. He would buy everything but that. "Go and buy that one on your own!"

"Oh come on! You did it before…," Jean gave back and sipped on her coffee. "Do you think I'll go on my own just to buy them?!"

"Then use somethin' else," he grunted and put the list into his back pocket. The reply earned him a snort.

"Funny! Of course that comes from a man…," the redhead mocked and rolled her eyes.

"Do ya even know what I've to go through each time I have to buy that stuff for ya?" he asked after a moment. The others only looked to and fro between them with half grins on their lips.

"Oh, come on, Logan," Ororo now said since she couldn't understand hw a grown up man could be so childish.

"It can't be that bad," Heather added.

"It is!" Logan growled with a glare.

Sighing, Jean wrapped her arms around his neck with a seductive smile and pulled him down for a kiss on the cheek. "Come on… What's the problem in buying them?" she asked innocently before it turned into a smirk. "Or is it too embarrassing for a real man?"

Knowing what she was up to, he only gave her a look. "It's pissin' me off that as soon as I put them into the cart at least one man comes to me with five packages in his hand and asks me if I can explain to him which ones you guys use when…," he explained growling and watched how the woman exchanged a look before they burst out into laughter.

"Poor, poor, Logan…," Ororo giggled.

"It ain't funny, Storm!" Logan grunted with a glare.

"And? Can you explain it properly?" Moira wanted to know with a smile and made him roll his eyes.

Having enough of them, he was about to turn and leave when Jean grabbed his hand quickly. "Buy them, okay?" she asked and he groaned. "If someone asks you, you can just use a foreign language and tell him you don't understand him…"

"Yeah, and as lucky as I am this guy speaks exactly that language," Logan grunted and sighed when she began to pout and pulled him closer to stroke down from his chest to his belly, while she looked at him with a lowered head and through pleading eyes. "Please…"

Looking back he gave her a knowing look. "Is that the _you're the best hubby in the world_-tour?" he asked.

"Yeah…," she smiled.

"Won't work!" he smirked.

"Don't be such a sourpuss and do your wife a favor!" Narya said after putting down her cup.

"I'm doin' her favors 24/7," Logan defended himself.

"Come on… Be nice," Jean tried it again and kissed him quickly and deeply before he could respond. "Come on," she said again and gave him another kiss while stroking down his belly; feeling to well how his muscles contracted under her touch. Hearing a sigh from his, she knew she had him where she wanted him to be. "Thanks!" the redhead smiled and kissed him again.

Only rolling his eyes, Logan turned around and walked over to the door, not seeing that she winked at the others. "Oh, and hon…" Hearing it, he stopped and turned around. "Be a nice daddy and take Jamie with you, will you?" she purred and saw how he slowly narrows his eyes as a silent warning to not push him any further. "If you do that, then maybe…, just maybe…I might forget about your four weeks punishment…" Hearing him chuckling knowingly all of a sudden and seeing his wide grin while he began to lean against the doorframe arms crossed, she raised an eyebrow. "What?"

Someone's already frustrated, hm?" Logan smirked.

"I'm NOT!" Jean gave back, but he nodded.

"Sure thing," he replied. "Don't forget I know better…" He pointed at his nose with another smirk and left, leaving her slightly blushed in embarrassment.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Mystique asked with a frown and became even more suspicious when the redhead waved quickly off.

"Nothing…"

"I never noticed that he's left handed…," Heather suddenly said, referring to her odd look when she'd watched Logan writing.

Laughing, Ororo shook her head. "I see him everyday for years now and I never noticed it either."

Moira reached out to lay a hand on Jean's shoulder. "And again you managed to talk him into doing something…" She smiled and still remembered how Jean had managed to make Logan watch over the children a few years ago. "Have you already told him that he has to watch over the children during our party?"

"What do you mean with he has to watch over them?!" Jean asked and put her cup down. "Where are the others?"

Shrugging, Mystique crossed her arms. "Scott said that he, Kurt, Bobby and Peter go to see a movie…"

Groaning, Jean gave her an angry look. "Again?!" she asked. "They did it the last time, too! I can't ask Logan again to watch over the children alone… Especially not over 9 children!"

"You know that Hank would help him if he wasn't in Washington," Moira tried to soothe her.

Only shaking her head, Jean ran a hand through her hair. "God… Logan will definitely not do it! Scott and the others can stay at home once during our party. Especially when they know about it!" she said determined.

"As far as I know, Kurt stays here, too… At least I don't know anything about him going out. And if he wants to go out, he stays here, no discussion about it," Ororo said and earned a nod from Mystique.

"Same goes for Scott!"

Remaining in silence for a moment, the woman went on drinking their coffees, as Ororo couldn't hold back anymore. She kept on thinking about something and wanted an answer to it. "What did you mean with it by the way?"

Frowning, Jean gave her a confused look. "With what?"

"That you might forget about his four weeks punishment? What punishment?" the weather goddess asked and noticed the mysterious smile on the redhead's lips.

"It simply means no fun for him for his way of treating Laura."

Staring at her in disbelief, Moira shook her head. "And you punish him with no sex at all?!"

"Precisely…," Jean nodded. "I tried it with no cigars first, then with no beer, but he just got away too easy with it."

"So you looked for something that would really hurt him?" Narya nodded as she understood the reason behind it.

"And four weeks really is a punishment for him?" Mystique asked her in disbelief. "Scott wouldn't even complain…"

Giggling, Jean raised the cup to her mouth. "Well, Scott doesn't have a healing factor and animal instincts," she smirked as Moira suddenly looked at her worriedly.

"And what makes you so sure that Wolverine doesn't take over and just tries it?"

"Because he knows that it will instantly be five or even six weeks then," the redhead replied and the other woman nodded.

"Which week is it now?" Ororo asked.

"Nearly the third."

"And he's not doing anything at all?" Moira asked with a frown. "I really mean…nothing at all?"

Shaking her head, when she thought about this morning, Jean smiled at them. "He's trying his dirty tricks on me and obviously still thinks I'll crack."

"Dirty tricks?" Heather smirked. "Like what?"

Cocking an eyebrow at her friends, since all of a sudden it appeared to her as if every woman had just came closer and wore the same wicked smile on her lips, Jean let out a groan. "Oh, get a room!" she cried.

"Come on," Mystique grinned and showed the white contrast of her teeth to her blue skin. "What kind of dirty tricks?"

"Live strips?" Ororo giggled. "Acting like a starving lion?"

"Let's just say he uses his knowledge of how to get to me pretty well," the redhead waved quickly off before the weather goddess would come up with even dirtier thoughts.

"Like what?" Narya demanded to know and nudged her playfully.

Sighing, Jean rolled her eyes. "You'll probably see when he gets back…"

Sucking on her straw, Ororo still had the same wicked smile on her lips. "Well… Since four weeks are a punishment for him…," she began and giggled.

"What are you hinting at, 'Ro?!" Jean asked and gave her a questioning, but warning look.

The other woman only shrugged innocently. "Let's say it's obvious now how you managed to lose 20 pounds all of a sudden…"

"'Ro!" the redhead said playfully outraged and blushed. "Jeez, your mind is even dirtier than Jubes!"

"Well, I'll keep my eyes on him when he gets back, mark my words!" Ororo laughed as Moira suddenly looked up in surprise.

"That was quick…"

"Huh?" the weather goddess asked and saw how the woman nodded at the door, making all women turn their heads.

Turning hers, too, Jean suddenly began to frown and gave the wall clock a suspicious look, before she looked back at Logan, who put Jamie in his infant car seat and two backs onto the counter. "You've either forgotten half of the things you were supposed to buy, or you've made Kurt teleport you…," she said skeptically. "What are you doing here?!"

Freezing in his movement while he was about to put the vegetables into the fridge, Logan cocked an eyebrow. "Ehm… Sellin' ice crème to the fridge?" he asked her ironically.

"I mean already," she corrected herself.

Closing the fridge while she got off her stool to check the bags, still convinced that he had forgotten half of the things on the list, he smirked when she turned her back to him. He walked over to look over her shoulder and placed one hand on each side of her, while he pressed her against the counter slowly. "Want me to go again?" he asked huskily.

"That's number one…," Ororo whispered to the other, keeping her promise to watch him carefully when he comes back.

"Don't even try, hon…," Jean only said.

"Try what?" Logan asked innocently and kissed her neck long and softly.

"Number two…," Mystique nodded.

Jean turned around, but Logan smirked since he picked up on her reaction to his closeness. "It's still four weeks, Logan…"

"Actually, darlin'…it already is."

"And what makes you think that?" she asked.

"Two weeks now, two weeks before your stupid idea…," he listed. "Makes four weeks to me, don't ya think?"

Smiling, since she knew what he was up to, Jean shook her head. "Then just live with the fact that it's two more weeks for you to go…" Using her powers she moved his arm out of her way and returned to her stool.

Only staring at the bags for a moment, Logan had to let the news sink in. "That's six weeks!" he complained and earned a smile from her.

"Getting frustrated?"

Snorting, he shook his head. "No, but I can assure ya, you will!" he warned.

"Jus remember my lesson, hon," Jean warned him in return. "The nice things I can do with and to you, while you're helpless!"

Looking at his son, Logan nodded at her. "Told ya mommy's an evil, lil' bitch…"

"He's frustrated!" Jean said towards the others.

"You wish!" he snorted and began to heat the mash for the boy in the microwave.

Bending over the counter in curiosity, Heather smiled. "First time I see him being awake," she said and looked at Jamie, who eyed her. "And he already has green eyes?"

Leaning next to her, Narya gave Jean a look. "If you had a child with red hair and hazel eyes, you'd have all variations…"

"Or a twin couplet with identical looks," Heather added.

Only shaking his head, Logan looked at his son with the small pot in his hand. "Chick-talk, kiddo," he told him. "Just ignore it!"

"Then tell us, Logan…," Moira began. "…how many men did you have to explain our womanly needs to today?"

"Thankfully only one…," he grunted while stirring the mash in the pot.

"And nothing else happened?" Heather asked.

"Weird grandmas…" He leant over the counter a bit to support himself with both elbows. "Right, pum'kin? Strange lookin', annyoin' grannies that chased us," he listed in a strange voice and made the boy smile.

Watching him skeptically, Mystique gave him a look. "What did you do? Bump into their shopping carts?"

"Funny!" he growled.

"What else?" she shrugged. "The _Oh my God, what a cutie!_-thing?"

"Exactly!"

"You have my sympathies! I had two of them last time," she groaned and rolled her eyes, but he only gave a laugh.

"Two?!" Logan asked. "I had five and two men."

"Well, I'd bet the men rather meant the daddy with cutie…," Narya grinned and made the other giggle, but received a glare from him. "What? James told us about the pub. The bartender there is obviously very taken with you…"

Patting the redhead's shoulder playfully, Ororo winked at her. "Oh, oh, watch it Jean!"

Only rolling his eyes in annoyance, Logan heaved a deep breath and turned his attention back to the boy. "If ya ever date a girl, make sure it's a mature woman with brain!"

"Well, it wouldn't be the first time, right Logan?" Ororo gave back and crossed her arms. "What was that guy's name again?"

"The one in the mall? Mystique asked.

"Yeah!" the weather goddess nodded and tried to remember. "Jeff?"

"Who's Jeff?" Narya asked with a frown.

"His fan," mystique replied and nodded at Logan, who tried his best to ignore them.

"Fan?!" Heather asked.

"Remember mommy wants ya to eat this shit from now on. If you've gotta puke, wait until she's here," Logan said towards the baby and began to feed him.

Seeing it, Jean supported her head onto her hand and waited for the inevitable. "I just want to remind you that you wear your favorite shirt…"

"And?"

"Well, if he really pukes…," she shrugged and he suddenly gave her a naughty smirk.

"That's what mommy's hopin' for, pum'kin!"

"What?" she asked and furrowed her brows.

"That's why she picked today for ya to eat this crap," he went on and saw how the boy began to pull a face after tasting the mash. "Good boy, I wouldn't eat that shit either!"

"Waiting for what?" Jean asked and got off her stool to come closer and have a better look on what he's doing.

"For me to get my shirt off," Logan said bluntly.

Turning towards Ororo, Moira gave her a light nudge. "Does this count as number 3?"

Seeing how Jamie desperately tried to get the mash out of his mouth at once, Jean took the spoon to taste it. "I don't know what you want. It tastes good…"

"Mommy, just has a bad taste, sweety," Logan said and wiped the mash from the boy's chin.

"It's banana," the redhead defended herself. "Every child likes bananas!"

"I don't!"

"You're not a child!" she groaned and added after a moment. "At least not always…"

"Well, but daddy's boy is, so get used to it, darlin'!" Logan replied and went to the microwave to heat another pot.

Seeing it, Jean crossed her arms. "If he doesn't like this one here, he won't eat your, too!"

"Wanna bet?" he smirked and leant against the fridge. "I can already think about your stake."

"Four weeks, Logan!" she instantly said and sat down again. "And no discussion!"

He only shrugged. "'kay… As I said, it's you whose gonna regret it…"

"We'll see!" Jean snorted while he went back to the baby with the pot in his hand.

"So, who's Jeff?" Heather asked to get back to their previous topic.

"Oooookayyyy… Do you want to tell it?" Ororo began and looked at Mystique, but the woman waved off.

"Go ahead!"

"Well… We went onto a shopping tour in the mal last year and entered a shop. The boys went to get new clothing for them and the girls to go looking for some things, too. And after we were done and had already waited for 20 minutes at the entrance, we went looking for them," she explained. "Let's say we wondered why Scott and the others were sitting and waiting, so we asked them if something was wrong and they told us that this Jeff-guy was very taken with Logan."

"Actually, Scott said Jeff just couldn't get enough from Logan's lower back view," Mystique added.

"His own fault if he always wears tight fitting jeans, "Jean shrugged and emptied the banana pot.

"Look, who's talkin'!" Logan snapped with a cocked eyebrow. "I could tell some stories about ya and my back view, too, darlin', so shut your mouth! And as if you chicks ever complained!"

"No one said that! Right, girls?" Heather asked and got a united _Right!_ From the others.

"Anyway, after another guy already gave Peter his telephone number, Jeff couldn't help but do some butt-touching," Ororo went on.

"And he's still alive?" Heather asked with a brief look on Logan, remembering his reaction after Moira wanted to examine him.

"As excited as Jeff was, he didn't even notice that Peter held Logan back, so…as long as he doesn't track him down…" Mystique shrugged and Logan suddenly made a strange sound.

"Loser!" he smirked at Jean, who looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Huh?!" she made.

"Your son knows what good taste means!" he said and grinned at Jamie. "Right, cutie? Mommy has a yuk-taste, so we don't have to listen to her, right?"

Only shaking her head, the redhead turned back to the others. "As I said…literary speaking he's not a child, but sometimes I have my doubts…"

"What was it again? Men are the real children?" Ororo asked.

"How true!" Mystique nodded. "But he's nothing compared to Scott! He's practically developed child language."

"Then you should see him when he feels safe!" Jean replied with a nod at Logan.

"Big bad Wolverine, huh?" Heather laughed.

"Nice, little, purring, kitten, if you ask me!"

"I don't purr!" she heard him growling and waved off.

"He does!" Jean assured the others.

"Nope!"

"Yes, you do!" she gave back and received a snort.

"Check your ears, darlin'!" he snapped.

"Wolverine does!" Jean said and crossed her arms.

"In your dreams!"

After looking to and fro between them, Ororo tapped on Jean's shoulder. "He purrs?!"

"Nope!" Logan growled instantly.

"Like a kitten!" Jean nodded.

Glaring at the women when all of them turned their heads with complete blank looks on their faces in disbelief, he nodded at Jean. "She squeals!"

"You can't deny it!" the redhead shook her head.

"I can, 'cause it ain't true!"

Walking over to him, she crossed her arms. "Want to bet?"

Smirking, he scanned her from head to toe. "Right here and now, darlin'?"

"Sure!"

"On the floor or the counter?" he asked and wobbled his eyebrow lasciviously.

"NOT that! I mean the bet with a 't' and not a 'd'!" Jean groaned. "And I can prove it!"

Logan crossed his arms unimpressed. "By doin' what?"

"If Jamie purrs, it's proof enough," she explained with a nod at the boy. "So, if I win, it'll be five weeks, meaning two and a half more weeks to go for you." Hearing his snort, she smiled. "What? So you admit that you purr?"

"I don't!" he growled in a low voice and narrowed his eyes.

Shrugging, Jean turned to the boy. "So, it's a bet then, fine with me." Reaching out she began to stroke up and down Jamie's neck, being closely watched by the other women and her husband.

"See?" he asked after nothing happened.

"See?!" she gave back after the boy really started to purr. "Five weeks, hon!"

Glaring at the baby, Logan narrowed his eyes. "Traitor!" he growled. "Ya can bet your butt that it's gonna be banana mash everyday, pal! Mark my words!"

"It's proven, you purr," Jean teased him with a smile.

"Nope," he gave back with a self-assured smirk. "_I _don't! _He_ might do it!"

"Wolverine does!"

Shrugging, he leant back against the counter. "And ya squeal like a stabbed guinea pig!"

"What?!" Jean asked. "I definitely don't squeal, Logan!"

"Wanna bet?" he smirked with a dangerous glint in his eyes.

Having watched them the whole time through, Mystique leant over to the others. "Is it just me, or seem both to be pretty frustrated already?" she asked in a whisper.

"I'd rather say…more than willing to jump each others bones…," Ororo nodded.

"I don't squeal," Jean said again when he came closer.

"One week if you do!"

"Two!"

"Christmas, that's one and a half," he offered.

"Deal!" she nodded and was grabbed by him in the next second.

Biting and sucking on her pulse point on her neck Logan suddenly smirked evilly and let his left hand travel upwards towards her ribcage. Suddenly she squealed and he let go of her with a more than satisfied smirk. "It's payday on Christmas then, baby," Logan said with a smug grin on his lips before he took Jamie from the counter and walked over to the door. "As I said, you're gonna regret that!"

Only able to stare at the door completely stunned and blushed, Jean pointed at it before she gave the others a look. "He cheated! That bastard cheated!" she stammered and hoped anyone else had seen it.

"Did he?" Heather asked and shattered her hopes.

"By doing what?" Moira asked.

"Oh, I can't believe that he did it again!" the redhead cried slightly angered.

"Did what?" Moira asked again. "You squealed like a guinea pig, we heard it, too!"

"Yes, because this treacherous bastard pinched my side!" Jean defended herself. "He's so going to regret that!"

Sighing, Ororo crossed her arms and tilted her head a bit to give her best friend a look that spoke volumes. "Honestly, Jean, you wouldn't have survived another week anyway!"

Nodding, Mystique ignored the glare she was given by the redhead. "Right. I'd have bet he'd have seduced you at least by the end of this week. So,…get a room!" She turned her head a bit when Logan returned to get the bags with their things.

"Bastard!" Jean greeted him through clenched teeth and the smirk she received made her only madder.

"Told ya I'd get ya, darlin'," he shrugged and could tell by her look that she was fuming. Nevertheless, he could only chuckle and reached out to touch her chin with one hand. "So, Christmas it is. Too bad for ya, eh?"

"We'll see!" she hissed when he took the bags. "By the way…we still need things for Laura, right?"

"Yeah, and?" he asked when he stopped at the door again.

"Could you drive with her to the mall today? She really needs her own things by now," Jean replied and turned towards the others with a smile on her lips. She knew he would either start growling within the next five seconds or the bags would fall to the ground, while he'd stare at her completely speechless. Yes, sometimes, only sometimes, she could be as evil as he was...

Not doing her the favor, Logan only cocked an eyebrow. "What about you?" he asked and she could tell that he referred to her sitting her in the kitchen for hours and talking with the others.

Shrugging, she turned her cup in her hands slowly and watched how the coffee began to make circles. "Still have some papers to grade…"

Giving a short laugh, he nodded. "Hold on a second!" he gave back and the others eyes switched back to him. "Ya want me to go girl shopping with her _alone_?!"

Nodding innocently, Jean swallowed some coffee. "Yes! Think the mighty Wolverine can handle to buy clothing, a bed and other things she needs all alone and without unleashing hell?" Noticing his pissed look, she walked over smiling to wrap her arms around his neck and kiss him softly. "Come on! Be nice and a good daddy and go shopping with her, will you?"

"And who's nice t'me?" he asked incredulously when she went back to her stool. "You're kiddin', right?"

"Two weeks…," Jean coughed playfully and now his growl was very good audible.

"You are such a manipulative, evil, mean, little kitten! It's unbelievable!" Logan cursed and glared at her when she gave him a raised eyebrow; clearly enjoying her revenge.

"Three then?" she asked innocently.

"Fine… I'm off and go shoppin'!" he hissed and threw the bags at her.

"Greet Jeff, Logan!" Ororo giggled. "Oh…don't you want to change into something more…tighter? I'd bet Jeff would love it!" she added and sucked on her straw.

"And I'd love to shove that straw up your…," he began when Jean intervened.

"Ah, ah, ah! Don't even dare to say it!" she warned him. "Take Laura and go shopping!"

She heard him snorting and mumbling something before he left the kitchen. "And I heard that, Logan!" she called aloud.

"That was a very quick change of mood…," Moira said towards Jean, but the woman waved off. "Just out of scientific curiosity, but…he really purrs?!"

* * *

About an hour later, Logan had one hand in his jeans pocket while Laura, who looked curiously around, was on the other. Still being rather pissed because he had to do this, he practically gave everyone a glare that even dared to look at him. He saw that the girl was taken with what she saw and didn't pay attention to where she was going. "Watch your steps, kid!" he warned her and she turned her head, just to nearly bump into someone. "See?" he smirked. "Told ya so." He took a look around himself. If he wanted something then it was to finish this here quickly and head back home. Seeing a shop he stopped. "Wanna go and buy a bed first?" he asked her and received a nod. "'Kay. C'mon!" He walked over to a shop with her. Just as they'd stopped in front of some beds, a saleswoman approached with the most artificial smile he'd ever seen. "No growlin', got that?" he quickly said towards Laura, who'd already started to give the woman a suspicious look. 

"Hello, sir. May I help you?" she asked, to polite as he thought, and gave him her smile again. Some people, he thought, obviously really slept on tanning beds. Looking down, he gave Laura a quick warning look, since she disliked the woman, too, and was about to start growling. "Ehm, yeah. I'm lookin' for a bed for her."

Smiling again, the woman nodded. "Sure. Do you have and thing special in mind?"

"Special?!" he thought. "I only want a freakin' bed." Taking a look around her shook his head. "No, not really…"

She beckoned him to follow her and he reluctantly did so. If he knew something, than that a particular woman, who shared his last name, would definitely face hell as soon as he was back home. Logan heard her talking and explaining each bed, but didn't really paid attention to what she was saying. He needed a freaking bed for a kid and not a Ferrari or something like that, so why couldn't she just stop babbling? "Anything the young lady liked?" she suddenly asked and awoke him from his daydream. He noticed that she now gave Laura her strange looking, hyper-white-teeth smile and for once he wished the girl would just extract her claws and wipe it out of the woman's face. Or he would do it…

"What do ya think?" he asked the girl, who looked up at him rather helpless. "Anythin' ya like?" Logan crossed his arms and watched attentively as Laura began to walk around to look at each bed. Even if he'd explained to her what exactly they would be doing here, he could tell that the girl had no clue what he or that weird woman wanted from her.

"She's really cute," the woman suddenly commented and he only gave her an annoyed nod. "I'd bet a lot of people tell you that she looks a lot like you."

Hearing it, Logan couldn't help but chuckle, since he new the reason WHY the girl looked like him. "Yeah, actually they do…," he replied and saw that the girl stood next to a specific bed for quiet a while. "Found one?" he asked and hoped she would just say yes so that they could leave again.

"Yeah. This one…," Laura said and pointed at it.

"'Kay," he nodded and looked for Xavier's card in his pocket. "Can ya deliver it to this address, please?" he asked and the woman eyed it.

"Oh, you're a teacher?" she asked smiling and he nodded slowly.

"Yeah, somethin' like that."

Nodding, she went over to the bed. "Sure. We can deliver it. That's no problem."

After they'd left the shop and had entered a store to buy some clothing, Logan really thought he was in hell. While he'd sent Laura off to go looking for stuff she liked and was now waiting for her to come out of the changing stall again, he only waited for his berserker to come to the survive. All around him were mother with their children and obviously looked for the oh-so-perfect Christmas dress. So all he heard was _Gosh, how cute_, _Ohm my God what a cutie_, _Sweety you look so nice grandma will love it_… As he heard the last one, he gave the little girl a skeptical look from aside. If grandma saw that girl, she would die of a heart attack, he thought. The poor girl looked as if she would start crying soon and stood rather helpless in front of her excited mother, dressed in the ugliest pink dress he'd ever seen, with even more ugly ruches everywhere. If he knew something than that he would fill in a divorce if Jean ever dared to dress one of his girls in something like that. He sighed and shook his head as a woman next to him practically barked in his ear in excitement. Glaring at her, he noticed that her fast babbled _Ohmygoodhowcute_ referred to Laura, who had finally come out of the changing stall and looked at him. "Like it?" he asked and received a nod and told her to hurry up with the rest, keeping it a secret that he was close to murder people around him. He couldn't understand what was so cute about a girl wearing jeans and a shirt with a hood. He would never understand old grandmas, definitely not.

"She looks so much like her daddy," the older woman said towards him, ignoring the fact that he looked more than annoyed by now. "How old is the young princess?"

Well, he couldn't say that he don't know, right? "Ehm…six," he lied and hoped that she hadn't noticed his hesitation.

"What a cutie," the woman went on and gave him a smile. "And how nice of her daddy to go shopping with her. My dad never did it with me." He only nodded and hoped she wouldn't give him a war story now, but thankfully, before the woman could went on, Laura reappeared and held the clothing she liked up to him.

"Got everything?" he asked and she nodded again. "'Kay, c'mon, we still need to buy more stuff." Getting up, he took the clothes she liked and gave the woman a nod, before he went over to the cash-desk to pay the stuff. Afterwards, they went through the mall again, he carrying two bags in one hand, her hand in the other, when she suddenly ran towards a window and looked into it. Logan sighed in frustration. As soon as he was back home, a specific redhead would suffer. A lot! When he approached to see what she was looking at, he noticed that it was a stuffed animal store. "See anythin' ya like?" he asked and kneeled down a bit. She pointed at something and he reached into his back pocket. "Go in and buy something ya like," he said and handed her the money. He noticed the look she gave him. "C'mon. In that way ya practice talkin'." He nodded at the door and she walked towards it reluctantly. While he waited for her, he took a look around. He couldn't get rid off the feeling of being watched. It was not just that he felt uncomfortable to be in a place with hundreds of other people, or that all the noises and scents just overwhelmed his senses. He just felt like being followed and watched since they arrived here.

"Daddy," someone suddenly said next to him and Logan switched his attention to Laura, who held up a giraffe and a wolf.

Seeing the wolf, he could only shake his head with a smirk. If Jamie wanted one too, as soon as he was taller, he would really become suspicious. After packing both plush animals into a bag, he began to walk again. "You in for a pizza?" he asked and she looked at him frowning.

"Pizza?"

"Never ate pizza?" Logan asked confused and tried to remember if they'd really never eaten pizza as long as she's staying at the mansion. She shook her head. "Ya gonna like it, believe me!"

When they sat in a Pizza Hut restaurant later, he watched her wolfing down her pizza with a smirk. "See? Told ya so," he said and sipped on his coke, before checking his surroundings again. When he looked at her again, he noticed the odd look she gave him. "Need to pee?" he asked and received a nod. "Toilet's over there. Can't go with ya, kiddo. Can ya handle it alone?"

"Yeah," Laura nodded and got off her stool.

"'Kay. And don't forget to wash your hands!" Logan reminded her and watched attentively how she disappeared into the room. When the door closed, he looked around again, still feeling not quiet right with something. The good thing was that they'd gotten everything Jean wanted him to buy. So after the girl came back, they could head back home. Logan noticed the two women not far away from him who he'd heard whispering before. Becoming suspicious, since they smiled over at him, before the blonde one of them got up and came over, he began to cock an eyebrow.

"Hey, ehm…," she began and gave her friend a short look. "We were just wondering, but… You don't have a brother who looks a bit Asian, do you?"

Frowning he gave her a questioning look. "What do ya mean?"

"Well, we would bet that there was a guy who looked a lot like you leaning against this pillar over there, just a few minutes ago," she shrugged and Logan instantly turned his head, but couldn't see anyone. "He looked just a bit younger and wasn't so muscular," the woman added.

Thinking, a thought suddenly crossed Logan's mind and switched his senses to alarm mode. Trying to give her a calm smile, he shook his head. "Sorry, but I don't have a brother."

"Never mind," she smiled. "See ya!"

Watching her how she returned to the seat, he quickly paid the bill and waited for Laura to come back. As soon as the girl returned he told her to get her things and left the restaurant, just to take a look around, before he led her back to the entrance. If he was right and the women had seen, who he thought they had, they needed to drive back home quickly. With Laura on one hand, he descended the stairs and turned right in the mall towards the exit. "Had a nice day?" someone suddenly asked and Logan jerked his head aside.

"What do ya want?" he hissed and narrowed his eyes warningly.

Shrugging, Daken buried his hands in his jeans pockets. "I just thought it would be nice to say hello to my old man." He gave him an evil smile and looked at the girl briefly. "You know… Victor is still pissed because you guys stole his toy from him."

"What a pity," Logan grunted while held more onto Laura and exited the mall to head straight to his car. Reaching it, he opened the door. "Hop in and stay there," he added and closed the door after Laura did as she was told. "What do you want, eh?"

Still smiling, Daken came a bit closer and stopped only inches from the taller man. "As I said…just wanted to say hello," he replied and held Logan's gaze. "And Sinister told me to send you a warning."

"Really?" Logan grunted. "Like what?"

Shrugging playfully, Daken took a look around before his arm suddenly shot forward and he buried his three claws into his opposite's chest. Being surprised by the attack, Logan bent forward a bit and tried to catch his breath. "Something like that, I think," Daken hissed and twisted his hand a bit until he heard a groan from the other man. "Be happy that here are enough people around."

"Do ya think I'd care?" Logan hissed through gritted teeth and grabbed the other man's arm in a firm grip.

Pulling him closer, Daken snarled. "You should!" With a quick twist of his wrist, he retracted his claws, leaving a blood trail on the ground. Gasping, Logan held the wound with his right hand and glared at the man. "See ya around, _father_!" Smirking, Daken turned around and left.

* * *

When Logan returned to the mansion, he directly headed upstairs to put the bags onto the sofa and look for Jean. Since he couldn't find her in their rooms, he told Laura to stay here and left again to sniff his wife out. Her scent led him to Charles' office and he burst into it without knocking. He frowned when he saw that all X-Men were gathered in the room and cocked an eyebrow as he noticed an unfamiliar face in the middle of them. He eyed the man, who was at least a head smaller than him and had brown eyes and black hair, suspiciously, as Jean suddenly jumped up and came towards him. "What happened to you?" she asked shocked and pulled his leather jacket aside a bit to have a better look on the shirt that was soaked with blood. 

"Is that the F-guy?" Logan asked instead and nodded at the newbie.

"Yes," Charles nodded, but also eyed Logan worriedly. "Logan this is Forge, Forge this is Logan, our team leader."

"The Wolverine, huh?" Forge asked and got up to offer Logan his hand. To Scott's surprise this one took it. "Heard a lot about you."

"Whatever," Logan grunted.

"Hey, would you please tell me what happened to you?" Jean cut them off. "Don't tell me you started a brawl in the mall, Logan!"

"No, actually I ran into my son, who followed us the whole time through."

Letting her arms sink, Jean stared at him. "So he's alive?"

"Yeah," Logan nodded. "Not only he's." He pointed at his shirt. "A warning from Sinister. And Sabretooth is alive, too."

"Did you see him?" Hank asked instantly, but Logan shook his head.

"No, he only said that Victor's still pissed because we have Laura."

"You're alright?" Mystique asked him, but he waved off. "Well, why am I asking anyway…," she shrugged.

"So, you got the suit?" Logan asked Forge and this one nodded, just to return to the desk to get a package from it.

"I took your size first for the prototype," he explained. "Scott said that you heal, so it wouldn't matter if the suit doesn't work." Hearing it, Logan crossed his arms and shot a glare at Scott, who only raised his hands in defense.

"Well, it's true, isn't it?" he tried to soothe him.

"Why don't you try it and I try if my claws get through the fabric?" Logan growled pissed.

Forge walked over to the door and beckoned Logan to follow him. "You can practically wear it like your normal suit. I just explain the additions to you," he told him when they left the room together.

"I don't care about additions, bub," Logan grunted. "Just hope it works!"

Inside the office, Storm crossed her arms. "So, we were right. They are still alive," she said and shook her head. "We need to find them. It can't be that we cannot even use public places anymore without being threatened by them."

"I know what you mean, Ororo," Charles replied. "But unfortunately I am unable to trace them with Cerebro."

"We just got off the phone with our team, too," James added. "They have contacted groups around the planet and informed them about the threat. They have the order to call us as soon as they see or hear anything. But up to now…" He shook his head and shrugged.

"I don't even want to imagine what could have happened if they had caught Logan with three of them," Narya said and received nods from the others.

"Did Logan contact his former groups, by the way?" Ororo asked and looked at Jean.

"I don't know. I don't think he has done it, yet. He first wanted to look for a place to meet them," the redhead replied as the door opened again and a more than happy Forge came back.

"Does it work?" Scott asked.

"I don't know, but Wolverine was very taken with it," the man replied and received a surprised look from Jean.

"He was?" she asked skeptically. As far as she knew, Logan hated the uniforms, even if she told him over and over again how good in looked in them.

"He should be here in a minute," Forge nodded enthusiastically.

And he was right, but the situation didn't turn out as he'd thought. When Logan came back in, dressed in the prototype of the new uniform, he gave Forge the meanest glare possible and crossed his arms. "Well, I think it looks great," Storm nodded and came closer to look at the fuming Logan from all sides. The prototype was a simple black, without the color defining stripes their old uniforms had, but she knew Forge would add them if the prototype worked. The fabric was again tight fitting leather, the pants and upper part were two separated entities again and a large black X was on the front, just as their old suits had. One new addition was that the uniform was combined with an open leather coat that was worn over the uniform and that reached down to the black boots. Everyone looked happy with it, except the wearer himself. "I think it looks great," Ororo nodded again.

"Logan, what do you think?" Hank asked him, since he'd noticed the sour face of his friend.

With his eyes still glaring at Forge, who seemed to be delighted with his invention again, Logan tilted his head a bit. "Ya want me to fight in a coat?" he asked as if it was the most ridiculous thing he'd ever seen and heard. "Who am I? Van Helsing?!"

"It's the same they wear," Jean said and hoped to soothe him with it.

"Yeah…," Logan nodded. "Give me a crossbow and some cloves of garlic and I go out huntin' vampires, darlin'. Where's the hat?"

Sighing, Jean gave Forge an apologetic look. "Sorry, but he isn't always like that."

"But mostly," Scott added.

"What about trying out if it works?" Charles suggested.

"By doin' what?" Logan demanded to know since Scott had made a step forward.

"I am sorry, Logan, but…," the Professor apologized.

"Hold on a sec!" the mutant instantly said. "Ya want him to shoot me?" Seeing the look on Charles face, he gave a short laugh. "I was already stabbed today, Chuck, so what about lettin' him plunder Gabriel's locker and I stab him?" he offered instead.

"I don't heal, Logan!" Scott said and crossed his arms.

"Oh, right," the other man nodded. "So this is another episode of _go on, hit the healin' man_, eh? What do you get for this? A new fridge for an arm, a new bed for a leg?"

"Logan…," Jean sighed and ran a hand through her face.

"And you're fine with this, ain't ya?" he snapped at her next. "First ya sent me off into hell and now ya wanna lean back and watch how you're ex shoot me, eh? There's no inheritance, darlin'! So don't get your hopes up too much!" he growled and stepped back a bit. "Then shoot, but don't even dare to miss!"

"Bellyacher," Scott hissed and got into position. While he worked on his visor, Logan suddenly cocked an eyebrow at him.

"What are ya shootin' at, bub?"

"You right leg, Logan," Scott said.

"No, ya ain't gonna shoot at my leg, Scooter!"

"And why not?"

"You ain't gonna shoot at my family jewels, bub, mark my words!" Logan growled and narrowed his eyes warningly.

Sighing, Scott heaved a very deep breath. "I'm not shooting at them, Logan! Would you stop acting like a child now?"

"Shoot at my arm or shoulder, but don't even dare to aim at anythin' below my waistband," his opposite shot back and watched him attentively.

Shrugging, Scott worked on his visor again and gave Jean a sign to step back. "If this works, Logan, I am not even able to hit you at all," he mumbled and activated his visor. The other closed their eyes as the red beam left his eyes, just to hear Logan yelping in the next second. Opening hers in a rush, Jean gave her husband a concerned look, but this one only stared at the smoking, but already healing spot on his body. "Scott!" the redhead scolded her ex as she noticed that he had aimed for Logan's right thigh.

"You…are…dead, bub!" Logan growled and made a step forward, when he saw Scott's brief smirk, but Jean stopped him with a hand against his chest. "Be happy that it wasn't the left!"

"Why? Was there anything I could have damaged?" Scott asked innocently, and quickly jumped behind Mystique's chair as Logan let out an angry roar.

"Damn…," Forge said and shook his head. "It worked in the lab…" Sighing he leant back against the desk. "I don't know what went wrong."

Coming closer to look at the fabric more closely, Hank turned his head to him. "Do you still have the data on it?" he asked and Forge nodded. "Maybe I can help you somehow. Why don't you get everything you need and move in, so that we can work on it together?"

Turning towards Charles, this one nodded at Forge. "I don't mind, as you might know. I think we all should stick together in times like these, especially with our enemy watching us."

"Okay," Forge nodded and took his jacket. "I get my things then and return as soon as possible."

"Wait," Scott suggested. "When they really are watching us, I think it is better if we fly you back to your lab."

"Fine with me," Forge shrugged and Scott gave Kurt and Ororo a brief sign to follow him.

"Are you alright?" Jean asked Logan carefully, since she could still feel that he was boiling from within.

"Do ya care?" he mocked and cocked an eyebrow at her. "First ya sent me off into that hellhole, then ya watch how he shoots at my family jewels and now ya ask if I'm fine?!"

Smiling weakly, she took the coat into her hand and pulled him closer a bit. "Well, nothing got damaged, right?"

"No," he snapped playfully. "But ya just made place 2 on my revenge list."

She nodded. "It's still Christmas, remember?" Jean reminded him, before she took his hand to drag him to the door. "And now let's clean you up and let's see what you bought for Laura."

**I know the beginning sucks and the style becomes finally better at the end, but I really had trouble finding back to my old style of writing. Typing on Love and Pain had really helped. The chapter was shortened by me. Actually there was no Forge or Daken in it, but I wanted to bring them in. So I cut out the Girl's Party and an important scene with Jamie. In total 6 scenes that should have taken place in this chapter will happen in the next one, which means Christmas will not take place in chapter 10, but 11. Other than that: It's glad to be back and I can't believe I didn't update this story here in over a month now. : ( But it was really hard to find back into it****. I hope you liked it and enjoyed reading it. Please review!!! Oh, and I would be happy if some of you gave their opinion to The tent and also let me know if you want a one chapter sequel to Love and Pain. Currently I have already 11 chapter pre written to a new story, and some scene to another one. I just have to think about the titles. LOL See ya!!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Author's note**Just one thing, since I was just told about it: If writers of you want to use names, sentences or whatsoever from other author's stories: Please ask the author first before just using them. I was just informed about someone, who has just used the names of the Grey children and I think it's unfair to do so without asking, because I always have a hell of a time to pick names. : ( It's just nicer and fairer to ask first, I do the same and I also write above the chapters if ideas etc were taken from Marvel comics or someone else.

So I just follow the advice and say: **All non Marvel characters (Jack, Lily, Jamie, Tommy, Alex, Luna) were created by me, so the copyright, therefore, is with me, including their names and character.**

I don't want to overreact, but I think using 3 from 5 names is just a bit too obvious. Especially when also reviewers notice that. Since that person apologized, it's okay.

Other than that:

**S****ince Reviewer Number 50 (I don't know who it was anymore, so if this one reads this, please let me know!) had wished for a specific hair scene between Logan and his daughters, here it finally is! ; )**

The name Jean-Luc is pronounced French (for those of you, who don't know it). So it's similar to the English name Sean. Hope that helps.

Ragdogtwo: Due to the server problems, I got 45 messages from I read yours today (April 28th). I'll keep it in mind. ; ) Thanks for the help!!

**Chan****ges Sequel – II. Covenant Part 10**

While they were occupied with preparing dinner together with Heather, Narya and Ororo, Jean and Logan were surprised as the backdoor went open, making a loud noise as the door hit the wall, and two girls rushed into the kitchen. "Mommy!" Lily said aloud, making the redhead think that something was wrong.

"What's wrong, honey?" Jean asked her and stopped cutting the vegetables, while Logan looked briefly up from preparing the meat.

The dark haired girl grabbed her mother's skirt and gave her the sweetest look possible. "Can you teach Ray and me how to ride a horse?" she asked hopefully.

"The other girls do that, too!" Rachel added with a weak pout, since she had noticed their mother's surprised look.

"Actually, sweeties," Ororo giggled. "…your mommy's afraid of horses."

"I'm not!" Jean protested and turned to Logan for help. "Right?"

As a simple answer he cocked an eyebrow at her and cleaned his hands on a towel. "How am I supposed t'know?"

"Japan?" she reminded him and crossed her arms.

"I was there with ya, so it ain't a proof that ya ain't afraid of horses, darlin'," Logan simply said and made Heather laugh.

"What a gentlemen, huh?" she said. "My dear, your wife wanted support from you!"

"I do support her!" he grunted, when Jean only rolled her eyes and took the towel from him to clean a knife on it.

"And, my dear Ororo, I am NOT afraid of horses, I just don't know how to ride," she said matter of factly, not seeing Logan's smirk behind her.

"Actually, you're a pretty good rider, baby," he teased her mentally. The smug grin was still visible on his lips when she turned around with widened eyes, cheeks blushed and slapped him with the towel after a moment. Unimpressed by it, he chuckled.

"What is that about now?" Narya asked Ororo in a whisper, since she didn't understand what was going on all of a sudden.

Only shrugging, Ororo quickly ducked as Jean took another swing. "I think he's made a dirty remark mentally."

"Jean!" Logan cried and quickly jumped behind the counter to try and get a hold on the towel.

"You are so…," Jean hissed and gave him a glare, while her two girls only exchanged a look in confusion.

"What? It was the truth, darlin'!" Logan gave back with a grin and finally managed to grab the towel.

"Pig!" she shot back.

Sighing, Ororo dared to come a bit closer again. "What did you say, hm?" she asked Logan, but he only shrugged, as suddenly someone stamped his foot.

"What about us?!" Lily demanded to know and looked to and fro between her parents, while her arms were crossed in front of her chest.

"Right!" Rachel nodded and gave her parents the same look.

Jean suddenly began to smile and crossed her arms, too. "I'm pretty sure your daddy shows you. Right, hon?" she asked him.

"He knows how to ride a horse?!" Ororo asked aloud and gave him a skeptical look.

"Yes, he does," the redhead smiled with a nod. "Right, daddy?"

Just as she'd said it, the two girls ran over to their father and clung to his leg, giving him their best smiles and puppy-dog-eyes-looks. "Daddy?" both purred and saw how he rolled his eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah…," Logan sighed and his hands were instantly grabbed by his daughters.

"You're the best daddy in the world!" both smiled happily.

Seeing the glare she received from him, Jean only shrugged with a satisfied smile. "Then go ahead!" she said and made him cock an eyebrow at her.

"Now?!"

"Yeah, come on!" Lily said and began to drag him over to the door.

"Here're enough girls to handle the kitchen, honey," Jean purred and gave him her _loser_-smile. "And since we won't eat before 6:30, which is in a bit more than 2 hours, you've plenty of time to teach your daughters something useful. So, go ahead!" Before he could reply anything else, she'd helped her daughters to push him out of the door with her powers.

"They really have him wrapped around their fingers, huh?" Heather smiled.

"Not only they have!" Narya said and winked at Jean. "Right?"

"He really liked to embarrass you mentally, hm?" Ororo asked the redhead, who waved off with a smile.

"You know him, don't you?" she asked back.

"Yeah, I think I can recall a boring meeting that too place a few years ago and that I found the two of you in…," she began as Jean cut her quickly off by throwing the towel at her.

"'Ro!"

On the outside, Logan brought a black horse out of the stable, followed by Lily and Rachel, who both watched how he put a black saddle onto the back of the horse and made sure that it was really tight before he turned around. He couldn't hide his smirk, since both girls stared at the horse in awe and with big eyes. "I told ya the smallest is still to huge for ya," he reminded them. "Ya sure ya wanna do it?" Seeing their nods, he shrugged. "'Kay." After pulling himself up, he looked down on them. "Who's the first?" he asked and watched how both girls exchanged a look, obviously waiting for the other one to reply first. Seeing it, he couldn't help but chuckle. "I said it's too early for ya, didn't I?"

"It's not!" Lily pouted outraged and made her father chuckle again.

"Right!" Rachel nodded to support her sister.

Nodding playfully, Logan gave them a smirk. "So ya wanna tell me you're not scared, eh?" he teased them.

"We're not afraid!" Rachel protested and gave Lily a look. "Right?"

"Right!" this one nodded.

"I see…," Logan smirked. "So, who's the first then?" he asked once more and this time both girls stepped forward at once with a loud "I am!".

A few hours later, after the dinner was prepared, Jean let out a loud frustrated sigh and glared at the two chopsticks in her hand. "Do you know how to eat with them?" Heather asked her skeptically since in her opinion, the other redhead could rather poke out someone's eyes with the sticks, instead of managing to eat food with it.

"He taught me, but…," Jean began and tried once more to pick up a small piece of chicken, but it didn't work again, which got her a loud laughter of Ororo.

"Don't let him see that you've forgotten something he gave you a lecture on!" she reminded her. "You know how huffy he is when it comes to that."

"Lecture on what?" Logan suddenly asked and all heads turned towards him.

"Had fun?" Narya asked the girls in hope to distract Logan.

"Yeah!" Lily cheered with a happy smile and Rachel pulled on Jean's skirt.

"Mommy? Daddy said we can do that again. Can we?"

"Sure," the redhead nodded. "Now go upstairs and wash your hands. Dinner's ready soon!"

When the kid's stormed out of the kitchen, Logan stepped behind his wife and frowned when he saw what she tried to hide. "Lecture on what?" he asked again.

"How to eat with these things," she gave in and held them up, when he chuckled. "What?" Jean asked irritated.

"Who do ya want to kill with them?"

Sighing, Jean gave him a look. "Logan, how do I take care of these sticks again?" she asked once more when he pulled her against his body.

"Well…," he began in a whisper and smirked again. "…ya could take care of my stick instead, darlin'…"

Blushing again and praying that really only she had heard it, Jean suddenly noticed how Ororo tried to hide her grin behind her hand. She turned around in his grip and gave him a slap against the chest. "You are so…," she began but he only chuckled.

"What did you say this time?" Heather asked him with a shake of her head.

"You know him, don't you?" Jean sighed and turned to Logan again. "Pig!"

"Look who's talkin', darlin'," he gave back and grabbed her.

Noticing that he was about to do something again, she began to intervene before he could even say or think what he wanted to. "Ah, ah!" she made, but he had already turned her around, do that her back was to him, while he paid attention to the others.

"She's not that innocent, believe me!"

"Actually, it's your fault, Logan!" Ororo said. "Before she married you, she was the innocence in person."

He couldn't help but give a laugh. "That's what you think, 'Ro!"

"No, she's right!" Jean protested.

"Is she?" he asked and wrapped his arms around her waist to pull her closer.

Nodding, Jean tried to pick up the piece of chicken with the sticks again. "You are a very bad influence."

"Am I?"

"Yes you are!" Ororo nodded and received a shrug from him.

"Well, my wife never complaints, 'Ro," he gave back when Narya shook her head.

"Sounded to me as if she just did, Logan."

Nodding playfully, he pulled her closer and nuzzled her neck. "Did you?" he asked her huskily and smirked when she shivered.

"How does this work again?" Jean asked to change the subject and held up the sticks.

"Evader!" he teased her and heard her groan in frustration.

"Come on, show me," she pleaded, but he'd already put the sticks correctly into her hands.

"Remember," Logan said before he walked over to the door to go upstairs and change his clothing. "You wanna eat with them and not poke someone eyes out. The chicken's already dead by the way." After saying it, he quickly left before she could even raise the towel with her powers.

* * *

Due to some noises, as inaudible as they were, his senses picked up on, Logan opened his eyes drowsily and raised his head a bit. "What are ya doin'?" he asked Jean and turned his head to give his watch a brief look. "It's 4 a.m., Jeannie…," he groaned and buried his face in his pillow again. "Why are ya getting' dressed so early?"

Straightening her clothes quickly, she went over to give him a kiss as an apology. "I'm sorry for waking you," she said quietly. "But Hank just knocked and said he needs my help."

"For what?!" he asked and raised his head a bit. "It's 4 a.m. damn it. Did he lose a hair from his fur or what's so fuckin' important?"

"Rogue's boy is coming," she tried to soothe him and could tell that he was awake in a rush. "So, if I am not back for breakfast, would you please prepare the children for the day?"

"Yeah," he nodded sleepily again and buried his head in his arms. "Keep me updated," he added in a mumble and she nodded before she got up.

"Try to sleep again," Jean said quietly and opened the door as he raised his head again.

"I bet 20 bucks that the Cajun faints," Logan offered and could see her shaking her head with a smile. "Tell her good luck!"

"I will. Night!" she said and closed the door behind her.

When he woke up a few hours later the redhead was pulling on his blanket and gave him a more or less stressed look. "You're still in bed?!" Jean asked him and put her hands to her hips.

Thinking he has slept who knows how long, Logan turned his head briefly just to cock an eyebrow when he looked at his watch. "It just turned 10," he grunted and looked back at her.

"Jeez, Logan, you know that we still have to prepare our Girls Party, so I told you that you have to get up a bit earlier to take care of the children," she scolded him. "Thank God, I came up to check on you again. Would you get up now and prepare the children for the day?"

"Hm…," he nodded and let himself fall backwards again with closed eyes.

Shaking her head, she grabbed his clothing from the ground and threw it at him. "Get up!"

Logan let out a low growl and pulled his shirt and jeans from his face to give her a glare. "Slave driver!" he mumbled when she turned around at the door again.

"Bellyacher!" Jean gave back. "Move your butt, sleepyhead, or I'll ask 'Ro to summon a rain cloud right above your head."

"Wanna have a whip, darlin'?" Logan asked her with a cocked eyebrow and sat slowly up. "Suits ya today…" He got slowly up, his hair more than tousled and stretched.

Watching him, Jean shook her head. "Someone's moody, hm?" she asked with a smile. "Your daughters are waiting, hon. Now move! I'm downstairs with Marie again."

Rolling his eyes he got slowly dressed and yawned once more before he ran his hands through his messy hair. When Logan left the room, he instantly run into his daughters, who were already waiting for him at the twins' room door. "You're already dressed?" he asked them confused. "And why does mommy tell me to prepare ya if you're already ready?!"

"We aren't!" Rachel said and shook her head. "We still need help with out hair."

Looking at them, he cocked an eyebrow and crossed his arms. "Why? You're hair's fine."

"Mommy wanted to braid it today and she said you'd do it, daddy," Lily told him and her father's arms sank slowly.

"Yeah, she did!" Rachel nodded and held up a brush and a small, transparent box with stuff in it he'd never seen before. Still, he couldn't believe what he was supposed to do…

"She said I'd braid your hair?!" Logan asked in disbelief, still in hope this was just a bad dream, but the girls nodded. "Now she'd completely outta her mind… You hair's fine like that."

"But mommy promised to braid our hair today, daddy!" Rachel pouted.

"Right, ya said it. Mommy did and I ain't mommy," he replied as also Lily began to pout and gave him her best puppy-dog-eyes look.

When the girl crossed her arms and lowered her head a bit, he knew what would follow next. "Daddy!" she said warningly, but he didn't even think about giving in.

"Kid, I've no idea how that works!" Logan tried to convince them.

"But parents are supposed to know how it works," his eldest daughter gave back and made him sigh. "Mommy said Uncle Scott knows how to do it, too!"

Hearing it, Logan gave a snort. "'f course he does," he grunted and rolled his eyes. "He's a sissy," he spat.

"What's a sissy, daddy?" Rachel asked him with a frown and he pulled a face when he realized his mistake. If Jean fount out about this, she'd definitely kill him.

Nevertheless he replied in the only way he could. "Scott!" he grunted and reluctantly took the comb from her. "I warned ya!" he added and sat down on Lily's bed while Rachel sat down between his legs. He began to comb through her long and even red hair, while the girl carefully watched him inside of the mirror. While he brushed the hair a bit longer than necessary, he tried to remember how braided hair looked like and just began to do something.

"That's wrong, daddy!" Rachel said instantly and heard him sigh behind her.

"Stop movin' around!" Logan growled since the girl was tilting her head to get a better look on what he was doing in the mirror.

"But this isn't right!" she insisted and turned her head to the other side, receiving a full growl from him.

"I bind ya to the bed, kid!" he warned her and made her finally stop. Concentrating on his work again, he went on, now also closely watched by Lily, who jumped onto the bed and was looking over his shoulder.

"Daddy, that's too much hair!" she lectured him, making him groan in annoyance. So he just let some strands fall. "No, that was wrong, too," she sighed.

Stubbornly going on with his task, Logan just ignored the on-going complaints and went on. When he thought he was finally done, he grabbed a hair band out of the transparent box, as Rachel shrieked.

"You can't use this one!" she told him and he cocked an eyebrow, by now more than on the edge of his patience.

"WHY NOT?!" he asked her aloud.

"They are my favorite," Lily replied and snatched the band from him. "Ray likes the green ones."

Rolling his eyes and heaving a very deep breath, Logan shook his head. "Do me a favor and shave off that wool," he growled and took the green band to finish his work.

Watching him, Rachel played with another band. "Which wool, daddy?" she asked with a frown.

"The stuff on your head that you call hair!" he grunted. "What's the matter with chicks and rat's tails anyway?"

"What does chicks mean?" Lily asked him next and he ran a hand through his face in frustration.

"Girls…," he simply said when he noticed the frown on Rachel's forehead.

"But what has a girl to do with rat's tails, daddy?" she asked him in confusion and he waved off to avoid any other question.

"Never mind… Next!" When he was about to turn his head to Lily, he noticed the redhead's skeptical look as she looked at her hair in the mirror. "What?!" Logan growled and narrowed his eyes warningly.

"Nothing…," the girl waved quickly off and made room for Lily to sit down next.

"But braid my hair, daddy!" the girl told him and made him cock an eyebrow again.

"I braided hers, too," he grunted but she shook her head.

"No," Rachel added and began to pull on the mess on her head.

"Yeah…I did!" Logan said slowly and gave her a look.

"But mommy does it differently, daddy… And Ray's hair looks like a….," Lily thought about a word that suited the mess. "…like a bird's nest," she finally concluded.

"Bird's nest?!" her father repeated a bit outraged and glared at her in the mirror. "That's it!" Grabbing Lily, who quickly wanted to run off, he pinned her between his legs and took every hair band he could grab. "Don't ya even dare to move, kid!" he growled and began to work.

* * *

A bit later, Logan left the elevator in the basement and gave the man who was pacing in front of the door to the infirmary a confused look. "Hey Cajun," Logan said and Remy turned around. "Is somethin' wrong with Rogue?!"

"Non," the man replied and let out a loud sigh.

"Then why are ya not with your girl, eh?" Logan asked him a bit angered, since he'd experienced too often how hard it was for the woman and that they needed every support the man could offer. "She needs ya!"

"Non, Marie doesn't need Remy," Remy replied and shook his head when he saw that Logan narrowed his eyes to study him. "Really!"

"Did ya faint or asked stupid questions?" his opposite demanded to know and crossed his arms. "Did ya try to give her advises or told her it's not so bad?" he asked next, but Remy shook his head. "Then what?"

"Remy was thrown out," the man replied depressed and gave the door another look.

Logan turned his head and concentrated on what was going on behind the huge door, before he turned back to Remy. "Listen, I don't know what ya did, Cajun, but Rogue needs ya in there. So move your butt and go back inside!"

"Remy can't. Marie made it clear that she doesn't want to have Remy inside."

"What the hell did you do?!" Logan asked him with a cocked eyebrow and tried to imagine what the man could have done that Rogue, the calm, nice Rogue he knew, had freaked out and thrown the father out while she gave birth.

"Remy was nervous and held a card," his opposite shrugged and Logan groaned.

"You made a card explode?" he asked him in disbelief and Remy nodded, obviously ashamed. "Good God, pull yourself together and get back inside, kid!" Logan said and pushed him over to the room. "And no but's or such shit, go and hold your girl's hand or I'll give ya a good kick, got that?" Waiting for Remy to obey his order, he only rolled his eyes and leant back against the wall with crossed arms to wait. After he paced for a while and concentrated on the noises he was able to pick up all around him, the door suddenly went aside and Jean came out.

"I knew it was you," she smiled and ran a hand through her face.

"So?" he only asked and waited for the news.

"So what?" she asked back and slowly got rid off her white lab coat, when he let out an annoyed groan. "It's the right punishment for you, mister! Lily and Rachel kept on telling me what you've done with their hair and that Aunt 'Roro had to fix it!"

Shrugging nonchalantly, Logan came a bit closer. "I told them I can't braid hair, so what?"

"Oh, so instead of learning it, you turn our daughters into hair monsters and let them run around like that?" Jean asked and raised an eyebrow. "Maybe I should braid your hair and teach you how to do it correctly?" she added with a grin.

Logan rolled his eyes and knew she enjoyed keeping the news away from him. "So?!" he asked once more and gave her an annoyed look.

"I'm not mistaken that you didn't sleep well, right?" the redhead asked instead and hid her smile when he narrowed his eyes. "You are so moody today, it's terrible."

"Well, sue me," he grunted. "And again, so?"

"A Jean-Luc, as they wanted," she finally said with a smile. "And Marie has finally calmed down enough to let Remy come closer again."

"He really blew up the interior?"

"Nearly, if I hadn't stopped the explosion in the last second," Jean nodded. "But, you lost your bet, hon. He didn't faint!"

Letting out a snort, he briefly looked towards the door. "She's alright?" he asked with a nod at it.

"Yes, she is," she replied. "She already said you'll be the first of us to see the baby."

Logan smirked. "Well, what else?" he asked her and she bit her lip with a smile.

"By the way, you're really sure you want to watch over all children, during the party?"

"I said it, didn't I?"

"Over ALL of them?" Jean asked again and noticed his frown. "I mean…that's nine children in total, Logan. You sure you can handle that?"

"No, actually I can't," he gave back. "I mean…we only have 5, so…." He shrugged and gave her a cocked eyebrow.

Shrugging, too, she began to make her way to the changing stall. "It was just a thought…," she said and gave him a smile.

"Hey!" Logan suddenly said and made her stop.

"What?" Jean asked in confusion.

"Think about it, darlin'," he said and came slowly closer. "First, ya interrupt my sleep while pulling on my blanket, then ya throw my clothing at me, then ya force me to braid hair and now ya think I'm incapable of dealing with kids."

"And?" she asked, still not knowing what he meant.

"Well,…don't ya think you've forgotten something in between?" Logan asked with a cocked eyebrow. "Something that lays between waking me and throwing things at me?" Thinking about it very carefully, she shrugged and heard him sighing in frustration, before he pulled her into a rough kiss. "That for an instance?" Logan asked and let go of her with a shake of his head.

"Actually I wanted to do this after cleaning up, you know," Jean apologized with a smile.

"And actually ya know that I also take ya dirty," he gave back and pushed her towards the showers. "Go and shower, ya disturbing my senses."

"Told you so," the redhead smiled and let go of his hands. "See you later."

"Yeah." Watching her leaving, he leant back against the wall again and waited for the door to open once more. And it finally did after an eternity. Smiling, Logan went inside and stopped next to the bed, receiving a smile from Rogue in return who gave him a good look on her newborn son, who was sleeping in her arm. "So that's the new troublemaker, huh?"

"Yeah," she nodded and handed the boy carefully over to him. "Since you complained about too many Godchildren before, I asked Jean this time."

Chuckling, while he looked at the baby, Logan nodded in appreciation. "Thanks, kid!" he smirked and took a look around. "And the Cajun nearly blew up the basement?"

"Oh, don't even mention that!" Rogue cried in annoyance. "You don't even want to know how often I wished for Storm's powers. I wanted to shock him so badly."

"Well, he was just nervous," he shrugged and sat down on the edge to hand the boy back to his mother. "Where's he now?"

"Hank wanted to give him a tranquilizer since he felt dizzy after his son was born," she explained with a look that spoke volumes and Logan smirked. "Is there anyone else on the outside?" she asked.

"Not yet, but you know this funny farm here, don't ya?" he asked and she nodded. "As soon as they see Jeannie upstairs, they'll start asking questions. And as soon as Jubes knows…"

"…the whole school knows," Rogue concluded and he nodded. "I know."

Getting up, Logan bent forward to place a kiss on her forehead. "Ya should use your time and sleep a bit. As soon as they're downstairs…," he suggested and she nodded. "I'll come back later, okay? Isa's with Popsicle as far as I know."

"Well, she's allowed to come down," Rogue smiled when he walked back to the door.

"I'll tell her, Logan smirked. "Congrats and see ya later," he added before he walked back upstairs to find his Godchild.

* * *

When Jean entered the kitchen on the next morning with Jamie on her arm, she gave the outside a surprised look. Christmas was in a few days and all of a sudden it had snowed and the mansion was covered with the thick white stuff. "'Ro?" she asked with a knowing undertone, but the weather goddess shook her head.

"Nope, not me!"

Nodding, Jean greeted the others, before she let out a sigh. "Has anyone seen my husband by the way?" she demanded to know, since Logan hadn't been there when she'd woken up.

"Oh, Logan was here before," Narya said before she bit into her bread.

"Are your kids still sleeping?" Ororo asked Jean. "Snow on the outside and they are not bellyaching for their father to go outside with them?"

Putting a cup onto the counter and pouring herself some tea, Jean raised a finger. "That's why I am looking for him. You know that they always freak out as soon as they see the white stuff."

"Tradition?" Heather asked and looked at the women.

"Precisely!" Ororo nodded. "Last year TJ woke me up at 5:30 a.m., just to tell me it has snowed."

"And our children at 6:00 a.m.," Jean added and rolled her eyes when she even thought about it.

"That's hard…," Narya smiled. "And they managed that Logan got up?" she added in disbelief, since, as far as she remembered, she hadn't seen him downstairs before 11 a.m. during the holidays so far.

"They always do!" the redhead told her and sipped on her tea.

"And here they come…," Ororo added as she heard a door being slammed shut and saw Miloh entering the kitchen. It didn't take long and the Grey children appeared, fully dressed in warm winter clothes and ready to go outside.

"Where's daddy?" Jack instantly asked and looked at his mother.

"I don't know sweetheart," this one replied truthfully and saw the disappointment in their faces.

"But it has snowed and he always goes out with us," Lily complained and began to pout, accompanied by her sister.

"Sweety, I'm sure he'll be here in a second. Why don't you guys go out already?" Ororo suggested and looked to and fro between them.

Turning around, Jack gave his sisters a more than disappointed look and they reluctantly walked over to the backdoor, followed by the white wolf. Jean watched her son stepping out of the door and heard him shrieking all of a sudden. "What's wrong?" she asked concerned and thought the boy had slipped on the ice and hurt himself, but saw that he wiped snow out of his face with a growl.

"Dad!" Jack grunted and began, accompanied by his sisters and Miloh, to chase after his grinning father.

"Why am I asking anyway?" Jean sighed and shook her head, before she closed the door mentally.

Heather, who has stepped over to the window together with Narya, turned around with a raised eyebrow. "And this is tradition?" she asked in disbelief and watched again how the children began to dump snow on their father.

"Yes," Jean nodded and couldn't hide her grin. "It started when the twins were about two and a half years old. From then on he has to be ready as soon as they spot the first snow, even if it's 3 a.m. at night." Jean turned around when she heard noises behind her and watched how TJ and Isa stormed into the kitchen next.

"Mommy? Where're daddy and Uncle Bobby?" TJ asked and looked at Storm.

"I don't know. I think they wanted to help Uncle Remy with the room for the baby," the woman shrugged. Seeing that the girls began to pout, Ororo exchanged a look with Jean and suddenly grinned. "Why don't you go out and chase Uncle Logan a bit, hm?" she asked the girls, who instantly began to smile and ran out of the backdoor.

"You're in trouble, 'Ro!" Jean laughed and shook her head, before she went on feeding her son.

"Not really. Logan will think you sent them," the weather goddess smirked and sipped on her coffee.

"Not if he heard you, my dear," the redhead corrected her. "And even if, he can already start practicing to deal with more children," she added and the other women switched their heads to her in surprise.

"You're pregnant?!" Narya asked her completely shocked, but received a frown from Jean.

"What?!" this one asked.

"You just said he can already start practicing to deal with more children," Heather said as the redhead groaned and shook her head.

"No, I meant Jamie!"

"Don't shock us that much so early in the morning, Jean!" Ororo cried while she had an eye on Tommy, who was crawling on the ground.

Jean turned around to put the empty glass away and gave her a look, before she cleaned Jamie's chin. "You don't really believe that after the shock last time, I'd be that relaxed now if it was the case, do you?" she asked and Ororo raised both hands.

"Who knows?!" the woman replied and earned another look from her best friend.

Shaking her head, Jean pulled Jamie up a bit and was about to prepare breakfast for herself, as she noticed someone standing in the doorway. "Hey, sleepyhead," she smiled at Laura. "Finally awake?" she asked and the girl nodded even if she still rubbed her eyes. She watched how Laura walked over to the window and looked out. "If you get a scarf, gloves and a warm jacket, you can go out and join them," the redhead suggested. "Do you want to go out and play, dear?" she asked and waited for a nod of the girl, before she went over to Narya. "Would you take him?"

"Sure," the woman said and took the boy from her. "He won't start crying, will he?"

"Actually, no," Jean smiled and took Laura's hand. "Come on. Let's dress you properly."

Heather, who had watched Laura the whole time through, gave Ororo a look. "Is she not feeling well?" she asked with concern in her voice. "The girl I mean. She seems to be so upset…"

"She's always like that," Ororo shrugged. "We don't really know what she's been through before," she explained and suddenly stared at the backdoor with widened eyes.

"WHERE is my wife?" Logan growled and Ororo couldn't help but start laughing aloud.

"What happened to you?" she asked and handed Tommy a bottle, while Heather had gotten up and put the snow out of Logan's hair.

"Snowgan," she teased him and ignored the growl she received, when Jean reentered the kitchen.

"You…are…so….dead…., missy!" the man growled and narrowed his eyes, but Jean instantly raised her hands.

"_I _didn't send them!" That was her!" she defended herself and nodded at Ororo, who gave her a playful surprised look.

"Me?" she asked innocently and noticed that Logan came slowly closer with a glare. "Actually…," she began, but was cut off by him.

"You?" he asked in a low voice and she shrugged.

"They were so upset, Logan," Ororo tried to apologize as he grabbed her and pinned her to the counter with a smirk.

"Ya gonna pay, Storm, ya know that right?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Even when I say that I'm very sorry?" she said and gave him her best smile.

Thinking about it, he tilted his head a bit. "How sorry?"

"Very, very, very sorry?" she replied and wiped some snow from his shoulder. "See?"

Shrugging, Logan let go of her. "Okay," he said and watched how she turned around, with her back to him. Everyone else saw his smirk as he quickly grabbed her shirt and threw some snow into her neckline. Hearing his mother's shriek all of a sudden, Tommy looked up in surprise and crawled around the counter to look what was wrong, while Jamie had opened his eyes due to the sudden noise. "Revenge's a bitch, eh?" Logan chuckled.

"You…," Ororo hissed and narrowed her eyes while her shirt was soaked with melted snow.

"Ah, ah, 'Ro," he smirked. "Ya don't want to curse in front of you son, hm?"

"You…," she said once more, when he crossed his arms.

"Well, I'd help ya with the snow if ya were my wife, but…" He shrugged playfully and gave her a smug grin.

Only able to shake her head, Jean patted his shoulder to get his attention. "Would you take her with you?" she asked and nodded at Laura, who stood fully dressed next to her and eyed him with her hazel eyes.

Looking at her briefly, Logan finally nodded to the backdoor. "Go ahead," he said and waited for her to be gone, before he looked at Jean. "You think that's a good idea?"

"Why not?" the redhead shrugged and took Jamie from Narya again.

"She doesn't know it?" he said as if she was brain dead. "What if she becomes aggressive again?"

Sighing, Jean sat down on her stool and began to eat slowly. "She needs to experience it, Logan. She's a child…"

Shaking his head, Logan turned around to watch how everyone except Laura was playing in the snow. "Ya know as good as I do that she's a child from her looks only," was all he said before he left again. On the outside he stopped next to the girl, who was watching the other skeptically. "Why don't ya join them in building a snowman?" he asked and she looked up at him.

"Why?" Laura demanded to know with a frown.

"Because it is fun?!" Logan simply said but it seemed to confuse he only the more.

"What is the sense of doing this?"

"Sense?" he asked and chuckled. "Things don't always have to make sense, kid. Sometimes ya do things that don't have any sense at all. Just out of fun," he explained and looked down on her. He noticed the odd look in her eyes and sighed before he knelt down. "Look… I don't know what the bad guys did to ya. They've probably forced ya or told ya to behave the way ya do," he said and pulled a strand out of her face, noticing that he startled as he raised his hand. "But you're a kid, kiddo. You're supposed to run around, do goofy stuff, annoy your parents sometimes and have fun." Getting up again, he beckoned her to follow him. "So c'mon." Logan walked back to the other children, who were still occupied with their snowman. He heard, without turning around, that Laura was following him slowly and knelt down in the snow next to Lily.

"Daddy, the head keeps on falling down," the girl pouted and gave him he best pleading look in hope he would change it.

"Is it?" Logan asked and pulled the round object up to put it back down on the two others. "Then let's see if we can change it…," he suggested.

* * *

When he walked through the corridor later, after making sure that Bobby and Peter really were on night duty for this night, Logan suddenly stopped at the staircase and narrowed his eyes a bit. He could clearly hear how Mystique was yelling at Scott, who, more or less, did the same in return while Alex was crying. Only shaking his head after he heard the reason behind it, he buried his hands in his pockets and proceeded to walk back to his own rooms, where he briefly checked on the sleeping children and patted Miloh's head. He smirked since the wolf was resting in the middle of the living room again, a habit of him since Jamie had been born. In that way, as Logan guessed, was the wolf making sure he could reach the cubs in the same time in case of an emergency and refused to leave his spot, even if a soft blanket was waiting for him next to the heater. Sighing, Logan went over and grabbed the object to bring it over to the animal, who eyed him curiously. "You don't have to sleep on the floor, pal," he said and stroked over the wolf's head once more, before he went into the bathroom and got ready for bed. When he entered the bedroom afterwards, he briefly stopped at the door and watched how Jean, with her back to him, was undressing herself. Thinking about what he'd heard of the fight, he briefly thought about it and reached behind his back.

When Jean heard how the door was locked, she turned around and stared at him with widened eyes. "What are you doing?" she asked in confusion and covered herself with her shirt.

"Nothin'," Logan said and came slowly closer while he scanned her from head to toe.

"Nothing?" the redhead replied and gave him a warning look. "We said Christmas, Logan! Just for your information!" she warned him and turned back around to put the shirt onto the pile on the stool.

Only smirking, he stopped behind her and began to stroke over her back and arms; noticing that she began to shiver and reply with goose bumps. "Screw those two days, darlin'," he whispered huskily next to her ears and smirked again as another shudder ran through her body.

"What do you have in mind?" Jean asked calmly and still not sure what he was about to do. If she said no, she actually meant it, but at the same time, she wasn't so sure anymore what she was doing to his feral side with the long break. For her it was slowly becoming torture.

"I wanna try somethin' new…," he replied and pulled her closer to his body, so that her back was pressed against his chest.

She shivered again when he stroked down her neck and ran his hands over her breasts to her belly lightly. "And what?" she whispered with closed eyes.

Logan briefly let go of her to search for something in the drawer next to him. "If ya want me to stop," he said calmly and noticed her jump in surprise as he began to blindfold her. "…then I want ya to tell me."

"What are you up to, Logan?" Jean asked him insecurely as he held her hands immobile to her back and led her over to the bed, where she was carefully put down. She knew he could easily pick up on her racing heart and she couldn't hide that she felt a bit scared when he let go of her.

"Want me to stop?" Logan asked and began to undress himself.

"No, it's just…," she began and turned her head to figure out if he was on her right or left. "…I don't know what you're up to…"

Chuckling, he kicked his clothes into a corner. "That's the point here, darlin'," he replied. "I don't want ya to know what I'm up to."

Frowning, she still knelt on the bed and her chest began to raise and fall heavily. She couldn't hear a thing. Everything was completely calm and she turned her head from one side to the next in hope to locate him somehow. "Logan…?" Jean asked barely audible and suddenly gasped aloud as she felt his mouth on her neck. She bit her lip hard and thought her heart would burst in her chest, since her heavy pants seemed to be not enough anymore to supply her boy with enough oxygen. "Stop!" she quickly said and he obeyed, letting go of her hands that he'd pinned to her back again.

"What?" Logan asked huskily and looked at her from aside.

Having trouble to catch her breath, the redhead swallowed hard. "You can be sure as hell that I'll pin you to the bed later, Logan," Jean warned him and he chuckled.

"Everythin' ya want, darlin'…," he purred huskily and began to kiss her neck once more.

* * *

When Hank and Moira, followed by Ororo, Scott, Mystique and the Alpha Flight Team, entered the kitchen in the next morning, they couldn't help but stare. "Mornin'," Logan greeted them in a very good mood that was completely not like him and gave them the first shock in the morning.

"Dear Lord…," Hank said and shook his head before he sat down on his casual stool. "Someone had a very good night as I assume."

Seeing that Logan gave him a smirk, Ororo crossed her arms. "No grumpy and moody Logan in the morning?" she asked still a bit skeptical, but her friend shook his head. "Wonders never cease, hm?"

"You mean," Mystique said and gave Logan a knowing look. "I didn't know that Christmas was yesterday! Right, Logan?" she asked and noticed the smirk on his lips that answered her question instantly. "As I thought…"

"Good morning!" Jubilee cheered and entered the room followed by Bobby, Kitty and Peter, just to stop with a stare. "Wow! He cooks?!" she asked and nodded at the man behind the stove, who only cocked an eyebrow at them. "Sure we can eat that?"

"We are shocked, too!" Hank nodded with a smile and began to read the newspaper.

"Does it taste at all what he cooks?" James demanded to know and gave his friend a more than skeptical look. "I mean back then….well the toilet was my best friend, you know?"

"Usually, yeah," Jubilee replied. "At least as long as he's not going all moony eyes again."

"What then?" Narya asked interestedly when Logan snorted.

"He either forgets about the food or it's food-for-my-wife-only," the younger woman explained and returned the look Logan gave her.

Heather commented it with a nod. "Nice!"

"I'm telling ya it is!" Jubilee nodded when she watched how Ororo suddenly frowned and stopped next to Logan to pull on his hair that, as she had already noticed, looked somehow…different.

"How come your hair is long and straight?!" the weather goddess asked and looked at it from all sides. "What did you do with it?!"

"Nothin'?!" Logan replied a bit annoyed and handed her a plate with pancakes for the others. "Ask my wife," he added with a shrug when she still stared at him with the plate in her hands.

"Honestly, Logan…," she said and he began to cock an eyebrow at her. He knew himself that it looked weird and he'd also prepared his sermon for Jean. He was convinced that's he was responsible for his weird look and for him she was in for a mean revenge. "You should keep it that way," the woman said to his surprise and he shook his head in disgust.

"Nah…," he made and gave new dough into the pan, but Ororo looked at the other girls in the room.

"Ladies, your vote!" she said and put the plate into the middle of the counter. "Should he keep them that way?" Seeing that all women nodded, Scott shook his head and let out a snorted.

"Girls…," Bobby sighed and Peter nodded. "Terrible, huh?"

"Definitely!" his friend said.

"See?" Ororo grinned at Logan, but this one only cocked an eyebrow at her before he threw a pancake at the waiting Miloh next to him.

"Be happy that you weren't here for his wedding!" Peter said to James, who couldn't help but laugh.

"Yeah, I've already heard about it," the man replied and took the second plate Ororo handed him. "And there's the reason for his good mood, I think," he added with a smile at the door.

"Morning," Jean smiled back, wearing Logan's black buttoned shirt and instantly walked over to him where she wrapped her arms around his waist. "Morning," she smiled and received a soft kiss.

"Mornin'," Logan smiled back and pulled her close with one arm, hearing how Moira whispered something to Ororo.

"Didn't they agree on Christmas?" the woman asked her friend, but Ororo only waved off with a giggle.

"I could have told you from the beginning that they wouldn't make it," the weather goddess replied and looked at the clock on the wall, wondering where her husband was.

"Kids still sleepin'?" Logan asked and wrapped both arms around his wife when she nodded, before he pulled her against his chest.

"Last time I checked, yes," Jean replied and smiled while she rested her chin against his chest and looked up at him to form the words _I love you_ silently. Seeing it, he smiled and placed a hand onto the back of her neck to pull her into another long and soft kiss.

Groaning, Jubilee turned around on her stool to look out of the window. "Guys, get a room!" she said when she saw how Logan began to kiss Jean's neck next.

While Mystique watched the couple envious and gave Scott, who was reading his newspaper, angry looks from time to time, Ororo took a look over the counter. "Logan, the pancakes are _burning_!" she said with a sigh.

"See? That's what always happening when she's around," Jubilee whispered towards Heather and Narya and rolled her eyes.

"Had a good sleep?" Logan asked Jean and just ignored the others around him.

"Why did you get up so early?" she asked instead with a pout and saw him shrugging playfully.

"Thought I make breakfast…" Smiling, she leant into him again with a satisfied sigh. "By the way, darlin'," she heard him saying and looked up again. "This weird look of mine today ain't actually your doin', ain't it?" he demanded to know with a knowing look and a cocked eyebrow.

Reaching out, she stroked through his hair and let her finger run over his stubble. "I like it…"

"Do ya?" he asked skeptically and saw her nodding again.

"Well, yeah," Jean shrugged and wrapped her arms around his neck. "I was just curious to see how this suits you…"

Sighing, he shook his head. "And tomorrow I wake up with blonde hair, eh?" he asked her and pulled the pan from the stove. "Make it normal again."

"Just for today, okay?" the redhead pouted and made him cock an eyebrow again.

"A few days ago the shopping marathon, yesterday ya throw things at me, today that look… What is it tomorrow, huh?"

Smirking, she stole a strawberry out of the bowl he held in his hand. "Haven't decided, yet," she purred and bit into it. "And besides, you got your fun at night, too!"

"Look who's talkin'!" Logan gave back. "And what do I get for this?" he asked and pulled on his strange looking hair. Seeing how she smiled first, just to pull him into a deep kiss afterwards, he nodded playfully impressed. "Can live with that, I think…"

"I hope the two of you are not too wrapped up with each other to remember that tonight is our X-girl party," Moira reminded them. "Remember that you said you look over the children, Logan?"

"Believe it or not, but yeah," Logan replied with a look. "And he's gonna help me!" he added with a nod at James, who stared at him first over his cup and suddenly began to cough heavily.

"What?!" the man asked in a high pitched voice and still tried to swallow the coffee correctly.

"Very good idea, Logan!" Heather laughed and patted her husband's back. "James will love to do it. Right, hon?"

Smirking, Logan sat down on his casual stool with Jean next to him, while James still stared at him blankly. "Don't worry, bub!" he tried to soothe him. "It's only 6 kids and 3 babies."

Coughing again, since he'd dared to sip on his coffee again, James face turned pale. "What?! That's nine in total!" he said completely shocked while Heather reached out to stroke through his hair with a smile.

"I know you can do it, sweetheart," she purred and placed a kiss on his cheek.

Logan only chuckled and held a strawberry to Jean, who was also smiling at the couple. Bending forward, she bit into the fruit and he ate the rest of it, as Scott suddenly slammed the newspaper down and turned to Mystique. "What?!" he asked her angrily, but she only glared back and got off her stool, taking her son with her.

"_That's_ exactly what I mean!" she snapped back and left, leaving the others staring at the door first and then at the fuming man.

Seeing how Logan cocked an eyebrow at him and not knowing that the man had heard the fight the couple had the night before, Scott crossed his arms and glared at him through his glasses. "What are you looking at?!" he snapped at him, but Logan raised both hands.

"Whew, calm down, bub!"

"Scott, I'm not letting you destroy my perfect morning," Jean warned him when Scott got up to put his cup into the dishwasher. By the way he moved and did it, she could tell that he was boiling from within.

"That's the problem with the two of you," he hissed and made both cock an eyebrow at him.

"What is that supposed to mean?" the redhead asked and crossed her arms.

Turning around, Scott gave her a look. "That the two of you as a couple are _perfect_!" he said. "He's the perfect husband and you're the being-happy-all-day-wife and all other men in this mansion are only second best to you women!"

Exchanging a look with Jean while he couldn't help but laugh, Logan smirked. "Someone's not really jealous, eh?" he asked and went on eating, since he didn't give a damn about the other man's complaints. He couldn't care less.

"What?" he heard Scott asking into his direction. "Do you think that's a joke or something? Ask the other guys here in the room, Logan!"

Seeing how Logan looked at them, Hank pulled Moira close with one arm. "Well, I don't know what your problem is all of a sudden, but we're happy," he only said and gave the woman next to him look. "Aren't we?" he asked and she nodded.

"Are you sure she's happy with you?" Scott asked with a smirk.

"Scott, that's enough!" Moira scolded him slightly angered and rolled her eyes in annoyance.

"Oh come on, Moira! As if you're the only woman here that doesn't think he's oh so perfect! Who had a crush on him on his wedding?"

"What is your problem, Scott?" Hank asked him angrily and narrowed his eyes.

"What my problem is?! Don't tell me it pisses you off that everyone thinks he's perfect!"

Sighing, Logan swallowed the last bit of his coffee, before he gave the redhead next to him a look. "Is this a school or nursery?" he asked sarcastically with a look at the man behind him.

"Come on, Logan," Scott shot back. "It's a wonder that Jean isn't going crazy."

"I don't see a reason why I'd do that," the redhead hissed and rolled her eyes. "You're ridiculous, really."

"No? Well, then let me tell you something, just in case you haven't noticed," he gave back. "Ororo had a crush on him, Marie had or still has, Jubilee, Kitty and Moira, too, not to forget Emma and Yuriko. And I bet the two of them, too," he said and nodded at Heather and Narya. "Oh, and not to forget _my_ girlfriend Raven!"

"If I were you, Scott, I'd calm down very quickly before you say something you really regret!" Hank suggested with a glare as Jean suddenly shook her head and slammed her cup down, before she turned towards the door.

"Thanks for destroying my morning, Scott!" she hissed angrily and left, causing the others to switch their eyes to Logan, who had his eyes closed and tried to keep himself from punching Scott hard.

"Thanks, One Eye! Are ya happy now?" he asked him in a low growl and glared at the man behind him, but this one snorted.

"As perfect as you are, Logan, I'm sure you'll make her happy within a second!" his opposite hissed.

Taking a deep breath, Logan grabbed the bowl with strawberries and went over to the door where he stopped again. "Ya know what your fuckin' problem is, boy?" he grunted.

"Enlighten me!" Scott spat and crossed his arms.

"Your fuckin' control obsession!" Logan replied. "You're tryin' so desperately to stay in control for 24/7 that ya don't even realize how fuckin' boyish that is!"

"Boyish?!" Scott hissed and came slowly closer to face him.

"Yeah, _boyish_! 'Cause you're nothin' more than an obsessed lil' boy," Logan shot back, making his opposite smile with a slow nod.

"Right… Without your mutation you wouldn't even be alive anymore. But since you're oh so perfect…"

Chuckling, Logan shook his head and turned to Ororo, who looked rather more than ready to intervene if they would start a fight. "Jeez, that was such an insult now," he smirked cynically. "'Ro, give me a tissue before I start cryin'!"

"Perfect and arrogant," Scott hissed through clenched teeth.

"Better than a kid in a man's body, sassy," Logan shot back.

"Guys, this is so stupid!" Moira said. "Calm down!"

"I am calm!" Scott said and hear Logan snorting before he watched him turning around.

"Really? Check the dictionary for that entry, pal!"

Shrugging, Scott leant back against the door. "If you look up _animal_…," he mumbled.

"Scott!" Ororo warned him aloud but the man shrugged again, just to see how Logan's head reappeared next to him with a smirk.

"At least the _animal_ is able to keep _your_ former fiancée happy…," he gave back and his eyes sparkled provocatively when he noticed that the man began to fume again. "Just one hint! Ya lost Jean and I can assure ya that Raven leaves ya next, boy!"

"Well, I know where I can find her then, right?" Scott asked him with an angry smile, but Logan only shrugged.

"Well, I'd say with a real man who doesn't behave like a jealous lil' boy, who'd even envy a mayfly for havin' fun for one day only," this one shot back and added with a smirk. "And I bet your girl, or ex girl, wouldn't mind a threesome."

Staring at the spot where Logan has stood before, Scott shook his head in disbelief as Ororo suddenly made him turn around. "What the hell has gotten into you?!" she asked him aloud, but he just turned around and left with a short "Nothing!" on his lips.

"Wow…," James said after a moment and clearly impressed.

"Congrats, you just witnessed one of their testosterone fights," Bobby sighed and continued eating his breakfast.

"They really hate each other, don't they?" Heather asked a bit shocked since she hadn't thought it would be that bad. "At least to me it's obvious that Scott isn't jealous only… There's more behind it."

"Scott is still suspicious about Logan's past and because this one refuses to tell him anything at all. Since this Fury guy appeared here, Scott think Logan's hiding something from us," Hank explained. "But I think the fight just now had to do with Mystique and him yelling at each other nearly the whole night through."

"And I thought it was only us who heard them," Ororo sighed. "Still, he's out of his mind. Jean told me that it was him who'd apologized for being such an ass towards Logan and what happened just now again?"

"I wonder what's wrong between him and Raven all of a sudden," Moira said more to herself. "They are arguing so often lately… It's really not funny."

"But still that's no reason at all to attack Jean and Logan that hard, just because he has a problem with his girlfriend," the weather goddess said angrily and began, with the help of Narya and Heather to put the dirty dishes into the washer. "It's a miracle to me that Logan hasn't punched him…"

"'Ro?" he heard a gruff voice from the door and turned her head to see how Logan stood in it, handing her the empty bowl and putting on his leather jacket next. "Can ya watch over the kids? We need to get some stuff from the mall and they're still sleepin'."

"Sure," she nodded. "Don't give too much about what Scott said, okay?"

Chuckling, he gave her an amused look. "Did I ever give a damn about that sissy anyway?" he asked and she cocked an eyebrow at him. "Okay, I mean when I didn't look for a reason to punch him," he corrected himself with a smirk. "He can kiss my ass and he knows that."

"As I thought," Ororo nodded. "I'm upstairs then."

"Thanks," he said and took Jean's hand, noticing that she still looked rather depressed. "C'mon, stop makin' that face. It's me who has to go into public while lookin' like a drowned dog because of you." Kissing her teasingly, Jean finally gave him a weak smile. "That's better, darlin'! See ya later!"

Watching the couple leaving, James let out a deep, desperate sigh. "Why is he doing this to me?" he cried and Heather couldn't help but laugh. "That's not funny! It's nine children! Did he ever watch over 9 at once?" he asked and Ororo exchanged a smirk with Kitty and Jubilee.

"I take this as a no, right?" the man asked and shook his head again, before he rested his head on his arms. "I hate him… I really, really, do…"

"You can't hate him," Jubilee scolded him playfully. "Wolvie's perfect!" Hearing the laughs of the other, she only shrugged with a smirk.

* * *

Sitting on the ground together, Mystique rather depressed, while Moira, Kitty and Jubilee had still not arrived, Ororo took her time to hand bottles around, while Jean took care of the music and sat back down on her blanket. "I have two question," the weather goddess announced and crossed her legs. "First, what's your story with Logan?" she asked and looked at Heather and Narya. "Where do you know him from?"

"James and I found him in a Canadian national park on our honeymoon," Heather explained and noticed that everyone except Jean stared at her with an odd look.

"_Found_ him?" Mystique asked rather confused.

"After he's escaped from Weapon X and had obviously lived in the woods for some time," the woman nodded. "He was in a pretty bad shape, nearly frozen and starved, so we took him home with us."

"He told me that he couldn't even speak anymore," Jean said and Heather noticed the hidden questioning undertone.

"That's true," she nodded and sipped on her bottle. "He had to learn everything again. Speaking, writing… Or better said he had to remember it."

"Bastards," Ororo cursed and glared into the fire behind her. "What happened then?"

"He stayed with us and helped us, but when James offered him the leadership of Alpha Flight, he left. We heard from him from time to time and he visited us every time he was in Canada, but we were worried since we hadn't heard from him in years," Heather explained as Narya suddenly smiled.

"And we were really shocked to see him again," the woman added with a wink at Jean.

"Just a question though," Mystique said. "Was he really that different? Because I can't imagine it."

"Oh yes, he was!" Narya nodded.

"Well it's not as if he wasn't a mean, moody and grumpy loner when he first arrived here…," Ororo shrugged and played with the straw in her bottle. "He can still be a real asshole from time to time, but…"

"Not as often and as bad as in the past, 'Ro," Jean cut her off with a look.

"Yeah, because you tamed him!"

"Another question," Mystique suddenly said and leant back a bit to support herself with her arms on the ground. "What's the story between you and him?" she asked and looked at Heather, who gave her a questioning look in return. "You can't hide that there's or was something between the two of you."

Looking from the blue mutant toward Jean, who had looked up in surprise, Heather saw how the other redhead looked down again. "You can say it. It's okay…"

"Well…," Heather began and fixed her eyes on the carpet, obviously feeling embarrassed and insecure all of a sudden. Especially since everyone else was looking at her. "We had an affair…," she finally admitted calmly and looked up again.

"I thought you were married to James when you found Logan?!" Ororo asked rather confused and the redhead nodded. "Does James know?!"

"Yes, he does."

"He started something with you, knowing that you were married?" Mystique asked her skeptically.

"Believe me, back then Logan didn't give a damn about it. He wanted a woman, he got her," Narya explained. "That's why we were so surprised that he's married for years and has children. It's not the Logan we know or knew…"

"But how come James and Logan get along that well even if your husband knows about it?" Ororo asked confused. "I mean, I'd freak out…"

"Well, we had some problems back then and he knows how women react to Logan," Heather shrugged, even if she couldn't explain it herself. "And it was Logan who told me to stick to James in the end." After a moment of silence, she gave Jean a look. "I hope this is not a problem now…"

"No," the other redhead shook her head. "I'm actually used to it by now…"

"Where's Yuriko by the way? I haven't seen her in days…," Ororo said.

"Don't ask us. We don't know either," Narya shrugged and the weather goddess turned to Mystique next.

"And now tell us!" she demanded and made the blue woman look up with big eyes. "What's the matter with you and Scott all of a sudden? Every time I run into the two of you, you're fighting. I something seriously wrong?"

Even when she saw the concern in her opposite's eyes, Mystique waved off with a snort. "Besides the fact the he's a prude and a control freak…," she hissed through clenched teeth.

"He's controlling you?" Heather asked her shocked.

"Not me…"

"What then?" Ororo asked confused.

Sighing, Mystique crossed her arms and stared into the fire. "I just asked him if we can try something new and he acted as if I told him Logan was in love with him."

"You mean something new in bed?" Kitty suddenly asked as she entered together with Moira and Jubilee. Seeing how Mystique nodded, she waved off with a roll of her eyes. "At least you still do anything at all. My hub either has no time or he's tired and when he wants I only think _Kiss my butt, pal_…"

Grinning at Mystique, Jubilee jumped onto her blanket and grabbed a cold drink. "What did you ask for, hm? A threesome?" she asked and began to suck on her straw while Narya and Heather stared at her shocked.

"She's always like that… Just ignore her!" Kitty wave off.

"No!" Mystique said and glared at Jubilee. "I just asked for something in which I'd been in control and he'd to trust me. But obviously he can't trust me at all…," she explained and glared at her bottle. "Didn't Logan tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Jean asked in confusion.

""What our fight was about? Because he must have heard everything as loud as it was."

Shrugging, the redhead pulled her legs close. "He told me that you had a fight, but… I can't say, since I don't know what it was about. Logan's not one for gossip, you know that."

"Well, read me mind…," Mystique said and made an inviting gesture, while Jean began to drink. Watching her closely, the blue woman suddenly began to frown, as the redhead's jaw dropped and her eyes grew wide. "Come on!" she complained. "You act as if it something disgusting and bad, too!"

"Ehm, no…," Jean replied and looked at her hands after putting the bottle down very slowly. "It's nothing like that at all…"

"What's your problem then?"

"She did ask for one, right?" Jubilee grinned and nudged Jean gently. "Or did ya ask for a couple and that's why Jean's face is as red as her hair?"

Having her brows furrowed, Mystique was watching Jean very closely and tried to figure out what had gotten into her all of a sudden. While she did so, she ignored that the other were looking to and fro between them in total confusion, as the woman suddenly jumped up. "I don't believe it!" she shrieked and made Jean look up in shock. "Logan did it with you, am I right?" Seeing how all heads suddenly turned to her, the redhead blushed the more and cleared her throat nervously, as Mystique suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the toilet. "I want details, get in there!" she demanded and slammed the door shut behind her.

"What was that about now?" Kitty asked with an odd look on her face.

"A very good question…," Moira shrugged.

"I'd say,…Mystique's pissed because Wolvie stole her idea," Jubilee grinned widely as Ororo looked onto her watch.

"Do you think James is still fine?" she asked Heather smiling.

Giggling, the redhead shrugged. "Well, Logan's there to give him the rest if necessary."

"How true!" Ororo grinned devilishly.

* * *

Tucking his children, Isa and TJ in, all of them laying in his bed, after finishing the bedtime story, Logan gave each of them a kiss, before he switched the light off. "There ya go," he said and got up. "And now I want ya guys to sleep, okay?" he asked and received a nod. Seeing their smiles in the dark, he cocked an eyebrow at the kids. "I've seen that, kiddos! Night!" he said and walked over to the door.

"Night, daddy!" his children said at the same time as Isa and TJ said "Good night, Uncle Logan!"

Closing the door quietly, he saw James wide grin and shook his head when he walked over to check on Alex, who slept in Ray's room, before he went into Jamie's on the other side and made sure he was fine. Afterwards, he let himself fall onto the sofa next to James and ran a hand through his face tiredly, watching how Miloh jumped onto the sofa, too, and laid down next to him. "I never thought it would be that tough…," James commented the last hours and noticed the cocked eyebrow of his friend.

"Tough?! Are ya kiddin'?!" Logan asked him in a tone as if James had just asked the most ridiculous thing he'd ever heard.

"Wasn't it?"

"That was nothin'! A few years ago, I filled them up with chocolate milk and played hide and seek and catch through the whole mansion and still they were more than alive at 2:30 a.m.," Logan told him, but James was still skeptical.

"So you call 4 Disney movies and 1 Harry Potter movie nothing?!"

Nodding, the other man crossed his arms. "Believe me…this was holiday just now."

Sighing, James ran a hand through his hair and gave him a questioning look. "Well, if you don't like it why do you and Jean have…," he began when he noticed that Logan was shaking his head.

"Never said that I didn't like it!"

"But you're exhausted and happy that they're finally in bed," James corrected him.

"'f course I am. It's past 1 and we had to entertain them for 8 hours," Logan grunted and began to stroke through Miloh's soft white fur. "Jean bites my head of when she gets to know that…"

"What is this party she's on anyway?!" the other man asked and went through the channels on TV.

Running both hands through his face again, Logan shrugged. "They do that at least twice a year. Main subject's probably the bad, bad men of the mansion again. Ya know, women, pal!" he grunted and James nodded.

"Oh, yeah, I do," he said and gave him a grin. "But I doubt Jean can complain, hm? As happy as she seemed to be earlier."

"Well, you've heard it," Logan smirked. "I'm perfect…"

Laughing, James nodded before he became serious again. "Can I ask you something?"

Looking at him, Logan shrugged. "Shoot," he said and watched how Miloh began to lick his palm.

"You're with Jean for 7 years, right?"

Thinking about it briefly, he nodded. "Nearly 9 years together and 7 years married in May, yeah. Why?" he asked and looked at his friend, who gave him an odd look.

"Who's Laura's mother then?" James asked. "She can't be Jean's since she seems to be as old as Rachel, but she also looks too much like you to be just adopted…"

Nodding, Logan looked away and back at the wolf again, who was resting his head on his leg and slept soundly. "So, ya think what exactly?"

Shrugging, James sighed. "That you had a girl in between who got pregnant and left the child with you… Laura looks the same age as Rachel."

Logan only cocked an eyebrow at him. "You honestly think I'd betray my wife when he's pregnant with my kid after we just got married?!" he asked him in disbelief.

"The girl just looks too much like you to be not your child…," his opposite apologized. "If she was the same age as the twins, I'd think they were a triplet."

"Laura's not my kid at all!" Logan told him and shook his head in disbelief before he stared at the screen. "And Jean would have thrown me out instantly if I'd betrayed her."

"But?" James asked.

"She's…female me…"

"She's what?" he asked and bent forward a bit with a frown clearly visible on his face.

"A clone," Logan sighed and noticed the stare of his friend.

"Why do you have a female clone of yourself?! Where you curious to know what you'd look like as a woman?" James asked and received a snort.

"Funny!" his opposite growled. "I don't know why she exists. Jeannie found her in Sinister's lab when we tried to get Jamie back."

Nodding, James leant back a bit and remained silent for a moment. "Why would he want to have a female clone of you?" he mumbled.

"Ask this maniac…," Logan shrugged and the door to his bedroom opened and Rachel came out, rubbing her eyes tiredly with one hand and holding her wolf close with the other. After closing the door behind her, she came over to them. "What's wrong, pum'kin?" Logan asked her after she'd climbed onto his lap.

"TJ hit me in her sleep," the girl cried. "I can't sleep."

"Then go and lay down in Lily's bed," her father suggested and stroked through her hair when she leant against him tiredly.

"Can I sleep here?" she asked him yawning and closed her eyes, but Logan chuckled.

"It's too loud, Ray."

"But I don't want to sleep alone, daddy," Rachel mumbled and heard James laughing, while Logan sighed.

"Come on, she'll be asleep soon anyway," the man suggested and Logan took the blanket from the armrest to spread it over the girl on his lap. "Or better said…," James suddenly said and bent forward a bit. "…she already is…"

"Be right back," Logan said calmly and got up with the girl on his arm to carry her over to the twins' room and lay her down onto Lily's bed. He tucked her carefully in again and placed a kiss onto her forehead, before he left the room. Just as he was about to sit down, he heard Jamie crying and sighed.

"Holidays, hm?" James teased him and received a growl as an answer, before he watched him disappearing into Jamie's room.

In it, Logan pulled the crying boy out of the bed and looked at him. "What's wrong?" he asked calmly and held him against his chest with one hand, while the other stroked over the small back soothingly. "You hungry again?" he asked after a moment and returned to the living room to sit back down on the sofa, where he laid the boy onto his lap and began to open a small glass.

"Don't you need to heat it first?" James asked confused since it was what he always did before feeding the boy.

"Only want to try if he's hungry again…," Logan mumbled and cradled the boy in his arms, before he held the spoon up. Seeing that the baby evaded it and cried even louder, he put the things back onto the table. "As I thought…," he mumbled and pulled the boy against his chest again to stroke over the hair and back again.

"Do you want to have more?" he heard James asking after a moment and saw that he nodded at Jamie.

"We actually said four," Logan replied. "What about you guys?"

Shrugging, James sighed. "Didn't work so far," he replied and the man next to him nodded. "How long did it take you and Jean to get together anyway?"

Thinking about it briefly, Logan shrugged. "8 months…"

"Jubilee told me she lived in your room that long, is that right?"

"What does she not know?!" he groaned and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, we shared the room together."

Nodding, James suddenly gave him the same odd look as he'd done before. "She slept next to you for 8 months and you never tried to hit on her?" he asked him in disbelief.

"Yeah, nothing happened, even if no one in this house wants to believe it," Logan grunted.

"Me neither, pal! Wasn't that torture? I mean if the woman I long for lays next to me night after night for eight months…," James whistled calmly. "How many cold showers did you take during that time, huh?"

"Stopped countin'," Logan replied and looked at the still crying boy worriedly, as also James moved closer a bit to have a better look at him.

"Where the twins planned?" he asked him as he noticed Logan's sudden glare.

"Don't…even think that word!" he heard him growling.

"Why?"

"Jeannie and I suck in plannin'."

"That means?" James asked confused.

"Thing's only work if we don't plan," Logan explained. "We tried for months to have a fourth kid and after we had a fight and our negatives too over, we found out few months later that she was pregnant with him."

"And the others?"

"You can say none of the kids was planned," he shrugged. "The twins just happened, Ray must have happened in our weddin' night, Jake happened when I had to go away for several months…" He shrugged again and James couldn't help but laugh.

"Suits you somehow," he commented it. "Back then you were pretty chaotic, too. At least that hasn't changed obviously." Hearing Logan chuckle, he watched how his friend pulled Jamie up a bit. "So, what was your reaction when Jean told you she was pregnant the first time?"

Logan shook his head. "Hank told me, since she was in some kind of coma due to her negative."

"And what did you think?"

"I didn't think at all," Logan shrugged.

Cocking and eyebrow this time, James gave him a skeptical look. "So you were…just fine with it?"

"Are ya kiddin'?" Logan asked him playfully outraged. "It scared the shit out me!"

"As I thought," his friend grinned satisfied to hear the answer he's wanted. "So the big bad Wolverine's weakness is his babies, hm? Good to know that."

Nodding first, just to sigh in frustration next, Logan looked at the boy in his arms. "Pum'kin what's wrong?" he asked clearly concerned and touched the boy's cheeks, even if he knew that he couldn't be feverish.

"Is it possible that he's in pain even with a healing factor?" James asked also worried.

"No…," Logan shook his head. "He usually never cries. Only if I'm too slow in preparing his bottle or a new diaper…" Getting up, he gave James a look. "Can ya watch over the others? I go downstairs and walk around with him a bit. Usually that helps and I don't want him to wake the others again."

"Sure," James nodded.

"Thanks!" Logan said and left, holding Jamie close to his chest. He made his way through the corridors first and up the staircase just to stop in total confusion, since as soon as he'd reached the dormitories the boy began to cry even heavier

* * *

Coming out of the toilet and looking even more pissed off than before, Mystique sat back down on the ground and pulled her legs close. "Is it that bad?" Moira asked worriedly.

"Yes it is!" the woman replied fuming and glared into the fire.

"Look, Scott is…," Jean began calmly, but was cut off by her.

"A prude and a prick!"

Sighing, the redhead ran a hand through her hair. "No, it's just… He has to stay in control all the time because of his powers," she tried to explain when Mystique gave her a look.

"So have you and Logan!" the woman shot back. "And what happens? Logan does it with you!"

"Scott isn't Logan, Raven," Jean said.

"That's the problem," this one gave back and made Jean frown.

"What do you mean?"

"You and him are a couple for what? 9 years? And I'M with Scott for just 2 years or something."

Hearing it, Narya shrugged. "And? What does it have to do with Logan?"

"That they are still like newly weds and with Scott it's just…the usual stuff. He so much wants to have the same routine everyday, every month that I can already tell what he will do next year at the same time," Mystique explained and showed the anger she carried within her openly for the first time. "He's not spontaneous, can't give up control for a minute…" She shook her head.

"I'd say you're frustrated," Moira commented. "And that a lot…"

"Oh, really?" Mystique snapped.

Leaving the bathroom and joining them again, Kitty shook her head. "Not only she is," she said and earned a surprised look of the others. "It's the same with Peter and me."

"And Popsicle and me," Jubilee nodded before the three woman looked at Ororo.

"I know, I know…," that one waved off.

"Same with her and Kurt obviously, too," Jubilee commented.

"I didn't say that!"

"You told me," Moira corrected her and earned a glare from the weather goddess. "You said it has changed since Tommy was born."

"Yes, because he's afraid to even touch me because of this damn injury," Ororo gave back.

"I don't understand what you are doing different," Mystique suddenly said towards Jean.

"We don't do anything different than you," Jean sighed.

"Can't be, because you're still happy," Kitty said and hugged her knees, looking a bit sad into the fire.

"Then talk with your men," the redhead suggested. "Complaining alone won't do."

"I tell Peter everyday that he should care a bit more for me," the young woman cried. "But he's more interested in his studied and if he has time than he goes out with Bobby."

Nodding Jubilee sighed. "How true… Wolvie's different."

Feeling slightly angered and annoyed, Jean put her bottle down. "You can't compare a 26 and 27 year old young man with someone who's 118 and far more experienced," she gave back and didn't bother to hide her anger, as Heather and Narya looked at each other.

"It's not the fact that Logan's older and more experienced, Jean," Mystique said. "Scott's 46 and it's the same with him."

"It has to do with his past, Raven. He lost his parents due to an accident and his injury caused the loss of his control over his powers. He didn't open his eyes for months until the Professor found him," Jean explained. "That's why he thinks he has to be in control. It hasn't to do with you. It's just the way he is."

"But Logan hadn't had a great life either," Kitty disagreed. "And it's far more dangerous if he or you lose control. And still the two of you are happy… To me it seems as if Peter doesn't even care about me anymore."

Having heard all of this, Heather laid a hand onto the younger woman's hand. "It can't be that bad. I mean, I don't know for how long the two of you are married already, but you wouldn't be if you weren't in love with each other."

Jean nodded. "And it's not that Logan and I never argue. We had enough real fights in between."

"Still it's different with you," Mystique shook her head. "What's it like when you guys get up for instance? During the week I mean."

"When we get up?!" the redhead asked confused and received a nod. "Well…what do you think? We get up, prepare for the day, wake the children and the one who's downstairs first, prepared breakfast."

"See?" Mystique said. "There it is. You get up together. With us it's Scott get up, looks after Alex, showers and leaves."

"And I can't even remember the last time we went to bed together…," Kitty sighed. "He comes to bed when I'm sleeping and gets up before I even wake up.

"Then talk with them and tell them what you don't like," Jean said again and rolled her eyes. "It won't change from alone."

"Sometimes I think he's only with me because I accidentally got pregnant," Mystique mumbled and noticed how Jean instantly shook her head.

"He wouldn't do this. He told me that he loves you."

"Then he should show it," the blue woman replied and ran her hands through her hair in frustration.

"I know that he doesn't show his feelings openly," the redhead tried to soothe her. "But he would never stay with you of he hadn't feeling for you. He's not like that."

Since no one said anything at all for a while, Heather gave her opposite a look. "Jean?" she said and the woman looked up. "I'm sorry to change the subject, but…"

"Did you say Logan's 118?" Narya asked.

"Yes, he is."

"That's not possible. He can never be that old!" Heather said and shook her head.

"He is," Moira nodded. "He ages slower. It's the same with Jean, only that with Logan his accelerated healing factor is the reason."

Whistling impressed Narya shook her head. "And I already wondered why he hasn't changed on bit since the last time we saw him," she mumbled. "118…" She shook her head. "But if he still looks 30 something…how old can he become?"

"I don't know," Jean shrugged.

"It's impossible to tell since we don't know anything at all about his powers. We don't know where it gets its energy from and if it wears out or not or how and if he ages at all," Moira explained.

"Well, he must age," Heather said. "Otherwise he wouldn't have grown, right?"

"He told me that he didn't start growing before his thirties," Jean told her. "It was then that his aging stopped and only his body began to change."

About to reply something, Heather turned her head when she heard someone knocking on the door and it didn't take long for Logan to enter; his eyes looking for Jean. "We've a problem," he told her and she instantly got up.

"What?" she asked and he came closer, nodding at the boy in his arms.

"He doesn't stop cryin'. I already tried everythin' that usually works," he told her and she reached out to touch the boy's cheeks. "He can't be sick," he said and sat down on one of the beds next to her, while she began to examine her son carefully.

"For how long is he already crying?" Ororo asked concerned.

"More than an hours?" Logan shrugged.

"Maybe he's in pain?"

"'Ro, my kid has my healin' factor," he replied with a look that spoke volumes. "I can empty a whole pub and still walk straight." He turned his head back to Jean with a frown, when she withdrew her hands from the small head and stared at the boy in shock. "What's wrong?" he instantly asked and met her clearly scared gaze.

"He hears voices…," she said barely audible and stared back at the crying boy again.

"What?!" Logan asked in disbelief.

"He can hear everyone in the mansion, sees their dreams… It overwhelms him," the redhead explained and stroked over Jamie's head carefully.

"Your baby already ahs an active mutation next to the healing factor?" Narya asked them, as shocked as the others stared at the couple. "But he's only… Didn't you say he's only 4 months old?" she asked and Logan nodded.

"Can you help him?" Moira asked with a look on Jean, who put the boy into Logan's arms.

"Hold him," she said and noticed his look.

"What are ya goin' to do?"

"I'll block out the voices," she explained. "It should last until tomorrow and then we have to see what we can do about it."

"So that's the reason why he probably never sleeps at night, huh?" he mumbled and she nodded.

"Could be possible," Jean said and places both hands next to the boy's head before she began to concentrate on his mind. When her eyes began to glow fiery, Heather and Narya backed off a bit in awe and couldn't help but stare at her. Remaining in that position, Jean kept on concentrating until Jamie only sobbed weakly and withdrew her hands again. "This should do it…," she said and watched how Logan pulled the boy against his chest to stroke over the back soothingly. It didn't take long and the boy was silent.

Turning him around, he reached out to wipe the tears away. "Feelin' better, Pum'kin?" he asked and gave the boy a kiss on the forehead. "Ya sure it last until tomorrow?" he added at Jean, but she nodded. "Then let's hope so…"

"Daddy?" he heard Laura asking from the door and looked up.

"What are you doin' here?"

"I'm thirsty," she said and he sighed.

"Be right there, 'kay?" he asked and got up after she disappeared again with a nod.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Jean asked and followed him towards the door, but he shook his head and gave her a kiss instead.

"Stay here and go on with your chick party," he smirked.

"Okay, but let me know if something's wrong again," she said and received a nod.

"Night," he said and kissed her again, before he turned to the others. "Night ladies!"

"Oh, someone's mister nice-guy again, hm?" Ororo teased him.

Smirking, Logan turned around once more. "Always, 'Ro," he replied and she nodded playfully.

"Uhu, we know better, mister!" she gave back. "Night!"

After closing the door, Jean sat back down when Narya gave her a look. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," the redhead said and pulled her legs close again.

"That girl…," she began. "I mean Logan told us she's adopted, but… I don't believe a girl that looks so much like him is adopted, you know?" she explained carefully.

"She is," Jean said and sighed when she noticed the skeptical looks of Narya and Heather. "Can you keep a secret?"

"Of course," the other redhead nodded.

"She's a clone of him."

"She's a what?" Narya asked and looked at the other for confirmation.

"Sinister created her. We found her in hi facility in the Rockies," Mystique explained.

"Jeez…," Heather made and ran a hand through her long red hair. "He really is in love with Logan, huh? She really is a clone?" she had to ask again.

"So this is why she's so much like him…," Narya said more to herself with a look at the now closed door, as Jean suddenly sighed and got up.

"What's wrong?" Ororo asked her and watched how she took her blanket.

"Jamie's crying worse than before," Jean explained. "I'm sorry, but…" She shrugged and walked over to the door.

"Of course!" her best friend replied. "I hope everything's fine with him soon…"

"Yeah, not only you," the redhead nodded. "Night!"

Having watched her in confusion, Heather nodded at the door. "How come she knows?"

"Logan has probably told her," Ororo said. "Or she's picked up on it on her own."

"How?"

"They share a psychic link. It's a mental connection that allows them to communicate with their thoughts only, not matter where the other one is," the weather goddess explained. "You've seem them doing it before we were attacked. Logan told her mentally what to do."

Nodding when she understood it, Heather looked down. "And I already wondered what they were doing… Amazing…"

"Jean must be a very powerful mutant," Narya said, but Ororo shook her head, which confused her.

"Not _a_," she replied. "_The_ powerful mutant." Seeing the confused looks, she began to explain. "She can destroy the whole planet of she wants with a blink of her eye. As Charles explained it, she can do anything that she can imagine to do."

"But… Isn't that….dangerous?" Narya asked somehow scared.

"Not as long as Logan's there," Moira said and Ororo nodded.

"Right. Both of them tame each other," she added. "It's also the reason why Sinister is so fixated on them and their children. He practically celebrated that the most dangerous and the most powerful mutant of the planet reproduced themselves." With a look at Moira, Ororo heaved a deep breath. "Isn't it…dangerous for Jamie?"

"Without a healing factor, yes," the woman replied. "But even with one… Well it's a lot to deal with, especially for a baby.

* * *

Upstairs, Jean withdrew her hands from her son's head again with a loud sigh, while Logan looked at the crying boy thoughtfully. "It's useless…," she said. "I don't know why but I can't block it anymore."

"What now?" he asked without looking up.

"We should ask Charles," she said and got up, pulling Jamie with her.

"He ain't as powerful as you, Jean," Logan said and followed her towards the door. "If you can't help him, I doubt Chuck can…"

"We've to try, Logan," was all she said before she left the room and headed downstairs. Stopping at the door, he gave James, who looked at him worriedly a look.

"Hey, can ya watch over'em a bit longer?"

"Sure," the man nodded. "Is it that bad?"

Looking down, Logan nodded. "Yeah. Thanks!" he said and followed Jean to Charles office, where the man was already waiting for them in his pajamas…

**I know it took me long to update this one here and actually the scene went on, but I wanted to post it today, since I won't be at home tomorrow. I can't wait to see the Spiderman 3 premiere tomorrow (Monday). : ) I'm so excited. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading. Please let me know what you think! See ya!! Oh and: Wolverine and DP will come out to play in the next chapter again. ; )**


	11. Chapter 11

**Author's not****e: Two guest appearances. Hope you like them. ; )**

**It would be great if you guys checked out my new story **_Don't forget ya ain't alone, darlin'_

**Chan****ges Sequel – II. Covenant Part 11**

While Logan and Jean went down to see the Professor, the girls still sat in the room and talked. After listening to the newest gossip, which Jubilee told them, Heather briefly cleared her throat and asked the question that was on her mind the whole time through during her stay at the school. "It might sound stupid now since we're already staying here for nearly two weeks, but…,"she began and the others looked up. "…knowing Logan for so long, well… I've seen him interacting with Jean some time, but, what's he like as a husband? I don't mean just as a partner, but really as her husband?"

"A good one I think," Ororo replied with a shrug. "I mean he really loves her with all his heart. What do you girls think?"

"The best one!" Jubilee waved off with a laugh. "No other man's better than Wolvie in this house, Scooter said it, didn't he?" she grinned. "Jean's the luckiest woman in this funny farm here anyway. I mean, come on. She has Wolvie not only in her bed, girls!" While the others stared at her for her bluntness, she jumped up and made her way to the toilet. "Be right back!"

"He really has a lot of fans, hasn't he?" Narya remarked and shook her head with a sigh.

"That's nothing! Since he agreed on teaching, he has his own fan club," Ororo said. "You should have been here in their wedding. The school hadn't even as many tissues as the girls had needed on that day." She briefly thought about something. "Have you actually seen any pictures already?"

"Yes, the two in their apartment," Heather nodded. "Nevertheless he still refuses to show us the video."

"No, problem, just ask Jubes," Kitty smirked. "It's her personal sanctuary!"

"I still can't believe Jean really managed that he cut his hair and shaved…," Narya shook her head. "I mean….it's Logan… He wouldn't even get rid of his leather jacket if I asked nicely."

"But both of them just looked awesome that day," the redhead added and her teammate nodded.

"But the best thing were their vows," Moira added and saw how her friends nodded in agreement. "You should watch the video and hear them, right, Ororo?"

"Definitely!" this one nodded. Seeing the questioning look of their new friends, she added "Logan forgot about his and came up with something on his own."

"Oh, oh…," Narya made and looked rather worried.

"No, no! Don't get me wrong!" the weather goddess quickly said. "He made Jean cry so hard that she forgot about her vow, too."

"They didn't only make each other, cry, 'Ro," Kitty corrected her. "They nearly made everyone cry."

Sighing, Moira pulled her legs close. "Yes, thinking about it I could still start crying again…"

"He cried, too?" Narya asked surprised. "I've never seen Logan crying ever! Do you?" she asked and gave Heather a look, but the woman shook her head.

"No."

"They ya should stick around more often!" Jubilee winked and sat back down. "He's a softy. A big tiger with a pussy-cat at heart."

"True!" Kitty nodded.

"How did he propose to Jean?" Heather asked next. "Don't get all those questions wrong, but…"

"The Logan we know was just completely…different from the version you guys have here now. Since we saw him again the surprises won't stop," Narya added. "So how did he ask her?"

Grinning, Ororo briefly sipped on her drink and nodded slowly. "That's actually the best kept secret in this house," she told them. "No one knows! All we know is that they suddenly wore the rings on one morning."

"And if Jubes hadn't spotted them, I doubt they'd have told us so soon," Kitty added with a look that spoke volumes.

Nodding, Heather looked into the fire for a moment. "They're married for 6 years by now, right?"

Thinking about it Moira nodded. "Yes… The twins turn 8 this May, Rachel 6, so they'll be married for 7 years by then…" Frowning all of a sudden, she gave the others a look. "Ladies, we have to keep an eye on them!"

"Why?" Kitty asked frowning.

"You don't know?!" the woman asked her shocked. "The 7th year always is the most critical for a couple. Most split."

Laughing Jubilee shook her head. "If they EVER split, I'll run through NYC naked!"

"I'll keep that in mind!" Kitty smirked and emptied her bottle.

"Honestly!" the other girl went on. "They can't stay away from each other for longer than one or two hours! When I'm happy that I haven't seen Bobby for a moment, they act as if they haven't seen each other in a lifetime."

"You and Bobby haven't got a negative within you that likes to intervene from time to time," Ororo scolded her. "Don't forget that!"

"Does Logan still have problems with the Wolverine?" Heather asked worriedly after hearing it. "I mean I only saw him once in the kitchen when Yukio thought she could provoke him."

"No, since he returned from Japan, he's in perfect control again actually," Mystique said.

"You know what?" Ororo suddenly said. "As soon as I get my hands on them tomorrow, I ask them about the proposal. I always wanted to know what he did…"

"Easy!" Jubilee waved off. "Few words, no flowers or candles and I even doubt he asked at all!"

"What else?" Kitty asked her with a raised eyebrow. "Do you think he just put the ring onto her hand and ordered her to marry him?!"

"No, I think he rather did it…matter of factly, ya know," her friend replied. "But he never asked her the whole question or got onto his knees! I bet 50 bucks on it!"

"Deal!" Kitty nodded.

* * *

"I already tried it twice, Charles," Jean said while she gave her son on the table a worried look, since the boy was crying as loud as he could again. "But I can't stop it." She watched how the older man leant forward and put both of his hands next to the boy's head before he closed his eyes. Then she gave Logan, who stood next to her with his arms crossed a look and noticed that the Professor was suddenly looking at them thoughtfully. 

"We should try it together, Jean. He's in more than a lot of stress…," he suggested and the redhead nodded, before she joined his side.

Watching them, Logan waited until both withdrew again. "And?" he asked but Jean shrugged, even if Jamie was completely calm by now.

"It's remarkable that he already develops so strong powers," Charles said. "But I can't tell if we could really help him…"

"What if ya can't?"

"Then we have to think about something else to help him with his powers," Charles replied and Logan let out a menacing low growl.

"Ya ain't gonna put barriers into my kid's head, Chuck!" he warned him with a glare. "Mark my words!"

The Professor looked at him calmly. "I can assure you, Logan, that I won't do this again!"

In the meanwhile Jean had pulled Jamie up into her arms and looked at him. "Will he be fine until tomorrow?" she asked concerned and the look Charles gave her, didn't calm her at all.

"I don't know. I hope so," he said with a look at the boy. "I'd like the two of you to come into my office tomorrow after dinner," he went on. "We have to talk about Jamie. I don't even want to imagine how powerful he will become later if it already takes two telepaths to stop his telepathy for a few minutes or hours…"

Exchanging a worried look with each other, the couple thanked him and left the office to return to the door, which would lead them to their rooms. "I can stay downstairs with him," Logan offered. "If e starts cryin' again, he'll wake everyone."

Thinking about it Jean shook her head. "I can stay here, too…"

"No, you still have to turn our rooms into Santa's cavern tomorrow," he smirked and got a weak smile from her. "Just go upstairs and make sure James doesn't freak out with all those kids around him."

Sighing she finally nodded. "Alright."

* * *

On the next morning when she entered the kitchen, followed by James and the cheering children, Jean handed Alex over to Scott before she sat down on her casual stool and handed her children something to eat. "Morning," Ororo greeted her, still looking more asleep than awake. 

"Morning," the redhead replied.

"Had a calm night?" the weather goddess asked and received a nod, which surprised her. "Really? So Jamie's fine again?"

"I don't know. Logan stayed with him downstairs," Jean said.

"Well then let's hope he found any sleep at all," Mystique mumbled and looked up with a nod at the door. "There he is…"

Raising her head, too, Jean gave him a weak smile and noticed how messed up he looked. "Hey…," she said and he came over to kiss her and his children, before Logan sat down next to her with Jamie on his arm. "Had a tough night?" she added and stroked through his messy hair.

"Yeah…," he grunted.

"Did he cry again?" she asked worried and took the boy into her arms, but Logan shook his head.

"No, but he was awake all night."

"How long did you sleep then?" Ororo asked while eyeing him closely.

Shrugging, he ran a hand through his face. "Somethin' between one and two hours maybe…," he replied when Heather came over and handed him a cup that was filled with coffee.

"Here," she smiled and received a brief smile in return.

"Thanks."

"Charles wants to see us around 5 p.m. if nothing happens in between," Jean told him and he nodded. About to raise the cup to his mouth, he suddenly froze and began to furrow his brows.

"Is something wrong with the coffee?" Heather instantly asked since it was her who'd made it.

"Jean…," Logan said and by hearing the way he spoke, the redhead figured that something was wrong.

"What's wrong?" she asked him concerned and even turned her head to see if they were attacked again.

"Please tell me you're doin' that!" he said instead and she frowned.

"Doing what?" Jean demanded to know and by now also the others were looking at Logan in total confusion.

Letting go of his cup, they gasped as it floated in the air. "That!" Logan said with a look at his wife, seeing that she stared at it in shock.

"Is he doing that?!" Ororo asked, unable to decide if she felt shocked or scared, as he quickly grabbed the cup again before it fell onto the counter.

Not knowing what to think about what she'd just seen, Jean shook her head and got off her stool. "Can you hold him?" she asked without meeting Logan's gaze and disappeared through the back door next.

"Hold him," Logan said to Narya, who sat next to him and handed her Jamie, before he quickly followed his wife to the outside, just to find her standing at Jake's tomb stone, where she stared at the small bonsai tree he'd planted after his return from Japan and had her arms wrapped around herself. He knew what she was thinking. Stopping behind her ad shivering slightly due to the cold and snowy weather, since he wore a shirt and wife beater only, Logan watched how she turned around sobbing and wrapped her arms around him.

"I'm afraid," Jean cried into his chest and was pulled close by him.

"I know," he replied and stroked through her hair as she suddenly looked up.

"Do you know what this means?" she asked him. "It was him who'd caused the explosion on the roof and destroyed half of the building…"

Shaking his head, Logan cupped her face. "We don't know that!" he tried to soothe her, but she bit her lip with a weak "no".

"I'm sure of it, Logan… I can feel it…," she whispered during her desperate sobs. "At night, when I tried to block his thoughts, he fought against me. He's so strong…" She shook her head and ran both hands though her face with a sniffing noise, just to close her eyes in the next second to heave a deep breath. "He's crying again…"

Turning his head, Logan saw that Ororo stood at the back door and was waving to get their attention. "Let's go back…," he suggested and took her hand before he began to move. Inside he took the crying boy from Narya and pulled him close against his chest. Since his children gave him worried and questioning looks, he told them that their younger brother only had tummy ache, before he told them to go upstairs and play. Just in time, as he noticed since as soon as the children were gone, the porcelain in the cupboards began to tremble dangerously. Not knowing what to do, he shook his head with a loud sigh. "What now?" Logan asked Jean and noticed that's he was concentrating on their son.

"He's scanning our minds… He's looking for something," she mumbled with a frown.

"For what?" Ororo asked and quickly put the porcelain down to the ground with the help of Mystique and Moira, while Heather and Narya did the same with anything else that could hurt someone.

"I don't know…," the redhead replied and ran her hands through her face, just to see that Logan had his brows furrowed.

"He's lookin' for them…," he said.

"For whom?" she asked in confusion when he looked up with a more than serious look on his face.

"Wolverine's brain waves are different from mine, ain't they?" he asked her.

"Yes," Jean nodded as it hit her what he was talking about. "You mean…?"

"That he's lookin' for his parents?" he asked her and nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

"That's ridiculous, Logan," Hank said and shook his head. "You're his parents…"

"No, not really," the redhead said and turned around to look at the man. "Wolverine's and Phoenix's waves are way different from Logan's and mine. And as we know they created him, not us…" Not caring for the moment that the others were even more confused that before, she turned back to her husband. "What do you suggest? If he really looks for them it won't be enough to just step aside a bit."

Logan nodded and remained silent for a while, before he sighed. "I'll try first," he said.

"And if that's not enough?" she asked him and he noticed the scared undertone in her voice.

Looking at her he shook his head. "Better hope it is," he grunted and turned around to walk over to the door. "Lock me into that cage."

Hearing it, Ororo put the last porcelain down and gave him a confused look. "What are you up to, Logan?" she asked but only received a cocked eyebrow from him.

"What do ya think?"

Touching his arm, Jean gave him another scared look. "What if it's not enough?" she asked once more. "I can't give her full control without you being there…"

Rubbing the back of his nose, he shrugged. "We'll see. Lock me in and make sure the others stay away from me!" Logan demanded and was about to leave when Ororo intervened.

"What if he hurts the boy?"

"He won't…," Jean only said, but still looked scared at Logan. She knew the others probably didn't understand why the two of them were worried so much.

"We've met Wolverine before, Logan…," the weather goddess went on. "There's no need for you to be locked in."

"You've NEVER met the real one, 'Ro! I never gave him full control," he gave back and saw her frown. "Just imagine what Sabretooth and Death did and then you'll know what I'm capable of when he has full control over me. And believe me, ya won't see it!" he added and Jean knew that probably only she would understand what he'd say next when he looked at her. "You know what to do when he breaks out."

"You mean…the side of you James and I saw in the park?" Heather asked him and received a nod before Logan left. "Oh…," was all she could say as she understood his concern.

"Oh?" Moira asked since she didn't understand it at all.

"You want him locked up, believe me," James told her with a concerned look. "Do you have chains that are strong enough for him?" he asked Jean next.

"No chains! That only makes him furious," she shook her head. "Even if he brakes through the bars, the energy shield will stop him for a while."

"And what if he brakes through the walls?" he asked her next.

Breaking eye contact, Jean crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked out of the window. "That's why he said that I know what do if that was the case…," she replied and left, too.

"That means?" Ororo asked in confusion, but the redhead was already gone.

* * *

Downstairs in the basement, the Professor, Jean, Scott, Hank and Ororo watched how Logan checked if the room was secured enough before he gave them a nod. "Are you sure you want to do this, Logan?" Charles asked him but the man shrugged. 

"Well there ain't another choice, ain't it?" Logan asked back and checked on the bars again.

"What if Wolverine is stressed because Jamie doesn't stop crying?" Ororo asked him worriedly.

"He won't hurt him," he tried to soothe her.

"How can you be so sure?!" Scott asked while he leant against the wall with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Giving him a look, Logan cocked an eyebrow. "Because he's his kid?!" he gave back cynically and let go of the bars. "Looks okay. Don't send anyone else than Jean to bring food," he reminded them just to notice the redhead's look. "Don't worry…"

Laughing briefly, she looked away. "Easy for you to say…"

After he'd let his eyes travel around the cell, Charles folded his arms in front of his mouth. "Do you need anything else?"

"Yeah, all of you to get out," Logan nodded and watched them leaving, when Jean stopped briefly. "Ya know what to do, right?" he asked her calmly and she nodded.

"It's just… If Wolverine isn't enough…," she replied and bit her lip hard.

"I know…," he said. "But you shouldn't reckon with the worst, darlin'." He watched how she activated the force field, which green light soon covered the bars and made a humming sound. "Now go. And be careful when ya bring food!"

"Okay…," she nodded.

"And have an eye on the others! Don't let anyone else enter this room!" Logan warned her and received another nod before she left. Taking a very deep breath, he gave his son a brief look that mirrored the concern that raged within him, before he got down to his knees and closed his eyes. Jean heard him beginning to growl when the door closed behind her and she joined the other in the neighboring room who sat or stood in front of the screens and watched the cell closely. Just as she had stopped next to Ororo, she heard a loud roar and knew that Wolverine had just announced his entrance, before he shredded his clothes in a fit of fury.

Letting out a snort, Scott shook his head and crossed his arms again. "And you honestly want to tell me that he's not an animal…?" he asked and watched how Wolverine cut easily through the bars, just to roar at the force field, which refused to let him through. "We need to get Jamie out of there…," he said and was about to walk to the door, when the Professor stopped him.

"Scott, wait!"

"Professor, he will kill the boy!" the man protested as Ororo suddenly shook her head.

"No…he won't…," she mumbled and pointed at the screen in front of her.

Returning to his former spot, Scott watched how Wolverine carefully approached the crying boy on all fours and sniffed. "And?" he asked with a shrug. "This doesn't proof anything at all… He could still…" He frowned when Wolverine suddenly cradled Jamie in his arms, while he went down on his knees again to rock the boy slowly back and forth. "What the…," Scott began and shook his head in disbelief, when Charles sighed.

"He's still looking for his mother, Jean…," the man said and gave the redhead a worried look.

"I can't give up my full control, Charles… This will end in a disaster," Jean said and wrapped her arms around herself.

"I know that you're afraid," he tried to soothe her. "But Dark Phoenix has no reason at all to freak out and hurt people. No one will attack her!"

"No, only that she's locked up into a cell…," she gave back cynically and switched her attention to the screen. "Charles, I can't give her full control… I never did this since Alcatraz and you know what has happened there…"

Nodding, the Professor turned his eyes briefly to the Wolverine. "Logan is in there with you, Jean. Even if Wolverine controls him now…," he explained. Think about the fight the two of you had…"

Shaking her head, she cut him off. "This was different!" Jean said. "I was still able to remember what I did. It was different with Alcatraz first, but if she controls me, I can't stop her…" Biting her lower lip hard, she felt how tears gathered in her eyes in fear.

The Professor nodded and looked back at the boy, who was still in Wolverine's arms and didn't cry as loud as before anymore, but scanning his mind told him that Jamie was still looking for her. "Why don't you try it as yourself?" he suggested with a look at the redhead. "Maybe Jamie is satisfied with you…"

"What if he hurts her?" Scott asked with a nod at the screen and it was obvious who he meant with _he_.

"He won't…," Jean said.

"You don't know that!" he gave back.

"Wolverine will recognize me as his mate, Scott," she said stressed and by now also a bit annoyed. "It's not the same as with Phoenix and Logan. She can't stand his human side. Wolverine just doesn't care."

"So, what will you do?" Ororo asked her calmly and with a worried look.

Shaking her head, Jean walked over to the door where she turned around again. "Be prepared for everything when you enter this room and stay away from what is left over of the bars. The best would be if Peter brings food in his organic form," she said and waited for a nod, before she entered the cells. Instantly Wolverine switched his head towards her and began to growl. She couldn't help but swallow hard due to his black and merciless looking eyes. His growl became even louder and he pulled Jamie protectively closer when she slowly approached the remains of the bars.

"What is he doing?!" Hank asked in confusion, but Charles shook his head.

"I don't know, Hank…"

They watched how Wolverine backed off, still facing Jean, to lay Jamie back into the infant seat and went into a deep crouch afterwards, before he extracted his claws and bared his teeth at the redhead, who walked through the force field slowly. "He'll hurt her…," Scott mumbled and began to back off towards the door in order to intervene if necessary.

"No, he won't," Ororo shook her head, just to see how Wolverine roared angrily and leapt at Jean in the next second.

"Oh really?!" Scott asked her angrily and he quickly entered the cells, closely followed by Hank and the others, where they were greeted by a growling and glaring Wolverine.

"Let her go, Wolverine!" Charles demanded aloud and with an angry look as he heard someone laughing.

"Actually, Charles…," Dark Phoenix purred in her daemonic voice and turned her head to gave them a good look on her pitch black eyes, but also veined face. "It's you who goes…," she added while pushing Charles' wheelchair backwards against the wall and touched Wolverine's bare shoulder, who's still in a deep crouch right in front her, with both pair of claws extracted.

"Phoenix…," the Professor only stated and received an evil smile from the redhead.

"Precisely…"

Watching her closely, the Professor noticed that her eyes began to glow darkly. "I don't intend to fight you," he instantly said in hope to prevent any attacks from her.

"How smart," the woman purred with the same smirk in her lips.

"Just think about your son…," he went on with a worried look at the now completely calm boy, but she laughed.

"Don't worry about him, Charles. He's with his parents and not with those two excuses," she hissed and made Scott and the others back off a bit, but the Professor remained on the spot.

"You still hate her, don't you?" he asked knowingly and heard how she let out an angry snarl.

"She's weak…," Phoenix growled, but he shook his head.

"No, she's not. You just don't like the idea that she has you under control now," he stated and a waved slammed him backwards again.

"Don't mess with me, Charles," she yelled and caused Wolverine to roar in anger, since he figured that the man had angered his mate. "I warn you! Do you think this little force field of yours can stop me?" she asked with a laugh. "I destroy it in les that a second and let him do the rest," she added and stroked over the growling Wolverine's bare back with a smile, just to switch her gaze to Ororo all of a sudden. "And yes, my son's in control, witch!" she snarled.

"You're reading my thoughts?" Ororo asked surprised but also intimidated by her friend's dark aura and the hate she suddenly radiated.

"Do you start crying now and ran to your hubby?" Phoenix purred and pouted playfully. "If you can't block them it's not my problem, isn't it?" Wolverine, who was still pissed that man interrupted him and his female, made a step forward, but she touched his shoulder. "No, darling," she said. "They'll leave now. Don't even bother to look at them…" Raising her head she glared at the other full of hatred. "Leave!" she added with a hiss and the others quickly obeyed, but remained at the door since Charles moved forward a bit.

"If Jamie's fine, Phoenix, then let Jean control it again, before…," he began when Hank let out a surprised yelp, since she'd summoned his pen out of his pocket, which melted right in front of their eyes. It quickly began to turn into a whirling small storm, like an atom, and began to glow; causing even Wolverine to back off into a corner and start whimpering.

Understanding what she meant with it, Charles swallowed briefly, before he nodded at the others. "Let's leave."

"But…," Scott said with a look at the boy, but the Professor shook his head.

"Now, before she starts an attack," he demanded and watched the X-Men leaving, before he gave Phoenix one last look. "It's okay. We leave the two of you alone and take care of your children in the meanwhile. Just calm down!" he told her and soon left, too.

Having watched him closely, Phoenix atomized the storm with a blink of her eye and turned around to look at the Wolverine. "Come out of the corner," she demanded.

Wolverine looked up when he heard her speaking to him and watched how she went over to their baby and checked on it briefly. "He's fine," she told him after he dared to come closer a bit to look at her from aside. "Was about time this tamed animal stepped aside." Phoenix smiled and cupped his face. "Right, darling?" Leaning into her touch with a cat-like purr, he soon grabbed her roughly and pulled her onto the ground with a rough kiss. Laughing, she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"The camera went out!" Scott noticed and made the others turn around. He quickly went over to check on the other ones, too. "How did that happen?!" he asked since not a single camera was working anymore and also the door couldn't be opened.

"It's Phoenix," Charles said. "She's blocking them obviously…"

"To what purpose?" Hank asked with furrowed brows when the Professor shook his head.

"It's the best to leave them alone. Ororo, it would be nice if you and Hank could watch over them first. I'll inform the others in the meanwhile."

"Okay," the woman nodded and sat down next to Hank at the screens, while Scott followed Charles out of the room.

"I can't believe this beast in there is really Jean," he said and followed his mentor to the elevators.

"I know what you mean, Scott, but don't forget," the Professor replied, "Jean and Phoenix have as much to be regarded as two different persons as Logan and the Wolverine. From their personalities they can't be regarded as one and the same person."

Giving a short snort when they entered the elevator, Scott buried his hands in his pockets after pushing the UP button. "I doubt that Logan is really that different from the animal in there…"

"Scott…," the other man sighed. "I don't know what has happened between Logan and you this time, but you know perfectly well that he's not an animal!" Having said this, the doors went aside and he wheeled out of the elevator towards the kitchen.

"in my opinion the animal is too much a part of Logan than everyone believes," Scott replied. "And I'm telling you again that having both of them down in the basement, will end in a disaster! Especially with the boy in the same cell than them…"

"We have to risk it," Charles said and stopped at the door in the kitchen. "It would be way riskier if Jamie's powers developed further that rapidly without us intervening. Especially when he obviously looks for his parents for help and doesn't regard Logan and Jean as them. Who know what the boy will be capable of later if he's already that powerful now."

"I hope you're aware of the fact," Scott began and crossed his arms. "That if he gets out of control, there will be no way to stop him…"

The Professor nodded, his face completely serious. "I know. That's the reason why our enemies want him and no doubt, but…," he briefly paused and stared at the ground. "…I think if there'll be a war the decision will be made through the boy. The side who has him will win, I'm sure of that…"

* * *

A few hours later, Ororo entered the cells with a tray in her hands, closely followed by Peter in his organic form, James and Hank, both carrying tranquilizer guns. After passing the door to the room, they stopped at the remains of the bars with surprised looks on their faces. "Look at that…," Hank whispered and eyed Phoenix, who lay on the bed next to her son and was covered by a blanket, before he switched his attention to the Wolverine, who lay, as naked as his wife, in front of the bars in a perfect angle to protect his family and attack anyone else that might be up to hurt them. 

"Well, obviously they had some fun, hm…?" James mumbled and watched how Ororo deactivated the force field to put the tray into the cell, just to activate it quickly. Right in time, since Wolverine suddenly jerked his head up with an angry roar and slashed at her throat. Letting out a surprised shriek, while the men quickly pointed the guns at the raging mutant, Ororo nearly fell backwards and hit the wall with her back.

"Logan, calm down! We only brought you food!" Hank said and pointed his weapon at his friend. His mimic suddenly changed to a surprised one as his and James' gun were atomized and he switched his gaze to the glaring Phoenix.

"What do you think you're doing?" she hissed at them with pitch black eyes.

"We only brought you food, Jean," Hank said soothingly. "Logan just startled us…"

While she held the blanket close, the woman looked at the growling Wolverine for a moment, before her attention was on them again. "I'm not Jean and he's not Logan, you fool!" she snarled and narrowed her eyes to emphasis her dislike of hearing both names.

"We know…," Ororo replied and got up with Peter's help.

"Really?! Strange that I just heard different ones," Phoenix hissed and got off the bed, while Wolverine went into a deep crouch and extracted his claws with an angry roar.

"We go, okay? Just calm down!" the weather goddess quickly said and gave the others a sign to leave the room. "Everything's fine… We leave!"

"Good girl!" Phoenix mocked and waited for them to be gone, before she went back to the bed. "You know…," she said and Wolverine turned his head when he heard his female speaking to him. "I think it would be a bit more fun if we teach them a lesson…" Saying this, she summoned the tray flying over to her and began to prepare the food for Jamie. "Those pathetic fools treat us like animals and think they're something better," she went on and he stopped right at her feet and looked at her attentively. "How about having some fun?" she asked him and he tilted his head a bit.

* * *

Upstairs in the rec-room most X-Men were gathered on the sofa and waited for the children to finish watching their Animes on TV, as the screen began to flicker first and suddenly went out together with all lights in the mansion. "What's that?" Ororo asked panicky. "Another attack?!" 

"Where're mommy and daddy?" Rachel cried and held onto her Godfather's leg scared.

"They're still in the basement, Hank replied and pulled her onto his leg. "Don't worry, they're fine, but they still have to take care of your younger brother."

"We should lock the school down," Scott suggested and got up, as Charles Xavier wheeled into the room.

"It's not another attack, Scott," he soothed them.

"But?" Kurt asked, holding his children close.

Sighing, the Professor ran a hand through his face. "It's Phoenix. She demands to be released voluntarily by us or she threatens to release the Wolverine…"

"Is Jean crazy?" Moira asked and got up from the sofa.

"It's not Jean, Moira, and that's the problem," the man replied calmly. "As far as I can tell, even if she blocks me out, both negatives suppress Logan and Jean completely. They refuse to let them take control again."

"We have to stop them," Scott said determined to do something. "If she releases Wolverine, he will turn us all into ground meat."

"I know…," the Professor nodded as his eyes suddenly came to a halt. "Ray, can you do me a favor?" he asked with a gentle smile at the little redhead, who still clung to Hank and gave him a scared look.

* * *

"I'm sick of it," Phoenix hissed and gave the growling Wolverine a look, who had begun to pace in front of the force field. She knew he hated it to be locked up and be fed by humans like a dog. She, too, felt an incredible rage rising within her. "Darling, why don't you put on these," she began and threw the remains of his jeans at him, which he commented with a disgusted growl, "…and go out to play a bit?" she smiled. Waiting for him to pull the shredded jeans on again, Phoenix smiled once more before she forced the door open and let the force field disappear. "Have fun…," she told him and received a dark smirk from him, before he ran off. 

"_Mommy?"_

Hearing the voice of her youngest daughter in her head all of a sudden, Phoenix closed her eyes and opened them again. Green eyes looked around the cell in confusion and she turned her head when she heard footsteps becoming louder. It didn't take long and Scott arrived with Hank, Peter, James and Ororo. "Jean? Is that you?" he asked carefully.

"Yes," the redhead nodded and ran a hand through her face, just to take a closer look around. "What happened?" she asked them in confusion and looked at each of them. The last thing she remembered was that Wolverine had leapt at her. About to ask, Ororo suddenly gasped.

"Jean, where's Logan?" the woman demanded to know as she noticed that the force field was gone and the man wasn't in the cell anymore.

Thinking about it briefly, Jean's eyes widened and she gave her friends a shocked look. "Oh God…"

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Scott asked her with a more than bad feeling in his stomach. "Don't tell me she released him!"

Not thinking twice about it, the redhead jumped up, just to realize she wasn't wearing any close. "Get out!"

"What?" he asked her.

"Get out so that I can get dressed," she demanded and pushed them over to the door. As soon as they were gone, she grabbed her clothing from the ground and took her son afterwards who had watched her. "Come on sweetheart," she said calmly and walked over to the door. "Let's find daddy before he does something really stupid…"

Upstairs she ran into Charles, who was just about to come down to the basement. "Thank God it's you," he said in relief as she handed him the baby.

Seeing his confused look, Jean began to walk backwards. "Watch over him! I have to find Logan!"

"Don't tell me he's…," the man gasped, but the look she gave him spoke volumes. "I tell the others to be careful!"

In another corridor, Hank checked his tranquilizer gun again before he turned to the others. "If you see him, shoot as often as you can," he warned them. "Even if we manage to tranquilize him, it won't last long. The substance is too weak for his healing factor and I doubt that we will even manage to make him drop to the ground at all. As soon as he begins to feel dizzy or stumbles a bit, I want everyone of you to jump at him and try to bring him down! Do you understand that?" he asked and the others nodded. "Then let's go!"

Together they began to walk through the endless corridors and gave each corner and dark spots an attentive look, but Wolverine was nowhere to be seen. After they'd spent minutes of searching for him, they ran into the other two groups downstairs in the foyer. "And?" Scott asked, but Hank shook his head. "Damn it…"

"Maybe he isn't inside at all anymore," Kitty suggested. "What if he's in the wood or garden?"

"No, Jean picked up on him and said he was still inside," Scott replied. "But he's moving to quick for her to locate him." He took a look around and suddenly stiffened. Noticing it, Hank and the others gave him a confused look, but he gave him a sign to remain quiet and searched his pockets for a pen. Finding one, he used it to write something on his hand, which he showed at the others, who read: _Balcony over my right shoulder_

Looking up briefly, Hank could see how two tiny dots were fixed on them and he gave him a brief nod, just to tighten the grip on his gun. Scott in the meanwhile contacted Jean and the Professor mentally, before he gave his friends a sign to shoot at three. With his fingers he began to count from three backwards. As soon as his hand resembled a fist, he turned quickly around and all of them began to shoot at the balcony under the ceiling. A loud, angry roar echoed through the hall and a shadow jumped from the spot they were shooting at, at the curtains and used his claws to slow down his fall. Reaching the ground, Wolverine growled at them angrily and felt even more pissed when darts hit his chest. He gave them a brief look before his pitch black eyes glared at the group in front of him; his mind telling him that man hurt him again and that man probably would hurt him even more when they got their hands on him. He wouldn't let it happen. Roaring, he jumped at Scott with his claws, who couldn't change it but used his blast. Missing the furious mutant, he was grabbed roughly and slammed into Peter and Hank the next second, while the younger X-women began to back off. Peter, on the contrary had quickly turned into his organic form and jumped at the angry beast in front of him. He managed to knock Wolverine to the ground but didn't reckon with the mutant grabbing his throat next and throwing him off him. Roaring once more in anger, Wolverine fixed his eyes on the women.

"Don't hurt us, Wolvie," Jubilee stuttered and backed off. "See? I don't want to hurt you!" she added and threw her gun quickly away, but it only earned her a deep growl.

"Touch me…," Kitty said and held out her arms while her eyes were fixed on her team leader. "Come on, quickly!" Not waiting for them to do so, she grabbed Jubilee's arm as Wolverine leapt at them. Angrily he hit the ground, since the girl's had phased through the ground.

Switching his head to the other side again, he saw how the man without eyes, the big furry blue beast and the man in silver got up again, just to hear others approaching from the stairs and the corridor behind him. Wolverine didn't understand why a beast worked with man, who wanted to hurt him. He only wanted to find his mate and cubs and protect them from those evil men.

"Logan!" Jean called behind him and he turned with a hopeful look on his eyes, just to narrow them n the next second. He realized it wasn't his mate, only half of her and he began to dislike her even more when he noticed that his cub wasn't with her. Growling at her, he went into a deep crouch and extracted his claws again.

"You alright?" James asked Scott and the others after he'd descended the stairs with Narya and Heather. "You've obviously found him."

"Better say he found us," Scott snorted and watched how Wolverine was encircled by them. He could only escape if he broke right through them or jumped through the window on his left.

"Logan, push him back," Jean pleaded and came slowly closer, her eyes never leaving his angry black ones. "Please, I don't want to hurt you." She stopped when he went into an even deeper crouch and bared his teeth at her.

"What's he doing?" Hank asked Scott calmly. "Jean said that Wolverine doesn't care if she's herself or Phoenix…"

"Obviously he's changed his mind…," the other man replied and touch his glasses to be ready to pull them off if necessary.

He watched how the redhead stopped in front of him, in a safe distance, but still he didn't even think about stopping. His eyes briefly switched to the bald man next to her in this strange looking chair that made him float over the ground. "Logan, listen to me," Jean began and instantly his eyes were back on her. "Try to calm down. Everything's fine. Jamie's fine for now, too, so please… Put him back into the cage." Hearing the last word, Wolverine leapt at her with an angry roar and was sent against the wall next by her. "Stop it, please!" she begged but he quickly shook his head to get rid of the dizziness and she knew that attacking him like that was making him madder than before. Realizing that he began to jump again, she used her powers and sent him flying through the closed window and against a tree in the garden. Biting her lip hard and hating herself for hurting him, Jean quickly ran over to the window and looked out, hearing how the others stopped behind her.

"Come on, quickly!" Scott said and beckoned them to follow him to the first floor and out of the backdoor into the garden. He gave them a sign to stop, since Wolverine began to move again and stumbled to his own two feet. "Logan?" he tried but the growl he received as an answer told him that it was still the furious beast. "Damn it…"

They watched how Wolverine turned around to them first and was about to start another attack, when he paused and raised his head sniffing. "What's he doing now?" Kurt asked and watched how the mutant began to walk a few steps, looked around the ground, walked back, sniffed and raised his head to a spot on the roof.

"He's picking up on something," Jean said and looked at the same spot on the roof, as Wolverine suddenly roared and jumped at the snow covered tree first and above them against the wall, where he pulled himself upwards and climbed onto the roof.

"What is he doing?!" Scott asked, thinking that the whole situation was ridiculous.

"Maybe it's a bird and he's hungry…," Bobby mumbled and earned a look from anyone else. "What?!" he asked with a shrug. "In his survival classes Logan taught us how to catch birds and other animals if we ran out of food. So why not?" he asked, as Wolverine suddenly landed on the ground with a whimper. "Okay….so much to bird…," he added and went into an attacking position, as all others, to prepare himself for any attack from the roof.

They heard a strange noise from above, while a more than pissed Wolverine leapt at the wall again, just to be hit by some strange looking, white threads that quickly became more and began to cover him. "What's that?" Jubilee asked as she arrived with Kitty behind her and together with the others they watched how Wolverine dropped to the ground, where he tried to get rid of the white stuff in another fit of fury.

"It looks like…," Hank began and dared to come a bit closer. "Threads from a spider…"

"Must be a big spider," Ororo mocked and shook her head with her typical _you're out of your mind_-look, as there was another noise and a shadow appeared on the windows.

"Be cool, man," someone said and they exchanged a look with widened eyes, as a figure, covered in a red-blue dress with a spider emblem on his chest, let himself down from the roof on another white thread. It wouldn't have surprised them so much if the figure hadn't done this with the head down first. "Is that your way of saying Hi lately?" they heard him asking.

Roaring, Wolverine used his claws to cut through the threads and leapt at the man again, as he was hit by a stick next and landed in the snow with a whimper. "Well, you know that he always does this, don't you, Logan?" the man in the red and blue dress asked and evaded Wolverine's attack.

"Is he gluing on the wall?!" Bobby asked with a frown, since the weird man held onto the wall as if it was nothing. "How does he do that?!"

"You….are…so…stupid!" Jubilee groaned and all eyes turned to her. "When was the last time you've been to NYC, eh?"

"Enlighten us, Ms Know it all," Scott grunted, while the weird man had fun to evade Wolverine's attacks by jumping from one spot on the wall to the other, or lifting himself up and down right above the furious man's head with his threads. "If he keeps on doing that…," he mumbled and shook his head.

"Never heard of Spiderman?!" Jubilee asked, ignoring Wolverine's angry roars. "Jeez, you guys are really dumb!"

"Jean, if I were you I'd do something to stop Logan or we really have a problem here soon," James said with a look at the raging mutant in front of them. "Can't you use your powers to…," he began when he was cut of by Jean.

"Wolverine?" she said aloud and managed that the man turned his head briefly, just to see her eyes glow fiery. "Sleep!" she demanded and the others watched how he just dropped to the ground.

"Oookaayy…," James nodded impressed. "Sorry if I say that but…you're scary! Really! No offence!"

"Who are you?" the redhead demanded to know next and stepped a bit closer to eye the weird looking man in the costume, who had let himself down right above the unconscious Wolverine.

"You don't know me?" he asked her in surprise and she could tell he sounded a bit hurt. "Well, never mind," he added and let go of the threads in his hands to jump in to the snow. "Logan called me and said he needed to talk with me about something important. And if he calls...then it must really be important, you know. Because Logan is rather the…," he began and shrugged while he looked for the right words. "Well, the here I am, no questions allowed, do what I want or I'll gut you type of guy, so I thought it was better to follow his call, because I don't really want him standing next to my bed at night all of a sudden. Could be kinda scary, you know?"

Sighing, Jean ran a hand through her face and froze him with her powers. "Just your name, please!" she begged and let go of him again.

Raising both hands in defeat and noticing that the others were coming closer, the man briefly looked at the roof. "Very nice to let me face those angry looking guys here. Thanks, pal!" he complained.

"Your name!" Jean said again and kneeled down to check on Wolverine, hoping that he wasn't hurt too much. By the way he was shivering due to the snow and his bare chest, she could tell that he was too far gone to realize it at all.

"Spiderman, nice to meet you!" the man said and she gave him a raised eyebrow.

"Spiderman?!" Scott asked before she could say anything at all. "That's a name?!" he added and received a hard nudge into his side by Jubilee, accompanied by a glare. "Never mind…"

"And who's on the roof?" Hank asked next with a nod at the spot the man had spoken to first.

"Oh, that's the Devil," Spiderman shrugged. "He's this brooding, mean looking guy from the kitchen, but never mind this part actually sounds more like the Wolverine, so…"

Sighing again, Jean shook her head. "Scott, would you bring him inside please?" she asked with a nod at Logan.

"I'm not going to touch him until I know that it's really him," this one instantly said. "I don't want to be cut to pie…," he added as they heard a groan from the ground.

"Woops, he's waking up," Spiderman remarked and quickly used his powers to pull himself out of reach of any metallic claws.

"Logan?" Jean asked and kneeled down again, ignoring Scott's warning. She stroked the snow out of the damp hair and watched how he slowly raised his head. "Hey…"

Frowning, while he pulled himself slowly up, Logan gave his surroundings a look just to hiss in the next second and clutch his head. "Damn…," he cursed through gritted teeth and lowered himself to the ground again.

"No roars or growls, so he's normal," Scott remarked and dared to come closer a bit. "As long as this can be said about him…"

"Headache?" Jean asked worriedly and laid a hand onto his cold back. "You need to get inside, you're freezing cold."

"Why am I laying in the snow?" Logan asked her with a frown, still holding his throbbing head.

"I don't know but it was fun playing with you, pal," he heard a voice above his head and cursed when he raised his head too quickly. "You know, you should watch it. I was hit on the head hard once by this Green Goblin and I can tell you that…"

"Shut up, Pete!" Logan snapped with an annoyed growl and got up with the help of Jean. "What are ya doin' here anyway?"

"You called me remember?" Spiderman asked and landed on his two feet right next to him. "Wow!"

"What?" Logan growled with a glare.

"I haven't seen you in what? 13 years and you still look like a drowned dog," the man continued, earning a growl from his opposite. "And is that actually a first wrinkle I see there?" Spiderman asked and pointed at Logan's forehead, whereas this one extracted one pair of claws. "Hey that was a joke!" the younger man quickly said. "The wrinkle part I mean…"

"Shut up!" Logan hissed, still trying to get rid of the headache. "And tell Murdock to come down where I can see him," he added growling.

"Well…if I were you, I would want him to stay where he is now," Spiderman said.

"Why?" Jean asked while she supported her husband a bit.

"Well, let's say Matt's still pissed because of him steeling his girl, you know?" the man shrugged and earned a cocked eyebrow from Logan. "What? It's true! And don't seize me up for a coffin and blame me for your headache, pal! It was him that hit you with his stick."

"Guys!" Scott said and raised both hands to get attention. "Would you mind and stop this? I really want to go back inside, okay? So come on!" Beginning to move, he heard a hollow _thud_ behind him, accompanied by a shriek of Jean and saw how Logan was pressed down onto the ground by a man, who was dressed in a tight fitting dark red leather costume that also covered his eyes and had two devil-like horns on the head. "What the…?" he asked and was about to intervene when the man pulled Logan roughly closer.

"Hi Logan," Daredevil hissed and tightened his grip on the other man's throat. "Nice to see you again," he added through gritted teeth and raised his weapon above his head full of hatred to hit the man underneath him with it in the next second…

**Okay, this chapter turned out to be more than different from what I actually wanted to write. LOL This chapter was supposed to include the Christmas scene I had pre-written month ago and also the other scenes that are ****lying next to me right now. Well, then you can expect them to be in the next chapter. ; ) And with another mean cliffie again. LOL Just don't hate me, but I think you will hate me a lot in the next chapters. Just a thought… Anyway, I hope you guys review. I always love to read what you think!! See ya!!! **


	12. Chapter 12

**Author's not****e: I didn't use Tobey Maguire's age for Spiderman's! I used the date that is printed on the Spiderman 1 DVD and thought, since he is still going to high school there that he's 18. So, since the sequel plays 2015, I calculated his age from that perspective. Same goes for Daredevil. Nevertheless, the way I portray their characters here, are taken from the Ultimate X-Men universe and the comic book…I think it was book 7 "Blockbuster" in which Logan interacts with them.**

**When it comes to The X-Men and their age, I used the data that was given in the three books to the movies. **

**Chan****ges Sequel – II. Covenant Part 12**

After the X-Men had managed to calm the two angry men, who would have loved to obviously kill each other instantly, they now sat in the kitchen together. Their two new guests on one side of the counter, the X-Men and Alpha Flight Team around it, while Logan leant with his arms crossed against the fridge and glared at Daredevil. He knew they hadn't really left as friends the last time their way had crossed, but that the man was still so angry with him, was a miracle to him. "So…," Scott began and looked to and fro between them. "When I got this right, Logan has called the two of you for help?"

"Yeah, that's right," Spiderman nodded and gave each of them a look through his mask.

"You can pull that one off. No one will tell anyone about ya," Logan grunted and nodded at his opposite's head.

"Well, it's habit, you know?" Spiderman replied and tucked on his mask to pull it off his head, which caused Jubilee to shriek. "What?!" he asked her confused and noticed the odd look.

"You… Oh my God!" the young woman stuttered. "I thought…well…"

"Thought what?!" he asked her with a frown.

"Well…you know…," she went on. "That you're older…"

Looking at her first, before he gave each of them a look, Spiderman shrugged. "Well…I'm 31, that's old, isn't it?" he asked and saw how Logan still cooled the back of his head. "Remember, don't blame me for that!" he said reminded him one more, but received a low grunt only.

Seeing how Logan still had his brows furrowed and didn't stand straight like he usually did, Jean went over to check on his head. "Does it still hurt?" she asked a bit worried and was relieved to see that the bleeding had finally stopped.

"You've no idea…," he growled with a brief glare.

"I'm sorry, but there was no other way to stop you," she apologized and carefully stroked over the remains of a bump on the back of his head.

"I don't even know what I did," he grunted and turned the ice pack around to use the cooler side of it. "Or how I ended up in the snow…"

"Good for you," Hank said and crossed his arms. "It wasn't you, we know that, but you're really scary if he has full control over you…"

"Oh really?" Logan mocked with a glare and pulled a stool closer to sit down on it, using the back of it to rest his elbow on it and lean his head into his hand. He hated headache, especially throbbing ones like he had now. It felt as if his head was torn into two.

"What do you want?" Daredevil cut them off, but addressed Logan, and pulled his mask down, causing everyone to gasp when they saw his eyes. He searched his pockets for his glasses and put them on. "Why did you call?"

"You sounded urgent but since you didn't say anything precisely, I didn't know what to tell him," Spiderman shrugged and crossed his arms. "It was hard enough to convince him at all, you know."

"That's the reason why I want to know what he wants, otherwise I'm gone within the next minute," Daredevil hissed and heaved a deep breath. "So?"

"You're still pissed, ain't ya?" Logan asked him with a frown.

"No, I'm not," his opposite said and gave him a cynical smile. "I mean every man likes it when one of his friend's steels his girl away. So why should I be pissed, Logan?!"

"God," Logan groaned and rolled his eyes, ignoring the looks his team gave him. "How long ago was that, eh? The last time we met was when? 1996 or something?" he asked him slightly angered.

"1997," Daredevil corrected him. "In July to be more precisely."

"So what?!" Logan asked.

"So, I want to know what it's so important that I had to come here, or I'll go," his opposite replied and got up.

Shaking his head with a sigh, Logan threw the ice pack onto the counter and checked the bump on the back of his head again. Thankfully his healing factor was taking care of it now. "What about Reed and his team?" he asked, which earned him a loud sigh from Daredevil, who turned around. "Hey, it was just a question, okay?"

"I want an answer and no question!" the man gave back.

"Guys," Spiderman intervened and laid a hand on Daredevil's shoulder. "I know the two of you hate your guts lately, but come on… Sit down, talk and everything will be cool, okay?" Looking to and fro between them and seeing that both exchanged glares he sighed. "Or not cool, but at least we talked about it." Turning to Logan he crossed his arms again. "Reed and his group had still something to do in NYC, but actually they said they wanted to come," he told him and Logan nodded.

"Who's Reed and his group?" Scott asked since there were already too many new faces for his liking.

"You'll see," Logan growled without looking at him. "Ever heard about Sinister?"

"Mr. Sinister?" Daredevil asked.

"Yeah…"

"This crazy, weird looking scientist who could need a sunbath?" Spiderman asked. "Man, that guy is scary…"

"So you've seen him?" Ororo asked alarmed but he shook his head. "Would have been too good to be true.

"As far as I know he was behind the disappearance of some mutants a few years ago," Daredevil said. "But no one of us has ever seen him before. Only on tapes, but…"

"So he sent a tape to you, too?" Logan asked with furrowed brows.

"I'm not talking to you right now, Logan, but to her," the man snapped and pointed at Ororo in the corner. The woman was surprised about this.

"But…aren't you blind?" she asked him carefully.

"He has sonar senses," Spiderman explained. "So he sees through noises."

"Thanks, my voice actually works," Daredevil says and Spiderman raised both hands in defeat.

"Hey, he's the guy who stole your girl not me, okay? So…fight with him!"

Rolling his eyes again, Logan leant back against the fridge while he still sat on his stool. "Is it enough when I say that I'm sorry and that I shouldn't have done it?" he asked rather bored.

"No, it's not!"

"As I thought," he nodded. "So can we put the nursery behind us and talk like grown ups now?!"

About to say something, Daredevil turned his head when there was a knock on the window behind him. Moving over Hank opened the door and let the woman inside who smiled at him thankfully. "I told you to stay at home," Daredevil said.

"And I said that I want to help, too, if there's something going on," the woman with the long brown hair and brown eyes said, before she walked over to Logan, who smirked at her, and hugged him. "Hey, Logan," she smiled. "Long time not seen."

"True," he smirked and let go of her. "Elektra, Matt's girl," he told the others briefly and she waved at them.

"So, what's going on?" she asked and crossed her arms while she remained next to him.

"Sinister," Spiderman told her and she nodded.

"Heard of him before?" Logan asked and she nodded again. "But never seen him right?"

"No one has as far as I know," she told him.

"As I thought."

"What do you guys have on mind?" Spiderman asked and looked at all of them again.

"Ask Logan," Scott said. "He has obviously done everything secretly again…" Showing his displeasure openly, he noticed Daredevil's smirk.

"Isn't that always the case?" the man said and Logan groaned.

"Actually, yes," Scott nodded.

"Wow," Logan snapped back. "The two of you are already an item, hm?"

"Logan," Jean warned and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Just ignore it."

"You're girl?" Daredevil asked and nodded at her. "Would you mind coming closer a bit?" Doing it with a frown he took his stick and tapped it against the counter, eyeing what he saw from her closely. "As I thought… You really married him?" he asked her and shook his head.

"You don't know him," Jean gave back and joined her husband's side again. "You can't compare the person he was back then with the person he's now."

"As if he would change," he gave back. "What about Sinister?"

"All we know is that he has joined forces with Apocalypse," James explained and received a nod from the new guests.

"Apocalypse plan is to get rid of all humans and take over the world, as far as we know," Ororo went on. "He doesn't have an army as it seems but he gathers four mutants around him that serve him…"

"The four horsemen, I know," Daredevil nodded.

"Horsemen?" Spiderman asked. "Horsemen like men on horses?!"

"They have no horses," Logan said and gave him a cocked eyebrow.

"Well, the Sandman has sand, too, the Green Goblin was green, so why not?" he shrugged and Logan sighed in frustration.

"Who are those four mutants?" Elektra asked into the round. "Do you know them?"

"All we know is that Sabretooth is one of them," Scott told them. "Then an unidentified man and…," he broke of to give Logan a look, unsure what to say. "His son."

"Son?!" Spiderman asked and also Elektra and Daredevil had turned their heads. "You have a son?"

"It's not what ya think," Logan snapped.

"And the fourth one?" Daredevil asked after a moment. "I heared about three so far."

"I was the fourth one," Logan replied and earned a look. "I don't know if he has found a replacement so far or not. We also don't know where they're hidin', what they're up to next, if they have a hidden army… We practically don't know anythin' at all. I contacted ya because we think it's wise to build an army of our own. To contact as many mutants and groups as possible, so that we have a force to strike back if that madman starts an attack."

Eyeing him in silence for a while, Daredevil tilted his head a bit, before he nodded at Logan. "What makes you think," he addressed the group. "…that he's not under Apocalypse's or Sinister's control anymore?"

"What?" Logan asked. "Are ya kiddin' now?"

"No, I'm not," the man replied calmly. "I've heard of him before and as far as I know, no one managed before to get free of his brainwashing. So maybe…he sent you to make us believe that you're your old self, wants you to gather enough groups and lure them to specific places, before he attacks us and kills us all. Without us to protect weaker mutants or humans, he has full reign over others and no one against him who fights back…"

Still cocking an eyebrow at him, the others looked at Logan for a while. "He has a point here," Scott said.

"Of course it's you who says it," Ororo snapped. "This is bullshit. Jean has been there, she has fought against him and Apocalypse and she has seen that Logan had freed himself from the brainwashing. He's normal…"

"Well, then what did he," Daredevil said and pointed at Hank, "…said before about Logan being scary if he's controlled by him?"

"That was about something else," Logan defended himself.

"About what?"

"Nothing of your concern," he growled.

"You want my help, Logan, so I want to know it," Daredevil gave back. "Because I don't want to end up dead just because you were send to fool us. What was he talking about?"

"Sorry to say this," Spiderman shrugged, "But he has a point here. You attacked us on the roof without us doing anything." Giving Logan an apologetic look, he shrugged.

This one exchanged a look with Jean. They both had agreed on the less people knew about their children, the better, so he refused to tell them the truth. On the other hand he knew that they depended on their help. Seeing how the redhead nodded, he gave a sigh. "If I run into any person, who knows about what I'm gonna tell ya now and this person wasn't with us here in this room, I'm gonna gut ya, pal, understood?" he asked in a menacingly low voice and glared at them.

"My lips are sealed," Spiderman shrugged.

"Shoot," Daredevil demanded and crossed his arms again.

Rubbing his eyes briefly with one hand, Logan looked for any possible way to explain it. Trying it, he noticed the surprised looks of Elektra and Spiderman that didn't even vanish when he finished. "So she was the mutant, who opened hell on Alcatraz," Elektra nodded and gave Jean a look. "Heard about it."

"Why is he interested in the boy?" Daredevil asked.

"With the two of them as his parents the boy is incredibly strong already," Hank explained calmly. "Apocalypse wants his powers."

Shaking his head and running a hand through his hair, Daredevil lowered his head briefly. "Knowing that both of you could create a mutant that is so strong, why did you risk ending all of our lives by getting it?!" he asked and looked up.

"Now stop it, bub," Logan snapped and got up. "Leave my kid outta it!"

"Well, as far as I understood it," his opposite went on. "This is all about him wanting your child, Logan, correct me if I'm wrong."

"Matt," Elektra intervened. "It could have also happened without him having this baby. You can't blame Logan for what is going on. We need to think about how to stop him and go back home, informing other groups to prepare for an attack and keep their eyes open."

"At least you get it," Logan growled and leant back and she smiled.

"I'll go and meet with Reed and his group," Spiderman offered. "What about Frank and Johnny? Did you contact them, too?"

"Frank ain't a mutant," Logan shook his head. "It's too risky for him…"

"But he's good and knows what he's doing," the other man shrugged. "I heard he was in NYC. I could try finding him."

Thinking about it for a moment, Logan finally nodded. "'kay, he must know what he's doing…"

"Hey," Scott intervened. "Is it just me who has no one an idea about whom you guys are talking?! Does anyone know who Johnny, Reed or…what was his name again? Who are those people?"

"Let me introduce our paranoid Boyscout," Logan grunted with a nod at him. "He even thinks a monster's under his bed." Seeing how Scott's jaw twitched he smirked. At least Mystique was grinning. "Johnny is Jonathan Blake aka Ghost Rider, Frank means Francis Castiglione aka The Punisher and Reed and his group means Reed Richards, Susan and Johnny Storm and Ben Grimm aka The Fantastic Four. Satisfied or do I have to hold ya at night until ya sleep?" he mocked. "And no, they ain't no government guys," Logan added before Scott could ask. "So ya don't have to worry that they put ya into a funny farm. Even if ya belong there in my opinion."

"Shut up, Logan!" Scott snapped and was hold back by Hank.

"So, ya in or not?" Logan asked Elektra and the two others.

"Hey, my girl's making me a father soon, so of course I'm in," Spiderman shrugged.

"Same here," Elektra nodded with a smile. "Matt?" she asked the brooding Daredevil, who was still eyeing Logan.

"This has nothing to do with what happened years ago, Matt," Logan reminded him. "This is about war and that a madman plans to destroy us. So are ya in or not?" he asked and waited for the man's reply, just to watch how Daredevil got up and walked over to the door. "I can't say more that I'm sorry and that it was a mistake, okay? And besides, sorry, darlin' if I say that now," he said towards Elektra, "…but she came to me. Put your pride aside for a second, will ya?"

"I'm in, but I don't want to see you in my kitchen ever again!" Daredevil replied with a look.

"His kitchen?!" Jubilee asked confused. "What do you mean? Why was Wolvie in your kitchen? Is he cooking there secretly?" she asked and Spiderman and Elektra burst out into laughter. "What? I mean he's a guy and Wolvie is a guy… Do you have to tell us anything, Wolvie?" she asked and frowned since her idol was only cocking an eyebrow at her. "You're not… I mean…you know…"

"Shut up, Jubes!" he snapped with a growl.

"Why? He said you were in his kitchen, what else should I think than you and him…," she defended herself, when Spiderman waved off.

"Never mind," he laughed. "I like this girl! The kitchen is practically his place in NYC. But…," he looked from Logan to his best superhero buddy. "…imagining them living together… Just great!" He laughed again and patted Matt's shoulder. "Come on, let's go back." He and Matt put their mask on again and Elektra joined them after hugging Logan. "See you around guys. We stay in contact!" he said and left with them.

Stretching, James gave Logan a smirk. "I told you your womanizer image was true and will get back to you one day, pal." Laying an arm around his wife, he gave her a kiss on the cheek. "How about going to sleep?"

"Good idea," Heather nodded. "Night everyone!" Joined by Narya they left and the X-Men thought about everything for a while.

"He knows Spiderman!" Jubilee suddenly cried and everyone looked up. "You are so mean, Wolvie! You could have told me!"

"And then what?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow. "Ya would have tried Spider on ice?"

Earning a look from her, Logan shrugged and she noticed Bobby's look.

"And could someone finally tell me what I did?" Logan asked into the round. "Or what we did?"

"Good question," Jean nodded. "The last thing I know is that you leapt at me in the cell…"

"I leapt at ya?" he asked confused and she nodded. "Why?!"

"I don't know, but Wolverine was not happy to see me."

"Well…," Ororo began with a look at Jean. "I hope you use your nice pills again."

Frowning, while also Logan leant forward on his stool to have a look on the weather goddess, Jean gave her a confused look. "Why…?" she asked carefully.

"Let's say…your negatives had some…fun?" Ororo concluded and noticed that both were staring at her in disbelief. "Why else do you think your clothes were on the floor and he's half naked?" She nodded at Logan who still wore his shredded Jean's only.

"You're kiddin' right?" he asked her.

"No, I'm not. But don't worry, Phoenix took care of the cameras." Hiding her giggle, Ororo linked arms with Kurt. "We're off, too. Good night!"

"She's kiddin'," Logan said again, but also Scott and Hank shook their heads. "Fuck!" he cursed and buried his hands in his hair. "God, I hate him!"

"Other than that, Phoenix threatened us to release both of you, or she would release the Wolverine, which she did after cutting us off from electricity," Hank went on and Jean closed her eyes with a sigh. "Well, Ray managed to pull Jean back instantly, but Wolverine was running through the corridors and we had to hunt you. He was pissed because of it, since we tried to tranquilize you, but in the end we managed to encircle you. Jean then tried to talk to you, but…"

"But what? Logan asked and looked from him to Jean and back. "What did he do?!"

"You attacked her," Scott said. "Or he attacked her if you like that better."

Frowning, Logan closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. "Why?!"

"I don't know," Jean shrugged. "Wolverine attacked me twice, so I had to throw you against the wall first and then out of the window where you hit a tree. Wolverine refused to step back until I forced your mind to put you to sleep… But I don't know why he attacked me."

"Was Jamie with ya?" he asked and she shook her head. "Then you have the reason. He must have thought you did something to his cub and helped them hurting him." Shaking his head, he got off his tool. "Well, I'm done for today," he added and buried his hands in the remains of his jeans. "Night." Followed by Jean he got upstairs, where he stopped her in front of their door. "Your not mad or somethin' now, ain't ya?" he asked carefully.

"No," Jean replied and wrapped her arms around herself. "I already guessed that it must have been a girl. At least you have a good taste," she added with a look that spoke volumes.

"I'm sorry, but…," he shrugged. "That was years before we actually met. And I didn't hit on her, she came to me…"

"Still it was your mistake," she scolded him and he nodded.

"I know… At least they're helping us." Opening the door quietly, he closed them behind them. "And now let's check on the cubs and go to bed or I'll drop to the ground." Seeing that she was about to enter Jamie's room, Logan grabbed her hand quickly. "Am I right that I'll wake up tomorrow and our rooms were turned into Santa's cavern again?"

"Actually, yes," Jean replied ironically. "It's what you do on Christmas, you know?"

"Then do me a favor and no scented candles this time, okay?" he begged her. "You don't know what you're doin' to me and the kids with it…"

"I threw them away last year, Logan," she laughed. "Don't worry about that!"

"Good!" he nodded and kissed her. "And, uhm…" he nodded at her belly. "You're on birth control again, right?"

Seeing his slightly scared look, she nodded. "Don't worry about that," Jean soothed him and wrapped her arms around his neck. "We're safe. At least she switched the cameras off…"

Chuckling he kissed her again. "If not, I think Scooter would have fainted."

"Not only he would," Jean replied and let go of him. "I can' believe they did that…"

"Now c'mon. I'm tired," he said and took her hand to lead the way into Jamie's room first. Seeing that the boy was deeply asleep and, as a scan of his mind told them, wasn't looking for his parents anymore, they went over to check on Rachel and Laura and on the twins afterwards, before they finally dropped into bed.

* * *

It's Christmas evening and everyone was gathered in the decorated great hall again. Logan, who stood next to the Alpha Flight team and talked with them, had been right and his rooms had been turned into Santa's carven over night. And once more, he'd slept so deeply that he hadn't noticed it. It was a miracle to him that he slept so well now, while in the past the tiniest noise had woken him. He kept on switching his attention to the door and waited for Jean to finally come down and join him. Every other woman was with her man, except his wife and by now he really became impatient, as Heather suddenly touched his shoulder. "My dear Logan," she smiled and nodded. "I must say I'm impressed."

Hearing it, he cocked an eyebrow at her. "It would have been worth coming only to see you wearing a tux," Narya added and he understood that they were referring to him wearing black pants, a black buttoned shirt and black jacket over it. He still hated wearing such stuff and "accidentally" forgot about the tie each year, but since Charles liked the dress code for Christmas and New Year, he did it.

"It's a pity that the others can't see you now," James grinned.

"Hey, don't even dare to mess up my rep in Canada, too," Logan warned him with a growl, but the man laughed.

"You don't really believe that we can keep your bad boy rep up if Puck and the others get to know about you having a family!" he said.

Giving him a glare, Logan pocked him with his finger into the chest. "Don't forget, I know where ya live, bub!"

"Better turn around and stare at your gorgeous looking wife!" Heather winked and watched how his opposite did so.

"You should have added, don't start drooling!" James corrected her, since he'd soon Logan's smirk and wrapped an arm around her.

"You spent too much time with Jubilee, James!" Narya sighed and crossed her arms.

Jean smiled and wrapped an arm around Logan's neck who pulled her close to kiss her. "Sorry that it took so long," she apologized but he smirked and eyed her in the tight black dress from head to toe.

"Well, the result was worth waitin'…," he purred and received a gently slap onto his chest.

"You old charmer!"

Chuckling, he pulled her close again to kiss her shoulder and neck. "Ya look breathtakin', gorgeous," he whispered and felt her shuddering slightly.

"See? That's what I mean!" Jean gave back. "But you don't look half that bad either, hon. And I see you've forgotten where you've put your tie again, which hung right next to your black shirt, but never mind…," she added and gave him a knowing look.

"Did it?" Logan asked innocently, but she only smiled and took his hand to walk over to the others.

While the adults were mostly talking with each other, TJ and Isa played catch with the twins, Rachel and Laura, while Alex and Tommy explored the room by crawling over the ground. Rogue sat on a chair with Remy next to her and smiled down on Jean-Luc, being closely watched by Jubilee, who had to ask Kitty and Peter when they would see a small version of them. Hearing it, Peter nearly choked on his coke and Kitty, while patting his back, glared at her friend for this question. Charles sat next to Moira and Hank with Jamie on his lap. The boy enjoyed playing with grandpa's dark blue tie. Smiling at him, while she had her arms linked with Hank, she nodded at the boy. "Isn't it strange that since he shows his first powers, he isn't the sleepy-head he was before anymore?" she asked.

"Yes, he almost already has his father's agility by now," Hank nodded and received a look.

"Stop making fun out of me!" Moira scolded him playfully, but he laughed just to wrap both arms around her waist to pull her closer with a smile. "You know I would never do this, my dear."

"Well, I think if he's as bright as his siblings, we can be assured that they'll turn the school into their personal racetrack," Charles said when the children ran past them laughing.

"Don't forget it will be primarily the girls chasing after him," Moira giggled.

Hank, who watched how Isa and TJ had caught Jack and were pulling on him, nodded. "How true," he commented the scene. "Who of them will marry him, what do you think?"

"I'd rather say they'll have a cat fight first," she replied and nodded into the direction of the three children again. The two men saw how Isa had grabbed one arm of Jack, while TJ held the other.

"I think you're right, Moira," Charles smiled and looked up.

"And I think someone needs a new diaper," Logan said and took the boy from the Professor, of course not without hearing the loud protest of the child.

"Tells you your nose before he actually starts crying, hm?" Moira asked and Logan nodded.

"Yep, and if he doesn't get the tie back soon, he'll start a helluva here anyway," he replied with a look on his son, who began to pull a face. "Right, pum'kin?"

"Well, daddy, then hurry up!" she smiled.

Seeing how the boy tried to pull an even unhappier face, Logan groaned. "Yeah, yeah, I'll hurry up and ya can go on playin' with grandpa's tie then," he said and turned around. "Bellyacher…"

Nudging Moira softly, Hank nodded at the three children again. "What did you say about a catfight again?" he asked and she giggled, since the girls were arguing with each other.

"They start early with it," she said and shook her head. "Poor boy…"

"He likes me more!" TJ shot back and put her hands to her hip.

"He doesn't!" Isa protested and looked at her angrily. "He talks to me more than with you!"

"But he plays more games with me than with you, so I'm his best friend," the other girl replied a bit louder.

"Not true!" Isa shot back and crossed her arms. Not noticing that Jack has slowly sneaked away and was hiding behind the tree.

"What's wrong there?" Narya asked and nodded at the scenery.

With a short look at them, Jean rolled her eyes. "Their casual fight about who's my son's girlfriend," she explained.

"He's like his daddy, isn't he?" James smiled and she nodded.

"Oh yes! He's the absolute miniature version of him. But Lily, too," Jean replied. "They already want to know when they can ride a bike on their own and when they are nowhere to be found, they're usually with Logan in the garage and help him repairing a car or bike."

Heather and Narya began to giggle, while James shook his head amused as Logan came back with Jamie on his arm who sucked on the bottle eagerly. "What's so funny?" he asked.

"The little you's and that the girls are already fighting over your son," Heather explained and he turned towards the girls with a nod.

"Are they trying to kiss him again?"

"I don't know…," Jean shrugged and stroked over Jamie's soft dark hair when Logan chuckled. "You should feel sorry for your son, Logan!" she scolded him with a look, but received a wolfish grin only.

"Nah, I don't…," he shook his head with a smirk. "C'mon, pum'kin, grandpa's tie's waitin'." He left while Ororo came over and nodded into the direction of the other women in the room. "The mood between Kitty, Mystique and their men is still frosty, hm?" she asked and Jean gave them a look.

"Well from what I've heard they obviously had a real big fight yesterday. The girls prepared something and the result was that both men were too tired," the redhead explained and Ororo pulled a face.

"Ouch…"

"Oh, yeah," her best friend nodded. "In the end they pissed Logan off, too, because they fought so loud that he couldn't sleep."

"So that's why he looks so comatose today," Narya said and received a nod.

"Hey, ehm…have you seen Logan?" Scott suddenly asked and Jean asked herself where he and Peter had suddenly come from.

"He wanted to bring Jamie to Charles," she replied and looked around the room. "I don't know where he's now."

"Do you guys need an advice?" Ororo teased them with a wide grin and nudged Scott playfully.

"There he is!" Heather suddenly said and nodded into the direction of the door, where Logan approached from with a crying Alex and Tommy on his arm.

"What happened?!" Ororo asked worriedly and took her son from him, while Mystique came quickly over to take Alex.

"What's wrong?" she asked and looked into the round.

"They bumped with their heads together while playin' on the ground," Logan briefly explained and watched how the weather goddess kissed her boy, who held onto her robe crying aloud.

"Oh, sweety…," she purred and rocked him slowly back and forth in hope to soothe him.

"I thought you were watching over him?!" Mystique asked Scott angrily and with a glare, while she tried her best to soothe her son, too.

"I…," the man began but she had already turned around to join Kurt again. He of course noticed the cocked eyebrow Logan gave him.

"Can we talk to you for a minute?" Peter asked.

"Sure…," Logan shrugged and crossed his arms.

"In privacy?"

Giving Jean an annoyed look that spoke volumes, he sighed. "I see…" He followed both men into the kitchen, where he went over to the fridge to get a beer out of it, before he sat down on a stool to drink it. He noticed that Scott was obviously embarrassed and began to talk before the two men had a chance to do it. "Ya don't need to look for the right words, prettyboy. Both of ya were loud enough at night…"

"You eavesdropped?!" Scott asked outraged and received a snort.

"Wrong! Thanks to ya I didn't sleep for a second at night," Logan gave back and looked at Peter. "And how can you still be alive after no fun at all for three months, eh? What kind of man are ya?!"

"Well… Kitty just picks the wrong moments…," Peter shrugged and scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

"For three months?!" Logan asked him in disbelief and cocked an eyebrow at him, before he switched to Scott again. "And what's your excuse? You glasses were misted and ya couldn't find your girl?!"

"Funny!" Scott hissed and crossed his arms.

"Then what? As far as I know your girl wanted to try somethin' new and ya were the coward and screwed up!" He watched how Scott leant back against the fridge with a sigh. "C'mon! The two of ya have both willin' women and what do ya guys do? Back out…"

"Raven keeps on nagging that you tried the things he wanted to do with me on Jean. Is that true?" Scott asked and Logan nodded.

"Yap," he said and sipped on his beer.

"And?"

"And what?!"

"You know what I mean…," Scott groaned.

"Are ya suck a prick that it's so embarassin' for ya to name the things by their names?!" Logan asked. "Gee, I thought ya were a grown up men and not a lil' boy."

"Not everyone is as blunt as you, Logan," Scott gave back and while Peter switched his eyes back to Logan, this one nodded.

"Right… Still ya came to me for advises, eh?" he asked and watched how Peter and Scott exchanged a surprised look. "Oh, c'mon! Do ya think I'm brain-dead or what?!"

"Uhm…," Peter began and sat slowly down. "Do you have…" He gesticulated with his hands in search for the right words.

"…some advises?" Logan asked and got up to throw his empty bottle away. "Yeah, I do."

"And what?" Scott asked.

"Grab your girls, pin them to the wall and just do it!" Logan replied cynically. "C'mon, the only thing the two of ya need to do is listen to what your girls want. If they want to try somethin' new, then try somethin' new."

"Yes, but…," Scott began and shook his head. "What Raven wanted to try is…"

"Is hwat? Somethin' in which she has control over ya?" Logan asked. "So what? Don't ya trust her?"

"Of course I do!"

"Then what's your fuckin' problem, Cyke?" he asked a bit louder. "That you're not in control for once in your life? Wolverine hates it, too, when I give all control over to Jean, Did I go onto a killin' rampage afterwards? No! So what's your problem?!" He stared to and fro between them, but they only looked at him blankly. Groaning, he shook his head and crossed his arms with a glare. "Sit down, both of ya and listen!"

* * *

When he entered the great hall again, Scott walked directly over to Mystique, while Logan joined Jean and the others again. "What did they want?" Jean asked and leant into him.

He watched how Scott gave him a look from time to time and shook his head. "How could ya agree on marryin' such a prick like him?!" he asked his wife with a sigh.

She followed his look. "Did he say something mean to you again?"

"Nope…," he grunted and narrowed his eyes since Scott was still just standing next to Mystique and doing nothing. "Could ya tell him mentally to just do as I told him before I give in to my urge to punch him?!" he growled.

"What?!" she asked slightly confused.

"Just do it!"

Giving Logan a last insecure look, Scott finally swallowed hard and touched Raven's shoulder. "What?" she asked annoyed.

"Would you help me with something, please?" he asked and ignored that his heart was nearly bursting through his chest.

"Why would I?" she spat and crossed her arms, but he just grabbed her hand.

"Alex's board fell down and the whole room is a mess now. So would you help me, please?" he asked once more. "It'll be stupid to do it in the morning…" Letting out another annoyed groan, she pulled her hand away and followed him.

"What is all of this about?" Jean asked in confusion.

"That he's a dick," Logan grunted.

"Where did Peter and Kitty go all of a sudden?" Ororo asked and looked around the room.

"Hopefully followin' my advice or their Christmas gift from me will be my claws in their heart."

Upstairs, Mystique entered her room first and narrowed her eyes. "What is this shit about?" she asked angrily. "Everything's fine!" she turned around, ready to punch him, when he locked the door. Confused she watched Scott coming closer. "Are you drunk or something?!" she demanded to know, but he just grabbed her and pushed her around against the desk.

"No…," he replied in a low voice and held her hands in not a too firm grip onto her back, which was facing him. "I'm perfectly fine." At least as long as he ignored his fast beating hard and his fear that she would change into Logan and stab him…

About to turn around with a glare, she let out a surprised gasp when he began to suck on her neck. "Oh…," Mystique made and threw her head back with closed eyes. "What has gotten into you all of a sudden?" she asked. "You drank too much wine cooler…"

Stopping his caressing, he gave her a surprised look. "Want me to stop?" he asked worriedly, but saw that she had her eyes narrowed in a silent threat.

"If you dare, Summers, you won't survive this day! Mark my words!" she hissed and he pressed more against her with a smile.

* * *

"Do you already know what he's gotten you for Christmas?" Heather asked Jean, while Logan was playing with his kids on the ground.

"No… I only know what he hasn't gotten me," the redhead sighed.

"Which is?" Narya asked as Ororo suddenly giggled, while she leant against Kurt.

"A ticket to see the restaging of The Boy from Oz on Broadway," she explained and earned confused looks.

"Why not? As far as I know he likes musicals," James asked.

"'Ro!" Jean warned. "Shut your mouth!"

Her best friend just smiled. "Easiest thing to answer," the weather goddess purred and ignored her best friend's glare. "Logan's jealous!"

"Jealous of whom?" Narya asked, getting even more confused but also curious with every second that passed.

"He's not!" the redhead tried to safe the situation, but Ororo shook her head to signal them it wasn't true.

"Of course not! That's why he accidentally lost your favorite Hugh Jackman movie…"

Grinning, when he understood it, James nodded. "So he doesn't buy tickets because he's jealous of the actor?!" he asked amused and while Jean shook her head, Ororo nodded.

"That's not true…," Jean hissed and glared at the woman next to her, but she only laughed.

"It is! And you know that!" Ororo replied. "He refuses to go with you, because he doesn't want to see you going all moony eyes on another man, and he doesn't allow you to go alone, because he can't keep an eye on you then…"

"Oh, yes," Heather nodded. "That sounds like Logan's logic…"

Ororo nudged Jean with a smile. "See?" she asked, but the redhead rolled her eyes. "Thanks to my hubby…" She kissed Kurt. "…I already have a card." Rolling her eyes again, Jean crossed her arms and sulked.

* * *

When Jean awoke on the next morning, she noticed that she was alone in bed. One look to the side, nevertheless, made her smile, since a red rose and a white envelope were lying on his pillow. She sat up, holding the blanket close to her nude form and stretched briefly. Her hands briefly touched her neck and hoped that his mark, which he's left in the night, wasn't too visible, since no make-up of the world could hide it. She knew that by now. Jean briefly yawned and ran a hand through her face, before she took the rose with a smile and inhaled its scent briefly. She then took the envelope and eyed it curiously. It couldn't be a self-written poem, she knew that. He was a lot, but not a writer… At least she couldn't imagine him writing love poems or even love letters. She turned the envelope for a while, before she decided to open it…

Downstairs in the kitchen, Logan was in the meanwhile occupied with preparing chocolate pancakes for his children. His casual duty on Christmas. He smirked when he noticed that Peter and Kitty were flirting with each other and also Raven and Scott were holding hands and had this constant happy-sappy-smile on their faces. Maybe he should really start a business… He gave the pancakes a brief look before he began to prepare a bottle for Jamie. Just as he'd reached it over to Ororo, who was holding him while he was cooking, a shadow appeared on the door and he slammed into the fridge in the next second. The next thing he realized was that his wife was kissing him feverishly and nearly choking him to death, while she had her legs around his hip and her arms around his neck.

"Now she's gone crazy…," Jubilee commented and was staring at the couple in the same confused way as all others.

"What is that about?!" Moira asked, but Hank shrugged.

"Don't ask me," he said. "I don't know what he's gotten her for Christmas…"

"Something that makes her obviously more than happy…," Ororo stated and gave Jamie a brief look.

"Love you," Jean said again after already doing it several times before during her kisses and he chuckled.

"Ya know that we're not alone in this room, right?" Logan asked, but she answered with a strong hug. "And you also know that you're wearin' my shirt only, right?" he added, since she was in fact really wearing the black shirt, he'd worn the evening before, only. Thankfully, he thought, she's grabbed his boxers, too.

"Don't care!" Jean mumbled into his neck and he let her sink back to the ground with another chuckle.

"Did he promise to keep the household alone for a whole year?" Hank asked.

"Better!" the redhead smiled and hugged her husband firmly again.

"What's better than watching your hub cleaning the floor on his knees?" Ororo asked with a frown and earned a slightly scared look from Kurt. "I didn't want you to do it, don't worry!" she laughed.

Grinning widely, Jean held the envelope up and bit her lip. "Watching Hugh Jackman from the first row, right at the stage?" she said.

"WHAT?!" all women, except Raven and the Alpha Flight girls, asked aloud and shocked.

"Which date?!" Ororo demanded to know, but Jean only smiled.

"The same as yours…"

"No way! We bought our tickets way earlier and sit nearly in the last row!" Jubilee complained and had jumped off her stool in shock.

"I at least in the middle," Kitty said proudly when Jubilee gave the counter a kick.

"That's so unfair!" the woman said and fumed.

"How come you have the best tickets?" Moira asked, since she, too, was rather sitting in the last row and had gotten her ticket from Hank weeks ago.

Smirking, Logan wrapped his arms around Jean's waist after reaching the chocolate pancakes over to his children, who had watched their parents in confusion, too. "By knowing the boss from the theatre?" he asked and saw how every woman, who had a ticket, narrowed her eyes.

"You are so evil, Wolvie!" Jubilee hissed and her best friend nodded.

"Right!" Kitty said. "What about us?!"

"How can you just forget about your friends and let them sit in the back row?!" Ororo demanded to know sourly.

"That wasn't a very nice thing to do, Logan!" Moira scolded him, too, but he shrugged.

"Well, your tickets ain't worth anythin' at all anymore, anyway," he gave back and watched amused how their angry faces turned into skeptical ones.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Ororo asked.

"That they're invalid?" Logan shrugged.

"They are not!" Jubilee gave back, but he shrugged once more.

"Go call the ticket guy…"

Looking at her friend, Kitty got off her stool to pick up the receiver and left the room. It didn't take long and she came back, looking more than pissed. "And?" Ororo asked.

"He said the truth! Our tickets are invalid due to a system error and now our seats are taken, Kitty explained and shot Logan her meanest glare possible.

"WHAT?!" the women asked in unison again.

Letting go of Hank's arm, Moira shot a glare at Logan. "Do you have anything to do with that?" she asked and he shrugged.

"Maybe…"

"You are such an asshole!" Ororo said before she could stop herself, but he only smirked.

"Those were our tickets, Logan!" Moira added and Kitty nodded.

"Right! It was us who wanted to see it!" she said.

"He only cares for his pretty little wife anyway," Jubilee spat and kicked the counter again.

"Logan, I swear," Ororo began in such a low voice that he had to hide his chuckle when the sky on the outside darkened. "If you don't go to the phone and call this friend of yours to get our tickets back…I'll test how much lighting your body can take!"

"Count me in!" Jubilee said and cracked her knuckles.

Letting go of him, Jean gave him a look. "You didn't really do this, right?" she asked.

"What? Sellin' their tickets?" he asked and nodded. "Yeah, I did."

"Logan!" the redhead said shocked and walked backwards a bit. "Why did you do that?!"

He turned around to put new dough into the pan and shrugged. "Well, I thought they'd prefer to drool onto the stage…"

Having handed Jamie over to Kurt, Ororo jumped off her stool. "You are such a bastard!" she nearly yelled and a bolt hit a tree on the outside.

Logan only cocked any eyebrow at her. "So ya chicks don't wanna sit in the first row?" he asked.

"What?" Moira asked back in confusion and stared at him together with the others blankly.

Sighing he shook his head. "Cyke, stop smoochin' and translate, please…"

"He's sold your tickets against seats in the first row. Got it?" Bobby asked.

"So…we sit as close as possible?" Kitty asked and he nodded while rolling his eyes.

"So, we can go butt-touching?" Jubilee asked.

"Don't even dare!" Bobby warned her with a glare. "Or I'll freeze his butt!"

"We really sit in the front?" Ororo asked once more and Logan groaned in annoyance.

"If ya go on askin' this, then no!" he warned, as she suddenly rushed forward and jumped into his arms to press a kiss onto his cheek.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she cheered.

"So I'm not a bastard and asshole?" he asked as she kissed his cheek again.

"Far from it!" she smiled as something hit her back. Turning around she saw that the Grey children were glaring at her.

"Only mommy and we are allowed to do that!" Lily complained.

"Do what?" Ororo asked and let go of Logan.

"Kissing and hugging daddy!" Jack said and the woman giggled. "So let go of him!"

"Before I'm stabbed, okay," she waved off and Logan chuckled, just to see how she threw herself at Jean next. "We're going to see him!" she cheered excitedly and he only shook his head when his wife joined her happy dance.

"Chicks…," he groaned and threw a pancake at Miloh, who was waiting for him to do so. "Right, buddy?" he asked him and noticed once more that the wolf was somehow depressed. "Chuck, would ya mind if we had a second dog?" he asked the Professor, who was looking up from his breakfast.

"No, Logan, I wouldn't," he replied. "In the end it's your rooms and you can do what you want in it."

"We get another dog?" Jack asked excitedly when Jean intervened.

"Hold on a second, sweety," she said and turned to Logan. "Why a second dog?!"

"He needs a girl," was all her husband said and kneeled down to stroke over the wolf's head. "Right, buddy?"

"May I remind you what can happen if you have a male and female dog?" she asked and crossed her arms. "And besides… He's a wolf…"

"So what? A husky is part wolf," he shrugged. "C'mon, Jeannie. He's depressed. A wolf needs company. And the kids wanna have another one, too." He looked briefly up to look at his children. "Right?"

"Yeah, mommy, please!" Lily and Rachel said and gave her mother her best puppy-dog eyes look.

"Logan…, she groaned when he kissed her.

"C'mon…be nice," he said with a smirk and she rolled her eyes. "Let's get a husky. I always wanted to have one."

"I'm outnumbered anyway, am I not?" she sighed and he kissed her again with a smirk.

"Heard that, buddy?" he asked and kneeled down to stroke over the wolf's head again. "e gonna get a mate for ya."

"Yeah, and it's you who takes care of cubs if there'll be some," she warned him.

"Ehm…we wanted to tell you something, too," hank suddenly said after Logan took care of the pancakes again. He got off his stool with a smile at Moira and cleared his throat.

"Shoot, Furball," Logan demanded since he knew the long speeches the mutant was capable of.

"Well…," Hank said and scratched the back of hid head. "We just wanted to let you know that…"

"We're going to get married," Moira smiled and finished his sentence. Seeing his hurt look, since he wanted to say it, she kissed him. "Sorry…"

"You finally did it?" Ororo asked and hugged them. "Jeez, Hank, that was about time!"

"Yes, it was," Jean smiled and hugged them, too. "This is great. I'm so happy for you."

Smiling, too, the Professor nodded his agreement and congratulated them next. "If I am not mistaken then we have to make some changes to the garden again. Am I right?" he asked with a smile.

"Well, I do the weather," Ororo shrugged with a smile. "And the girls and I decorate of course, right girls?" she asked and got a cheer from the women in the room, when Logan suddenly raised his hand.

"Hold on a sec," he asked with a cocked eyebrow. "I hope ya don't want me to go through the whole procedure as Jeannie did, right? Because if…then ya won't make it to the altar, bub, mark my words!" he warned when Hank laughed and pulled Moira close.

"Actually, Logan, a tux is enough," he replied. "And I'd rather appreciate if you look like a drowned dog on my wedding, because I don't want you to steal my show."

"Good to hear that," Logan said in relief, since he didn't want to shave and cut his hair again, except for his wife of course. He noticed her pleading look, but shook his head. "No way, darlin'. I said our 10th anniversary, so no way you gonna get naked me earlier!"

**Okay, I stop here, since we're getting a pretty bad thunderstorm here now. : ( Hope you enjoyed reading. Please review and thanks to all those nice reviews, which I'd gotten for my last chapter: ) See ya!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Author's not****e: **And 13 again. : ) You can guess what that means. LOL Up to now, as far as I can remember, chapter 13 always meant something bad… Well, never mind… ; )

Oh and the whole first two scenes are of course Logan's opinion while watching The Boy from Oz. I don't think about Hugh like that. LOL So, please don't kill me!! ; ) Oh, and I used the Tony Awards 2004 for the first scene, since I love the "Not the Boy next door" performance. Those of you who have never seen it and like Hugh: Go to youtube and look for the Tony Awards 2004. ; )

**And again: Reviewer 100 can wish for something****. ; ) Ten more needed. I am so glad that you guys like this story even after 84 (this is 85) chapters and more than 1000 pages in Word. So great: ) Enjoy reading it! ; )**

**The server was down yesterday again. : ( I hope that we won't have this total system crash again like we had in April...**

**Chan****ges Sequel – II. Covenant Part 13**

He knew that he's hate him. Oh, yes, he did. His knuckles were itching since the first time that guy on the front had done it and all Logan wanted was to jump on the stage and choke him. One look to the side was enough to strengthen that wish. She was really giving that prick on the stage her best smile and even her eyes shone. Growling, Logan turned his eyes back to the stage and then to his left, where he saw that James was as displeased as he was. Yeah, chocking was a good idea. Choking and stabbing… He smirked by the thought of it, just to glare in the next minute. Had this sissy just winked at his wife?! Forget the choking, he wanted to stab him right now.

Jean had noticed his displeasure, since she covered his hand with his and entwined them. While she gave him a happy smile, he gave her a glare. He knew what she was thinking and he hated her string at other men even more than men staring at her. He didn't even want to think about the other girls… If their men knew what they were doing here… Ororo's eyes shone and he would bet that, if she could turn the night into the day, the sun would shine, while the sky was blue and it was hot. Probably hotter than hot. Poor Kurt…, Logan thought. Next to her sat Jubilee and Kitty. From the first he only waited that she jumped onto the stage and start groping, from the second that she fainted the next time the prick was looking at her. Heather and Narya were obviously in complete other dimensions, too, practically as every other women in this room. God, how he hated that guy…

Fuming, he suddenly heard Ororo gasping and gave her a look. He frowned since also Kitty and Jubilee were staring into his direction, so were Heather, Moira and Narya. Seeing James smirk, he narrowed his eyes. He hoped it wasn't what he thought. He'd definitely wouldn't go on stage and dance, like this _Sex and the City_ woman had to do at the… What had Jean forced him to watch again? The Tony's or something?! No, he definitely wouldn't do that. Only to stab him. Ready to shoot a glare at the man on stage, Logan suddenly realized that it wasn't him who was meant. Nevertheless, now he had a real reason to stab him… Logan slowly turned his head to his right and glared at the redhead, who stared at the stage with flushed cheeks. That prick really dared it… Growling, Logan narrowed his eyes warningly.

"You look gorgeous, darling!" he heard the sissy saying and watched how that prick sank on his knees a bit to reach out his hand. "Come on, come up on stage…"

Logan thought his mood couldn't even get worse, but when Jean really took that prick's hand and was pulled on stage, he had a hard time to not go onto a killing rampage. Starting with the guy on stage… Fuming, he watched how his wife, and he was sure he'd never been that jealous in his life before, stood on stage, cheeks nearly as red as her hair and was asked of she'd ever done a lap dance. "I'll give ya lap dancin', bub," Logan growled through clenched teeth and crossed his arms. He watched everything that went on on stage and what he saw didn't help to cheer him up at all. She really enjoyed it. Despite her nervousness, she really enjoyed it. He couldn't believe his eyes. His wife, his mate was flirting openly on a stage in front of hundreds of other people with another male… He hates that prick… Back home, he'd burn all DVDs that only had a first name beginning with an H and last name beginning with a J on it…

After the show, when they were on their way back to the two cars, Logan was still fuming, while Jean received glares from aside. "You are one evil bitch!" Jubilee spat. "First, Wolvie, now Hugh. Who's next?!" she asked and buried her hands in her pockets. "And then you're not only dancing with him on stage! No… From all women in the front row, he picked you! And if that wasn't enough, he also kissed you on the cheek. I mean, how mean is that?!"

"If looks could kill, you'd be dead now…," Kitty added nearly in a Wolvie-like growl. "At least twenty women in the first row and he picks you."

"Jealous?!" Ororo asked annoyed and searched her pockets for the keys.

"Not only we and all other women are," Jubilee gave back. "Look at Wolvie. This says all…"

Doing so, Ororo noticed the look on her friend's face. "Oh…," was all she said and now knew why Jean hadn't said one word up to now. Reaching their cars, Logan opened his and James, Heather and Narya sat down in the back of it, while Jean opened the passenger's door, while Ororo opened the second one and entered it with Kitty and Jubilee. Both started the car and took the street back home.

Noticing the depressing and uncomfortable silence, James exchanged a brief look with his two teammates, before he cleared his throat. "What I wanted to ask you," he said and Logan gave him a brief look over the rear mirror. "…is it even possible to combine a wolf and a dog? I mean…can the cubs of them be raised like normal dogs or do they differ too much from them?"

"Sure…," Logan shrugged, ignoring that this was the stupidest question he could have asked right now.

"Sure what?"

"They're wolf-dog hybrids then," he grunted and concentrated on the freeway again. "Sure, you can treat them like normal dogs. But it always depends on the animal anyway."

"But doesn't a wolf and a dog…," James shrugged. "…speak different languages? I mean they are related, but differ a lot from each other…"

"They get along," Logan grunted annoyed. "Why are ya askin'?!" he added with a look into the mirror.

"I was just curious," his friend replied. "If your wolf gets along with the dog and they've cubs…do you think we can have one or two?"

"Let me find a mate for him first, 'kay?"

"Sure…," James said, being happy that the silence had been broken at least for a few minutes.

"When do you want to go and look for a husky?" Jean asked carefully, but received a shrug only.

When they reached the mansion again, they wished each other a good night and headed for their rooms. While Logan was in the bathroom, Jean briefly checked on the children, before she went into the room and he made sure his kids were fine. Jean looked at him when he closed the bedroom door and came over to lie down. She could tell that he was angry, it was way too obvious. "Honey, come on," she sighed when he lay down and ran a hand through her face. "Don't tell me you're really mad now…" She looked at him from aside, but he only glared at her. "Why?!"

"You're really askin'?!" Logan shot back in a tone that gave her the impression he thought she's completely brain dead.

"It was a dance!" she said. "What else should I've done?!"

"Not enjoyin' it that much for an instance?!" he hissed.

"Oh, Logan, come on!" she cried and sat up to pull her legs close. "It was you who bought the tickets!"

"Yeah, thank God I did," he gave back sulking. "Who knows what else you'd have done."

She groaned and rolled her eyes. "You are so childish! It's unbelievable."

"Childish?!" Logan asked while sitting up and cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Yes, childish," Jean gave back. "You're acting like a little boy whose favorite toy was stolen by another one…"

"Well that prick has stolen my favorite toy, so what?!" he shot back with a growl and she couldn't help but start laughing. "This ain't funny!" he hissed.

"Oh, yes, it is!" Jean nodded between her laughter. Amused, since he was sulking even more, she rolled over so that she was lying on her left side and supported her head with her left arm. "You know…," she began and wanted to enjoy seeing him so jealous a bit longer. "…he really has a great body," she said and saw that he narrowed his eyes warningly. "And he has great eyes, sensual, soft lips…," she went on and hid her giggles since he began to growl. "And…he smells so good…," Jean concluded and thought he's leap at her, but instead Logan jumped out of bed. "Logan, come on!" she pleaded, but he left. "Unbelievable, Jean sighed and got up to follow him quickly. "Wait!" she called downstairs when he entered the kitchen.

"Piss off!" he snapped and gave those, who sat in the room for a midnight snack a glare. He went over to the fridge and pulled a beer out of it.

"Someone's pissed, hm?" Scott asked and quickly raised his hands when Logan shot a growl at him.

"Logan, stop being childish!" Jean said and entered the room. "It was a joke!"

"Was it?!" he asked and narrowed his eyes.

"Of course it was," she said and wrapped her arms around herself, since the room was rather cold. "Come back to bed…"

"Why?" he snapped. "I'm unwelcome anyway."

"Oh, now stop it!" the redhead said a bit louder and put her hands to her hips. "If I was making a show like this every time a woman shows up who had a thing with you, I'd have a lot to do, don't you think?!"

"Oh, now we start that topic again, eh?!" Logan gave back louder and slammed the tin onto the counter. Sitting at it, Scott gave Bobby, Peter and James a brief look.

"What's going on here?" Ororo, who just entered to get a bottle for Tommy asked, since she'd heard the couple even at the end of the corridor.

"Nothin'!" Logan spat and left the room even angrier than before, but not without giving his wife another glare.

"Yes, I can see that…," the weather goddess replied and switched her eyes to Jean, who ran both hands through her face with a loud sigh. "What happened? What did you do that he explodes like this?!"

"I only made a joke of him being so jealous," Jean replied.

"A joke like what?" Scott asked while he poked the ice cream with a spoon. "Telling him that the leading actor in that musical was better than him?" Seeing the redhead's guilty look, he couldn't help but grin. "Oh and I missed it…. Damn!"

"It's not funny, Scott!" Ororo snapped with a glare and closed the bottle. "How can you tease him with it after he was already in such a bad mood before?" she asked her best friend.

"It was just a joke, 'Ro!" Jean sighed. "And I didn't reckon with him reacting that way…"

"Well, then I suggest you go upstairs and try to make friends with him again," Bobby shrugged. "Because we wanted to do a Dangerroom session with him tomorrow and…I don't want to get stabbed!"

Rolling her eyes, Jean wished them a good night and went back upstairs, after Ororo reminded her of their meeting in the gym before dinner. Reaching the bedroom, she went inside and closed the door quietly. Since he didn't turn around, she just lay down and sighed Apologizing now was useless, not only because he wouldn't listen anyway, but also because he was already asleep. Closing her eyes, Jean had the strange gut feeling that this fight wasn't the last one for today…

* * *

Since the day had rather been depressing and Jean had mostly gotten out of his way, or better, he'd tried to get out of hers, Logan had spent some hours in the Dangerroom first, where he's given the younger X-Men instructions and taught them some tactics. Afterwards, he didn't feel like going upstairs already and began to train for a while in the gym. It didn't help his already bad mood at all, since he was soon bored and went back into his changing stall with a sigh to shower. Inside, he suddenly frowned when his nose picked up in a scent he hadn't smelled in days. One look to the side reminded him of how much he'd hoped to never smell that scent again. "What are ya doin' here?!" he growled at the woman, who'd just came out of the shower.

"Getting dressed after taking a shower?" Yukio smiled and he rolled his eyes.

"Wrong door, darlin'. The women room is next to this one," Logan grunted.

Only smiling at him, she pulled her towel away, which made him look away. "Come on, Logan," she purred. "Nothing you haven't seen or touched before."

Glaring at her with narrowed eyes, he came slowly closer. "What is this shit about, eh? I'd told ya to pack your things and leave!"

"Why are you so mad? You never said no to a quickie, sweetheart," she said with a smile and touched his chest. "And I didn't feel like leaving… The city here is pretty boring, so I thought I come back."

"It's my last warnin', girl!" Logan hissed after pushing her roughly away, before he walked over to the door and back into the gym. Of course he'd to forget his bottle and towel in the room, but as long as he could get away from her he was glad that he left both things next to the bank. He couldn't deny that he was boiling from within. He'd hoped so much that Yukio was gone forever after annoying Jean so much that the redhead had freaked out in the kitchen, but obviously he hadn't been direct enough. At least the fact that the Alpha Flight Team would stay for three more days only until New Year's Eve and take that woman back to Canada with them, calmed his nerves a bit. He bent down a bit to get his things from the ground, as something suddenly bumped into his back and made him land onto the mattress next to the bank. Turning around with a growl, he only saw that her nude form was straddling him. "Get off!" Logan growled in a menacing deep voice and grabbed her hip to throw her off him, when she forced him into a kiss.

"Logan!"

Hearing Ororo's shocked voice, he quickly turned his head and froze. In the door to the gym stood the weather goddess next to Mystique, Jubilee, Kitty and Jean. All staring at him speechlessly and dressed in their work-out clothing for their sparring session, while he thought his heart would burst through his chest. He only had eyes for Jean, who began to shake her head slowly, just to run off next. "I told you I'll get my revenge…," Yukio whispered into his ear, inaudible for the others. "No man leaves me just like this!"

Without looking at her, Logan pushed her roughly off him and began to run after his wife. While he did so, the other women watched how Yukio got up smiling and walked back to the changing stall, not caring that she was naked. "Something wrong?" she asked them with a weak laugh and disappeared.

"Did you just see the same I did..?" Jubilee asked after a while.

"Better ask…did he just do what I saw?" Kitty corrected her, still staring at the same spot where her teacher had been before.

Ororo didn't say anything at all and exchanged a look with Mystique only, before both began to head off. They knew that if the couple ran into each other, all hell would break lose. And they were right. When they reached the West Wing, they already saw Scott, Hank and Moira gathering at the door, while the Professor approached, too. "Do you know what happened?" Scott asked them after they stopped next to him panting.

"Don't ask!" Ororo said and tried to catch her breath. "Where are the children?"

"Upstairs?!" Hank shrugged. "I don't know…"

"Oh God…" Grabbing Mystiques hand, Ororo ran up the stairs and saw that Rachel sat crying on the stairs, her hands buried in Miloh's white fur. "Ray," the woman said urgently. "Are your siblings inside, too?" she asked, but the girl shook her head sobbing. "Bring her to your room and try to find the twins and Laura! Then wait in your room for me."

"Okay, be careful!" Mystique nodded and pulled the girl up, just to descend the stairs next, followed by Miloh.

Inside, Ororo heard Jean yelling at Logan, while this one tried to talk to her. She heaved a deep breath, before she entered the bedroom and wasn't at all prepared for what was going on in the room. "Shut up!" Jean yelled aloud. "I want you to pack your things and leave!" Furiously, she grabbed more of his clothing and threw it at him, while he still tried to talk to her.

"Jean, I swear…," Logan began once more and caught one of his shirts.

"I don't give a damn, Logan!" she cut him off and pulled the rings from her finger sobbing to throw them at him next. "Piss off!"

"Not before you listened to me!" he gave back and noticed that her eyes darkened.

"I'm done with you, so there's no reason at all why I should even bother to listen to you lies!" she sobbed and buried her hands in her hair sobbing.

Using her chance, Ororo stepped forward a bit. "Jean, please," she begged. "The baby…"

"I trusted you, Logan!" the redhead whimpered and put all her pain, disappointment and despair into her voice and look, just to chance her look into a furious one next, when Phoenix took over a bit. "How many women did you have in the past years, huh? How many?!" she barked and he shook his head.

"None, Jean! Just listen…," he began again.

"Shut up!" she yelled and sent him backwards against the wall; her eyes completely black for a moment. "Go to her and have fun!" she hissed through clenched teeth. "I don't give a shit! But don't even dare to set one foot into my rooms ever again!" With that she walked over to Jamie's room and took the crying baby out of it, just to come back into the bedroom. "And I want you to be gone when I come back!" she added and left.

Staring at the ground in disbelief and with an incredible rage coming up within him, Logan fought hard not to get into a complete berserker rage. He wanted to kill this Asian bitch… Still standing next to the door, Ororo watched him in shock about what she'd witnessed in here. She didn't know what to day. "Logan…," she began and shook her head, as he slowly began to pack his things. "What are you doing?" she asked confused. "Logan, you can't just leave… Let her calm down and try to talk to her again later." He snorted and went over to the bathroom next to pack the rest into his duffle bag. "Where do you want to go?" she asked and grabbed hi arms quickly to stop him from leaving the apartment.

"Leave me alone, 'Ro!" he hissed and pulled his arms away.

"Logan!" Ororo tried once more, but winced when he slammed the door shut behind him. She sighed loudly and ran a hand through her face. She couldn't believe this.

"What did you do to her?" Scott asked Logan when this one came out of the door downstairs.

"Leave me alone!" this one growled, but his opposite grabbed him roughly.

"What did you do?!" he asked once more and a bit louder this time.

Growling, Logan grabbed him, too, and slammed him against the wall. "I said leave me alone!" he barked and left.

"Logan, I swear, if I find out that you hurt her…," Scott yelled after him.

"Scott, please!" Charles said soothingly and looked up when Ororo came downstairs, too, and closed the door behind her. "Ororo, what happened?" he asked concerned and tried to ignore the headache Jean was giving him by not shielding her emotions. But the woman shook her head. "What happened?!" he asked once more.

"Did he hit her?" Scott asked angrily and received a shocked look.

"No! What makes you even think that?" she asked in disbelief, since everyone knew that Logan would never hit a woman, except this one was an enemy in a fight.

"Because Jean ran away crying as if there was no tomorrow?" Hank asked and looked at her with crossed arms.

"It's… I don't know but…," she stuttered and shook her head. "He wouldn't do this…"

"Do what?" Scott asked. "'Ro, tell me or I swear to God…"

"What happened, Ororo? What has he done that made Jean so furious?" Hank asked.

"I don't think he has done anything at all…," Ororo muttered and looked up.

"Would you just say what has happened?!" Scott asked impatiently.

"Well, we… I went with the other girls to the gym for our sparring lesson and then… I opened the door and there was Yukio and she…" Ororo shrugged with a sigh, still having trouble to adjust what she had seen in the room. "Well, she was naked and…sat on to of him. And they kissed…"

"I kill him!" he hissed and the others saw the flash of red under his glasses.

"Scott, wait!" Charles quickly said since the man was about to head of.

"No! I told him at the wedding that I won't allow the slightest indiscretion, Charles! And that's it!" Scott shot back angrily. "You've seen Jean! And Rachel!" Trying to control his anger, he began to pace, but shook his head and head of. "He's going to pay…"

Sighing, the Professor ran a hand over his forehead. "Hank, please stop him from doing something stupid!" he begged, but the man shook his head.

"I'm sorry, Charles, but if Logan really did this, he doesn't deserve any better."

"But that's the point, Hank!" Ororo intervened. "You know Logan, he would never do this to her…" Groaning, she buried her face in her hands and shook her head. "God, I don't know what to believe anymore. But I refuse to accept this…"

Still standing next to the Professor, Hank had his arms crossed and shook his head. "Ororo, Heather told me about Logan's past with that woman. And believe me, if you'd heard it, you wouldn't have such doubts!"

"I thought he was your friend?!" Ororo asked him shocked and stared at him with disbelief in her eyes.

He nodded. "Logan is my friend, but so is Jean. And one thing I despise the most is adultery!"

"But we don't know…," she tried it again when Charles cut her off.

"Hank, as long as we don't know the truth, no one will accuse Logan of any such thing!" he warned and Hank finally nodded.

"Can you tell where he is now?" Ororo asked worriedly.

"He blocks me out," Charles replied after he'd concentrated briefly.

"God, I don't believe that…," she cursed. "Hank, please make sure Scott doesn't start a brawl with Logan. I go and check on Jean." Leaving the two men behind, she quickly made her way to Mystique's room. She didn't need to open it to hear Jean's desperate sobs. "Where are the children?"

"With Kurt," Mystique replied while she had an arms wrapped around the crying redhead.

Ororo kneeled down in front of her and reached out to touch her best friend's shoulder. "Jean…"

"Why did he do that?" this one instantly asked her and Ororo saw the pain in her green eyes. "Why did he do that to me…?"

"Jean, you don't know if…"

"Oh, stop that!" the redhead cried and turned away from her. "You've seen the same I did! How can you not believe it?!" She shook her head and heaved a deep breath. "I knew this would happen one day… I just knew it…" Mystique exchanged a look with the weather goddess. "I mean what made me believe that I changed someone like him?" Jean bit her lip and gave a short, desperate laugh.

"Jean, stop it!" Mystique said and shook her head. "There is something wrong, I know that. Logan would never cheat on you."

"Yeah?" Jean asked her cynically. "Well, I thought that, too…"

"But what reason does he have to cheat on you?" Ororo asked her. "Honestly, Jean! The two of you have a good working relationship, you have cute and happy children… Why should he do this?"

Looking at her with cold eyes, Jean gave a cynical snort. "Does a man need a reason?" she asked and looked away again. It didn't take long and she began to cry once more.

* * *

After Scott had finally stopped slamming his fist against his door and dinner was long over, Logan, who'd spent the past hours with staring at the ceiling and trying to find out how he'd gotten into this mess, left his room to go over to the West Wing. She had said she didn't want to see him in there, but still he had the right to see his children and he at least wanted to wish them a good night. He didn't even dare to think about how confused they must be. Reaching the door upstairs, he knocked carefully on it and it didn't take long for Jean to open. "What do you want?!" she asked through clenched teeth and he could tell that she'd cried a lot.

"Are the kids here?" he asked and she crossed her arms.

"Yes, and?"

"Can I see them?" he asked and narrowed his eyes when she shook her head.

"I said I don't want you in my rooms," Jean replied and stopped him with her powers from just walking past her. "I mean it, Logan!"

"Jean…," he hissed through clenched teeth. "You can't keep my kids away from me!"

"I can!" she gave back and ignored his growl. "Who knows what kind of lies you tell them…"

"Lies?" he asked with a half laugh. "Are ya completely out of your mind now?! I never lied to ya!"

Smiling cynically, Jean nodded. "Oh, I've seen that… Are you staying in her room? Or maybe in Narya's? She's alone, too, isn't she?" she asked hurt and fought back her tears. "I don't want to see you, Logan, so just go!"

"Not before I saw my kids!" Logan said and stopped her from just closing the door. "Don't do this, Jean!" he warned her angrily, but the door slammed shut into his face. Remaining there for a while, he had his fist clench in anger and fought the urge to just cut through the door. But he knew this wouldn't change anything. Closing his eyes for a moment, Logan finally turned around and left, to release his anger in the wood nearby.

* * *

"And he hasn't been there all night?" Ororo asked while she sipped on her coffee. "But Heather shook her head. "What about his things?"

"Everything's still there," the redhead replied. "I doubt he would just leave… I mean…" She shook her head. "I really hope you're right and he didn't do it."

"Why do you have doubts?" Mystique asked skeptically.

"Because we know what he's like back then," Narya said. "And it would suit him."

"But he's not like that anymore," Ororo shook her head and sounded slightly angered. "He loves her. He has no reason at all to cheat on her."

"Then tell me what happened," Narya demanded. "Give me one good explanation why she sat on him and was naked and why they kissed!" Waiting for a reply, she nodded. "See?"

They looked up when Jean came into the room with the children, soon followed by the others. One look was enough to see that the woman hadn't slept at all at night. "But I wanna see daddy!" Jack cried and pulled his arm free from his mothers grip. "Why can't I see daddy?"

"I told you why!" Jean said a bit too loud and the children startled. Sighing, she ran her free hand through her face. "Jack, just sit down and eat, okay?"

"Not before I saw daddy," the boy gave back and crossed his arms, just to run of next when Jean tried to grab him again. Nevertheless, she stopped him with her powers.

"Stay here!" she demanded.

"Jean, you can't do this!" Ororo intervened and received a glare from her friend. She noticed the dark eyes. "The children can't be blamed for the fight the two of you have." Angrily she knelt down and stroked through Jack's hair. "Your daddy isn't here right now, okay?"

"Where is he?" the boy demanded to know sobbing. "I wanna know where he is!"

"I don't know, sweety," the woman shrugged and gave him a sympathetic look. "Sit down and eat, okay?" Reluctantly doing it, she watched him during breakfast and waited for the children to be back upstairs, before she turned to Jean. "You can't forbid your children to see their father!"

"He's gone?" Jean asked instead but before anyone could answer, she narrowed her eyes. "Obviously not…"

"What?!" Logan growled and went over to the fridge.

"Where have you been all night?" Heather asked him and watched how he got himself an orange juice out of it.

"Sleepin' my way through NYC," he replied cynically and turned to give his wife a glare.

"I told you I don't want to see you," this one hissed and her eyes darkened.

"So what? Sue me!" he grunted as the bottle was torn out of his hand and slammed against the wall. "Damn it, Jean, I just wanna eat, okay? Calm down, damn it!" he said a bit louder. "And I wanna see my kids later!" he added warningly.

"Forget it!" Jean replied and shook her head, before she took Jamie and made her way to the door.

Making a step forward with narrowed eyes, he grabbed her arm. "You can't do that and ya know that!" he hissed warningly. He had enough of her games. "I have a right to see them when I want and you can't stop me!"

"No?" the redhead asked and gave him a good view on her black eyes. He cocked an eyebrow at her since he was suddenly raised into the air. "I can do much more," she hissed and sent him backwards against the fridge. "Stay away from us!"

"Are you hurt?" Ororo asked concerned and knelt down next to him after Jean had left the room.

"Do ya care?" he snapped and got up, rubbing the back of his head.

"You don't deserve better, Logan!" Scott said and received a glare from both mutants. "Be happy that I didn't get my hands on you yesterday."

"Oh, yeah," Logan purred arrogantly. "I'm so scared… Shut the fuck up, Scooter!" he hissed and left the room, too, to return to his old one upstairs. He stopped in surprise when he picked up on a scent. Quickly walking to his room door, he smiled in relief when Jack jumped off the bed and ran towards him to hug him. "Hey…," Logan said and pulled him into a strong embrace. He closed the door with his free hand and sat down on the ground, so that the boy was on his lap. It hurt him to hear the strong sobs and he cursed Yukio again.

"Why are you here?" Jack cried into his neck and pulled him closer. "Don't you love us anymore?"

"No!" Logan said shocked and let go of him a bit to meet the boy's wet eyes. "What makes ya even think that?"

"Because you're not with mommy… And mommy said that she doesn't want us to see you."

Closing his eyes for a moment to suppress his urge to destroy something, Logan tried to give him a weak smile. "It's a misunderstandin', that's all. Ya know…," he began and looked for the right words. "Mommy thinks I hurt her, but I didn't. She's mad with me and it's better for us to stay away from each other until she's calmed down again. But it has nothin' to do with you or your siblings, okay?" He stroked over the boy's head and wiped his tears away. "Mommy's just mad…"

"But what happened?" Jack asked sniffing.

"It's nothin', okay? Does mommy know you're here?"

"No, she said she doesn't want us to see you, so I ran away."

Chuckling, Logan pulled his son close and remained with him on the ground for a while. "You should go back before mommy becomes mad again," he said after a moment and let go of the boy.

"But I wanna stay with you," Jack protested.

"I know," Logan replied. "I want to see you guys, too, but I don't want mommy to become even madder, okay? And I don't want ya to get into trouble." He wiped the tears away from his son's face and placed a kiss onto his cheek. "Would ya tell the others that I'm sorry and that I love'em?" he asked and the boy nodded weakly. Seeing his sad face, Logan hugged him once more. "Everythin' will be fine again…"

"Promise?" Jack asked sniffing.

"Yeah, promise," his father nodded and opened the door. "Now go before mommy shows up."

"I love ya, daddy," the boy said and let go of him.

Smirking, Logan got up. "I love ya, too. Now go," he replied and watched how Jack ran quickly off. With a serious face, he closed the door again and let himself fall onto the bed with a sigh. At least he hoped that everything would be okay soon… He still didn't know how to prove his innocence. He hadn't done anything wrong. Yukio had surprised him. The only thing he could be blamed for was that he should have reacted faster. Turning around, Logan ran both hands through his face and shook his head. He didn't even dare to imagine if things would never be okay again…

* * *

It wasn't until later when everyone was gathered at the kitchen table for dinner that the mood has reached its lowest point possible. Jean constantly ignored Logan, this one didn't look at her, too and neither of them even spoke to the others. Mostly because the men were glaring at Logan, Ororo tried to find a way to make peace between them again but didn't know what to say and the children looking as unhappy as ever. She knew that something had to be done. When Yukio entered to get herself something to drink out of the fridge, Logan's look would have killed her if it was possible to kill someone with one's eyes – Cyclops excluded – and everyone else looked up, too, and watched the woman like prey. She only winked at the man and left again, which made Logan slam his fork onto the table in anger and leave, too. He was closely watched by Mystique and Ororo, who only exchanged a look with each other. Jean on the contrary, was fuming with anger, but no one saw that her eyes were blackening constantly.

On the next day, Logan knocked onto Yukio's room door and just went inside, no matter if the woman had told him to come in or not. "Why did ya do that?!" he asked her before she could even say something and he crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"Why?" she purred, exactly knowing what he was talking about. She let out a short laugh. "Ts…as if you don't remember!"

"Enlighten me!" he shrugged with a glare and watched how she, obviously just coming out of the shower, dropped her towel and began to dress herself.

"I warned you, Logan!" Yukio replied and pulled her black underwear out of a drawer. "No man on this planet leaves me just like this. No one!"

Chuckling, he nodded. "Oh, so ya just decided to ruin my marriage, eh?" Logan asked her through clenched teeth and she turned around to give him a smile.

"You don't deserve better...," she hissed with a smirk at the same time. She clearly enjoyed it. "Is your precious wife crying her eyes out?!"

Smiling, too, he didn't reply first. "You planned this, didn't you?" he finally asked. "You knew they'd come down for training…"

Yukio gave a short laugh. "Smart boy!" she purred. "Yes, I heard them talking about it in the kitchen. And I heard them approaching before I kicked you down," she nodded. "You should have seen your face, sugar! I enjoyed it!"

"Right…," Logan nodded and looked briefly around. "So ya admit that it was a trap?"

"Call it whatever you want," Yukio shrugged and turned around again. "But it doesn't change the fact that I reached my aim and that I enjoy every bit of seeing you suffering! I hope she throws you out!"

Nodding with a smirk, Logan went back over to the door, where he stopped again and turned around. "Thank you," he said and she looked up with a frown, looking at him as if he was out of his mind. "Just let me tell ya that you just stepped into my trap, too."

"What?!" she asked confused and watched how he got a small recorder out of his shirt pocket.

"Give me that!" Yukio his and leapt at him, just to be kicked to the ground hard. "You're not going to…," she began angrily and suddenly stared at the person in front of her.

"You're going to pay, bitch!" Mystique hissed and knocked her out with another kick, before she left the room.

* * *

"What is that meeting about?" Scott asked into the round and watched how Mystique put a recorder onto Charles' desk. He could tell that the older man didn't have an idea, too.

"You'll see," she said and started the record with a look at Logan, who glared out of the window. It was hard to convince him to come, but now that he was here, she hoped that her and Ororo's plan would work out. "Just listen," she added and stepped back to lean against the wall. She watched Jean closely who had to be convinced by the weather goddess that it was important to come. She switched her eyes back to Logan, who was still glaring out of the window while they listened to the record. A look back to the redhead told her that the woman was shocked. She was staring at the object on the desk and covered her mouth with her hand. Obviously, their plan worked out… "She planned it, Jean," Mystique said after the record was over. "So you see, Logan is innocent. He didn't betray you…"

Having heard it, Jean ran both hands through her face and hair, before she covered her face. She couldn't believe it. While she'd believed it first, she know cursed herself for doubting him so easily. But on the other hand it had looked too real and it had hurt too damn much. The feeling of her heart tearing into two parts was still too fresh. But now she knew how he must have felt and since she couldn't reach out to him mentally, she could tell that he was fuming. Jean shook her head in disbelief and heaved a deep breath, before she looked up at him. He still had his back turned towards them and hadn't moved one inch. She began to speak, but stopped, not knowing what to say. "God, Logan, I'm so sorry…," she finally managed to say and couldn't help that she was close to start crying.

"That bitch!" Scott cursed and shook his head.

"If she doesn't leave voluntarily, count me in to throw her out," Ororo hissed and her eyes flashed white in anger. "I told you there was something wrong!" She looked up when Logan suddenly turned and walked towards the door. The look he had on his face told her that he was beyond angry. She remembered the fight the couple had a few hours ago in the kitchen. She didn't even know how much porcelain had been thrown against the wall during it, but since Phoenix and Wolverine had come out to play again, it surprised her that the kitchen was still standing. The reason for the fight, as she had heard, was that the Grey children had sneaked out of their rooms and to her father, where they'd spent the night. Jean had woken up in the morning and the children were gone. The first thing the woman had thought was that it had been Logan's fault and he hadn't made a secret out of it that he enjoyed his victory about her and that his children stack to him. Ororo knew that both had to repair a lot…

"Logan…please wait!" Jean pleaded and got up.

"Wanna know what the funny thing is?" he asked her hissing. "That two _friends_ obviously know, trust and believe me more than my own _wife_!" With that he slammed the door shut behind him, while she bit her lip had and looked to the ground. Sitting back down on the sofa, she buried her face in her hands in despair as Scott put an arm around her.

"He'll calm down again! He always does, you know that!" he tried to soothe the crying woman.

"Right, the whole thing is neither his or your fault," Ororo added, even if she knew that it was partly Jean's fault, since the woman hadn't given Logan a chance to explain the situation. "God, I can't believe this woman is such a manipulative bitch!" Kitty said with a glare.

"Jean, if you look for him, he's upstairs in his old room," Charles suddenly said after concentrating for a moment. "But be aware, his mood is more than bad…," he added concerned.

"Wouldn't it be better to let him calm down a bit first?" Moira asked when Jean got up.

"Excuse me…," the redhead said barely audible and left the room, closely watched by the others.

"If the next fight isn't inevitable now…," Hank muttered and looked down.

Upstairs, Logan stood on the window, arms crossed and continued to glare out of it when it knocked on the door. He didn't bother to reply since he'd picked up on her scent before she'd even began to ascend the stairs and he also didn't say anything, since he didn't want to talk to her right now. He wanted to be alone and fume. Nevertheless, Jean opened the door anyway. "Can we talk?" she asked carefully and closed the door behind her. Since he didn't reply, she came a bit closer. "Please, Logan… Can we talk?" she asked again.

"There's nothin' to talk about…," he hissed, not seeing that she looked at him pleadingly.

"I'm sorry! Really!"

Snorting, he gave her a brief look over his shoulder. "Honestly, Jean…," Logan said. "I don't care!"

"But…," Jean began when he cut her off.

"No! You didn't give me a chance to explain it to ya, so don't expect me to listen to your excuses now!" he snapped at her aloud and ignored that she startled due to the sudden change in his voice.

Biting her lip crying, she looked up and shook her head. "I can't say more than I'm sorry, can I?" she asked him in a whisper. "I know I should have listened to you, I know I should have given you a chance to explain it…"

"Right and ya didn't!" Logan growled and noticed that she wanted to say something. "And don't give me the _I was angry_-shit now!" he warned.

"But I was angry, Logan!" Jean gave back a bit louder. "And you can't tell me that you wouldn't have reacted the same way I did!"

"I'd have _never_ taken the kids away from you, Jean!" he yelled at her. "NEVER!" He turned back to the window because he became too furious. "Do ya really believe that if I intended to cheat on ya that I'd do this in an open room everyone could reach at anytime, knowing that you'd your course that day? If I cheat in ya, you wouldn't notice it!"

"I'm sorry…," Jean said once more but he shook his head without looking at her.

"Leave me alone…," Logan growled.

"You're not coming back?" she asked and looked at him pleadingly when he gave her another glare.

"No!" he simply said and turned back around, ignoring that she was crying freely now.

"I'm sorry…really!" she sobbed barely audible. "Please forgive me…" Turning around, she left the room.

* * *

"I really don't know why it won't work…," Forge sighed and threw the papers onto the table. "It worked perfectly in my lab! Otherwise I wouldn't have come…"

Hank still studied the book, the man had brought with him, and went through the development. "How did you test it?"

"On me," Forge replied. "And it worked. The powers were blocked and didn't reach through."

"Hm…," the furry mutant made and put his glasses down. "That's truly strange…" He went over to the suit and examined it. He couldn't see that there was anything wrong with it, the notes, as far as he could tell, Forge had taken were correct, too, so the problem was something else. "His healing factor should be strengthened and not suppressed," he heard the man cursing. "But the suit does the complete opposite and I just don't get why…"

Looking up and staring at Forge, Hank began to think. "That's it…," he mumbled and, while Forge had turned to look at him with a frown, he'd switched his eyes back to the suit.

"What's it?!"

"Logan's healing factor…," Hank said and went over to touch the fabric. "What if his healing factor is the reason why the suit is not working properly?"

Thinking about it, Forge laughed. "That's ridiculous! His power can't suppress a suit…"

"Why not?" Hank asked. "You said the material was organic. What if his healing factor sees the material as a threat and fights it? In that way the power of the suit would be suppressed and that's also an explanation why the suit worked with you." He watched how Forge still gave him a _You out of your mind_-look, but he could tell that the man was thinking hard. "Take the suit and follow me. We test it on Scott." With that Hank turned and went over to the door, followed by his new teammate, who had quickly grabbed the suit.

Upstairs they found the man they were looking for in the rec-room with some others. "Scott, get up!" Hank demanded, which earned him a skeptical look from the man with the glasses. "Come on, move!" He pulled Scott under a protest off the sofa and Forge handed him the suit. "Put this on."

"W…what?!" Scott stuttered and looked to and fro between them.

"Put this on!" Forge said. "Come on, hurry up!"

Not knowing what to think about it, Scott gave the others a brief look and finally began to put on the suit. "What is this about?" he asked after being done and looked to and fro between the two men.

"Bobby, would you please come over here, too?" Hank asked.

"Hey!" Scott said and raised both hands. "What are you up to?!"

"We're up to a possible breakthrough," Forge smiled. "Would you use your powers on him, please?"

"WHAT?!" Scott shrieked and quickly looked at Bobby, who grinned wickedly. "Hold on a sec! Did you test it before? Did it work? And especially it's Logan's suit, so let him shoot at him and not me!"

"That's the reason why he shoots at you now," Hank said. "We think the suit doesn't work with Logan, because of his powers. You don't have a healing factor, so the suit should work with you."

"Aha!" Scott said and pointed a finger at his opposite. "There is was! It _should_ work with me! That means you're not sure and I could also end up as an ice cube, right?"

"Well, if you do, we let Logan cut you out of it," Bobby smirked and enjoyed his chance to tease the man. "So, can I start now?" Before Scott could answer, he shot an ice beam at him. Laughing, he watched how his former teacher began to jump like a witch around fire in hope to escape the attack.

"You…!" Scott cursed when the younger man finally stopped and held his belly because of his strong laughter. By now he was even accompanied by Rogue, Kitty and Jubilee.

"See?" Forge said. "It worked!" Happily he crossed his arms and looked proudly into the round. "I knew I'm good!" Earning a look from the others he frowned. "What?"

"Nothing!" Bobby waved off. "So that means the new uniform works, but not with Logan?"

"Precisely," Hank nodded. "But honestly I have no idea of how to combine a suit with his healing factor…"

"Why don't you give him the old uniform?" Kitty suggested. "Apocalypse one?"

"We could, but he would block our powers with it," Forge said. "Except…we find a way to change this function. I could cover the current fabric with the leather. The uniform would be heavier, but…well Logan can take it."

"But first we need to find out what exactly blocks our powers," Hank suggested and took the uniform from Scott after this one got rid off it. He turned around. "I go and go through the papers again. Would you be so nice and bring coffee with you?"

"Sure," Forge shrugged and made his way to the kitchen. "Ororo…," he said surprised to see his former girlfriend there. "We hadn't had the chance to talk so far. How are you?"

"Good and you?" she asked while she watched Tommy drinking.

"Always good when I see you, my dear," he smiled and heard her sighing. "Who's that?" he asked and nodded at the boy.

"Tommy."

"Tommy, huh?" He stopped next to her and eyed the boy curiously. "What's wrong with his skin?!" Surprised he went back to the spot where he's stood before, just to walk back again. "He's your skin when I look at him from the right, but dark blue one when I stay here…"

"Yeah," she nodded without looking at him. "He's his mother's and father's skin. It changes depending on the light. Same goes for his eyes and hair."

"Really?" Forge asked. "So who're his parents?"

Turning towards him, she gave him a look and crossed her arms. "He's my son, Forge. And Kurt is the father."

"That devil?" he asked surprised and saw how she narrowed her eyes.

"He's NOT a devil!" she warned.

"That's not how I meant it!" Forge apologized and remained silent for a while. "So…," he began and looked at her. "You have a kid? And husband?" She shook her head. "Oh, then you're not married?"

"I am married," Ororo replied a bit icy. "But we have a son and a daughter."

"Oh…," he made with a weak nod.

"What did you expect, Forge?" she asked. "That I wait 20 years for you? You cheated on me and that not only once! You promised so many times it was the last time and then, one morning, you were gone."

"I'm sorry…," he apologized with a look. "I know I made mistakes, but hey… We were both young."

"There's a different between being young and being young and immature," she shot back and took the empty bottle from Tommy. "Come on, sweetheart. Let's go clean you up."

"Are you happy with him?" she heard him asking and turned around at the door.

"Yes, Forge, believe it or not," Ororo nodded with a glare. "But there are more men than you that can make me happy. And you know what the best thing about Kurt is? He loves me not only because of my looks and he isn't showing off with me in front of others. AND…," she added, "…he's loyal and a good father and husband. Do you want to know anything else?" Turning around, she left angered, while Forge looked at the ground. With a shrug he went over to the coffee machine and began to prepare new coffee.

* * *

At night, Jean laid in bed and felt cold. Not only because it seemed to be the coldest night of the month, she also missed the warmth Logan usually radiated next to her. She felt lonely and missed him terribly by now. For hours she already laid awake in bed and was crying silently into her pillow. She couldn't help but feel scared. She was afraid that she'd destroyed everything because of her mistrust and tried to find out what had gotten into her. Sighing, she rolled onto the other side and reached out to pull his pillow close. His scent was still present on the fabric and she snuggled closer up to it, while her other hand pulled the blanket even higher. No matter what she did, she didn't get warm. Inhaling his scent, the redhead cried even harder. She wanted him to be here now and hold her like he always did. She wanted to turn back time and prevent the fight from happening. Shrieking all of a sudden, since the bed moved, Jean turned around and switched the lights on, just to stare.

"What?!" Logan growled with a glare.

"W…what are you doing here?" she asked calmly and confused. Glaring at her, he was about to get up again, when she quickly reached out to grab his hand. "No, wait!"

"First, ya want me to come back, now ya ask me what I'm doin' here…," he grunted pissed off. "Kiss my ass, girl!"

"I didn't mean it like that, Logan!" Jean quickly apologized and gave him a pleading look. "I just… You said you wouldn't come back…"

"Changed my mind…," he growled. "So can I sleep here now or are ya gonna discuss if there might be a woman underneath my pillow?!"

Sighing, Jean let go of his hand and ran a hand through her face. "I said I was sorry…," she said barely audible and handed him his pillow, as he suddenly grabbed her wrist. "What…?" the redhead asked confused.

Logan only stared at her for a while. "Would ya believe I was capable of cheatin' on ya?" he asked and laid down, but still held her wrist captive.

"What?!" she asked once more.

"Yes or no, hm?" he asked. "Look me in the eye, Jean and tell me," he demanded, ignoring that she had trouble to understand what he was up to. "Do you think I'd cheat on ya?"

"What is that for a question?!" she asked and shook her head.

"Yes or no?!"

"No!" she said determined and he cocked an eyebrow at her. Somehow the weird look in his eyes scared her.

"Really?" he asked and she nodded.

"Yes. You'd have told me…," Jean replied and he let go of her wrist with a smirk.

"Too bad! Wrong answer…"

"What?" she asked and sat up to look questioningly at him. "You didn't…" She shook her head in denial, but felt how her heart began to race horribly when he nodded.

"Yeah, I did," Logan replied and saw that she stared at him in shock.

She heaved a very deep breath and briefly looked away to let the news sink in. Shaking her head, she turned her gaze back to him. "When?" she asked through clenched teeth and when the shock turned into anger. "And with whom?"

Shrugging, Logan briefly thought about it. "On the Christmas party…and just a few minutes ago...," he told her and laid down. His hands were entwined behind his head and he still watched her closely. He picked up on the rapid changes in her body and noticed that her muscles were tensed to their maximum.

"With whom?!" Jean hissed coldly and chewed on her lip again in anger.

"Christmas with 'Ro…," he said and she gave a bitter laugh. "And a few minutes ago with a gorgeous dark haired girl…"

"When with Storm on the party?" she demanded to know and glared at him. She didn't care that despite her growing fury, tears were gathering in her eyes. The last time she's felt hurt like this was when she'd seen Yukio and him together in the gym. It hurt so damn much that she thought she was torn apart.

"Let me think…" Logan stared at the ceiling for a moment. "When you talked with Chuck."

"I talked with him one minute, Logan!"

He shrugged. "Was enough time…"

Clenching her fists, she snarled. "Who is that other girl?"

He smiled arrogantly at her, fueled her anger with it the more. "Oh, she's gorgeous. Such a cutie…"

"Who, Logan?" Jean asked aloud and wanted to slap him when he dared to smirk at her.

"It was only a hug and a kiss, Red…"

"What's…her…name?" she hissed furiously and narrowed her eyes.

"Lily…," he shrugged.

"Lil…," she began and stopped in confusion.

"Gotcha!" Logan smirked and sat up. "Ya really believed that crap, didn't ya?"

Jean started at him a while longer and closed her eyes afterwards to shake her head. "I…I don't understand…," she stuttered.

"Jeez, Red! I gave my daughter a good night kiss on the cheek and a hug and I was forced to kiss 'Ro on Christmas under that darn mistletoe. And you saw it!" Logan explained and she looked at him again.

"You just… You made this up on purpose?" she asked, even more confused than before.

"Yeah, my way of sayin' thank you for not lettin' me see my kids!" he grunted.

Sighing, Jean ran a hand through her face. "So this…wasn't true?" she asked again and he shook his head.

"No."

Taking a quick swing, she slapped him, just to begin to cry heartrendingly in the next second. Doing it or a while, she finally moved over and wrapped her arms around his waist to cry into his bare chest. "You're such an asshole!" she sobbed when he pulled her close. "I hate you!"

"Same goes for ya," Logan gave back. "How can ya believe that I'd leave ya for another woman? Do ya believe I'd risk losin' my family for a woman who's younger than you? How low do ya think of me, Jean?"

"I said I was sorry…," she cried into his neck.

"That's not enough," he said and grabbed her shoulder to make her look at him. "Ya hurt me."

"You hurt me, too!" Jean protested but he shook his head.

"Nope, I didn't! You thought I did, but in fact I didn't. But you hurt me for real…" She let go of him to look directly into his eyes. "And it has showed me something," he added calmly. "Ya can't trust me…"

"I do trust you, Logan!" Jean shook her head.

"No, ya don't! Every time we've a fight you come up with the same trust issue. You always believe I'd cheat on you and I don't get why!" he said angrily. "After all those years you still can't trust me. Even if ya don't notice it, but it's every damn fuckin' time the same." Having released his anger, he looked at her and shook his head. "Why can't ya just do it? What makes ya believe such things?!"

"Because…," she began but broke off.

"Because what?"

Sighing, Jean ran a hand through her tearstained face. "Because… Logan it's every time the same."

Frowning he closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. "With what, Jean?" he asked.

"Every time I meet someone from your past, this one tells me how surprised he is that you're married and have children, that you hadn't had another woman once, that you stayed faithful to me. And then they tell me that you nearly had every woman who'd crossed your way and that you even didn't care if someone was married or had a family, and then I ask myself why you are here with me…," she explained while crying silently. "And I don't understand it. Heather is beautiful, Narya looks far better than me, but you are here…"

Glaring at her all of a sudden, Logan gave a short laugh and shook his head in disbelief. "Ya know what?!" he snapped and got up to go over to the window, where he crossed his arms and shook his head again. "I never thought you were so pathetic!"

"Pathetic?!" she asked and pulled her legs close. "In what way?!"

"That ya don't give a shit on what others tell ya!" he said aloud. "Damn it, Jean, have I ever given ya a reason for doubtin' me? Have I ever looked at another woman for longer than a second or not told ya if I'd talked with one when I went to a bar alone?" he asked angrily and made her look away. "Do ya really think, if ya didn't mean the world to me, I'd be here right now, sleep next to ya every night and had those children with ya?" He turned around to look out of the window again, since he was becoming too furious. Again he shook his head. "If ya trust me that much then I'm really askin' myself why we married at all… Or why we've children together. Ya should've stayed with perfect, loyal Prettyboy if that's what ya miss, because I ain't him and you know that! I'd bet he never…" He was suddenly turned around and hit the wall with his back, when she forced him into a rough kiss. When she began to pull him back to the bed, he fought against her powers. "Jean…," Logan growled and pulled away, but she forced him onto the bed. "Stop!" he demanded. While lying on top of her and supporting himself with both hands next to her head on the mattress, he arched his back to evade her touch since she tried to pull him back down. "This won't solve anythin'!" he growled.

Sighing, Jean gave up and just looked at him. "It's just…," she mumbled and stroked over his cheeks instead. She bit her lip while a tear ran down her cheek. "I'm afraid to lose you…"

"Why should I leave ya, Jean? I've a perfect life with ya here…," Logan said in disbelief and looked down on her.

"But maybe you meet someone someday and realize that you're life isn't that perfect with me," she shrugged and he couldn't help but groan.

"You are such a complete idiot, Jean! Honestly!" He shook his head and cocked an eyebrow at her. "And now pull me back down!"

"What?" the redhead asked confused about this sudden change.

Groaning again, he pulled her head closer. "Silly…," Logan mocked and kissed her roughly, before he pulled one of her legs behind his back.

Still not really understanding what he was up to, she tilted her head a bit. "And what do you have in mind now?" Jean asked between his kisses.

"Actually I thought my wife was about to start hot make up sex," he mumbled into her neck and kissed it. "So can we start now or do ya want t'waste more time with babblin' around, eh? Because my frustration needs release!"

She shrugged. "You chose…"

"'Kay…," he shrugged and grabbed her hands with one of his to pin them down above her head, before he began to kiss her passionately again.

* * *

"Are you sure you don't want to use plastic plates today, 'Ro?" Hank asked the woman, who was occupied with putting plates and cups onto the counter. "Because if the mood between the two is still so…"

"Icy?" Bobby asked, but Hank shook his head.

"Well, actually I wanted to say heated up."

"Fine with me," the younger man shrugged and went on eating his cereals.

"Anyway," Hank went on. "You know that both are pretty good in throwing things around and I think plastic won't hurt as much as porcelain, you know?" Thinking about his words, he frowned. "Do we have anything left at all?!"

"Did they yell at each other again?" James asked concerned. "Because yesterday… Man, I call that a fight…"

"I haven't heard them," Ororo shrugged and sat down.

"Is Logan still here at all? Maybe he's left after yesterday," Hank said, but Scott shook his head.

"No, I checked the garage before I came here. His car and bike are still there." Pausing for a moment, he added "…and mine, too…"

"Where is Yukio by the way?" Peter asked into the round, which, as it appeared to him, seemed to be in a rather depressed mood.

"I hope already gone," Narya spat. "But as far as I know her…," she began as the woman entered the kitchen with a smile on her lips.

"Good morning!" she greeted, ignoring the fact that everyone was glaring at her.

"You have nerves, girl!" Heather said angrily. "I hope you already packed your things!"

"No…," Yukio replied and sat down. "Why should I?"

"Because you'll leave today and take the next plane back home," James said. "I still can't believe what you've done! We talk about the consequences as soon as we're back home, too, mark my words!"

"Fine with me," she shrugged uninterestedly and earned a glare from her whole team.

"Morning!" Jean suddenly said from the door and all eyes switched to her and Jamie on her arm. They watched how she began to prepare a bottle for her son in silence and felt their inner alarm beginning to shout, when Logan entered shortly after her.

"Mornin'," he grunted sleepily. The others watched in surprise as he went directly over to Jean and wrapped an arm around her waist, just to kiss her neck next. Reckoning that he would be crashing through the window next, nearly all chins dropped when the redhead smiled at him and handed him the bottle, so that he could go on with it.

"Thank God…," Ororo said in relief and laid a hand on her chest. Logan handed Jean the bottle and sat down next to her on their casual stools.

"So…the two of you are fine again?" Hank asked carefully.

"Yeah," Jean said and fed the boy.

Ororo took her time to look to and fro between them. "Really?!" she asked skeptically.

"Yeah…,"Logan replied without looking up.

"Well…it's just a bit hard to believe," Hank said and Ororo nodded.

"Right! I mean you kissed, okay, you smiled, fine, too, but… Just now you radiate a lot of tension."

"'cause I need all my strength not to kill a specific bitch in this room, Storm!" Logan growled and reached out to wipe the milk off his son's chin. "You wanna have coffee or tea?"

"A tea," jean replied.

"Which one?"

"Doesn't matter…"

He got up to make her one and was closely watched by an amused Yukio. "Yeah, one can really see who the man in your relationship is…"

"Shut up!" he snapped, but she ignored him.

"Just one thing, missy. You've degraded one of the most beautiful, free creatures to a simple, tamed lapdog. Congrats!" Yukio said towards Jean, but let out a shriek next as Logan grabbed her roughly and pulled her off the chair. Within seconds she landed in the cold snow and heard how he slammed the door shut.

"Lock the door!" he grunted and Jean couldn't hide her smirk.

"Already done…" She put the empty bottle away and watched how he closed the curtains next, since Yukio was looking inside through the windows and shouting at him to let her back inside.

"Make sure she's gone later or I swear to God she won't survive today," Logan said towards James, but the man waved off.

"Don't worry about that. I put her into the plane personally."

"Good," the other man grunted and put a cup with tea in front of Jean, just to take Jamie from her next.

"Thanks," the woman smiled and pulled him into a kiss.

"So, you guys are really fine again?" Ororo asked, since she was still skeptical about it. If she recalled the fight both had yesterday, it was hard to believe that everything was fine again so fast. "I mean fine as in talking, forgiving and having a fun night afterwards, you know… The whole _I'm so sorry, stuff_…"

"Yeah, Storm!" Logan said annoyed and rolled his eyes.

"Good!" she smiled and kept on stirring her coffee. "All I wanted to know. I hope you won't have something like that after your next anniversary…"

"Why?!" he asked.

"Because you'll be married for seven years by then."

Logan sighed. "And?!"

"It's called Seven-year itch, Logan" James smirked. "If you guys want, we send some old porcelain for you to throw." He winked with a laugh.

"It's just that most couples split," Ororo told him and earned a cocked eyebrow first, before Logan gave his wife a look.

"Do you plan a divorce, darlin'?" he asked her.

"Damn, I knew I forgot to tell you," Jean said ironically. "I still need your signature underneath it, hon…"

"Screw it!" he growled and pulled her into a kiss.

When he later came back inside for dinner, after he'd spent the whole day outside and starting one snow fight after the next, he went upstairs with them and cleaned up, before they headed back down for dinner. Everything was fine but somehow, he could tell, was something missing. "Where's Jean?" he asked and looked at Ororo.

"She wanted to get something from the mall quickly. The powder for Jamie's milk wasn't fine and she had to get new one," she explained.

"Who's with her?"

"No one…"

"What?!" Logan asked and got off his stool. "She drove alone? When it's dark?!"

"She's a grown-up woman, Logan," Scott sighed. "She can defend herself."

"Yeah?" Logan grunted. "Also against Sabretooth or my son without her powers?" Seeing how one after the next head looked up he glared at them. "Who was that idiot who'd just let her go?!" he demanded to know.

"That was me…," Ororo replied calmly and swallowed when he came slowly closer. "I'm sorry I didn't… I didn't think about them…"

"If she has one scratch, Storm!" Logan growled and stopped right in front of her. "Just one, tiny scratch," he said slowly and in a menacing deep voice. "Then better hope you're faster in the air than I can get my hands on ya!"

* * *

In the meanwhile, Jean was on the way back from the mall to her car again as it started to rain. "Great," she cursed and searched her pockets for the key, while she had the new powder in her other hand. Her eyes quickly scanned the surrounding. It was her luck that she'd found an empty parking lot close to an alley only and she didn't feel comfortable with it. She pulled the key out of her pocket as a large hand covered her mouth quickly and another one held her immobile to a strong body behind her. She began to panic when she was dragged into the alley roughly and narrowed her eyes to summon her powers, just to feel how fear began to spread within her for real. It didn't work and that could only mean one thing… Panting, Jean began to writhe in the strong embrace and felt how she was grabbed hard in the next moment, just to be slammed against the cold, wet wall. She didn't waste time, even if she saw stars in front of her eyes only and looked up. "Look who we got here…," Sabretooth smirked and bared his fangs, while the woman's eyes widened. "My lil' bro's bitch…" He quickly leapt forward and hit her hard to prevent her from running away. With a groan and blood running from her nose and lips, Jean landed on the hard ground again, while he chuckled low. "Didn't daddy tell ya not t'go out alone at night?"

"That's the almighty Phoenix?" Daken, who leant against the wall with his arms crossed, asked unimpressed and scanned the quivering woman on the ground. "How pathetic…"

Jean looked to and fro between them, feeling how the blood dripped from her face onto her jacket and began to back off slowly. Seeing it, Sabretooth pulled her up again and slammed her face first against the wall, where he pinned her hands roughly onto her back and pressed against her. She closed her eyes quivering as he began to sniff. "His scent's everywhere…," he spat in disgust.

"Then change it and stop that rutting," Daken said and rolled his eyes. "C'mon, I wanna have some fun, too."

"Let go of me!" Jean hissed through clenched teeth and her eyes glowed fiery for a few seconds, but still her powers weren't enough to destroy the block of her adversaries' suits.

Chuckling, Sabretooth licked on her neck. "Sweet…," he purred and let his free paw ran over her body. Beginning to struggle again, when he pulled on her shirt, Jean desperately tried to get him off her. Instead, he began to growl and grabbed her throat in a firm grip. "The more yer gonna fight, bitch, the more it'll hurt…," he growled into her ear and turned her around to bury his fangs into her neck. Letting out a muffled scream in pain, she cried mentally out for Logan to help her and bit her lip hard when Sabretooth's claws buried themselves additionally into her flesh. Grinning, while blood still dripped from his lips, he forced her into the dirty snow onto the ground next and pinned her down.

"Can you just do it?" Daken asked annoyed.

"Shut up!" his teammate growled with black eyes and tore the woman's shirt open with his free hand. The other held her hands captive over her head and he grinned at the sobbing redhead underneath him. Jean watched how he got up a bit, obviously wanting to turn her around and force her face down in the snow. She used her chances and kicked him hard into the groins, whereupon Sabretooth let out a loud howl and dropped to the ground with a whimper. Not wasting any time, she got up and began to run towards the end of the alley as fast as she could.

Watching it, Daken shook his head and gave the still whimpering mutant on the ground a scornful look. "Do I have to everything?!" he asked and ran after her in the next second. Being way faster than she was, he tackled her from behind and Jean landed hard on the ground with a painful scream, as her wrist made a cracking noise and a strong pain rushed up to her shoulder. He grabbed her hair roughly and pulled it back with a growl. "Gotcha!" he smirked.

"No…," she cried and saw that the car was only a few meters away.

"Oh, c'mon. Don't be so sad," Daken purred and bent down a bit while he straddled her from behind. "I bet my dear daddy has taught you some useful things that you can now pass on to his son, hm?" he asked and chuckled low. "Oh wait…but actually you're my step-mom, aren't ya? Does this turn me into Oedipus now?" he asked her rhetorically.

Underneath him, Jean began to panic when he grabbed her jeans roughly. From afar she heard Sabretooth uttering a loud, angry growl and the heavy, hollow sounds, the ground suddenly made, told her that he was running towards them. Again, her mind began to scream for Logan for help, as she heard another person approaching…

* * *

Back in the mansion, Logan had his back turned to the others and was glaring at the wall clock. She was gone too long, his children already in bed, his senses were on full alert, he was nervous like hell and his heart just refused to calm down… He knew something was wrong. When two more minutes had passed and the clock switched to 8:15, he jumped off his stool. "That's it…," he grunted and was about to move over to the door.

"Wait, I'm coming with you!" Scott offered and got off his stool, too, accompanied by Kitty, Hank and Peter.

About to leave together, Charles suddenly appeared in the door with a stern look on his face. "Logan…"

"What?" this one instantly asked and froze in his movements, not hiding his fear. "Have ya found Jean?" He saw that the professor looked aside and while he could only stare, he heard the women gasping in shock when Jean became visible. Looking at him through a dirty, bloody and tearstained face, she began to pull a face and threw herself at him crying.

"Who did this to her?" Scott asked but was talking more to himself.

Not doing anything at all for a moment, Logan finally cupped her face a bit too roughly and glared at her. "How often do I have to tell ya that I don't want ya to go out alone?!" he asked her angrily and she startled with a whimper. "Damn it, Jean, I told you!"

"Logan!" Ororo intervened, since she noticed that her best friend was shaking heavily and had her head lowered. She couldn't stand to hear her crying so heartrendingly.

Hearing how the redhead suddenly had trouble breathing and began to hyperventilate in shock, Logan helped her quickly to sit down on the ground and held her close. "Calm down, c'mon," he said a bit calmer tan before, even if he wanted to destroy something right now. "It's okay, Jeannie, calm down. You're home…" He kept on talking with her until her breathing changed into sobs only and began to rock her slowly back an forth. "You're safe, darlin'… Calm down," he said once more and noticed that she held her left arm close to her body, while she clung to him with the other. He didn't have to inhale her scent to know who had done this to her. The way she looked told him who was responsible for the attack and he swore to take revenge.

"I…I thought they'd kill me…," she mumbled into his neck crying and he pulled her closer.

"You should have told me that you wanted to go…," he cursed and stroked carefully over her head. "You're freezing cold…"

"How did you get away?" Scott asked and looked down on them, but she didn't reply.

"He helped her," Charles suddenly said and noticed that Logan narrowed his eyes.

"Who?!" he demanded to know and watched how the Professor moved aside a bit to allow a man to enter. He was taller than Logan, but with the same physical fitness, had short dark hair and hazel eyes. While Logan kept on looking at him suspiciously, he heard how Ororo, Hank and Scott thanked him. Nevertheless, he noticed the weird look the man kept on giving him.

"Thank God you were there, sir…," Ororo said and suddenly frowned when she became aware of the look the stranger gave her friend. Turning her heard she began to look to and fro between them. "Is something wrong?!" she asked, and also the others were suddenly quiet and watched the scenery.

"James…?" the man suddenly asked.

Looking up from glass, James gave him an odd look, just to realize that he wasn't meant but Logan. This one held Jean still close and had his eyes narrowed. "Who are ya?" he growled. Jean, who was leaning into him, turned her head to look at the man at the door. The stranger had begun to shake his head with a smile and laid a hand on his chest.

"I'm John," he said and Logan cocked an eyebrow.

"John?" Logan asked.

"Yeah…," the man nodded.

"John who?!" she heard her husband growling.

The stranger shook his head, but still smiled, obviously more than happy about something. "Your brother… John Howlett junior."

**Never thought I would make it and finish this chapter today. But I'm glad that I did, since I want to have this story finished before August. I hope you enjoyed reading it! Thanks to all reviewers.**

**OH AND: After seeing THE PRESTIGE, I always imagined Christian Bale as John Howlett junior, so ****I create the character after his look. ****You'll get to know why exactly in the next chapter. I already know what's going to happen in it and if the ending will be the ending I imagine, you'll hate me. LOL So, please review!!! See ya!!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Author's note: **This chapter contains spoiler to the comic book **Wolverine: The End**!!!

And Jean stealing Logan's power is described in the movie book to X2 on page 340!

June 10: Logan's grandfather's name corrected to John Howlett I.

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 14**

"John who?!" Logan growled.  
The stranger shook his head, but still smiled, obviously more than happy about something. "Your brother… John Howlett junior."  
While the others stared at him, Logan kept his eyes on the man next to Charles Xavier and scanned him from head to toe. He didn't know what kind of joke this was, but it was one for him. He still didn't remember everything of his life. Some things were still blurry and hidden somewhere in his head, but if he knew something, then that his brother had died the year he was born. He remembered being told so when he was around six years or something… So, whoever this man there was, was definitely not his brother. "Ya ain't my brother," he replied after a while with narrowed eyes. "My brother's dead…"  
Hearing this, the stranger gave a short laugh. "Is that what they've told you?! That I'm dead?" the man, who called himself John asked incredulously and shook his head. "Let me guess! Grandfather did it, am I right? It would suit John…," he spat and noticed the still skeptical look. "And what did I die from then?"  
Sighing, Logan rolled his eyes. "Ya ain't my brother," he said again.  
"What makes you think I'm not?!"  
"Well, then prove it!" he shrugged and got up to lead Jean over to the counter, so that she could sit down on a stool. He noticed that she still held her wrist in a firm grip and gave Hank a sign to look at it. The mutant obeyed and came over, as John searched for his wallet in his pocket and took out an old picture, which he threw over the counter next. He ignored that everyone else took a look at it, too. He only waited for Logan to take it. This one gave it a skeptical look first, but finally grabbed it.  
"This picture was taken by our father a few months after mother had come back home with you. I think it's been late February or early March…," John explained and met his brother's gaze briefly. "If I'm not your brother, how come I have this picture? Only two of them exist…"

While the others kept on looking at them, Logan still had his eyes fixed on the picture. Even if it was old, he could still see his parents' faces clearly. His mother had her long, dark hair pinned up, while she had cut it short when he was around 10 years old. She wore one of those beautiful dresses his father had liked a lot, probably the dark blue one, he thought. His father stood next to her with a proud smile on his lips. Both looked happy and healthy. In the middle of them stood a boy, he'd only known from pictures or paintings, while his mother held a small bundle on her arms with a baby in it. He knew it was him, even if the boy looked far different from his own sons. No unruly hair, not the piercing gaze he had now…just an innocent baby. He hated to be reminded of that time so he threw the picture back at him, before he leant back against the counter and glared at him. "What happened to ya then?" Logan asked and the others could tell that he wasn't interested at all.

"Sit down," Ororo offered the stranger and got off her stool.

"Thank you…" John smiled at her and did as he was told. He sighed and looked at the man opposite of him again. "You look exactly like him… Amazing," he said and earned a confused look from the weather goddess next to him.

"Like whom?"

"Thomas Logan. The gardener who worked for us," he explained.

"I'm still waitin' for my answer," Logan growled and received a shrug.

"Well, where do you want me to start…?" John asked and lowered his head, obviously drifting off to another time within his mind. "Mother changed a lot after you were born. She suffered from melancholy and didn't allow me or anyone else to even look at you. One day, I think it was in May '88, she took a walk with you in the garden and left you next to a tree. I took my chance and knew by picking up on your scent that you were like me. You smelled like my…kind… Suddenly, I heard voices nearby and followed the noises," he told him and his eyes darkened all of a sudden. "I saw our mother with him…"

"Whom?" Logan grunted.

"The gardener. They kissed," John replied with a brief glare at him. "I suddenly became angry like never before and went over to her after he was gone. I demanded to know what she was thinking and got even angrier." He shook his head. "She suddenly let out a terrible scream and…there was blood…"

"What has happened?" Ororo asked, even if Logan already knew.

"She had three long and deep gashes on her left side. It took me a moment to realize that I did it," he went on bitterly. "The others must have heard her, since all of a sudden the servants, father and the Old Man were there. The Old Man told father that if he wanted to continue in the circles our family was accustomed to, then others could never know about this incident. He said he'd take care of me… So he locked me up in the next psychiatry without explaining to me why."

"But…why a psychiatry?" Kitty asked confused. "I mean…you're not crazy."

Smiling sadly John held her gaze. "Back then, lunatic asylums were places to store the social embarrassments and the dead-before-their-times. One you were in, you hardly ever stood a chance to get out again," he said and the girl nodded. He then looked back at Logan, who'd never taken his eyes off him, but did and turned away to look out of the window, when their eyes met.

"And how did you get out?" Ororo asked him after a moment.

"People took me with them and did experiments on me. From their technology it must have been…the 40s or something when I finally left the asylum," John said. "They told me that I'd been betrayed and that I could only trust them. I didn't understand, due to my mental state what they were doing, but I remember that they referred to me simply as X." Hearing it, Logan turned his head to give him a look. "When I was well enough they began their tests and asked questions over questions. I accepted it first, but one day I was just sick of it and broke out," he continued. "I returned to our estate, but what I found were more or less ruins. Since the gravestone didn't have your name on it, I assumed you were still alive. So I went looking for you. I found the Old Man's diary, which said that you were probably in British Columbia, so I went there first. But there was no chance finding you or even get to know where you're now." He stopped to give the man at the windows, who looked out of them again, a questioning look. "Where have you been in the 50s?"

"Germany and Asia…," Logan grunted and didn't bother to turn around. He was dealing with his own thoughts and senses in the meanwhile.

"I see…," John nodded. "Well in the 90s finally I ran into someone in Canada who knew you. He told me the last time he saw you, you were on your way to Alberta again. So I went back home, but again I didn't achieve anything. While I traveled through Canada, I finally ended up in a bar in Alberta. I heard someone talking about an unbeatable cage fighter, who was called the Wolverine. I didn't know it was you. But when I saw you fighting in that cage, I just knew. I recognized your scent and the way you looked told me that I'd finally found you. When I tried to talk to you, you were gone again. People told me which road you'd taken, so I tried to follow you, but everything I found were the remains of a camper and a jet heading off."

"Then you've seen us. We rescued him back then," Scott said and ignored the snort Logan gave him after he'd said _rescued_ on purpose. "But how come you're here now?"

"The jet was in the news one day. So I went to NYC and continued my search."

"Well, then you've been successful in the end."

"Yeah…," John smiled.

"How old are you?" Ororo asked him.

"130," he replied and since no one stared at him oddly, he figured that they probably knew about the secret. "You must be…118 now, am I right?" he asked Logan, who only gave a silent nod. "Do you know what happened to our parents? I couldn't find any information on it…"

"They died," Logan grunted and crossed his arms.

"I know," John said. "But how?"

Frustrated, Logan gave sighed loudly. "Why do ya wanna know?" he asked and gave him a short glare. Wasn't it enough that he said they died? Why did he have to dig deeper?

"Well, because they're my parents, too?! The stone said that both died in October 1911," John said. "Did they have an accident or something?"

Waiting for a reply, the others looked at Logan, too, but this one just refused to answer first and especially not to turn around. He only did it briefly, when Jean gave a short gasp in pain as Hank tried to figure out if the wrist was broken or sprained. Obviously it was the first, as he thought. "They were shot…"

"Shot?!" John asked shocked. "By whom? As far as I know they had no enemies…"

"The gardener," Logan grunted.

"He shot them?! But why?" the other man asked. "Or how?" He desperately waited for a reply, but there was none. "James, I've a right to know! How did they die?"

He actually thought his mood couldn't become worse, but being forced to remember what had happened over 100 year ago, really pissed Logan off. Nevertheless, he replied. "Father banned him from the estate and he swore revenge. So he came back with his son at night…," he said in a low growl."

"And then?" John furrowed his brows since his brother remained silent for a while. Obviously it was bad what would follow next, he guessed.

"I awoke due to people yellin' at each other. And when I opened the door I heard a shot…"

"And?"

Logan clenched his fists hard and closed his eyes. To him it appeared as if he heard the shot again, saw the blood being splattered against the wall and ground… "Well, he blew father's head off…," he finally said and heard some, mostly the women gasping in shock.

"You've seen this?" Ororo asked him in complete shock. "You've witnessed how your father died?!"

"God…," John said and shook his head, just to ran a hand though his short, dark hair. "Did he shot her, too?"

"No…," Logan growled and put as much hate in this small word as possible. From all people he definitely didn't want to remember her.

"What did he do then?" John asked and noticed the cold, murderous look in his opposite's eyes that was suddenly there.

"I killed him," was the reply he got and nodded when it hit him.

"Of course… Your powers must have shown due to the shock. Am I right?" he asked and Logan nodded. "What happened to mother then?"

"This so called _mother_ threw me out," Logan grunted. "As far as I've been told she shot herself afterwards."

"And the Old Man?"

"Gave me a bit of money and told me to piss off and never come back. I don't give a shit on what has happened to him. He can rod in hell…," he spat in hate.

Giving Logan time to calm down again, Ororo turned to the man next to her again. "Do you have family?"

"No…," John shook his head with a weak smile. "It's not so easy for our kind to fins an equal partner, you know? The whole aging thing is kinda…difficult."

While she nodded in understanding, Moira straightened her position a bit and watched how Hank led Jean out of the room to fix her wounds downstairs. "It must be horrible for you. I mean he led a great life until the incident, while you…"

"Great Life?!" Logan snapped and gave her a glare. "You dare to call that what I had a _great_ life?!" he asked outraged.

"Well, yes…," she shrugged and didn't know what she'd done wrong. "Hank said your house was three times bigger than the mansion, you had servants, were rich…"

"…was told what I'd to do, where I'd to go, what I'd to become later in my life… Yeah, _great_ life, really!" he spat. "The only thing I'd waited for was to be told who I'd to marry…," he added with a low growl. "You so called great life sucked big time! Especially with a grandfather arguing non stop with your father, tellin' him what a sissy and loser he is and that his son was the same and a mother who has never been there for me. Your _great_ life was a big golden cage with a padlock as big as the Great Wall of China is long…"

"I…I didn't know…," Moira stuttered ashamed and looked down. "I'm sorry…"

"The Old Man was a crazy fool… He and his old values," John added in a Wolverine like growl. "People were only as good as the class they were born into to him. Just because he'd made money he thought he was better than us…"

No one said anything at all for a while. Some tried to find similarities between the two men, while most were still shocked about what had been revealed about Logan's past. This one suddenly turned around with his arms crossed and an more than odd smile on his lips. "What a coincidence, huh?" he asked and John frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"118 years…and all of a sudden, after you spent years lookin' for me, you're here… Strange, ain't it?"

"I'm still not following you, James," his brother said and frowned.

"Stop callin' me that!" Logan snapped.

"Logan, why don't you…," Ororo began as John cut her off.

"Logan?!" he asked shocked. "From all names you picked the one of this idiot gardener?"

"I didn't pick it, I was given it," Logan grunted. "If you've got a problem with it, I don't care!"

John sighed and ran a hand through his face to calm down. "James, this is…"

"I ain't James!" Logan instantly said a bit louder. "I've nothin' to do with that sissy anymore."

"Of course you have! It's who you are!" his opposite gave back but saw the he shook his head.

"Nope! It ain't and it hasn't been since 1911," he growled. "And still it's strange that from all people in NYC it was you who helped Jean."

"Why is it strange, Logan?" Ororo asked him and hoped to soothe him again. "It's a lucky coincidence."

"Don't believe in coincidences," he snapped and crossed his arms stubbornly.

"What that's supposed to mean?" John asked since he'd noticed the suspicious undertone in his voice.

"That somethin's wrong with ya," Logan said and his brother couldn't help but laugh.

"Wrong with me?!" he asked amused.

"Yeah…," Logan nodded and eyed him with an odd look again. "I know your scent and that means we've met before."

"We're brothers!" John said. "Of course you know my scent. I knew yours before I even met you for the first time."

"Yeah?!" his opposite smirked skeptically. "Strange that I'm damn sure that we've met before…"

John crossed his arms and returned the glare he was given. "And where?"

"Logan… Why are you so hostile?" Ororo asked him in disbelief. "You should be happy to have your brother back!"

"I'd be if I wasn't sure that there's somethin' wrong here," he snapped.

"And what?" Scott asked him. "He helped Jean and probably saved her life!"

Chuckling, Logan nodded. "Yeah, and Sabretooth and Daken would be so scared of a single man that they run away," he said cynically. "It's what they always do, ain't it? I memorize every scent, Cyke and since I've never met him before, I shouldn't know his, but I do!" he explained and eyed his brother again. "And c'mon! Don't tell me it's not strange that from all people it was him who was there at the right time. How ridiculous is that?!"

* * *

In the basement Hank was occupied with checking on the x-rays he'd made of Jean's wrist, head and ribs. "You might have a concussion but the bone is intact. You ribs seem to be fine to. Since it hurts, I guess you have a contusion. But your wrist is definitely broken," he told her and turned around. "I still don't understand how you could put yourself in such a danger, Jean! You should have thought about them." 

"I know," she sighed tiredly and bent forward a bit, just to hiss when her ribs shot a lightning like pain through her whole body. "But I never reckoned with them attacking me when I get new food for my baby…"

"Well, Logan was more than pissed off," he told her and examined her wrist again. "He even threatened Ororo to hurt her if you only have one scratch…"

"Why her?" she asked in confusion.

"Because she let you go alone," he said and checked her eyes next. "Did only Sabretooth and Logan's son attack you?" She nodded. "Well, the good news is that Forge and I finally found out why the new uniform isn't working with Logan. His healing factor blocks the powers. The suit works with everyone else but him. Forge has begun to produce the new uniforms, while I work on a solution for Logan."

"But how can it be that his healing factor blocks the uniform's power?!" she asked with a frown. "I mean…it's not attacking his body. It's a fabric or not?"

"Actually it's organic. Forge has implanted the same functions into the new uniforms as in the old one," he said and leant against the opposite bed. "The new uniform updates the computer here about our conditions, heart beats, if we eat, when we do so, when we rest…everything. To make that possible, the uniform has to be organic in order to combine itself with our bodily functions."

"But the old one worked for Logan. Why not the new one?" Jean mumbled more to herself.

"That's the question," Hank said. "What happened to you, Jean? I mean how come that one single man managed to fight Sabretooth and Logan's son?"

"Don't ask me," she sighed and carefully touched her bruised face. "The caught up with me and suddenly they were gone. John asked me if I was okay and if he could help me, he drove our car back to the mansion and here we are."

"What do you think about him?" Hank asked and gave her a stern look. "I mean it's strange that Logan reacts this way, don't you think?"

"If he was an enemy, Hank, he had the perfect chance to kill me," Jean replied and looked up. "Why should he bother to bring me back to the mansion? If he was one of Sinister's men, he could have knocked me out and take me to him directly. Or he could have joined Sabretooth and Daken. But he didn't. And he really seemed to be happy to see Logan again."

"But Logan obviously not to see him," he mumbled.

"You know that he doesn't trust strangers."

"Yes, but it is his brother in the end…" He heaved a deep breath and rubbed the back of his nose. "Anyway, today is New Year's Eve and we should start fixing you for it, don't you think?"

"I want to try something first," Jean said and received a questioning look. "Back then, when I broke my leg at Alkali Lake and we had to flee, I borrowed the knowledge of how to knit bones together from Logan. It was enough for me to walk at least a bit with Scott's help. With my powers being stronger now, I want to try if I can heal completely."

"By stealing Logan's powers?"

"Not stealing them, Hank," she said. "I only take the knowledge of it. I don't absorb his powers. I can't do that."

"Did you try something similar before?" he asked worriedly. "I mean…I don't want to treat him next, you know…"

"Yes, actually I did." She nodded. "I wanted to know what hearing and seeing for him is like."

"That worked?" he asked surprised and straightened his position when she nodded again. She could tell that his curiousness had just awoken. "And? What is it like for him? How good can he see? What's his hearing like? Does he…"

"Hank," Jean pleaded and raised a hand to stop him. "Later, okay? Maybe it works and I can connect you to him, too. But later…"

"Of course," he nodded and took her fine arm. "Then let's go back upstairs and see what the two brothers are doing."

* * *

"He really is hostile towards him," Kitty remarked after Logan and his brother had left the kitchen to go on with their conversation, or better from Logan's perspective, fight. It was obvious that he didn't like the man, while everyone else did and no one understood why. The man, his brother or not, seemed to be nice and they were more than glad that he'd been there to help Jean. 

"I wonder why…," Ororo sighed and looked up when Hank and Jean returned. "Hey, how are you?" she asked her best friend concerned and got off her stool.

"I'm okay," Jean said and looked around. "Where's Logan?"

"Snapping at his brother in another room I suppose," Scott said.

"Why snapping?"

"We don't know, but Wolvie obviously doesn't like him," Jubilee shrugged, as the man came back. "Now he's eaten him…"

"Where is John?" Ororo asked and watched how Logan went over to his wife to check on her.

"On his way home," he grunted.

"Why didn't you invite him to celebrate New Year's Eve with us?" she asked incredulously. "What's your problem with him, Logan? You should be happy that one of your family members is still alive, but all you do is being hostile."

"My family's here, Storm," he snapped. "I've nothin' to do with that family anymore."

"Still, he's your brother and he was happy to see you again," Scott said and received a snort.

"How are ya?" Logan asked Jean instead. "And I'm not sayin' now what a stupid cow you are… How often did I tell ya what he did to my previous partners, eh? How often?!"

"I know, Logan," Jean said while holding her throbbing head. "I'm sorry…"

"Do you want to try it now?" Hank asked her and made Logan cock an eyebrow.

"Try what?"

"Back then when Stryker kidnapped Scott and the Professor, I broke my leg and burrowed your knowledge of how to heal it," she explained but her husband got even more confused.

"How?"

"By getting that knowledge from your mind," she replied and looked up. "I wasn't strong enough back then to knit my bone completely together, but it was enough to stabilize it."

"And what do ya have on mind now?" Logan asked with furrowed brows.

"I want to try if I can heal myself," Jean said. "I can't absorb your powers like Rogue, but I can at least connect and read how you always do it…"

"Jean," the Professor, who'd remained at the door the whole time through, said and wheeled into the room. "Did you try that before? I mean connecting to Logan and borrowing his powers?"

"Yes I did," she nodded and he leant back in his wheelchair a bit surprised. "I wanted to know what seeing and hearing is like for him. So I connected to him."

"Do you know how dangerous that is?" he asked her. "You can damage Logan mind with it."

"How, she didn't do anything else than see things through my eyes," Logan asked gruffly.

"That's the point, Logan," Charles replied. "She took over your mind, something a telepath should never do! And Jean knows that!" He gave Jean a stern look, but the woman didn't look back at him.

"She didn't force me to anything, Chuck, now stop it!" Logan snapped and took Jean's fine hand. "Try it," he told her and held onto her injured hand carefully. "And ignore him," he added with a glare at the Professor who was about to say something.

"Relax," she said and fixed her gaze on his eyes.

"Does she have a head injury?" Charles asked Hank quickly, who nodded.

"A concussion probably. Why?"

"Jean, stop this!" the man said, but saw that it was already to late. Leaning back with a sigh and worried look on his face, he watched hoe the redhead's eyes began to glow while Logan's turned glassy. He knew he should intervene, but he didn't know how. Jean was more powerful than him, her dark side still hated him and if she attacked him while she was connected to Logan, it would damage the mutant, too.

Everyone remained silent and watched how Jean's face became tensed while she read the information in Logan's mind. This one stared at her like a frozen statue and didn't blink once. She felt how her wrist began to tickle first, but soon turned into a burning fire before she had to grit her teeth as the pain overwhelmed her. After she could tell that her bones had knit back together she instantly withdraw, not caring about the other wounds. Shakily, she held her wrist in a firm grip and shut her eyes tightly, while Logan shook his head and blinked several times to get rid of the drunk feeling he suddenly had. Seeing that she was shaking and whimpering while she grabbed her wrist hard, he frowned. "What's wrong?" he asked and made her look at him, seeing the tears in her eyes.

"Is that always hurting so much?" she asked through clenched teeth and he quickly helped her over to a stool.

"Yeah," Logan nodded. "What do ya think? It's bones that knit back together. 'f course that hurts like hell… Why else do ya think I sometimes sleep for days while healin'?" He looked at her for a moment. "What about the rest?"

"No, thanks," Jean waved off, still trying to control the immense pain that rushed through her bones.

"Then let me do that," he grunted and cupped her face carefully before he began to lick on the cuts.

"What is he doing now?" Scott asked and bent forward a bit just to give Hank a questioning look next.

"Healing her wounds, I suppose," the mutant replied. "I ran a test on him that proved that his healing capability lies also in his salvia. He's capable of healing small wounds with it." Thinking about Canada, Hank added, "…and larger wounds with his blood…" He watched how Logan let go of Jean and walked over to the fridge to pull out a bottle with water.

"Here," he said and handed it to her. "You've about 15 seconds to drink something and if I were you I'd try to drink as much as possible."

"Why?" Jean asked him drowsily.

"Just do it," Logan said and helped her with it, before he put the bottle aside.

"Why did you say that?" she asked, realizing that she suddenly had trouble speaking. He quickly leapt forward when she suddenly dropped forward.

"What's wrong with her?" Ororo shrieked and Hank was about to check on her pulse, when Logan waved off.

"The site effect of knittin' bones back together," he simply said and pulled his unconscious wife up. "We're off then."

"But it's New Year's Eve today, Logan!" Moira said. "You can't just go to bed…"

"Well, if she wakes up before midnight, we come down again, so what?" he shrugged and left to make his way to their room. Reaching them, he laid her gently down and began to undress her. The scents still lingered on her skin and it disgusted him to smell his arch nemesis and son on her. He was still angry with her being so thoughtless. They could have killed her or even taken her with them to turn her into one of Apocalypse servants. Logan walked over to the bath room to cool a cloth and take a dry towel with him, before he went back to clean her skin. He glanced at the watch that showed 8:15 p.m. and knew that she would sleep through till the early morning if not even longer. Having experienced his healing factor for the first time and with her body not being used to it, he remembered what it had probably done to her. Back then, after his father had been shot and his mutation had kicked in, he'd felt like drugged for days and only wanted to sleep. After he'd dressed her in one of his shirts and tucked her in, Logan gave her a soft kiss onto the forehead and left the room to check on his children. All of them were deeply asleep and even Miloh didn't notice that he walked past him. As he entered Jamie's room, he noticed that the boy was awake. "Not sleepin' again, hm?" Logan asked and shook his head.

Later, a few minutes before midnight, he stood on the balcony with his hands buried in his pockets and listened to the others talking in the garden. While he stared up into the sky, he wondered what the next year would bring and hoped that they wouldn't face a war soon. He heard how his friends began to count from 10 backwards and soon they cheered. The fireworks lit the dark sky and Logan turned around to check if he'd really closed the door behind him, just to give a surprised look. "I thought you're sleepin'," he said when Jean came closer on shaky feet.

"I just woke up," she said drowsily and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I feel like having one big hangover."

Chuckling he pulled her closer with his arms. "Happy New Year, darlin'," Logan whispered and kissed her.

"Mhm," Jean made and rested her head against his chest, just to closer her eyes next.

"And no stupid solo efforts next year, got that?" he warned and she barely managed to nod.

"Do you mind if we do the tradition tomorrow?" she mumbled into his chest and Logan chuckled again.

"No…," he said and pulled her up again to carry her back inside. "I can assure ya, darlin', ya won't be able to do it tomorrow, too."

"Hm…," Jean made and he could tell that she was already fast asleep again. Logan closed the door with one arm and went back to the bedroom, where he laid her down first before he got ready for bed. After slipping under the covers next to her, he placed a gentle kiss onto her neck and cuddled up to her from behind.

* * *

"Hey, where is Logan?" Bobby asked two days later and held the receiver close while he looked into the round in Charles office. The others had gathered there to talk about the next term and to say goodbye to the Alpha Flight team that wanted to fly back to Canada later that day. 

"He's in the gym with our children and teaches them how to use their powers," Jean replied and looked up from the schedule for the next term. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"There is a guy on the phone," the younger man explained with – as everyone else noticed – a helpless look on his face. "I don't understand him, but I understood that he wants to speak to Logan…"

"What do you mean you don't understand him?" Scott asked.

"Well I think he speaks Chinese or something…"

"But how can you be sure then that he wants to talk to Logan?!"

"Because that was the only word I got," Bobby said. "Except of course his name means something else in Asia that is…"

"He's on his way," Jean said and it didn't take long for her husband to appear in the door, fully dressed in his casual work-out clothing.

"What?" Logan said rather gruffly and wiped the sweat off his face with the white towel around his neck.

"Here," Bobby said. "Either this one wants to order Chinese food that has your name, or he wants to talk to you." He handed him the receiver and leant back against the wall. After being the bearer he also wanted to know if there really was Chinese food that was called Logan.

"Yeah?" this one said and closed the door behind him. Being watched by the others, they saw how he began to furrow his brows first before he switched to a language they didn't understand. Jean met his gaze briefly and nodded after he told her who it was and what was wrong mentally. It didn't take long and he let the receiver sink.

"So?" Bobby asked and looked at the man from aside. "A food order or not?"

"Logan what's wrong?" the redhead asked since she noticed the odd look on his face. "What did Ken want?"

"Ken?!" Ororo asked.

"Sinister's in Japan," Logan grunted and finally looked up. "He was spotted there close to Jasmine Falls. Sabretooth, Daken and a third man are with him."

"So what are we waiting for?" Scott asked. "Let's get dressed."

"No…"

"No? Why not? It's our chance to start a surprise attack from afar," he suggested. "If we attack them from air, they can't block our powers and we have a real chance."

"Yeah?" Logan asked ironically with a cocked eyebrow. "Remember when we flew to Canada? The result was that he had my son and that the junior team was killed. Maybe he wants to lure us away and start another attack. We don't know if he has another team waitin' here for us to leave."

Hank nodded. "True."

"Nevertheless, we could really start an air raid," Ororo disagreed. "I could attack them with my powers…" Still, Logan shook his head. "It's our chance to get our hands on Sinister, Logan."

"You don't really think it'll be that easy, do ya?"

"No, but I agree with Scott that we have a chance here and we should make use of this opportunity. We're in the air, they can't attack us there and if needed, we can be back at the mansion within a few hours."

"And these _few_ hours can be t'late, Storm," Logan gave back and crossed his arms.

"Then let's split the team," Scott said. "A few of us go, the others watch over the mansion in the meanwhile."

"I could also call the Alpha Flight Team," James offered. "Puck and the others can be here in about an hour. We come with you and our second team guards the school with the rest of your team in the meanwhile."

"Good point," Scott nodded.

"You should also check on your old home again, Logan," the Professor said and received a confused look from the mutant. "Sinister or one of Apocalypse's men had been there. So maybe they left something else besides the laptop."

"I ain't gonna go back there, Chuck," Logan shook his head. "Forget about that!"

"I know you don't feel comfortable with it," Charles tried to soothe him. "But I am sure that they may have used the estate before you were lured there. You know the place, so you can tell if there's something odd or unusual."

"I don't want to go there," the other man said again, but this time in a low growl.

"It was you who told us that sometimes we have to do things we don't like to do," Scott lectured him. "If it helps us, Logan, then we go there and try to find out more."

"Do ya sit on your ears or what?!" his opposite snapped. "I said I ain't goin' there so I ain't goin' there!"

"But…"

"Scott, you don't know what the place does to him," Jean intervened.

"Still we need to find out more about Sinister," Scott disagreed. "And if it helps us, then we should go there…"

"Scott is right," Ororo nodded. "If they really hide something then why not in a place we wouldn't go looking. Sabretooth must know that you don't want to go back there, so why shouldn't they use this?" She held Logan's gaze for a moment. "I, and I think we all, can understand that you don't want to go back… But maybe it helps us, Logan…"

Not saying anything at all for a while he kept his eyes on the ground while the others waited for a reaction. "The kids are stayin' here and I call Peter, Matt and Elektra for help, too. We won't leave until the mansion is really safe, got that?" he grunted and turned around to leave.

"Have you ever considered calling old students?" Hank asked the Professor. "I'm sure they'll help, too."

"I already did, Hank," Charles replied. "Banshee and his daughter Siryn have agreed on helping us. Angel wants to come as soon as he can, too." He turned to James. "How many members does your team have?"

"The A-Team has six, including the three of us, the second team has nine so far," the man replied and received a nod.

"How well are they trained?" Logan demanded to know.

"Good enough to protect the school," Heather said. "If you want I go and call them. In that way they can be here in about an hour and we'd have a second jet."

"Good," he nodded and turned around to leave. "I want my team ready within 60 minutes. And I call someone else…"

"Does this count Remy in, too?" the Cajun asked but Scott shook his head. "Why not? Remy can help."

"I think he wants you here," Ororo replied and got up. "Same goes for Kurt and Mystique, I think."

"But wouldn't it be wiser to take them with us, too?" Scott asked and nodded at Bobby and Jubilee. "They can attack from afar…"

"Yes, but we need people here that can attack from afar, too," Jean said and got up. "I think it'll be the best if the others are brought to the basement and the school is shut down."

"I think you're right," the Professor nodded. "I will tell all students to head for the basement. The school will be locked down as soon as the jet took off."

* * *

The X-Men waited in the garden and watched how Logan gave Spiderman, Daredevil and Elektra instructions on what to do in case of an emergency. "Didn't you say you wanted to call someone else?" Scott asked when his teammate joined them again. "I only see three of them…" As an answer Logan pointed to the wood behind him. "Oh, you called trees… Nice!" 

"Funny," Logan growled and shot a glare at him. "Cap and his Avengers are patrollin' the wood, Pete…," he explained as he suddenly smirked. "I already wondered where ya are, girl."

"Sorry," a dark haired woman smiled and hugged him. "It took me a while. So, where're Steve and the others?"

"In the wood," he replied and she nodded. "But can ya patrol the roof with Pete and Matt together?"

"Sure. Where are they?" she asked as Scott suddenly waved.

"It's great to see that they help us, but…," the man said and pointed at her. "Who's she now?!"

"Jessica Drew," she said and shook his hand. "And you are?"

"Scott Summers," he replied and she nodded.

"Logan," Jean called and he turned and saw that she was pointing to some lights in the air.

"Puck asks where he can land the jet," James said and held a phone in his hand.

"He flies that thing?!" Logan asked and cocked an eyebrow. "Does he even reach the…"

"Logan!" Heather warned and he quickly raised both hands.

"Tell him to just land the thing. The garden is big enough," he grunted and James gave his a brief nod. "Oh and Jean…"

"No way, Logan!" she instantly said and crossed her arms.

"But…"

"I said no!" she repeated and turned around.

Having watched the scene Jessica giggled. "Let me guess… She's your girl?"

"How can ya tell?" Logan asked jokingly and cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh…," she shrugged. "Because I know that only your girl can butter you down without risking to me eaten alive perhaps," she joked and received a growl. "Never mind. I join Pete and Matt then. Good luck!"

Scott watched how she easily ascended the roof. "I'm not mistaken that she was your girl once, too?" he asked and received a smirk.

"Wrong!"

"She wasn't?" he teased him. "How come? Doesn't she like men, is she too small, too thin, the hair too dark?"

"Shut up, Cyke!" Logan growled and turned his head when the jet's engines were shut down. It didn't take long for the hatch to open and soon some people exited it. He only saw a very small, round shadow coming closer at full speed, before someone bumped into him and clung to him. "Damn, Puck… Stop squeezin' me t'death! Logan chuckled and hugged the man back. "It's good to see ya, too and now let go of me…"

"I thought you were dead or something," the small man complained and gave him a good kick against the shin. "Damn you!"

"And who are they?" Scott asked and had watched the scene with arms crossed.

Sighing, Logan gave him a look and turned back to the three Alpha Flight members. "May I introduce Mr. Curiosity himself, Scott Summers. The man who keeps a diary on me."

"Must be thick by now…," a man of average height and with long black hair said.

"Thanks Michael," Logan grunted and turned back to Scott. "That are Michael Twoyoungmen aka Shaman, Walter Langkowski aka Sasquatch and Eugene Milton Judd aka Puck. And the guys over there are the rest of the team." Scott nodded and greeted them briefly.

"So, how do we do it?" James asked and gave Logan a questioning look. "Team A takes the second jet and comes with you. Where do you want Team B to get into position?"

"Throughout the mansion so that the block the way to the basement," Logan replied and the man nodded, just to turn around and head for the waiting mutants. He then turned and looked at his team. The decision of who would stay and who would come with them was a hard one. In both places, mutants with powers that could reach an enemy from afar were needed. He knew that. He also knew that both teams had to be equally strong. Looking at his team members who waited for him to say something, he crossed his arms. "Bobby, Kitty, Jubilee, Peter to the basement," he said.

"Why can't we come with you?" Jubilee complained.

"Because I say so!" he grunted and gave them a sign to leave. "Cyke, Hank, 'Ro come with me. Remy and Kurt stay here." The two men nodded and headed back inside. "And Jean…"

"I come with you, Logan," the woman said again.

"I want ya to stay here."

"But I don't!"

"I don't care," he gave back. "I know you're the strongest one, but first you were injured only two days ago, second we agreed that one of us stays with the kids."

She heaved a deep breath. "Logan, we have a whole army here right now. The school will be locked down as soon as we take off and as far as I know it's four horsemen and obviously three of them are in Japan."

"Still leaves one here and we don't know if the third one is really a horseman," Logan shot back.

"The two of you are arguing again?" Heather asked and joined them. "Why now?"

"Logan wants her to stay here and she doesn't," Ororo shrugged. "Usual discussion!"

Walking over to her, Logan pulled Jean aside. "I don't have a good feelin' if you come with us…," he said worriedly. "Please stay here…"

She looked briefly down to think about it and shook her head. "My feelings tell me that I have to be there… And I go crazy here if I don't know what happens in Japan." She briefly stroked over his chest that was covered in his old leather uniform. "I'm coming with you. Everything will be fine, trust me!"

"I don't think so," he replied and looked at her hands that still rested on his chest.

"He has a girl?" Puck asked in disbelief and nudged James' right leg.

"Not only that," Heather smiled mysteriously and the man frowned.

"What else?!" he asked and looked up at her. "Come on, tell me!" He groaned since she didn't answer and looked at Logan, who came closer again with Jean behind him.

"Is everyone ready?" he asked and received nods. "Good. Board your jet, we get ours." With that he turned around and put his gloves on. It was then than Puck became pale and his chin dropped.

"I see you figured it out," Narya smiled and pushed him over to their jet, where James gave the second team more instructions. A few minutes later, the basketball field moved aside and the X-Wing rose into the air. From the front, Logan watched the school was locked down and also saw Spiderman and Spider-woman waving at them. A look to the right told him that Shaman and Puck had moved their jet right next to them and he gave them their old sign to follow them. A nod told him that they had understood and he watched Avalanche 1 fell behind.

"Is their jet as fast as ours?" Storm asked and received a brief nod. "Okay, then let's go." She typed in the coordinates, gave James a short notice and made use of a button that pushed the jet to its limits. She gave Logan a brief look from aside afterwards. "Is something wrong?" she asked, but he shook his head. "It's not because of your fear of flying, is it?" she asked concerned.

"No," Logan grunted and turned to give Jean, who looked out of the window, a look. He couldn't help it, but he felt scared. His senses kept on telling him that something was wrong, that something would happen to her. When she felt that he was staring holes into her, Jean switched her eyes to him and he looked away. She'd told him that everything would be fine, but he doubted it. Finally turning around again, Logan fixed his eyes on his left hand and turned unconsciously the rings on his finger through the gloves…

**I end that chapter here, so you will get the mean cliffie with the next chapter. ; )**** Thanks to all reviewers. I'm glad you liked the last one. I will try to finish the next chapter soon. Hope it works. : ) See ya and please review!!!**


	15. Chapter 15

**Author's note: **This chapter contains spoiler to the comic book **Wolverine: The End **and **Wolverine Origin**!!! Oh, and one particular scene is taken from **Superman Returns**. ; ) Those who know the movie, will recognize it. ; )

Oh and (…) means again that **Japanese** is spoken!! This chapter contains several hints to earlier chapters, so don't get confused!!

**And congrats to ragdogtwo for being reviewer number 100!!! ; )**

_**BTW: Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; )**_

**Chang****es Sequel – II. Covenant Part 15**

After a short flight, both jets landed in front of a small wood and the two teams met in front of them. "Where to now?" James asked and looked around the unfamiliar surrounding. Not saying something and glaring at the wood as if he wanted to kill every single tree and shred them to toothpicks, Logan walked passed him to lead the way.

"His way of saying that way," Scott remarked since he'd noticed the looks of the Alpha Flight Team and followed his team leader through the dark wood. It didn't take long and a huge estate appeared in front of him that had been built on a small hill. Grey, dark clouds hang above them and mirrored Logan's mood perfectly. He wanted to be anywhere but here…

"That's huge…," Heather said in awe and didn't know where to look at first. The estate was so huge that one look wasn't enough to become aware of everything at once. She could easily imagine what the house and the grounds must have looked like in the past. They soon reached an old gate that was roughly pushed open by Logan and entered what must have been the courtyard before. Her eyes quickly scanned it and took short notice of the gravestone underneath a tree.

Logan abruptly stopped and took in all scents that his nose picked up on. He took a quick look around. "No one's here," he grunted. "Can we go now?"

Scott sighed. "No, Logan we can't. The laptop was inside, so is probably something else. You're the only one who knows your home."

"This ain't my home!" Logan snapped.

"Then let me rephrase is," Scott gave back. "You are the only one who knows which room is where and where possible places to hide things are. So would you stop bellyaching now and lead the way?"

"Scott!" Jean scolded him with a glare. "Would you want to go back to a place of which you have bad memories only?" Stepping forward, she put a hand on her husband's shoulder while this one still glared at the house. "If you want, you can wait outside and lead me through our link," she offered, but he shook his head.

Logan didn't say something when he ascended the stone stairs and went inside the house, closely followed by the others. The door opened with a loud, long creak and he took a peek inside. Nothing had changed since his last visit. The interior was still dark and covered with thick dust and spider webs. Obviously, no one had been here since their last visit. He could tell by one look only that the things still stood on their places. The others stopped behind him to take a look around. "This place is so huge…," Narya gasped in astonishment and turned around her own axis. "Are this your parents?" she asked and nodded at the painting to her right, but received a silent nod as an answer only. While she and the rest of her team went over to take a closer look, Logan tried if the old stairs would carry his weight. If they did, the others could ascend them, too. With careful steps, he reached the second floor of four and nodded his okay.

"I don't have to refer to you with a title or something, do I?" Puck asked and received a glare. "I mean… You're not some former Duke or Prince or something, are you?"

"Don't even dare," Logan growled and stopped in the middle of a long, dark corridor that was soon lightened up by Jean's small firebird. There were just too many doors. He could hardly remember what laid behind which door. Not saying anything, he went over to the first door and opened it, but all he saw was old, dusty furniture. Most of them were covered with even dirtier cloths. He didn't even know what to look for… Closing the door again, he looked at the next one and stepped inside. More furniture, dust and even more cloths…

After a moment and lots of more doors, he finally reached a room with and old bed in it. Trying hard to remember which room this was, he went inside and looked around. The bed was on the far left, two windows, a fireplace, a desk to write on and another door. With furrowed brows Logan went over and opened it. Nothing inside. About to close it again, he suddenly noticed something that was covered with a thick layer of dust in the dark corner. Logan got it from the ground and wiped it clean. It was a small black book with a nearly vanished name on it. Trying to read it, he finally went over to the window, wiped this one clean and opened the old, fragile book.

"What is he doing?" Scott whispered while he waited with the others at the door. Jean shrugged and kept her eyes on Logan, whose face was suddenly tensed. Either he tried to remember whose book it was or he already remembered and it wasn't something good. Before she could ask he opened his leather suit and hid the book within it, just to come over and walk past them next. She saw him turning his head to the right and left. Obviously he was looking for something.

"Logan?" she asked carefully, but he raised a hand to tell her to stop. Then, he tried the stairs again to head for the third floor and remained on the spot for a moment. Now she was sure that he looked for something. "What are you looking for?" she asked.

"My mother's room," he grunted and went right to open one door after the next, until he stopped at the end of the corridor and walked inside the room. The bed was on the far right, the windows on the left, a fireplace, a desk, a canapé in the middle of the room together with some chairs and a large mirror with a table in front of his. He'd never seen his mother's room from within. He'd rarely seen her at all, except at the window from time to time. He couldn't even remember her voice, except the last words that still shot through him like a sharp dagger. He could still feel her slapping him hard after his mutation had shown for the first time, even if he hadn't been able to remember anything at all that had happened before due to selective amnesia. _"You are not my son! You..you are a beast!" _she'd yelled at him before she'd thrown a candleholder against the mirror he was just standing in front of now. _"Go out of my sight you disgusting monster!"_ Closing his eyes for a moment, Logan remembered how the boy he'd once been had stormed out of the house in fear, past his dead father, the sobbing Dog, who tried to stop the blood on his face from flowing, and past the dead Thomas Logan, who he'd killed, just to collapse on the cold, wet ground on the outside. A look to the right pulled him even further back into his past. The blood of his father and supposed-to-be-father was still on the ground, clearly visible after all those years that had passed. His grandfather had obviously not been in this house after the incident and as it seemed the reputation of the estate to be a cursed place that was built on tears, had prevented that others had moved into this house, too. "Jean and 'Ro stay here with me, Cyke and Hank search the fourth floor, James, Narya and Heather the attic, Puck, Shaman and Sasquatch search the first floor," Logan grunted and waited for them to head off. "What are ya waitin' for?"

"Well…what do you want us to look for?" James asked with a shrug.

"What the hell do I know?" his opposite snapped. "Collect everythin' that looks suspicious, letters, pictures, papers…anythin'." He gave them a look. "And now go! I wanna get outta here!" Turning around, he walked over to the bookshelf and began to pull one book after the next out, closely watched by the two women, while the others left. Jean exchanged a brief look with Ororo, shrugged and went over to look through the drawer, while the weather goddess said she would start searching through the other rooms.

"You're looking for proof, aren't you?" the redhead asked after being done with the drawer and turning towards another shelf. She gave Logan, who was searching through the table under the mirror a look over her shoulder. "…that he's not your half-brother? Or proof that John really is your brother?"

"So what?" he grunted and closed the drawer of the table. Still, he remained there and looked at it.

"You don't need to get all snappy again," Jean warned him. "I know that you don't want to be here." She suddenly heard a loud, screeching noise and turned quickly around. "What are you doing?!" she asked and watched how he began to work on the fireplace with his claws. It didn't take long for him to pull out a small box that was covered with dirt. "How did you know?"

"Well, if she wanted to hide somethin' from my father, I doubt she'd have put it somewhere for anyone to find," Logan grunted and brushed over the box. "Follow me. There ain't nothin' here." Frowning first, Jean finally closed the door and walked behind him down the corridor to another room. Her eyes quickly scanned the huge room, took notice of the large bed next to the door, the fireplace in the opposite side, the many windows and old, red curtains. Since she saw some teddy bears on the windowsill, she guessed which room this was. "Your room… Am I right?" she asked and he nodded while sitting down on the bed. Doing the same next to him, Jean eyed the black box curiously. "And you think she put something in there secretly?"

"Yeah," Logan grunted and slowly opened the box.

Upstairs, Scott and Hank went through some bookshelves and drawers but couldn't find anything of importance. They already had a small pile with papers and pictures but other than that, there wasn't anything suspicious about the rooms. "Look at that…," Hank suddenly said and held a picture towards his teammate. "Looks like Jack, doesn't he?"

"Well, why else do you think the boy is called a copy?" Scott shrugged and put his hands to his hips. "That was the last room, wasn't it?"

"Yes."

"Then let's go to the second floor. Logan didn't name anyone to search through it," he suggested and took the pile from the ground. "Why did people built so huge houses back then?" he asked while walking down the corridor and shook his head. "I mean, come on… If someone screams in the attic, you need thirty minutes to reach it."

"Jealous?" Hank teased him.

"Of what? That his parents had money?" Scott huffed. "You heard what John said. Logan looks like the gardener, so what does it tell us, hm?"

"That he's still a Howlett in the end," Hank replied. "Just because his mother had an affair, doesn't mean that Logan was the result of it."

Descending the stairs, the other man gave a short laugh. "Right…that's why he looks like him."

Following him, Hank shook his head. "You know…," he said when they reached the second floor. "Logan and you would make an incredible, interesting couple that would be worth studying…"

"What?!" Scott asked and froze on the spot. "Are you out of your mind?"

"No, I am not, my friend." Walking further to the next door, the blue mutant entered the room. "Lovers like to tease each other… Wasn't it something like that?" he asked with an amused smirk and knelt down to look at the shelf more closely.

Ororo had walked downstairs, too, after noticing that Jean and Logan were gone. On the first floor, she ran into Puck, who tried to climb onto a table. Smiling, she went over and handed him the box that he obviously wanted to have.

"Thanks," he smiled back and put the box onto the ground. "An appearance like you really brightens up my day."

Giggling, Ororo gave him a knowing nod. "Logan's friend through and through," she remarked.

"Well, what do you think, lady?" he winked.

"Did you guys find anything?"

"Yes, dead spiders, webs, dirt, dust… Something you like?" Puck asked and she laughed again. "You have an incredible, beautiful laugh."

"Thanks, that's what my husband thinks, too," Ororo replied and saw the disappointment on his face.

"Is every beautiful woman married?" he asked and risked a look inside the box, but one look was enough to tell him that it didn't include anything interesting. "I can't believe he's married, too… This traitor!"

"Traitor?" she asked amused and crossed her arms.

"Of course! Leaves me in our bachelor club all alone," Puck cried playfully and pushed the box aside. "And of course he has to marry someone stunning like that redhead. This traitor!"

"Well, how many members does your club have?" she asked and followed him down the corridor.

"Well…two… Me and him," he shrugged and again she laughed.

A bit later, James, Heather and Narya descended the stairs with some boxes in their hands. On their way, they were accompanied by Hank and Scott and together they went looking for the other on the first floor. "Hey, I see you found something," Ororo said when the door opened and the group entered. "We weren't so lucky."

"Are Logan and Jean still upstairs?" Heather asked and put one box down.

"I don't know," the woman shrugged. "I went downstairs because I couldn't find them."

"'_Ro?"_ she heard Jean suddenly in her head. _"Would you return to the jets with the others? We're right there."_

"Jean wants us to go back to the jets," she informed the others. "So let's get going."

"How did she do that?" Shaman asked in confusion and followed her.

"She's a telepath," Hank explained. "Are they waiting for us?"

Holding the front door open, Ororo shrugged. "She said they'll be there in a minute…"

"Maybe they are searching through the basement," Scott suggested and stepped out into the cold winter air. The snow underneath his shoes made cracking noise when he stepped onto it. "It's where we've found the laptop." While the rest walked back through the wood and to the jet, where they put everything they've found into the back of Avalanche 1, Logan and Jean went indeed through the basement and turned it upside down.

"Nothing," Jean said after a moment. "Except old paintings and furniture and obviously one hundred-something year old bottles…"

"Same here," Logan grunted and threw a box aside. "Since the laptop is still here, I doubt that they've been here in the meanwhile…"

"You could be right," she nodded and joined his side with the computer in her hand. "Anything else you want to look for?"

"Yeah," Logan nodded and turned around to ascend the stone stairs to the first floor. Reaching it, he gave the interior a last look. He wouldn't come back. Not this time. This place and everything that had to do with it was history. The people, the incidents, what happened before and afterwards…everything that had to do with his childhood didn't matter anymore. Walking through the front door, followed by Jean, he headed towards a wooden, small house. _His_ house, as he knew. Not hesitating, he went inside. The room was a mess, as it has always been. It reflected the character of the gardener perfectly, Logan thought, the violent, drunk bastard that emptied one bottle after the next and beat the crap out of his son. He couldn't help but start growling by the thought about it. Jean gave him a brief look from aside, but remained at the door and watched how he walked over to the fireplace and began to search for something. It didn't take long and he held a small black box in his hand. The same as he'd found in his mother's room. One look into his lowered eyes told her what he was thinking now. Not knowing what to say, she followed him back outside and through the wood. The others were already waiting at the jets for them.

"We put everything in our jet," James informed him and received a silent nod. Logan handed him everything they'd found and turned to walk over to the X-Wing. Looking at the redhead helplessly, Jean could only give James a shrug and she and her team boarded their jet to head to Japan next.

* * *

While she sat on one of the many beds and watched over the sleeping children und students, Rogue had her eyes fixed on the screens that monitored the X-Men condition. Since Logan's heartbeat was a bit faster than usual, she guessed that they were flying again and obviously on their way to Japan now. She wondered what and if they'd found anything at all in Canada. She wished she'd been there. She'd only heard about the Howlett estate and wanted to know if she pictured it right in her head. Rogue looked up when Remy sat back down and gave her a kiss. "Remy dinks dat mon petite looks sad," he said and leant his head against hers after he'd pulled hers onto his shoulder. "What's wrong, chérie?" 

"Nothing," she waved off and closed her eyes briefly. "I'm just worried, that's all…"

"Remy dinks dey are fine," he assured her and stroked through her long hair. "You should sleep…"

"I will later," Rogue smiled and kissed him on the cheek. "I wonder what they are doing now. Maybe they're already in Japan or close to it. Maybe they'll run into our enemies and have to fight… Who knows…"

"Jean will kick ass, you know her," Bobby, who laid on the bed next to her with Jubilee sleeping half on top of him, mumbled and raised his head to put his arm underneath it. "And Logan, too. They should be fine as long as they stay away from those darn uniforms…"

"Yes, but what if there is a surprise attack and they can't react that fast?" she asked worriedly.

"Den Logan will get'em out, non?" Remy shrugged.

"I hope so," she sighed and ran both hands through her face, just to look up and stare at the screens again, which suddenly began to beep warningly. All three of them exchanged confused looks. "What's happening?!"

"What's wrong?" the Professor asked and wheeled into the room, followed by Moira.

"We don't know," Bobby shrugged and Jubilee, who had been thrown off him due to the impact when he'd sat up in shock, rubbed her eyes. "Something must be wrong…"

* * *

"Pull the thing up!" Logan yelled and held onto the armrest as the jet began to spin rapidly. _Not again…_, he added mentally when he was forced to remember what had happened the last time a jet had done those rapid movements. All electronic devices were beeping aloud while Storm tried to get the jet under control again. "Storm!" 

"I'm trying!" she yelled panicky to drown out the noises, but all she heard were the constant beeps and the loud wind that rushed into the jet as if it was made of paper. She felt how the jet created a life on its own. No matter what she did or tried everything just didn't work out. "It's not responding!" she said and pulled onto the joystick with all her might. "I can't pull it up!"

Cursing, Logan reached over and began to pull onto it, too. "It's stuck. Forget about it!" he said, not bothering to hide the panic in his voice, since it was all he felt right now. "Jean?" he asked and turned his head.

"She was hit," Hank told him and held onto the redhead that was bleeding on the head and didn't move.

"Damn it," Logan growled and gave the others a look. "Leave the jet. All of ya!" he ordered and opened his seatbelt.

"We won't make it!" Storm gave back and stared at him with widened eyes. She watched how he rammed his claws into his seat and reached over to open her seatbelt, too. "Logan!"

"If ya die by hittin' the water or during the explosion of the jet, doesn't matter," he said urgently. "By jumpin' out of it, ya have at least a chance. Grab Jean and fly with her over to the shore. It ain't far!" With that he pulled her out of the seat and helped her over to the redhead. "Hold on tight to her!" he ordered and waited for Storm to do so, before he pushed a button to open the hatch. "Now go!" Not feeling comfortable with it, Storm concentrated on the winds on the outside and changed them to her advantage. It wasn't enough to bring the jet under control, but she hoped it would work and bring them over to the shore. While she jumped with Jean in her arms, Logan had helped Hank in the meanwhile and the furry mutant left the jet right afterwards. "Cyke!" Logan barked and held out his hand while he held onto the wall with his claws. "C'mon! Hurry up!"

"I'm stuck," the man replied and pulled onto his seatbelt like a maniac. "It won't open!"

"Damn it!" Logan cursed and retracted his claws. He fell forward due to the impact and quickly buried his claws into the seat next to his teammate. "You're such a drama queen. Ya hope for an Oscar or what?" Using his claws, he tore the belt apart and caught Scott's fall with one arm. "Now c'mon!" He supported him with one arm and used his free one to climb the way up. By now the jet was spinning so rapidly that he had to pause in between to not lose his balance. If they were sucked out of the hole that this blast-out-of-nowhere had caused, they would be in danger to be sucked into the turbines. And he definitely didn't felt like being turned into ground meat… "Damn it," he cursed as he failed to bury his claws into the ground and they fell down a few inches.

"We won't make it," Scott said and grabbed his teammate's shoulder hard.

"Stop that whinin' and pull yourself up!" Logan barked and used his free arm to pull Scott up as far as he could. "Grab the damn edge!"

"I can't reach it!" the other man cursed and gritted his teeth.

In the meanwhile, Storm had landed on the shore and laid the still unconscious Jean down onto the snow covered ground. It didn't take long and Hank crawled out of the water, shook the liquid off as good as he could and turned his head when the weather goddess let out a terrified shriek, just to see how the jet crashed into the water. "Did they make it?" he asked her frightened, but the woman was staring at the spot in shock and with widened eyes in terror. "Ororo, did they jump out of the jet? Did you see it?" he asked again and bent down to check on Jean. One look over his shoulder told him that it obviously wasn't the case. The Alpha Flight Team's jet was still hovering in circles over the spot where the jet has gone down. "Damn it…"

Logan, who held onto the edge of the hatch panting, turned his head to look at his teammate that had fallen down due to the impact. "Scott?" he called aloud and saw that the man raised his head very slowly. "Are ya alright?" he asked and buried a second pair of claws into the ground to steady himself. "Can ya move?" he added since the jet was filling with water rapidly. The impact of the crash must have torn the nose of the X-Wing away and now the whole water of the lake was rushing into the interior.

"I…," Scott said and coughed heavily. "I can't move…"

Cursing, Logan let himself fall into the water. He grabbed the man's collar to keep his head above water and began to pull on him with his free hand. "We have to hurry. The damn thing's drownin'," he muttered and with one last pull, accompanied by a painful yell of Scott, he managed to free his comrade. "Can ya swim?" he asked him and already had to begin swimming himself. By now the water had reached his chest and he knew that a few seconds later would have cost him a teammate.

"I can't move my left arm and leg," Scott said through gritted teeth and at least tried to hold onto Logan with his good arm.

"Then c'mon," this one panted and aimed for the still open hatch that already gave creaking noises. "I pull ya up and help ya out. Hold onto somethin' on the outside," he instructed him and while his feet worked to keep them above water, he pushed Scott up. As the man grabbed the edge of the opening with his fine arm and pulled himself up, the hatch fell down and hit his head with a loud _thud_. Like a dead doll, Scott fell backwards and into the water. Cursing, Logan quickly dived and pulled him out of it. He leant in to check on the man's breathing and was grateful that he still did, despite the heavily bleeding wound on the head. "Scott?" he said aloud and shook the man a bit, while his free arm pulled them all the way up to the now closed hatch. He needed both arms to open that thing and with his teammate being unconscious, he couldn't do more just now to watch the water flooding the interior and keep them above it as good as possible. "Dammit, Scooter, wake up!" Logan barked and looked up. They were running out of time. The jet was already being pulled into the water, since the now closed hatch was slowly covered with it. It wouldn't take long and the interior was filled with the liquid, which meant that both were doomed to drown and sink with it. He tried to get a look at the hole in the wall, but as lucky as he was, the impact had knitted the whole jet so good together, that there was no hole left. Scott let out a weak groan and his head went slowly over to the other side. "Wake up, ya sissy, c'mon!" Logan said aloud again and clung to the remains of the hatch, which, as he saw now, was leaking, too. By the now the water was already reaching his shoulders and he nearly had no room left to breathe. Panic began to rise within him. He had no problem with being in the water, not at all. But being trapped in something while the interior was flooded with water, made him recall what Weapon X had done to him. He knew what drowning felt like, he'd experienced it too often. If he thought hard enough, he could feel the pulmonary alveoli already making popping sounds, the burning sensation would then take over the lungs, which would collapse next and a bit later, the brain would stop working due to the lack of oxygen. Remembering it made him freak out… He didn't want to die anymore, not as he'd wanted in the past…

"Why are they not doing anything?" Ororo shrieked and turned to Hank, who tried to wake up Jean.

"Maybe they can't reach them," he replied. "Or maybe they've made it out and are already swimming towards us. Both are good swimmers, you know that," he added soothingly, even if he felt sick to the stomach.

"Oh God…," she suddenly sobbed and dropped to her knees when the whole impact hit her. The attack had come from nowhere. They prepared to land as there'd been a light all of a sudden and the next thing she knew was that the jet had begun to shake and vibrate. And then it had already begun to spin… "No…," she cried and buried her face in one hand.

"Can you see them?" James asked Narya aloud who was still checking the screens of the jet. Their whole technology kept a watch on the surroundings. They needed to help their friends, but prevent any other attacks from happening, too. "Did they manage to get out?"

"No," Heather replied and shook her head. Shaman, who was looking out of the windows, while the jet was still flying circles in the air, shook his head, too. He and Sasquatch had kept their eyes fixed on the drowning jet, had seen Logan at the hatch and wondered why he wasn't just climbing out of it, but up to now, they couldn't see anything at all but water…

Inside the jet, Scott had finally regained consciousness and had panicked when he had become aware of the water that reached his chin. After he'd finally calmed enough for Logan to give him the order to climb onto the back, the man tried it. "I can't," he said and hissed as a sharp pain went through his entire body like a lightning bolt.

"You have to if ya don't wanna die!" Logan snapped and held onto the door while he tried to help Scott onto his back.

"I can't hold onto you with one arm only," this one said. "The uniform is too wet…" Cursing, Logan looked around in search for anything that would help them. Grabbing Scott's good hand, he pulled him up and told him to hold onto the door. "What are you up to?" Scott asked, but Logan had already dived. While waiting, he watched in horror how the water became more and more rapidly. He asked himself why Jean wasn't helping them, if her injury was too severe, if the others had made it, if he was to be blamed if they died, since it was him who had urged to fly off to Japan. Logan had been right in saying that it was a trap. The enemy obviously knew that they were there. He then thought about his little son and Raven. They could read their condition on the screens. He wondered how she would react if his heart stopped beating, what would become of them. He then began to ask himself why he hadn't forgotten about his pride for once and had called his brother for Christmas and New Year. He didn't want to die, not here somewhere close to Japan and buried under tons of water… Shaking, he watched how Logan reappeared next to him. "I don't want to die…," he admitted barely audible and breathed hard in fear.

"Do ya think I want?" Logan asked back panting.

"I can use the beam on the door…"

"Yeah, if ya wanna kill us and them, go ahead," he grunted.

"Why? The door would be open then," Scott replied, feeling slightly angered.

"Ya can't tell if the other jet is hovering above us," Logan replied as calm as he could. "As nervous as ya are now ya can't control your powers. You risk hittin' the jet," he explained. "And the impact the water from the outside would have on the inside, would make it impossible for you to hold onto me."

"But…," Scott began and raised his head to keep it above the water. "What then?!" He watched how Logan suddenly held up a piece of a seatbelt and wrapped it around his waist. Frowning, he watched then how Logan turned around in the water, pressed himself with his back against his front and wrapped the ends of the belt around his own waist to knot them together next, so that they were practically bound together.

"Wrap your good arm around me," Logan ordered. Scott frowned. "Get goin'!" he growled.

Finally doing so, Scott began to feel more than uncomfortable since he was pressed against him so firmly. Picking up on it, Logan cocked an eyebrow. "What are ya thinkin' about?!" he grunted warningly.

"Nothing…," his teammate stuttered.

"Don't even dare to think about any thing close to sex, bub!" he warned him with a glare.

"Are you out of your mind?!" Scott shrieked in shock.

"My butt has feelin's, too, ya know?" Logan gave back.

"Well, then I know what you secretly fantasize about!"

"In your wildest dreams, One Eye!" Logan growled. "Keep your head pressed against my back and hold your breath when I tell ya to do so."

"Are we not too far below the surface?" Scott asked when he heard how he extracted one pair of claws to cut into the hatch next.

"I don't know…," Logan replied honestly.

"We won't make it, Logan!" Scott said scared to death. "You'll be saved thanks to your healing factor if you make it up there, but I'll run out of oxygen…"

"Well, if we drown here within the next 15 to 20 seconds or if we drown a bit later…the result will be the same," Logan gave back just to add with a smirk, "…maybe ya get lucky and I've t'do mouth to mouth on ya."

"Don't even think about it!" his teammate hissed.

"Fine, then I let ya die, what about that?" he shrugged. "Take five deep breaths and then hold it!" Hearing Scott doing so, he cut quickly through the remains of the hatch. Instantly the water pushed them down when the interior was flooded completely and he began to fight against it. Not wasting any more time, Logan began to swim to the surface as fast as he could but due to Scott's extra weight and his adamantium skeleton, it was harder than he's thought. It didn't take long, and they were still meters away from the surface, and he felt Scott clenching the fist on his good hand hard. Logan knew he was running as fast out of oxygen as he was himself. A bit later, he realized they wouldn't make it…

Above them, Narya ran another scan in hope to find them or the jet somewhere. Up to now there had been no satisfying results. She looked at the screen which displayed the thermal screen and frowned. There was an orange dot that became bigger but faded again. Thinking it was a fish first, she suddenly jumped up. "They are drowning right underneath us!" she said aloud and instantly James, Shaman and Sasquatch ran towards the hatch to jump out.

On the shore, Ororo was still weeping while Hank held Jean in his arms. From afar he saw how the three men jumped into the water and he gave the crying woman next to him a gentle nudge. "I think they've found them…," he said and she looked up, completely aware of his scared undertone. It took long, agonizing minutes before they heard movement in the water and even a bit longer, before the three men finally appeared. Ororo and Hank watched in horror how they pulled their lifeless looking friends out of the water and onto the shore. Covering her mouth with one hand, it appeared to her as if she stood far away and saw how the men separated Scott from Logan and began instantly to do CPR on both of them. While Shaman was working on Scott, James took care of Logan and Ororo, despite crying, couldn't help but start shaking in shock. Hank gave the redhead in his arms a brief look as she groaned weakly and jerked his head aside as he heard Scott coughing heavily. Seeing that his friend desperately tried to fill his lungs with fresh air, he let out a relieve sigh and looked back at James, who was still trying to achieve the same.

"Can you hear me?" Shaman asked since Scott was groaning in pain. "Do you understand me?"

"Yeah…," the X-Man replied in a hoarse whisper and gritted his teeth in pain. By now it felt even worse than before and he thought he was torn apart. He turned his head to the right side since James was cursing and realized why.

In the meanwhile, Jean opened her eyes slowly and noticed that she was lying on solid ground. She felt cold. Incredible cold. Blinking a few times, her senses slowly began to work properly again, despite the throbbing headache that made her feel sick and she dared to raise her head a bit. She saw someone lying on the ground but it took her a while to understand who it was and what was going on. She sat up in a rush and with widened eyes in shock. She didn't notice that Hank was pulling her close, or that Ororo took her hand still crying. The only thing she saw and realized was a few meters from her on the ground and not moving.

"Come on…," Scott mumbled and still panted while his lungs burned like fire.

Bending down, James tried to hear any signs of breathing from Logan, as this one suddenly cough up and pushed him aside while turning around in an attempt to get the water out of his lungs. Breathing hard and heavily, the X-Man dropped to the snowy ground a bit and felt his heart racing in every inch of his body. It took a while for him to realize where he was.

"Are you alright?" James asked him and put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

This one looked up and nodded at Scott. "Don't tell me he did mouth to mouth on me…," Logan replied hoarsely and spit.

Patting his shoulder, the other man shook his head with a smile in relief. "Don't scare us again like that, mate!" He watched how Logan turned back around and into a sitting position, while he held his hurting ribs. Again he was forced to remember what being trapped in a tanker with liquid felt like. It had been exactly the same back then. Only that the scientists had waited for him to start breathing on his own. They hadn't cared back then if this had taken hours and if his brain had taken damage… Jean ran a hand through her face in relief and crawled over to hug him carefully.

"You scared me…," she sighed and pulled him close while Logan buried his face in her hair. "I thought I lost you…"

"Told ya you won't get rid off me so easily, darlin'…," he chuckled and coughed again, but pulled her close, too. He was glad that all of them had made it.

Ororo wiped her tears away and finally took a look around for real. They were somewhere in the wildness. Surrounded by trees over trees and obviously no civilization close by and with a lake in their back. Still shaking, she looked back at her team. She was still too shocked to think straight and wished Kurt was here to hold her now. "What now?" she asked barely audible and more to herself, but Logan had looked up.

A look around was enough to tell him where they were. "Jasmine Falls is about two hours by foot from here. We should get goin'." With the help of James and Jean he got up and supported himself on them for a moment. He still felt dizzy and sick, so walking alone wasn't really something he wanted to try now. "Tell Heather to land the jet over there," he added and pointed at a spot where the trees began. "Was there anythin' important in our jet?"

"No," Jean replied and shook her head. "Thank God we put all papers into the other one…"

Logan nodded and began to lead the way. Shaman and Sasquatch did their best to carry Scott without causing him any pain, while Heather and Narya had landed, hid the jet and joined them at the entrance of the wood. They, too, couldn't hide their relief that both men were still alive and breathing.

* * *

In the mansion had all hell broken lose when two monitors had displayed two flat heart lines only. Before Logan's heart had stopped the Grey children had woken up and panicked, while Lily and Rachel had start crying. Before the Professor could ask them what was wrong, the screen had shown the flat heart lines and he had known. Everyone had gathered in front of the screens and wondered what was happening in Japan, as all of a sudden both hearts had begun to beat again. But still they didn't feel well by the thought of it. Not knowing what was going on and what had caused the flat lines, they prayed that this wouldn't happen again.

* * *

After a long and exhaustive walk through the dark wood Logan gave the group a sign to stop and remain silent. From afar he heard the rustling of some bushes and he narrowed his eyes in order to see better in the dark. It didn't take long and he saw two armed men. He knew they were patrolling guards from the village. "Wait here!" he said to the others and stepped forward. Instantly the two guards jerked their heads aside and raised their weapons. "Ueito!" Logan quickly said and raised both arms to give them a sign that he meant no harm to them. They watched him suspiciously, their katanas raised. "(I want to speak to Kawashima-san)," he told the two men, who exchanged a brief look. "(It's important!)" 

"He speaks Japanese?!" Puck asked and nudged Ororo's leg gently.

"Not only that," she replied while she watched how the men talked with each other. "He's our walking interpreter…"

"Okay, c'mon!" Logan suddenly said and waved them to come over. The group gave the two men that looked suspiciously at them an intimidated look, before they closed in on Logan, who pointed at something ahead of them. "There's the entrance. Just do what I do, don't stare at anyone 'cause that regarded as rude, don't enter houses with your boots on, don't pour yourself drinks 'cause it's rude, don't take food on your own at all but wait until it's offered," he stopped and sighed. "Did I forget anythin'…?"

He scratched the back of his head. "Yeah, don't shake hands!"

"We just do what you do," Ororo said impressed and exchanged a look with Jean next to her.

"Good," Logan grunted and led the way through the gate and up to a specific house, where he pulled on a string which then gave a bell-like sound. It didn't take long and the door was opened by an elderly Japanese woman in a blue-white kimono. Her look was tired first, but quickly changed into one of shock and surprise.

"(Logan-san)!" she gasped and returned the bow he offered. "(What happened to you?!)" she asked and looked at him and the group. After explaining their situation to her she nodded and promised him she would get her husband immediately. She told him to go over to his house and they would be there in a second. Bowing again, Logan gave the others a sign to follow him.

"Don't look at it too closely," he warned his group. "I haven't been here in a while."

"Why? Is that yours?" Heather asked and looked at the house when Logan turned around to open the door.

"Yeah," he nodded. "Boots!" he added as a reminder and got rid off his, before he entered. One look around made him furrow his brows. Obviously someone had cleaned his rooms. "Look at that…"

"How come you have a house like this?" Hank asked.

"I built it," Logan replied and walked over to the door when it knocked. In front of it stood Ken Kawashima was his wife and some other village women. Both men bowed to each other and the X-Man let him enter his rooms.

"(I am so sorry for the attack,)" the man apologized and bowed again. "(If I had known…)"

"(You couldn't have,)" Logan waved off before he nodded at Scott. "(He was wounded and has probably his arm or leg or both broken. Would you be so nice to check on him?)"

"(Of course!)" Ken nodded and told two women to take care of the wounded X-Men and the others to bring the food inside. The women quickly nodded and went over to a table on the ground to place several dishes with food onto it. "(Here, take this,)" he then added and Ken's wife and another woman came closer with two basket of clothing. "(You look half frozen. Don't worry about the food or clothing, Logan-san, I am glad that nothing happened to you or your friends.)"

"(Thank you,)" Logan replied and bowed briefly. "(I am sorry for the trouble we cause.)"

Ken waved off and gave the women a sign to leave. "(Don't worry about that, my friend. I told the men of the village to be on alert. I also sent out men to inform the neighboring villages about the attack. We will guard the village. I hope you and your friends will find some rest tonight.)"

"(Thank you,)" Logan replied and both men bowed to each other before Ken left the house, too. "Jean, can ya contact Chuck and ask if everythin' is alright?"

"Sure," the redhead nodded and began to concentrate on the man at the mansion.

"When she's done, can the two of you go with her and put up some beds. She knows how to do it," he then asked Heather and Narya, who gave him a nod. "And Hank, go check on Cyke. They don't have the knowledge you have and have probably only taken care of visible wounds."

"Yeah," this one said and left, to leave Logan to run a hand through his tired face.

"That was close," James said. "And you look more than tired."

"Well, I was dead, wasn't I?" Logan grunted and cocked an eyebrow at him. "When the girls come back we eat. Grab some clothing and change into them."

"That's not necessary. Our uniforms keep away water and coldness. We are fine," Shaman replied.

"Great, then Forge ain't no genius at all," Logan growled and walked over to the bedroom where the women were gathered, to grab a kimono out of a wardrobe. "What's wrong?" he asked them and began to change.

"I don't know how this works," Jean said and he looked at her with a quirked eyebrow.

"I showed ya."

"I…I can't remember," she stuttered and noticed that he gave her an odd look. "Can you show me again?"

"Is somethin' wrong with ya?" he asked and she quickly shook her head.

"No… Should there be anything wrong with me?" she asked and bit her lower lip.

"Well, you're weird," Logan grunted and put the dark blue kimono on. He then turned around to show them how Japanese beds were prepared. "Do that later and eat first. And change your clothing if necessary. Or don't ya remember that either?" Jean shook her head when Narya and Heather left the room. "'Kay," he sighed and grabbed the dark red kimono out of the basket. She looked into his face the whole time through while he first undressed her, just to help her into the kimono next. "What's wrong?" he asked without looking up. "You're odd…"

"It's just the shock," the redhead apologized and looked down with flushed cheeks. She quickly pressed a hand onto her belly when it gave a protesting sound.

"Someone's hungry, huh?" Logan asked and put an arm around her waist. "Let's go and eat." He gave her a gentle kiss and led her to the living room. Reaching it, he saw that everyone except Hank, Scott and Ororo where gathered on the table. "Where's 'Ro?" he asked.

"She wanted to change into dry clothing," Puck said with a shrug. "She went into this room!" He pointed at a door on the far left. Nodding, Logan went over and frowned when he found the woman standing in the middle of the room with the dress in her hand. He quietly closed the door and went over to touch her shoulder.

"Need help?" Logan asked and she startled first, just to look at him with tears in her eyes next and a weak shake of her head. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I…I'm just realizing everything just now for real," she replied barely audible and bit her lip hard. "The last time I've been scared like this was when…when he attacked me…"

"Sabretooth?" he asked carefully and she nodded.

"I really thought I'd die," Ororo whispered and he watched how her tears began to fall. "I thought I'd never see my children and Kurt again…"

"I know, 'Ro… I thought the same about my kids," Logan tried to soothe her and began to rub her back gently. "But we made it…"

"Well, you and Scott really scared the shit out of me," she cried and gave him an accusing look. "I thought both of you were dead…." Beginning to sob, she closed her eyes and leant against him. "Please, Logan, can you hold me…?" she begged while crying heavily. "I need someone to hold me…"

Pulling her close, he stroked over her hair and back. "It's okay…," he whispered calmly and rocked her slowly back and forth. "Calm down…"

Ororo had both arms wrapped around his waist and rested her head against his chest. As him being close by always did, she slowly got her trembling under control again and heaved a deep breath. "You smell good…," she remarked in a tearstained voice and Logan chuckled.

Slowly letting go of him again, she felt how he brushed his thumb over her cheeks gently. "I look terrible, don't I?" she asked and gave the kimono in her hand a look.

"Like a drowned dog, yeah," he nodded with a smirk.

"Well, thank you, Logan," Ororo gave back. "You really know how to cheer a woman up…"

"Need help with that?" he asked and nodded at the fabric.

"Yeah, I asked Jean but she couldn't help me with it."

"She's not really herself," he mumbled and received a questioning look. "Must be the shock… Do ya wear anythin' underneath the uniform?"

Ororo sighed and gave him a look that spoke volumes. "Logan…you've been there when Tommy was born and have seen me naked…"

He quickly raised both hands. "Okay, okay…" Beginning to peel her out of the uniform, he cocked an eyebrow at her when she giggled. "What is it now?"

"I can undress myself, Logan, but thank you," she laughed and helped him to get rid of her uniform. She shivered slightly when the cool air touched her skin. Due to the snow on the outside and them being in the mountains in a house without any heater, she felt for the first time how cold it really was. "Can't you heat the house a bit?" she asked and wrapped her arms around herself when she began to shake.

"Only the bedroom," he replied and began to dress her quickly. "And it won't help much anyway…" He looked at his work and nodded. "C'mon…food's waitin'."

While the others were occupied with eating, Hank took care of Scott, who lay on the ground in a bed. "If you really feel that sick I'd say you have a pretty bad concussion," he said and checked the head of hi friend. "An X-Ray would come in handy…" He then examined the arms and shoulders. "Do you want to bite on something?" he asked and saw how Scott raised his head a bit.

"Why?" he asked through clenched teeth and dropped his head quickly when the pain became too unbearable, just to let out a loud yell next when Hank relocated his shoulder. "You…," he cursed and bit his lip hard.

"I'm sorry, but I thought I could distract you…," Hank apologized and went on with the examination. "How did you managed to injure yourself so badly?" he asked after a moment and shook his head.

"Probably because I crashed with a jet into a lake?" Scott replied sarcastically but in a weak voice.

"That was close, my friend…," Hank mumbled.

"Too close," Scot replied and closed his eyes with a hiss. "I wouldn't have made it without Logan… He risked his life for me…"

Giving his friend a smile, Hank patted the good leg gently. "Well, he's our leader and responsible for us." He checked Scott's pulse and was glad that at least this one was okay. "I hope that you'll finally be nice to him…"

"That wouldn't be any fun…," Scott smiled but coughed next. "Damn…"

Shaking his head, Hank got up. "I need some help to dress you again. You shouldn't move too much and I need something to keep your arm from moving."

"Can you get something cold for my head, too, please?"

"I go and ask Logan," he said and left the room, just to run into Logan on the outside who was about to come over with dry clothing.

"How is he?" this one asked and Hank sighed with a brief look at the door.

"Not so good… Usually I'd really appreciate to do an X-ray or scan of him to make sure he has no internal bleeding." Logan nodded concerned. "Anyway, I was looking for you," the blue man said and turned back to him. "I need some help dressing him, some ice or cold water and something that prevents his arm from moving."

"Should be no problem," Logan grunted. "I go to the waterfall and get some ice, too. I ask James to help ya. Be right back." He handed him the dry clothing and left, while Hank returned to Scott.

A bit later James entered the room, followed by Logan who carried a bowl with water and had some ice wrapped in a towel. They helped him to carefully dress the wounds and the man without causing their teammate too much pain. When Logan was about to put a cool cloth onto Scott's forehead, this one laid his hand onto his wrist and made him stop for a brief moment. "Thank you…," was all he understood of the barely audible words the man said, before his teammate drifted off to sleep.

Logan laid the cool fabric onto the forehead and got up. "Do ya stay with him?" he asked Hank, who nodded. With a nod, Logan left the room and made his way to the bedroom, where all others were already laying on the ground. He approached his bed carefully, tried not to make too much noise since he could tell that most of them were already deeply asleep and went under the sheets. Jean, who laid next to him, turned her head and he noticed that she must have been crying before. Seeing him, she moved over and wrapped her arms around his waist to bury her face into his neck. "What's wrong?" he whispered and stroked through her hair.

"I was so scared that I'd lost you…," she mumbled and heaved a deep breath. "I really thought we all would die…" Not knowing what else to do, Logan pulled her close and kissed her neck. She sighed and closed her eyes again.

On the next morning Ororo left the bedroom and met with the others in the additional living room. They all had already changed back into their now dry uniforms and looked up when she shut the door behind her. It was hard for her to get used to the unusual technique. Instead of doorknobs, she had to push the door shut. "Where are Logan and Jean?" Hank asked her.

"Still sleeping," she replied and sat down on the ground next to him. "But I think we will get going as soon as he wakes up…"

"You mean after breakfast," Heather winked. "What do they eat here anyway?"

In the other room, Jean woke up and raised her head from Logan's chest. He had one arm wrapped around her waist to hold her close in his sleep and she smiled while looking at him. Her head reached up to stroke over his cheek but she frowned. "Logan…," she said calmly and after the second time he opened his eyes a bit. "Are you not feeling well? Your cheeks are warm…"

"Only tired," he mumbled and sat up a bit to run a hand through his face.

"Really?" she asked worriedly and he kissed her.

"Yeah." Getting up he took her hand. "C'mon…" Together they left the room and just as the door was being closed by her, someone knocked at the front door. He opened it and let the three women, who bowed to him, enter and watched how they put food onto the table just to leave again.

"The women here are weird…," James remarked.

"Why?" Logan asked. "They just don't know Ladies first here…" He sat down to fill his cup with rice and noticed that Ororo gave him a funny look. "What?"

"Do they…always ear rice for breakfast?" she asked and pointed at her bowl.

"You're not in the States, 'Ro," he grunted. "And it tastes good, believe. Besides that it's way healthier than the crap you guy sometimes eat."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" she asked angered.

"I watched Jubes eating noodles with chocolate sauce, okay?" Logan replied with a cocked eyebrow that said it all. "How sick is that? If she ever dares to give my kids this crap, I'll gut her."

"Euw…," the weather goddess made by the thought of the noodles and began to eat the rice and fish. She had to admit it really tasted good and obviously Logan loved the food by the way he was eating it. "You'll choke yourself…"

"At least I die with a great taste on my tongue," he smirked and put the empty bowl away. "Is the Furball with Cyke?" he asked.

"Yes, he just brought him food," Narya said and received a nod. "How do I eat with those sticks?" she groaned and he showed her.

"Hurry up with eatin', we leave right after breakfast," Logan said and got up. "I'll ask Ken in the meanwhile were Sinister was spotted. We meet on the outside, be ready."

"Wow…," James nodded after his friend had left. "He really is in a team leader mode today, hm?"

"He's just tired…," Jean mumbled and emptied her bowl slowly.

"Is something wrong?" Ororo asked her concerned.

"No…," the redhead said and shook her head. She got up when Hank entered and made her way to Scott's room. "Hey," she said with a small smile. "How are you?"

"Fantastic," he said. "Can you make my head explode, please?"

"That bad?" she asked and took the warm cloth from his forehead. He nodded and looked at her from aside. "Here…" Jean put the cool cloth back onto his forehead and stroked over his cheek. "You're feverish…"

"Yeah, that's what Hank said…," Scott replied weakly. "If it was up to him, he'd send for a rescue team to bring me home." Through his visor he noticed her look. "Is it really that bad? I mean…I'll make it back home, right?"

"Sure," Jean said with a frown. "What makes you think you won't make it?"

He gave a bit of a smile. "Because everyone stares at me as if I'm about to die? I don't intend to do it, so stop looking at me like that…"

"We're just worried…," she said with a smile and stroked over his cheek again. "That's all…"

"Do you head off soon?" he asked and she nodded.

"Logan told Narya and Sasquatch to stay here with you. Just in case."

"Okay," he said and took her hand. "Please be careful, okay? I don't have a good feeling with all of this…"

Nodding, Jean let go of hi hand and got up to meet with the others on the outside. Logan was still talking to Ken, who had showed him the three men of the village that had seen Sinister. After a moment, he turned around to his group and beckoned them to come over. "They said they saw them enterin' a cave in the wood. We go there and check it out, but I want each of ya to be more than careful," he warned and received nods. "Ken said his men will patrol the city while we're gone. We go in groups and not all together. If one group is attacked by them, the other still have the chance to either run or attack from afar. I don't want to see anyone of ya to do somethin' stupid, got that?"

"Says the man who is the duke of doing stupid things…," Puck remarked.

"By the way, I want ya to stay here, too," Logan replied and earned a look. "You can't fight against them."

"Is that because I'm small?" the man asked angered.

"No, but you don't have any powers that can reach them from afar. I need ya to fly your jet back."

Throwing both hands in the air, Puck turned around. "Fine…," he snapped. "I do the nursing, but don't expect me to carry your heavy ass to _my_ jet!"

Smirking since he knew how his friend meant it, Logan told Ken they would go now and followed the three men with his group out of the village and through the snowy wood. He let his senses scan the whole surroundings and gave the others signs to be on full alert. The three men suddenly stopped and pointed to something in front of them. "(Thank you, go back and be careful!)" Logan said and nodded his head at them. He then took another look around. No one was to be seen, no scents of their enemies were in the air as far as he could tell and his senses also didn't warn him about any dangers. "Make sure to keep a distance between the groups," Logan said and tried to make a plan. In the end he and Jean went first to check out if the tunnel was really safe for the others, before he told them to come in and follow the path.

Ororo and James led the group and did as they were told. Logan had told them they were waiting at some kind of underground lake that was at the end of the long, dark and wet tunnel. All they could hear after a while was the constant _clack clack clack _of the water drops that fell from the rocks above them onto the puddles on the ground.

"I hear water," Heather said and when they stepped around a corner, they finally reached the lake. But their friends weren't to be seen. "Didn't he say we meet them here?"

"Yeah," Ororo nodded and took a look around. The light was too dim to see something for real. It was possible that Logan and Jean were close by and they couldn't see them at all. "Logan?" she called, her voice echoing in the hollow room. "Jean?"

"My feeling tells me they are not here," Hank mumbled and turned around his own axis.

"And mine tells me that this isn't good," James added and felt how an odd feeling spread within his chest. "Something's wrong…"

Ororo suddenly made a step back. "Guys…," she said with a fear in her voice. "Let's get out as fast as possible…"

* * *

Logan moved his throbbing and hurting head a bit when he regained consciousness. Blinking and with stars dancing in front of his eyes, he opened them for real slowly and began to frown. He laid on a cold, metallic ground and the first thing he saw were bars. A cage? he thought and sat up, just to see Jean on the other side of the bars with a worried look on her face. "Jean?" he asked and gave her a puzzled look. Why wasn't she in a cage, too, if they'd been caught? How did he end up in this room anyway? 

"I'm sorry, Logan," Jean whispered and now he was really confused. "Please believe me, I'm sorry…"

Before he could ask what was wrong all of a sudden, a door in the dark room opened and a man with black hair and complete white skin entered. Logan noticed the red eyes and instantly recalled the man he'd seen on the screen of the laptop. "Sinister…," he growled through clenched teeth and the man smiled.

"Welcome, my friend," Sinister replied and smiled darkly. "I see you already got comfortable."

"Shut up!" Logan hissed and stood up to be on eye level with him. "What is this shit about?" he asked angrily and gave Jean a look. She still looked at him in a way as if she had betrayed him with Scott. "What's wrong, Jean?" he asked her again and Sinister laughed.

"You really haven't noticed?" he asked him with an evil smile and came over to put an arm around the redhead. "The real Jean hadn't been with you in days, my friend…"

"What are ya talkin' about, bub?" Logan grunted and looked to and fro between his opposites.

Smiling, Sinister gave Jean a gentle push forward. She still looked at Logan as if she was suffering. "May I introduce Madelyne Pryor to you?" he asked and the mutant cocked an eyebrow at him first then at the redhead. "She's a clone of the woman you call Jean…"

First not believing it, Logan recalled the weird behavior of his wife in the past days. "How…?" was all he could ask and scanned the woman from head to toe.

Smirking, Sinister crossed his arms and enjoyed the look the mutant gave the woman. "Did you really believe my men would jut give up on the Phoenix?" he asked and received a glare. "That they would just run away?" He laughed and shook his head, receiving a growl from Logan, who slammed his fists against the bars. "Now, now…," Sinister made and shook his fingers. "Behave yourself, Wolverine and listen, he went on. "Prior is a perfect copy of the Phoenix as you can see. But unfortunately I wasn't able to force her to evolve into the goddess the real Phoenix is. I figured it must have something to do with those mental blocks your pathetic Professor put into her mind and that those obviously were needed to help the Phoenix to her full powers," he told him and had begun to walk up and down in front of the bars. Logan's narrowed eyes followed him the whole time through. "But even if she's younger than Phoenix, she still is a perfect clone. Another one of my great achievements."

"Oh goody…," Logan grunted sarcastically. "We already got that you're King Megalomania…" Sinister only smirked on that remark. "And besides," the X-Man added. "She ain't a perfect copy, 'cause she ain't Jean!"

"Who's _Jean_?" his adversary asked him nonchalantly. "There's no _Jean_. _Jean_ only is a name that was forced on Phoenix from birth. She wasn't _Jean_ when I'd invited her into my car decades ago…" He noticed how Logan's already narrowed eyes became even smaller and were accompanied by a growl. "Oh, please…," he said. "As if I would touch such a marvelous child like her. I only needed something from her to start the cloning process."

"I want to see Jean," Logan growled and grabbed the bars with a firm grip. Since they didn't give away he guessed the bars were made of adamantium like his bones. A perfect cage for him which made sure that he couldn't breakout.

"As you wish," Sinister shrugged and turned towards the door. "Phoenix!" he called aloud and it didn't take long for the door to open again. Logan's eyes grew wide when he looked at the woman who entered. She was dressed in scarlet red leather, tight fitting with a golden phoenix emblem in her chest. Her long red hair framed her daemonic looking, veined face and her pitch-black eyes, which seemed to have a fiery dot within it, stared daggers at everything she looked at. He knew that this woman was far away from being his wife… Next to the cage, Madelyne saw the look Logan gave the others redhead and turned to look at the woman first, before she looked back at him. "Phoenix, here is someone who would like to talk to you," Sinister said and stepped aside with a smile. He watched how the redhead looked scornfully at Logan and then back at him.

"I don't know him," was all she said.

"No, Jean…," Logan pleaded.

"Phoenix!" she hissed as a reply and glared at him full of hatred.

Laughing and completely delighted with his plan, Sinister nodded in appreciation. "As I said…," he said towards the X-Man. "There's no _Jean_…"

Slamming his fists against the bars once more, which made them vibrate dangerously, Logan panted in fury to contain the Wolverine, who was more than pissed off by now. "You're a fuckin' bastard, you son of a bitch!" he roared furiously, but his adversary wasn't the merest impressed.

"Please," Sinister said and waved off. "I doubt you've been taught that way of speaking, _James_." Receiving another glare of the mutant in the cage, he smiled. "It has been really interesting to watch you grow into the man you are now. Thinking about it, I should have written a book about your evolution. It would have been worth it…"

"What do ya want anyway?" Logan growled.

"Oh, nothing special…," his enemy replied with a shrug. "You will join us again, that is all."

Smirking, the X-Man shook his head. "Forget it!"

"You have no choice in this, my friend," Sinister smiled in return and the door behind him opened to reveal an angry looking Apocalypse, who was followed by Sabretooth, Daken and someone else.

Seeing the fourth man entering, Logan chuckled and nodded with an angry look. "I knew…," he only said and John stopped right next to Apocalypse. He, too, wore the horsemen uniform and smiled at him.

"Still you didn't do anything and just let me go," his brother replied and Logan narrowed his eyes. "And it was so much fun to see you taking care of this clone of your wife. You didn't notice at all that it wasn't her…"

"Son of a bitch," Logan growled and wished he could grab him to cut his throat open and punch this smile out of his brother's face. He recalled what the Professor had asked him. If he really didn't know the third man on the roof who had tried to take Jamie. Now he knew… "So it was you on the roof… That's why I knew your scent…"

"Yeah," John nodded. "I thought you'd be so smart but obviously…" He shrugged ironically.

"You're really good in pickin' your allies," Logan grunted and shot daggers at Apocalypse, who had remained silent for the whole time, but stared at him with his arms crossed. "All of them are as fucked up and crazy as you…" He landed with a groan on his knees in the next second as Apocalypse raised his hand in anger about the remark.

"Now with Death and Phoenix on our side the war should be over soon," Sinister said with a look at his partner and Apocalypse nodded silently. "We get the child you need and kill the rest. In that way it will be way easier to take over the mutant race and wipe out those humans."

"No…," Logan panted and clutched his hurting stomach hard, which made one turn after the next and him feel sick to the guts. He managed to raise his head a bit, noticed that Madelyne, who was still standing on the same spot, gave him a sympathetic look, while Jean, or Dark Phoenix, only stared coldly at him. "Jean…," he said barely audible and was forced onto his back in the next second, when Apocalypse began to force his memories away. Thinking that his body was torn apart, Logan couldn't hear his loud and painful cries anymore as he grabbed his head hard and writhed in heavy convulsions on the ground. A bit later he lay motionless and with empty eyes on the ground…

* * *

In the meantime, Ororo and the others had just reached the entrance of the cave again when the earth began to shake heavily and nearly caused them to drop to the ground. As soon as it has started, everything was quiet again and the mutants exchanged a confused look. "What was that?" Ororo asked as they heard a giant explosion, which sent waves into every direction that made them hit the ground hard. Groaning and holding her hurting shoulder, she looked up and her eyes grew wide. 

"What…?" Hank began as a huge firebird became visible in the sky not far away from them; it's loud and shrill cry even audible to them. They watched how the heaven turned into a dark, scarlet red next, the suddenly black clouds beginning to form a whirl above their heads, noticed that the water and everything else on the ground lost their gravity and rose into the air. One look at Ororo was enough to confirm what his mind told him. "No…," he gasped and Heather and James gave them confused looks.

"What's wrong?" she asked them and could tell by their scared looks that whatever was going on right now, meant something bad. More than bad…

"What are you so afraid of?" Shaman asked, since he, too, didn't understand.

"It's Dark Phoenix," Hank replied and helped Ororo up again.

"Who?!" the man asked.

"If Apocalypse has Jean…," Ororo mumbled and her eyes suddenly widened. "…then he has Logan, too…"

James suddenly grabbed her shoulder hard. "The explosion came from the village," he said urgently. "Scott, Narya, Sasquatch and Puck are still there. And all others…"

Exchanging a look, the group began to run the whole way back to the village and stopped dead in the tracks when black smoke and fire could be seen. There was no village anymore… Everything that was left from Jasmine Falls were burning wood or ruins, rocks scattered everywhere and remains of houses or clothing was floating through the air. Ororo had her mouth covered in shock with one hand and didn't blink once when she let her eyes scan the area. Everything looked like Alcatraz for her. Except that the sky was dark red now and the black whirlwind above them threw thunder of the same color around. She knew the people had no chance at all… A hand touched her shoulder and she stared at Hank, who had the same shock mirrored on his face as the others.

"There!" Heather said all of a sudden and pointed to a spot on their left. The saw Dark Phoenix, dressed in a different uniform than her casual one and with a dark red coat over it, standing on a rock and covered in flames. She faced them with her pitch black eyes. On their right stood, as they saw, were three shadows slowly becoming visible through the smoke.

"Sabretooth and Logan's son…," Hank said as he recognized them, but his chin dropped next. "That's…that's…"

"John…," Ororo gasped. "Then Logan was right… He's one of them…"

"But Logan doesn't seem to be with them," Shaman said as Heather suddenly grabbed his shoulder hard and pointed at a shadow which sat crouched on the roof of a burning house.

"No…," Ororo cried and shook her head when her tears began to fall. "Please, no…"

"But…," Hank suddenly said and looked around, ignoring for a minute that there enemies where watching them like prey. "If…if Phoenix has killed everyone… Her powers would have wiped out everything. Also the houses, but they are only burning…"

"Guys…," James suddenly said and began to walk backwards. The other looked at him, noticed that his eyes reflected fear and turned their heads to see that Logan had jumped from the roof and was now heading their way, followed b the others. "Run!" the man suddenly yelled and didn't have to say this twice. As fast as they could, they began to run through the forest, not knowing where they were heading and heard the loud, angry roars of Wolverine and Sabretooth, who had began to chase after them.

"Logan is a fast sprinter," Ororo barked and sent blindly a bolt into their enemies' direction. "We have to be faster!"

"Watch out!" Heather suddenly shrieked as the ground opened right in front of them. Stumbling she landed on the ground and was forced up by James again. They were forced to make a turn to the left. There was no way they could have jumped over the giant gap in the ground. Soon afterwards the ground opened again, forcing them to make a turn to the right again.

"It's Phoenix," Hank barked. "She's leading us into a trap…"

"They will kill us anyway," Ororo replied and barely managed to make another turn to the left when the ground cracked open. Like mousse in a labyrinth, which led to the cheese anyway, they followed the directions they were given and soon heard water nearby. "Is that the lake?" she called and received a yes from the front. "Why is she leading us back to the jet?!"

Just as they'd left the wood, the earth began to shake once more. Trees were torn out of the ground and crashed against it other, while snow built an avalanche and covered them. It was impossible to enter the wood again from their position, but also impossible for their enemies to reach them. Confused and trying hard to catch her breath again, Ororo looked at the others.

"Let's hurry up," Hank suggested and grabbed her arm to pull her with him. "We have to go back home… I'm more than sure they'll start an attack." Nodding she followed them to the jet and stopped once more dead in the tracks.

"How…?" she stuttered and looked at the three persons, who sat, obviously waiting for them, in the seats of Avalanche One.

"Ken suddenly entered Logan's house a told us to leave instantly," Narya said. "The men helped us with Scott and led us through the woods. Then we heard an explosions and the whole village was gone…"

"Where are the inhabitants of the village?" James asked and gave Puck a sign to start the jet.

"They left to a neighboring village. Everyone's fine, but…," Sasquatch shrugged. "What's going on anyway?"

The hatch closed and the jet rose into the air. They had to grab the seats had when it began to shake uncontrollably. The water that still floated upwards into the air and the strong wind of the whirlwind on the outside, gave the two pilots a hard time to prevent the jet from crashing into the lake. "Hey, where are Logan and Jean?" Narya asked and looked to and fro between them. "We can't leave without them!"

"He has them, right?" Scott asked without looking at Ororo. This one only gave a weak nod.

"Yes… She destroyed the village and Logan leads the Horsemen again," she finally managed to say as she began to realize the whole impact this would have. Hearing the news, Puck, Narya and Sasquatch looked down. Still, only the X-Men really understood what this would mean in the end…

* * *

After a more or less calm flight back, they reached the mansion a few hours later and were relieved to see that everything seemed to be fine. But as soon as the jet had landed in the hangar, they began to worry. They hadn't seen their allies on the outside that had patrolled the wood and grounds when they'd left. Ororo led the way to the hiding place in the basement and was greeted by the Professor and the others that were still awake. "Where are the others?" she asked panicky and looked at him. "Why is no one patrolling the grounds? Where did they go?!" 

Charles looked at them in confusion and watched how Moira helped Hank with Scott. "Jean said they were no longer needed. That you have found Sinister…"

"No…," the woman cried and turned away to run both hands through her face. "Charles, Sinister HAS Jean," she said and turned around, the horror she felt clearly written in her eyes. "Jean and Logan serve him. He has caught them…" Letting the news sink in, the man leant back in his wheelchair in shock. "They destroyed the whole village and wood. We barely managed to escape. They are our enemies!"

"She wanted you to send the troops away so that it will be easier for them to attack us," James said and Ororo nodded. "And if that was really Jean's doing…"

"Oh, she can do much more," the weather goddess said. "That what you've seen is nothing compared to what Phoenix can do…"

"But there must be a way to stop her," Shaman said and looked to and fro between them.

"No," Charles replied calmly. "Not even our powers combined could stop Dark Phoenix." His eyes suddenly widened, but the others didn't notice.

"There must be at least one way," Puck said.

"The only one who can stop her is Logan…," Ororo told him and leant back against the wall still in deep shock. When she looked up again, she noticed the Professor's look. "Charles?" she asked worriedly. "What's wrong?"

Breathing hard, the older man snapped out of his frozen state and started at them with the same odd look on his face that he had before. "They're here…," he gasped and the room began to shake…

**I'm sorry for the delay but this chapter took some time. I actually planned a different ending, but I can't explain this now without giving the next chapter away. So I will do this next time. I already have the plot for the next chapters. Hope you will like. Thanks to all reviewers again!! Please let me know what you think. ; )**** See ya!**


	16. Chapter 16

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; )

The husky has the name of Logan's dog in Origins!

And don't expect too much. I was sick when I wrote this. LOL

**Changes ****Sequel – II. Covenant Part 16**

Charles' POV:

_They say the Phoenix rises from the ashes. That it happens every 500-600 years and the bird burns to death in its own fire. When it rises again, its beauty was no match for human words. With every new circle the bird lives only to die again and be reborn. The Phoenix is the bringer of life, life's fire, its essence with the power to renew things. But what would happen if the Phoenix had an opposite? A dark side? A negative to its good one? Was this dark phoenix the bringer of death and destruction? The personification of all evil? Was there any way of expecting mercy from such a creature that only knows the joy of rage?_

_I asked myself this when the whole impact of this creature __began to hit us. Was there any way that we could beat such a powerful creature like her? Could she even be beaten by anyone at all? When everything around us began to shake and vibrate heavily, I could feel her laughing within my head, fully consumes of the joy of destruction. And I knew that there was no good phoenix left within her anymore…_

* * *

Breathing hard, the Professor snapped out of his frozen state and stared at them with the same odd look on his face that he had before. "They're here…," he gasped and the room began to shake. 

"No…," Ororo gasped and looked at him with fear in her eyes. "What now? We can't fight them!"

"Help me up!" Scott hissed and grabbed Mystique's arm. The woman, not knowing what he was up to, pulled him up and had to support him a bit. "Lock the whole place down, hide the children and especially make sure that they can't get inside!" he ordered and began to look for someone. "Where are the kids that Logan trained?"

"They can't fight, Scott!" Hank said. "And neither can you. You are not even supposed to get up!"

"Where are Tarot and Dazzler?" Scott asked, ignoring Hank on purpose as he saw how two girls raised their hands slowly. "Come over here, we need your help."

"Scott!" Ororo protested. "They don't have a chance. Not even we can fight them."

"Listen, I want the two of you to guard the door with the Professor, do you think you can do that?" he asked them. "The only thing you need to do is to fire at everything that moves behind that door. If it opens, start to attack. Aim for their eyes. Can you do that?"

"But…," Tarot said and exchanged another look with Dazzler. "Mr. Logan told us not get into any fights as long as we're still in training."

"I know and he is right, but we need your help here," Scott replied as the children began to scream. The room was shaking even heavier and he could clearly hear how metal began to bend. "We're running out of time here. Can you do it, yes or no?"

"Yes," Dazzler nodded. "I think we can."

"Good," he smiled and straightened himself with the help of Mystique. "Everyone listen! This is an emergency. I want the older students to bring the younger ones into the additional hiding places we showed you last week. Stay there no matter what happens, don't make any sounds and make sure that you stay together! Rogue, I want you to watch over Jean's and Logan's children," Scott demanded and the woman nodded. "I don't want to see Jack or Laura running around upstairs again! Have especially an eye on Jamie. I'd bet they want him and they will try everything to get him."

"Okay," Rogue nodded and began to lead the way to the new room that lay behind a specific point at the wall. The professor had installed them after the last attack of the Brotherhood years ago and up to now they hadn't needed them to their luck. "Everyone, follow me and stay quiet! Everything will be alright. TJ, carry your brother, Isa, you take Jean-Luc."

"What will you do?" Charles asked his X-Men. "You know what she's capable of and that you can't reach the Horsemen if they get too close…"

"We know…," Hank nodded. "We only have one suit. Logan's size is a bit big for you, Scott, but it's better than nothing…"

"I'll get it," Forge said and headed out of the room.

"But how will you fight?" Mystique asked him. "You can't even walk alone…"

"If they break into this school, Raven," Scott replied and shook his head "Then it doesn't matter anymore…"

"What about us this time?" Bobby asked. "Can we come, too? Because I won't stay here and wait for them to get us!"

"No, you're coming. We need every help we can get," Scott said and looked up. He would have bet that he had seen a droplet of water that had fallen from the ceiling. "We need to hurry up. They're tearing the whole place apart…"

Ororo looked up when Miloh began to growl and positioned himself if front of the husky that Logan and Jean had gotten after Christmas. "Does he smell something?" she asked and looked at the door. But it was only Forge who came back panting and held the uniform towards Scott.

"I heard windows being shattered," the man said and supported his hands on his knees when he bent forward to catch his breath. "I think they're inside already."

"Okay, I get dressed," Scott nodded and limbed over to one of the beds. "'Ro, take Miloh…," he began as the husky suddenly began to bark aloud and the wolf bared his teeth angrily. He frowned and looked up. "Someone must be coming…"

Hank held both animals back as they wanted to run to the door to attack whoever was approaching. But he, as all others, suddenly stared at the woman in shock that had entered the room cautiously and looked at them insecurely. "Jean…"

"No…," Mystique said and shook her head. "This is not Jean. The dogs wouldn't freak out like this if she was her."

Hearing it, Ororo and the younger X-Men got into a position to attack. "Who are you?" the woman asked angrily and saw that the woman back off.

"I…I mean no harm," the Jean in front of them said. "Really!"

"Now, why is that so hard to believe?" Bobby asked and noticed that Remy had begun to load a card next to him.

"Who are you?" Ororo asked once more in a demanding voice.

"Madelyne Pryor," the woman replied and gave the still growling animals a scared look. "I am a clone of the woman you know as Jean Grey."

"Sinister," Hank growled and bared his fangs a bit. "Why are you here?"

"Sinister exchanged the real Jean Grey for me," the woman said. "Jean was stolen away from you days ago. He ordered me to take her place here, so that he can bring her under his control…"

"That's why Logan said Jean was odd," Ororo recalled and suddenly felt how anger began to rose within her. "Did you lead us into that trap in Japan? Are you responsible for Sinister now having Jean and Logan under his control?"

"No," Madelyne said and shook her head. "I swear I didn't know!"

Scott closed the zipper of the too big uniform and looked down on him. "What do you want from us now?" he asked her in a rather chilly voice, while Hank and Mystique carried the Miloh and Callie to the hiding place behind the wall. "Forgiveness? You fooled us for days and made us believe you were Jean while our enemies did who knows what with her!"

"I want to help you," the woman said and looked at each of them. "I don't want him to hurt him…"

"Hurt whom?" Ororo asked.

"Logan," Madelyne replied as if this was obvious. "I don't want him to get hurt."

"Why do you care for him?" Kitty snapped. "You don't even know him!"

"I do, because I have Jean's memories," the redhead replied. "Please, I really mean no harm. He doesn't know that I'm here and I can help you…"

"What do you think?" James asked the X-Men. He didn't know what to think. If the woman meant harm, she could have done it for days, if she was lying and had led them into the trap, it could even get worse.

"How many of them are here?" Hank asked Madelyne and the woman looked up again.

"5," she replied. "Sinister and Apocalypse are hiding and watching from afar. They are waiting for you to come out of the house. They won't attack you before."

"Why not?" Scott asked. "We're trapped in here."

"They want the baby," she replied. "If Phoenix unleashed her full power, she would hurt the baby."

"What is de story with de petite?" Remy asked and put the card back into his pocket. "Why is he so important?"

"All I know is that Apocalypse needs his power," Madelyne replied. "I don't know why."

Suddenly they were all torn off their feet as the room vibrated heavily. Covering their heads, the X-Men and Alpha Flight Team waited for it to stop and looked at the ceiling. "There's no way. We need to go out or she really tears the whole school apart," Ororo said and Scott nodded.

"Are your powers as strong as Jean's?" he demanded to know but the redhead shook her head.

"Her powers can't be that strong," Charles said and wheeled into the room. "It was my fault that Jean became that powerful. Because of the mental blocks I put into her head Dark Phoenix could evolve. You don't have this power, am I right?"

"No, sir," Pryor said and shook her head again. "I have Phoenix power, but her dark side is much stronger than me."

"She means no harm, Scott," Charles assured them. "Due to the memories, she seems to have the same feelings for Logan and the children as Jean would have. She will help you."

"Okay," the man nodded and looked at the others. "Are you ready?"

"As ready as we can be," Bobby shrugged.

"Who has Jamie?" Ororo asked Charles while the others walked towards the door.

"I hide him in another room," he told her. "Mental powers are blocked from it, but I am afraid if Logan gets inside, he will find him."

Seeing his concerned look, she returned it and headed after the others. The closer they got to the first floor the colder it seemed to become. Bobby instantly raised both hands to show them that it wasn't his fault, as from afar more windows broke and cool air rushed into the mansion. "Backdoor," Ororo whispered and kept on looking around in fear that Sabretooth was close by.

"I want three teams," Scott said and supported himself on Mystique. "One goes out of the backdoor, two and three go around the house and keep a distance. Madelyne…"

"Yes?" the woman asked.

"You stay with me. I want you to connect to the others and tell them what I want them to do," he ordered and she nodded. "Just stop them from getting inside, even if it's useless…"

"Maybe we should split again and try to bring the students out of the mansion," Kitty suggested.

"That will be useless. They will notice," Ororo said with a heavy sigh. "How many are we?" She asked and made a quick count. "17… The Alpha Flight Team stays together, makes 6 people, leaves 11 for us to split. I'd say 5 each team, plus Madelyne stays with you."

"Okay, the younger team goes with Gambit," Scott said and the ground shook heavily again. From afar he heard more wood and windows bursting. "That leaves Storm, Nightcrawler, Mystique, me, Madelyne and Beast. Am I right?" He received a nod. "We go through the backdoor, the other two go around the house. Try to hide if possible and especially go out of their way and keep a distance!" Seeing their nods they were about to part as they heard Jean's voice echoing through the rooms…

_For how much longer do you want to hide, hm?_ she asked and her daemonic voice made chills run down their spins._ Want me to come and get you?_

They heard her laughing in their heads and Storm gave those who had been on Alcatraz a look. They knew what she wanted to say, but only nodded and ran down into the opposite direction. Scott, with Mystique and Madelyne at the front led the way to the kitchen, or better what was left of it. Obviously Dark Phoenix had concentrated her attack on that room and shattered everything to pieces that came into her way. "I don't want to see the garden…," Beast commented it as they walked out of the backdoor and froze on the spot. They had expected much, but not what they saw. The sky was scarlet red, black cloud clearly visible and beginning to form a whirl again, while a black thunderbolt directly hit the ground in front of them. Backing off, they were suddenly blinded by fire and had to shield their eyes. On top of the remains of the pond stood Dark Phoenix in all her glory…covered in flames, her fiery red hair blowing in the cold wind and she had her pitch black eyes fixated on them and gave them an evil smirk as she'd spotted them.

"Finally…," she hissed and raised a hand to summon a firebird above her head.

"We can never win this…," Storm gasped and began to shake.

"Where are the others?" Cyclops asked instead as he heard how Nightcrawler dis- and reappeared again.

"They are over there," he told him and pointed at a spot between the tress. It didn't take long and they saw the four Horsemen appear.

"If you attack them, go for their eyes," Cyclops said and touched the side of his visor. "With their heightened senses that will hurt the most…" He looked to and fro between their enemies and tried to figure out who he should attack first. "Storm attack Phoenix," he finally said and while her eyes became white, he fired his beam at the four Horsemen.

Unimpressed by it, Wolverine smirked only and watched how the optic blast hit an invisible field in front of him. "Fool…," he growled and looked aside to see how Storm's lightning bolts were blocked, too, just to smile even wider when Phoenix shot her firebird at the group that attacked them with a loud shriek. His eyes suddenly narrowed. He had seen them, waiting in the shadow on their left and right. Growling, he bared his teeth and turned to his three men. "The two of ya attack the right side," he told Sabretooth and Daken before he turned to John. "We the left side." Waiting for their nods, Wolverine extracted his claws. From afar he heard Sabretooth roaring in anger as he and Daken ran towards the Alpha Flight Team. This one stepped back and let Guardian, Shaman and Vindicator attack from afar, but soon they realized that they're enemy couldn't even be touched. Knowing that there wasn't another chance, Sasquatch turned into his beast form and roared back, before he ran towards the attacking mutant and leapt at them.

On the other side, Gambit, Iceman and Jubilee had begun to shot their powers at the approaching Wolverine and John; both mutants ran toward them with their adamantium and bone claws extracted. "Watch out!" Shadowcat screamed and quickly jumped aside as John leapt at her and Jubilee. "Jubes!" she screamed as the man grabbed the girl's throat with a growl and threw her at a nearby tree. "You asshole!"

"What? You'll be next, girl," he growled and slashed his bone claws at her. Evading the attack, she gave the boys next to her a look and saw that Colossus had come to her help. But no one of them was prepared for John turning into some kind of ghost. He laughed when Colossus went right threw him and landed on the ground.

"What the…?" Shadowcat asked and stared at John, who turned back to normal again. "How did he do that?!"

"If you survive this day…," John purred and went into a crouch. "…then I might show you." Smiling spitefully, he heard the X-Men suddenly screaming and turned around just to see how the ground in front of them exploded and sent them high into the air. "Hey," he called aloud and Phoenix turned to look at him with a glare. "Would you stop those stupid games? Kill them and let's get over it!"

"Mind your own business," she hissed and held him captive with her powers. "Who do you think you are to give me orders, you pathetic fool?"

"Hey, James," John said and Wolverine, who had knocked out Iceman and Colossus and was know occupied with the fighting Gambit, turned with a pissed growl. "Tell your girl to do her job!"

"Mon ami," Gambit said hoarsely, since Wolverine had grabbed his throat in a firm grip. "You 'ave to stop dis…" In a desperate attempt to get free, he grabbed the arms of his adversary and hold onto them. "We're your amis…," he coughed. "Not your enemies."

Glaring daggers at him, Wolverine narrowed his eyes with a low growl and grabbed him with his second hand, too. Staring back at him while he heaved deep breaths, Gambit's eyes widened as he hear a familiar _snikt_…

"Storm," Cyclops yelled and tried to hold onto the remains of the doorframe. The constant heavy attacks of the Phoenix kept on ripping the garden apart. By now nearly everything flew into their direction and especially he hard a hard time to evade the attacks. "Storm!" he called once more as he noticed that Phoenix' eyes had begun to glow again. "She's sending another psychic wave! Everyone down!" barely as the words had left his mouth, he was already thrown off his feet and crashed against the wall behind him.

"Scott!" Mystique said aloud to drown out the sound of the raging storm and ran over to his unconscious form. "Damn it…," she cursed since only he could attack their adversaries with his powers. Desperate she began to shake him. "Wake up! Scott, you have to wake up again, come on!"

"Is he okay?" Hank asked and crawled over to her, still trying to protect himself from the trees and rocks that floated through the air. Reaching her, he checked on Scott's pulse. "It's useless. He can't fight in this condition. You have to go back inside with him."

"But he's the only one that can attack them….," Mystique protested.

"Attack them, yes, but his attacks are blocked," he gave back and turned his head to see how the firebird hit Storm full in the chest. His eyes widened in shock as he saw his friend falling, but saw that Kurt had quickly teleported and caught his wife's fall.

"What can we do?" this one asked as he reappeared next to him with the limb Ororo in his arms.

"Madelyne," Hank called and the woman turned her head. "Tell everyone to meet her. We have to protect the door and prevent them from coming inside! Tell them to hurry up!" The redhead nodded and he saw how her eyes began to glow as she connected to the others. "Is there anyway possible you can reach Logan and Jean and try to talk some sense into them?" he added after she was obviously done.

"No," the woman replied. "She is protecting them with her powers. She's too strong for me…"

Nodding in understanding, Hank pulled her and Kurt quickly down as the firebird nearly hit them and rushed past them. "Bring Ororo down and you take Scott with you, we seal the place," he ordered, not knowing why he took over the leadership all of a sudden. Waiting for them to do so he saw from afar that the others approached and his eyes widened. "Great God…"

"How come they are so ridiculously strong?" Puck asked and quickly checked if Sabretooth or Daken followed them. "This big fur covered thing really stinks," he cursed and gave his wounded teammate a worried look. "He nearly turned Sasquatch into shreds…"

"To me it rather appeared that he did…," Hank mumbled. "You should take him inside, too."

"Where are the kids?" Heather asked and covered her ears as the firebird shrieked.

"Why are they not attacking us?" James asked and watched from afar how Sabretooth and Daken went back to Phoenix's side. This one jumped elegantly from the pond she had been standing on and flew a bit over to them; the firebird covering her and making her the heart of its body.

"Hey, has anyone actually a plan that will work?" Bobby suddenly asked from behind them and made the others turn. "Logan knocked Remy and Peter out and his brother took care of Kitty and Jubilee…. So what now?"

"Damn it…," Hank cursed and looked towards their enemies again. "What are they up to now?"

"Looks like…," Shaman began and still held his bloody side. "Maybe they regroup?"

"For what?" James asked and supported himself on Narya and Heather. "All they have to do is running towards us and they'll be inside…"

"Done playing?" Phoenix asked the four horsemen and glared at them with her pitch black eyes. "Because I am…"

"Well, then take them out," Daken shrugged. "I thought you're so powerful…" Hearing her snarling, he suddenly yelped as she sent him against the pond.

"Phoenix, please," Sinister said and stepped out of the shadows. "We still need him…" He turned towards the growling Daken and raised his hand. "I thought I taught you some respect, my boy?"

"Well, teach her," he snapped and received a glare from the man.

"You are nothing compared to a goddess like her," Sinister hissed and his red eyes glowed briefly. "Wolverine, you know what you have to do. Now stop playing and do what we are here for. The master is not pleased with you up to now and you know what this means…"

"Well, then train them better, bub," Wolverine growled and cracked his neck. "Why do ya give me such rookies as them?"

"Rookies, old man?" Daken growled back and extracted his claws.

"Yeah, what else do ya call yerself?" hi father gave back arrogantly and smirked when the younger man leapt at him, just to be send to the ground by him. "As I said… Rookie!"

"Stop it, both of you!" Sinister snarled aloud. "Phoenix, make sure that Wolverine can get inside. And the rest of you, stop playing around and kill them!"

"Who are you to give me orders?" Dark Phoenix snarled and the fire began to dance furiously around her. "I am not your pawn!"

"Will it help when I say please then, my dear?" Sinister asked calmly even if he was on the edge of his patience. "We need to get the boy. Attack them and kill everyone that gets into your way!"

"I want her," Sabretooth grunted and licked his lips with a wicked smile. "So that bitch is mine…"

"Sure, anything else?" Daken mocked and crossed his arms. "Then I want this little Asian chick that he sent against a tree…"

"Oh, would you shut up?" John asked annoyed. "Let's get over with it. You lead?" he asked Wolverine, who had joined Phoenix' side again.

"If you're done with that kid-stuff…," this one grunted and gave the woman next to him a smirk. "Darlin', do that thing with the bird again fer me, will ya? I love when ya do that…"

"Can do that," Phoenix smiled back and stroked over his cheek, which was commented by Daken with a roll of his eyes. "What?" she snapped at him.

"Nothing…," the younger man replied and waved off. "Just jump your bones and do your job…"

Snarling at him, Phoenix spread her arms and rose into the air, where she summoned another firebird. Wolverine smirked again, while he watched his mate rising towards the sky, for the moment content to let his eyes feast on the site above them. One just couldn't escape the glory of the majestic firebird, once you laid eyes on it.  
The phoenix' cry carried through the otherwise deadly silent night, before its mistress unleashed it once more. It soared though the sky towards the mansion, never halting its progress.

* * *

"Damn it…," Scott cursed and let himself fall backwards again while he clenched his fists and teeth. 

"I told you so, but never mind," Mystique snapped. "Hank said you can't fight in your condition and now look at you!"

"Mr. Summers," Tarot asked and he tried to raise his throbbing head a bit. "We were just wondering, but… What if they make it down to the basement?"

"Then you do the best thing and run," Mystique told her before Scott could answer. "And you don't stop until you're in safety."

"How long will the door hold them back?" Kurt asked and came over from where he had laid down Ororo.

"If Logan starts working….," Scott said and shook his head carefully. "Maybe two minutes… If Jean does it two seconds…"

"Why don't we use the underground tunnels and leave the school?" Mystique asked and crossed her arms. "We still have time…"

"Because they have cut off the route," Charles said and wheeled over to them. "We already tried it… How is everyone?"

"They did some good damage," she replied and looked at Sasquatch and Ororo. When she turned back to the Professor, she noticed his look. "What's wrong now?"

"Logan's inside…," he gasped and they already heard how claws cut through the metal of the door.

"Dammit," Scott cursed and ignored the sharp pain that rushed through his body. "Help me up, quickly!" he barked and Mystique did so. With her help he positioned himself in front of all others and fixed his gaze on the door. Thinking about it, his hand grabbed his visor and he waited for the door to breach…

Their eyes were fixated on the three claws that slammed through the metal and began to cut into it. Tensed and frightened, they watched how they cut easily through it and it didn't take long before a great piece of it crashed to the ground with a hollow _thud_. The Professor leant back in his wheelchair as he looked at the man on the other side, whose fury and cold gaze glared at each of them. He noticed that the uniform Logan wore was different from the first one.

"Logan…," he tried to talk to him but his opposite instantly began to growl. "You have to stop this! Sinister is using you, we are your friends…"

Wolverine stepped into the room, causing Tarot and Dazzler to back off immediately. "And what, old man?"

"Logan, stop where you are now!" Scott warned him and pulled his visor down a bit, so that the red of his eyes began to glow. "I will shoot…"

Chuckling in a low voice while he still came close, Wolverine smirked. "Yeah, we had that before, hadn't we?" he asked and his grin became even wider as Scott pulled down his visor to attack him with the full force of his blast. Unimpressed by it, he approached him further until he could grab him. "See?" he snarled and threw him against tarot and Dazzler. "Where's the boy?" he demanded to know of the others.

"Not here…," Mystique replied and he switched his pitch-black eyes to her.

"Where then?"

"Logan, he is your son!" the Professor tried. "You can't want that Sinister gets your son! Think about what you had to do the last time to get him back, do you want this to happen again?"

"Shut up, old man!" Wolverine growled and Xavier was sent backwards by a wave that was suddenly radiated by him. "Tell me where the boy is or I'll kill one after the next of you," he warned and grabbed Ororo who had limped over to their aid. "Starting with her!" He ignored the woman's shriek as he extracted his claws right at her throat. "Right, darlin'?" he chuckled and gave the rest an amused smirk. "The boy! Now!"

* * *

In the garden the others were still occupied with the rest as Phoenix sent another psychic wave into every direction and destroyed even more from the garden. Still being in the air, she waited for her mate to reappear. One look at Sinister behind her told her that the man became impatient. She herself was more than displeased with the Horsemen's work. They could easily kill their adversaries, but instead they loved to play with them. A wicked smile occurred on her lips as she heard glass shattering and saw how Wolverine jumped out of the window and onto the roof with something on his arms. She knew what it was… Beginning to snarl as she recognized his chasers, she rose a bit higher into the air and sent another firebird into their direction. 

"'Ro!" Remy called and tackled the woman quickly to save her from the attack. "Remy dinks dis is not good…," he said as they watched how a portal began to form above Wolverine's head.

"We have to hurry…," she gasped and got up with his help. "Hank! We need you up here!" she called and Beast, who was biting into Daken's shoulder let go of the man with a snarl, just to jump up the wall and onto the roof. "He has Jamie!"

"How?" he asked and joined their side while they tried to catch up with the running Wolverine.

"'e dreatened to kill us all," Remy explained and noticed that he could load a card. Doing it he had to watch how it was blocked. "Merde!"

"Logan, stop!" Ororo shouted and was hit by one of Phoenix' waves. She ignored the sharp pain that rushed through her entire body and raised her head a bit. Stars danced in front of her eyes and she felt the strong urge to puke as she became aware of Wolverine right under the portal. "No…"

This one looked up and felt how he was slowly drawn into it. Smirking, since at least he had his mission accomplished, he looked down onto the small boy in his arms, just to frown all of a sudden. He couldn't tell why but something was wrong, something wasn't as it was supposed to be… Jamie had opened his eyes and stared back at him as his green eyes suddenly flashed red and Wolverine shook his head in confusion. Looking up with now hazel eyes, Logan realized what was about to happened and felt that his feet already left the ground as the portal dragged him into its heart. "Storm!" he barked and Ororo looked up in surprise. She became confused as he reached out to her. "Help me!"

"It's Logan…," Hank said surprised and instantly leapt forward to grab his friend's arm. "I could use some help here!" Within less than a second Remy and Ororo began to pull on Logan, too. "You are too heavy, boy! Hank cursed under his breath and used all his strength to pull Logan back to the ground and away from the portal. "And you are one damn trouble maker!"

"Take him, Cajun," Logan said instead and handed Jamie over to Remy. "Go back inside and hide and no matter what, even if you think it's me, don't react to it. Just run!" Only nodding the man did as he was told and Logan grabbed the other two to jump off the roof before the portal could drag them upwards again. "I told her it wouldn't work…," he muttered under his breath and looked up at the furious Phoenix.

"What do you mean?" Ororo panted and followed his gaze. "You won't call this a plan, do you?"

"No, but we hoped we could beat them with their own weapons…," he grunted and switched his gaze back to his group. "What is she doin' there?" he growled and saw how Madelyne was attacked by Daken.

"She wanted to protect you," Hank replied with a shrug. "But anyway… What now?"

"Well, don't ask me," Logan said and looked back up. "Jeannie this is crazy…" He shook his head with a sigh. "Back to them. Just ran through them and let us handle the rest."

"But…," Ororo stuttered. "She's Dark Phoenix, isn't she? I mean look at the garden and everything…"

"It's not real," he replied and pushed her forward to make her go. "Trust me, just go back to them!" Receiving a more than confused look of his friends, they finally turned and ran back to the others, as a loud explosion in the sky could be heard. Everyone looked up as a huge astral form became visible in the dark air and gasped as they realized who it was.

"Is that…," Hank began and made one more step backwards.

"Apocalypse…," he heard Scott saying and turned just to look at the man, who was supported by Mystique.

"What are you doing here?"

"The Professor is on his way, too… Madelyne said something was wrong…"

"Wrong?" Hank asked in confusion and turned around as Phoenix landed next to Wolverine. Daken, John and Sabretooth had joined sides with Sinister again who gave them a wicked smile. "What are they up to?"

"Master?" Sinister asked as Apocalypse crossed his arms with a glare at all of them. "It's her fault, master!" He pointed at Madelyne. "She joined their side. She intervened the whole time through…"

"And I would do it again, you psycho!" the woman said aloud and her eyes began to glow. She stepped forward as Apocalypse turned towards her. "You don't know what you're doing!"

"Really?" this one asked in a loud and low voice that almost sounded like a snarl. "I doubt that you are in any position to say that…" Not knowing what he meant she suddenly grabbed her head and began screaming aloud. "I show you what happens to a traitor like you…"

Watching it from afar, the others gasped in shock as the woman began to glow and was ripped apart by him. "God…," Hank said in shock and turned his gaze to Phoenix that rose into the air. "And here she comes again…"

"So?" Scott asked as Logan stopped in front of them with a glare. "What now?"

"Step back," he only said and drew the large sword that they already knew too well. With his back to Apocalypse and the others, he heaved a deep breath and the sword began to glow. "Jeannie…," he whispered and waited for the reply. "Now!"

The others watched how Phoenix firebird spread its wings, at the same time as Logan took a swing and attacked Apocalypse with his power. The bird let out an angry shriek and Phoenix gritted her teeth as she attacked her enemy with her full power. The others covered their eyes as the light became far too bright for a brief moment and watched in tension how both attacks combined crashed against Apocalypse astral form. The power it caused sent winds into every direction and destroyed the mirage Dark Phoenix had caused before. The garden looked normal again, the house wasn't destroyed anymore…everything was fine until the attack stopped and nothing happened for a while. Everything was calm… But suddenly Apocalypse shot the same light back, which ripped through Phoenix and sent her crashing to the ground. Shocked by it, Logan quickly ran over and pulled her up into is arms. "Jean?" he asked was relieved to see that she was still alive.

"That's not possible…," was all she gasped and allowed him to help her up a bit.

"Fools!" Apocalypse snarled and made both of them look up. "Do you really think I didn't know? Did you really believe I haven't heard you talking about your little plan?" he asked them angrily and in a thundering voice. "You failed me once, Death, did you really believe I would trust you again? All of this only served one purpose…."

"Ah yeah?" Logan growled back.

"You know what happens to traitors," Apocalypse went on. "I will punish you for this high treason!" Roaring he began to summon light above them, which suddenly stopped. Beginning to pant, Logan made a step back and shoved Jean behind him. Somehow his feeling told him that this wasn't good. "And my punishment is…," their adversary went on and pointed his open hand at them with a smirk. "…death!" With that the light shot towards them. Reacting as fast as he could, Logan pushed Jean out of the way and was hit by the full force, while she was thrown against a nearby tree.

Being forced to watch this, Ororo covered her mouth in shock and started at the scenery. Her heart was pounding wild and almost burst through her chest, but it was nothing compared to the terrified scream she let out, as light stopped and all that remained of Logan was the adamantium skeleton, which dropped to the ground. "God, no…," she cried and turned away while her hands covered her face and she began to sob.

Apocalypse looked amused into the shocked faces of his enemies. "Now you know what will happen to you!" he snarled and grinned as his Horsemen made a step forward. "Kill them all!" he ordered as his gaze fell on another astral form that suddenly appeared in the middle of the garden. He furrowed his brows and started back at the young man that looked up at him with hate in his eyes.

"Who is this?" Scott asked, still unable to realize what had happened just now. Ororo turned with a tearstained face and looked at the young man. She noticed the unruly hair and young face and guessed that the man was not older than probably 20, if not even younger. And somehow, somehow she knew him.

"Who are you?" Apocalypse asked and watched how the man began to glow fiery as all of a sudden a huge firebird grew out of the man and broke easily through his shield.

"No!" Sinister screamed and buried both hands in his black hair as his master exploded in little pieces. "That can't be…," he gasped and baked off when the man turned towards him. "We go. No!" Within less than a second a portal appeared behind him and he disappeared within it. About to follow him, Sabretooth and Daken heard John yell but didn't care that the man was throws against the pond by an invisible force. They cared about themselves and followed their leader throw the closing portal.

"Who is this?" Scott asked once more and made a step forward. He watched how the man turned around and recognized him, even if he'd never seen him before. But something about the man was familiar, he couldn't deny that. He and the others watched how the ma destroyed the uniform John was wearing with an easy movement of his hand, before he turned towards the skeleton on the ground. If he didn't know better, Scott would have bet that the man was crying. At least he thought he saw how tears dropped onto the ground. As he followed the man's gaze towards Jean, who still laid on the ground and looked back again, the man was gone.

Not able to hold back anymore, Ororo limped over to the skeleton and dropped to the ground. Her whole body began to tremble and she realized what had happened. "Logan…," she sobbed and reached out but didn't dare to touch the bones. "God, please, no…," she cried and collapsed onto the ground, shaking by her heavy tears. The others could only watch from afar. They knew Apocalypse was destroyed by who ever that man was that had come to their help. But they also felt the price for their victory too deep within their soul…

**I know this chapter is short, but it only serves as a middle-chapter (if I can call it like that) for the things that will happen next. I am really sick and have fetched a cold, so I hope the chapter makes sense. LOL Please review!!! See ya!**


	17. Chapter 17

**Oar d****Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; )

_Italics_ mean flashbacks! I put many pre-written scenes into this chapter. Some of them were pre-written months ago and I couldn't use them up to now. So, sorry that this one here is so flashback-heavy, but I wanted to finally use most of my pre-written scenes. And believe me…I still have some more. LOL

**Thos weird in between sentences that doesn't belong to the rest is fault. Not mine. The upload messes the chapter up. : ( I hope I found all double lines that the upload copied and that those lines aren't missing from their actual places in the text...**

**Changes ****Sequel – II. Covenant Part 17**

For hours he sat on the edge of the bed and stared into nothingness. Nothing was everything he felt, nothing was everything he cared about now. He didn't hear the door that was being opened behind him or even bothered about it. What for? It didn't matter as nothing mattered to him for two days anymore. He didn't turn when Ororo called his name or looked even up. All he wanted was to be left alone with the nothingness within him. From far away he heard the clicking sound of her shoes and felt how she laid her hand onto his shoulder. But he just couldn't care. There, where he was supposed to feel pain, where his soul, if he even had one, was supposed to ache, he just felt cold and nothing…

Ororo, dressed in black looked at him with pain and tears in her eyes. No matter how hard she tried to come up with any soothing words, there were none. She knew nothing could take away the sorrow and pain of him, of the children at all. Biting her lip, she looked at the open window for a moment. It was hard for her to not let it rain. If she gave in to her sorrow, it would be raining for weeks. The whole team had lost too much, the school had lost even more and a happy family had been destroyed. And now it was up to her to make him do what he'd always run away from…

"Hey…," she said as calm as possible but he didn't look up. It was still a true miracle to her that he was sitting here. Nothing except his skeleton had been left of him, he'd been dead. "Thinking about her discovery still made her shudder. She could practically feel how it sent shivers down her spine… It had been the most horrible thing for her to watch. Not only because he'd been in so much pain…

_The fight was over but no one of them could cheer about it. The victory, if it had been one, had costs them a lot, nearly everything and all the X-Men and Alpha Flight Team members could do was to sit together and stare into nothingness. The X-Men had not only lost their heart and soul of the team with Logan, but with Jean and him their dearest and longest friends._

_Scott looked up from his position on the bed, not bothering to hide the tears he was crying silently and kept on shaking his head from time to time. Next to him, Mystique leant in to pull his head onto her shoulder__. Embracing and leaning into him, she stroked slowly over his cheek and hair while she, too, shed tears and watched Remy, who desperately tried to soothe the crying Rogue. The young woman was crying bitter tears and clung to him as if she was drowning. At least she could cry, the woman thought and switched her eyes towards Jubilee. The girl, who had obviously reached the backdoor just in time to see how Logan had been killed, was still in a deep state of shock. Only capable of hugging her legs that were pulled close, she rocked back and forth, tears visible in her eyes but not flowing, while she kept on mumbling "He's killed him…" Next to her sat Bobby, who watched helplessly how Hank gave her sedatives to help the girl to find some sleep._

"_God…," Scott suddenly said and most eyes turned to him as he looked at the Professor, who was as shocked and suffering as all others. "The children…," he told him in a half controlled voice. "How do we tell the children?!" He looked at each of them and finally at Mystique. "How do we tell them that their parents are dead?" he asked her in barely more than a whisper and covered his face with a hand as new tears began to fall. Crying openly now, to, Mystique wrapped her arms around his chest and sobbed into his back._

"_Where's mommy?" a sleepy voice suddenly asked and all heads turned to Rachel. The girl stood in the door, rubbing her small eyes and clutched her plush wolf to her chest.__ "I can't find mommy…" She looked at everyone on the room with her now bigger green eyes and began to ask herself why everyone was staring at her so oddly._

_Looking up, Rogue wiped her tears away and tried to give the girl a smile while she was walking towards her. "It's late, sweety," she said but had clearly trouble to control her voice. "Come on, I'll bring you back to bed…"_

"_No," Rachel said and evaded her touch. "I wanna see mommy!"_

"_You can't see her now, sweetheart," Rogue tried to say and suppressed a sob. "Go back to bed, okay?" She watched how Lily appeared in the door next, obviously in panic. The girl's eyes were scanning the room and she sniffed, but as it seemed she didn't get the results she wanted. Rogue, but also everyone else knew what she was looking for and that she wouldn't find it. Never again…_

"_Where're mommy and daddy?" Lily asked freighted and looked around the room again. One could clearly hear her fast and panic __breathing. They watched how she ran through the small space between the stools and looked at each of them hopefully, but the two faces she longed for weren't there. Fear began to spread within her and she pressed her wolf even closer to her chest. Something was wrong with her senses, she told herself, because no matter how hard she tried she couldn't pick up on her parents at all. Not even mentally. They just weren't there. She knew something was wrong. Her parents wouldn't leave her and her siblings alone just like that. They'd always been there and were supposed to be always there for them. They couldn't just go and leave them alone. Beginning to sob, Lily dropped to the ground and pulled the wolf even closer. He tried over and over again to reach them mentally but there was no reply, no soothing words, no hint where they could be, nothing… She was alone, she knew that. The faces of everyone around her told her that. She remembered the look her mother had given her and her siblings after her "father" hadn't returned from that mission too well. She still felt the pain and sorrow from back then rushing through her body and shattering her little heart to pieces. Even if she wasn't 8 years old yet, she knew that the looks told her that her parents wouldn't come back. That they were gone and had left them alone…..._

_Looking up with a tear stained face and coal black eyes, hers met the ones of her confused sister. "They promised…," she growled under her tears and began to cry even harder. __"They promised they'd always be there for us. They lied…," she sobbed and Rogue shook her head before she knelt down in front of her._

"_They didn't…," she tried to explain and couldn't hold back her tears anymore. "It wasn't their fault...," she added __in barely more than a whisper and pulled the devastated girl close. "I'm so sorry…"_

_Seeing that Rachel was staring at them, Remy got up to comfort her but she backed off. Panting, she shook her head and searched blindly for the door behind her. "Mommy's not dead…," she said in denial and Charles turned his head as the windows began to vibrate._

"_She is, chérie," Remy said in deep sympathy and gave the Professor a look as this one turned back to them__. How was he supposed to tell her now that it was the same with her father? That from one moment to the next she and her siblings were orphans?_

_Before he could say it, the door slammed open and Ororo entered with her eyes wide open in shock. "Hank!" she called in complete panic and the man turned to her after letting go of Jubilee's wrist. "You've to come!"_

"_What's wrong?" he asked and came closer but she already turned to run back. "'Ro?"_

"_Come!" she said aloud again and he'd noticed the tears in her eyes before. "Please, you have to come quickly!"_

_Exchanging a look with the Professor, who looked as alarmed as the weather goddess had before storming out of the room, he began to run after her, while Charles followed them in his wheelchair.__ "Ororo!" Hank called after the running woman and saw that she stopped at the door to the room where the two bodies where. He came to a halt next to her and noticed that she was shaking all over; both arms wrapped around herself she was crying in shock. Sighing, since he had this scene before, the mutant laid a hand onto her shoulder and shook his head. "I know how hard it is, but I am telling you again… They are dead! They can't move, they are gone!"_

"_He's moving!" she said angrily through clenched teeth and had her eyes fixed on something in the room._

"'_Ro…," Hank said and gave her a worried look. "Logan is dead…" About to show her the body again, or better the skeleton, he made a step forward just to freeze on the spot. "Oh my God…," he gasped and watched how the adamantium skeleton laid on the ground, obviously in a strong convulsion and was tossing itself from one side to the other. If it had a voice it would be screaming, he was convinced of it… Its head was thrown back and the jaw wide open, its body arched to its limit. In a complete shock, Hank watched how veins and sinews began to cover the skeleton again, how one organ after the next began to grow until he saw the heart beating rapidly and openly in the chest. Never before in his life had he seen something so horrific and fascinating at the same time. Even if he wanted, he couldn't tear his eyes away from it. Watching it from afar, Ororo dropped to the ground and began to weep, but she, too, as the Professor, couldn't look away. Soon afterwards, the muscles had begun to rebuilt and were covering the bones and organs, while the body on the floor was arching its back even further and kept on tossing in what seemed to be an unbelievable painful and torturing process._

"_Do something!" the woman yelled at Hank through her sobs, but he didn't know what. "He's suffering! You have to do something!" Burying her__ face in her hands, Ororo began to cry aloud. "Please…"_

_The Professor saw in fascination how skin began to grew back and shut his eyes tightly next. The whole re-growing process shot through his entire body all of a sudden and overwhelmed him. The pain Logan was clearly in and projected was nothing he or anyone else could bear. The cried and whimpers that were soon __to be heard proved to him that the man, who was still convulsing violently and nearly screamed his lungs out of his body, was suffering agonies. "Hank…," Charles began with tears running down his cheeks but the mutant had already begun to head back down the corridor and into the room where the others still were._

_Those looked up when he stormed into the room and headed for his bag to rummage in it. "What's wrong?" Scott asked and Rogue, who stroked through Lily's hair, watched him, too, while the girl was sleeping in Remy's arms. "Hank!" the man said one more but the mutant had just grabbed something out of the bad and was on his way back again. Exchanging a look with Rogue, the young woman got up to run after him._

_When Hank reached the room again, Ororo was crying even heavier and he soon figured why. The claws on Logan's hand ex- and retracted constantly due to the convulsions he was in and the noises his friend made told him that he was beyond any imaginable pain. Not thinking twice he filled a syringe __with painkillers and strong sedatives. Hearing how Rogue let out a terrified scream, he waited for the meds to take effect but soon realized that Logan was obviously fighting against them. Using sedatives once more in a higher dose, he touched his friend's cold and sweaty shoulder to show him that he wasn't alone. "Its okay, Logan…," he said and tried to hold him steady on the ground. "Give in, it's okay. You're home…" Feeling how the man became weaker suddenly, he first feared that the meds had been too much for his current state. When Logan's head hit the ground with a hollow _clonk_, Hank instantly checked if the heart was still beating and let out a relieved sigh. _

_Nevertheless, he knew that he had no reason at all to feel relaxed…"I need Peter to carry him. He needs to be brought to the ICU immediately," he told the Professor who only nodded and called for Colossus mentally. Looking at the bald man, who stared at the limb body in Hank's arms as if it was the reaper himself, the blue man slowly became aware of his own shocked state. While Ororo and Rogue clung to each other and were weeping aloud, he couldn't stop thinking about what he'd seen… What he'd witnessed was something not possible. There was no way that could possibly explain how this damage could have been repaired. All that had been left of him had been the skeleton. There had been no heart anymore that could have pumped blood through veins, no functional brain that could have told the mutation to kick in, except… "The source of his mutation is in his spinal cord…," Hank said to himself and looked down on the still shaking man. "Of course…" The skeleton hadn't been damaged and he remembered Logan once saying that there were only two ways of killing him: either curing him and injuring him so badly that the damage couldn't be repaired anymore or…"…behead him…," he mumbled._

"_What?!" Rogue cried and gave him a shocked look. He realized his mistake._

"_The only way to kill him obviously is to behead him to disconnect the brain from the rest," he explained. "His mutation is either located in his spinal cord or spinal column. There's no other way to explain what we just witnessed… His brain can't work without a beating heart, so his source cannot be in his brain…" He looked up when Peter arrived. "Take him to the ICU!" Hank ordered, but the man remained where he was. "Peter!"_

"_What?" the younger man said in confusion._

"_He needs to be taken to the ICU immediately!" Hanks aid once more and watched in relief how Peter began to move. "I'll be right there. I first need to take care of them," he nodded at Ororo and Rogue, who were both a complete mess. Walking over to a cupboard he got a small bottle out of it and two fresh syringes. When he knelt down to inject both women the sedatives, Ororo suddenly looked up._

"_How…how do we tell him that Jean's dead?" she asked him with tears still pouring from her eyes and a voice so weak that he had trouble understanding her at all._

"_We don't," Hank simply said and pulled the needle out of her arm._

"_But…," she began._

"_Ororo, up to now I can't guarantee that Logan will make it at all," he told her truthfully and both women looked up. "And I don't want anyone to tell the others about him, too. Not until I give my okay." He quickly caught her fall when she dropped to the ground._

"_I already called for Remy and Kurt," Charles informed him, when also Rogue fell asleep due to the meds. He looked at them before his eyes switched over to Jean's body on the bed in the room that was covered with a blanket. "What chances do you give him?" he finally asked and met Hank's gaze. What he read in it was something he'd like to ignore…_

"_I don't know, Charles," the blue man shrugged. "I don't know how Logan's mutation works for real, but with healing himself like this… I'm more than sure that he's overloaded his system completely. As weak as he's now…" He shook his head. "If he burns up with fever again, which will be way higher than usual after such a healing process, then…?"_

"_Then what?" the Professor asked, but already knew the answer._

"_Then I don't think he'll survive the next day…," Hank replied truthfully. "And even if he does… If he gets to know about Jean…" Again he shook his head with a sigh.__ "You haven't seen Logan after Alcatraz, Charles," he told him. "And if you take into consideration that he was neither married to Jean for almost 7 years or had children with her back then…Loosing her almost killed him 10 years ago… And getting to know that she's dead will definitely kill him now…_

As Hank had guessed the rest of the night and the next days had been more than critical. She remembered how Logan had constantly switched between chills and very high fever, forcing Hank and Moira to take care of him for 24/7. Both had never left his bedside to react instantly to any changes. She recalled how worried Hank had been on one day when they'd a meeting…

_While they sat together with the Professor and discussed how to proceed and what to do in a worst case scenario__ since if he wouldn't make it, someone of then had to take care of the children. They knew Hank and Moira had said they would do it, but Hank still also had the work at school and as the secretary of mutant affairs. As Scott was about to say something the door opened and Hank came inside, flipping some pages on his chart. "How's Logan?" Charles asked and watched the mutant sitting down with a sigh._

"_Not good… I don't know what's wrong with him," he replied and shook his head. "His fever is rising constantly and he shows heavy signs of poisoning, but he can't have one. I didn't give him anything at all that he hasn't gotten before…"_

"_He once said he was very sickly as a child…," Ororo said and looked at him while she held Jamie on her arm. "Maybe without his healing factor…"_

"_He told me he had a very low stamina and many allergies back then, but not that," Hank disagreed. "He switches between fever and chills so fast that I start treating the first and he already has the next."_

"_Could it be something else from his past?" Scott asked but Hank shook his head._

"_I don't know…," he said and suddenly looked at Charles. "Does he still have this Weapon X file?"_

"_Yes, as far as I know he has. But I don't know where he put it…," the Professor replied thoughtfully._

"_I do," Ororo said. "I remember that it fell out of the wardrobe as…" She hesitated for a moment and stroked over Jamie's hair. "…as Jean showed me her dress for Christmas…," she finished and swallowed hard. "I go and get it…" With her head lowered she quickly left the room and went upstairs._

"_So he's worse than before?" Scott asked and looked down when Hank nodded._

"_Far worse. I can't treat him without knowing what he has…"_

"_Maybe a virus? We don't know what Sinister did to him," Mystique suggested. "Maybe he has infected him with something."_

"_Then I'd be sick, too, and everyone else who had contact with him afterwards," hank replied._

"_Not if the virus was designed for him only. Cyber's poison back then was specifically made to kill Logan. And he'd succeeded with it," she gave back._

"_Remy dinks dat de petite ones would be sick den, too, non?"_

"_He's right. If a virus was designed for Logan, then the children would be sick, too," Hank agreed. "At least the twins and Jamie… And physically they're in perfect health."_

"_Here," Ororo suddenly said right next to him and held a thick file to him. While Hank began to read in it, she sat down next to Kurt again with Jamie on her lap, while he put an arm around her waist to pull her closer. Mystique looked over Hank's shoulder to take a look at the file, too. _

"_That's why he has so good fighting and leading skills…," she mumbled and Scott turned his head. "I've never seen someone with such a military and secret service background…"_

"_Ha! So I was right and he is CIA!" Scott said. "Told you so!" He frowned as hank's expression suddenly changed but before he could ask the mutant began to lean back with a heavy gasp._

"_Oh God…"_

"_What is it hank?" Charles asked and leant forward a bit._

"_I was right… He's poisoned," this one said and turned some pages._

"_But by what?" Ororo asked him worriedly._

"_Did they implant some kind of bomb within him that is supposed to kill him after a specific time?" Bobby asked and earned many raised eyebrows. "You know…like in those movies?"_

_Since everyone except Hank had looked up, they switched their attention back to the blue man who shook his head. _

"_No…Far worse," he only said._

"_What, Hank? What's wrong with Logan?" Rogue asked and thought her heart would burst in her chest. She couldn't lose him again._

"_What's poisoning him?" Kurt demanded to know, too and felt how Ororo tightened the grip on his arm._

_Looking up with a more than tensed and concerned look, Hank put down his glasses. "His adamantium skeleton…"_

"_What?!" all asked at the same time in disbelief._

"_That's not possible. For how long is he already walking around with it?" Scott asked him. "He never showed any signs of poisoning."_

_With a sigh, Hank put the glasses back on and began to read: "November 15, 1983, the bounding process is done. November 20, the Professor must have calculated Subject X mutation wrong. Weapon X's healing capability has slowed down to less than 65 of its former speed. Bounding process is still intact. November 22, Subject X suffers from high fever and chills. I recommend higher medication to stop the convulsions. If the bounding process was a failure we have to try again. The Professor suggests executing Subject X if the adamantium was rejected. November 23, Subject X is obviously poisoned by the adamantium. Burning of test subject recommended if its condition does not change within the next three days…" His head jerked up when a thunderbolt struck on the outside and saw Ororo's glowing white eyes._

"_How can they just think about executing him?" she fumed. "He's a human being for God's sake!"_

"_Ororo…, Charles said calmly and shoo his head. She heaved a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment._

"_From what I read here, Logan's mutation was way faster before the adamantium bonding…," Hank went on. "Afterwards it has slowed down. And obviously his skeleton prevents his mutation from evolving further, too…"_

"_And why?" Scott asked and ran a hand through his face._

"_Because his mutation is constantly fighting the poisoning," his opposite explained and went on turning some pages in the file. "His system is completely overloaded after he had to __regenerate himself, so his healing factor practically doesn't exist now. That's why he shows so heavy signs of poisoning."_

"_But what can we do?" Scott asked him. "To stop it you would have to get rid of the adamantium…"_

_Hank only nodded. "Yes, but we can't do that. He wouldn't survive it… And I am not talking about the trauma such a process would cause!"_

"_But…," Kitty said and shook her head. "How would you even be able to get rid of the adamantium?! It's on his bones…"_

"_Eric… He could do it," the Professor mumbled and had all eyes on him for a moment._

"_If he could, he's already done it, don't you think?" Scott asked._

"_That doesn't matter," Hank intervened and shook his head. "It would probably kill Logan…"_

_Sighing aloud, Ororo pulled the now sleeping Jamie against her chest and stroked over his back. "But what can you do then?" she asked. "Does the file say what they did back then?"_

_Hank nodded darkly. "They did nothing… They waited for him to die or fight it off…"_

"_Unbelievable…," she cursed and shook her head. "And then they say we aren't human…"_

"_I already gave him mixed medication… There's nothing else I can do for him," Hank said regretfully. "Adamantium poisoning is not something you find every day…"_

"_But…," Scott began and shook his head. "What are his chances then?"_

"_Not good if his fever rises again…," Hank replied and received a nod. "He's already weakened a lot…"_

_Everyone looked up when the door opened again and Moira appeared in it. Her face was pale and she looked more than tired due to her work on the ICU. "I need your help," she said and he got up. "His fever is higher again and he's shaking again…"_

Ororo also remembered how they had sat in the kitchen for breakfast all together a few days later and how Rogue had suddenly stormed into the kitchen, completely panic stricken. Her face had been tearstained and everyone had expected the worst. They all had frozen in their movement and stared at the woman frightened, as this one had looked for Hank and breathed hard. They all knew that whatever she was about to say, it wasn't anything good. The night before hank and Moira had told them that Logan was rapidly getting weaker due to the poisoning and that they couldn't do anything at all about it. "He…he's completely still," the young woman had stuttered and stared right through them in her panic. "He's not moving anymore…"

Ororo remembered how the adults had followed Hank to the ICU and had waited for agonizing endless minutes for him to reappear again. When he'd finally done it, they had expected the worst but he'd let out a relieved, heavy sigh. "He's made it," he'd said and gave the others some time to let the news sink in. "He's sleeping normally now and I think he will wake up soon…"

And Hank had been right. After countless days of hoping and praying, Logan had woken up for a few seconds, had taken a brief look around through half closed eyes, just to fall asleep again. A bit later he'd woken up again and had even managed to say a few words after drinking a bit water from the glass, which stood next to his bed. But Ororo had been the unlucky one whom he'd asked, after sleeping again for a couple of hours, where Jean was and even if she'd tried, she couldn't hide from him that she was lying. He'd demanded from her to tell him the truth, so she'd done it. Or better shed been about to do it when she'd began to sob and had thrown herself at him. And he'd know… From the moment she'd clung to him and had start crying into his neck, he'd known that he'd lost his mate…

Everyone had waited for a reaction. They'd even been prepared to stop him from going into a complete berserker rage and destroying the whole mansion, but there hadn't been any reaction at all. Nothing. He hadn't even showed an emotion at all when he'd finally been allowed to go back upstairs to his own rooms and had sat on the ground for more than an hour with his heartrendingly crying children in his arms… And this again wasn't only bothering Ororo a lot…

She had seen him taking out his pain and sorrow onto everything and everyone after Alcatraz, even on himself, but for days now, since he'd gotten to know about it, he wasn't doing anything at all. He rarely left his rooms, hardly talked to anyone except to his children and no one could tell if he was eating or sleeping at all, since he watched over his children only during the meals, but never ate something himself. But he made sure that the children ate something, even if Rachel refused to do it. Charles had told him he was off from work for as long as he wanted and if she was right, he'd never return to his classes again. Back then he'd completely withdrawn from everyone and she knew it would be even worse this time…

And now, she knew, came the hardest moment for him. They'd waited with the funeral for him to become better so that he could say goodbye to his wife. Even if he didn't say anything, Ororo knew that he was scared of that moment. She already felt like being stuck in hell for days now. He felt worse, she knew that. "Logan…," she said again but once more there was no reaction from him. "We're waiting for you…," she went on and looked down on him. "You haven't even changed yet…" Getting up, he walked wordlessly over to the window and looked out. "Logan…," Ororo said one more. "We need to go down…"

"Ain't comin'…," was all he grunted and her eyes grew wide.

"You can't do this!" she said a bit louder and came a bit closer. "Logan, your children need you down there! Jean was your wife…"

"She's my wife, Storm!" he suddenly barked and turned around so quickly that he had startled. Before she could say something, he let out a sigh and closed his eyes briefly, since Jamie had begun to cry. Logan walked over to this one's room and pulled him out of the bed. "I'm sorry, pum'kin…," he apologized in a whisper and held him tight.

"Logan…since it happened you haven't shown any reaction at all…," Ororo said with tears in her eyes and watched him swaying the boy in his arms to calm him again. "You need to deal with it! So, please get dressed and take part in the funeral," she begged but he only shook his head and turned his back towards her. Only nodding, she left the apartment while he walked back to the bedroom again and laid the whining boy next to him onto the bed.

Downstairs, Ororo reached the small group that was waiting for her. "Where's he?" Scott asked and noticed she was crying.

"He's not coming…," she told them, wiping her tears away and everyone stared at her speechlessly.

"What?!" Hank asked shocked. "He has to come! He can't just stay away as her husband! Even Jean's father has come from Asia and Heather and the others have flown down again…"

Seeing that he was about to head for the West Wing, she grabbed his arm and shook her head. "Leave him alone, Hank…"

"His children need him, Ororo! He has to come down," the mutant protested but noticed the empty look in her eyes.

"Believe me he's done…," she begged him. "He doesn't come down because he doesn't want to, but because he can't. Please, just leave him alone…" Finally receiving a weak nod from him, they began to walk slowly into the garden where they met with the others.

"Ororo…," Heather said sadly and walked over to hug her before she looked up to the windows. "Where's Logan?"

"Not coming," Scott said replied and buried his hands in his pocket while he looked over to the twins, Rachel and Laura. While the first three clung to their grandfather crying, the last one just stood there and watched. He couldn't believe that the girl had changed into the negative again after Jean and Logan had found out why she had behaved so strangely…

_Logan leant against__ the doorframe and watched Rachel and Laura sleeping in their room as he heard how Jean left the bathroom and switched off the lights. Her soft steps on the parquet told him that she was walking over to him and it didn't take long before she wrapped her arms around his waist to lean into him. "You coming?" she asked and looked up at him while he pulled her closer with one arm; still looking at the two children. Finally, Logan closed the door and they retreated to the bedroom where he laid down. "Is something wrong?" Jean asked worriedly since she could tell that something was bothering. The surprise attack on the mansion, Jamie, who had nearly been kidnapped by the three Horsemen, the half destroyed East Wing and the fact that they didn't know who the third man was, was clearly bothering him._

"_Can ya check on somethin'?" he finally asked and she rolled onto her side to have a better look on him._

"_Are you still in pain?" she asked and reached out to touch his belly. "Moira and I told you to go down to the infirmary and make sure you have no internal wounds…"_

"_No,…," he waved off. "It's Laura…"_

"_What about her?"_

"_I think…," Logan began and the way he looked told Jean that this was clearly bothering him a lot. "I think that Sabretooth abused her…"_

_Sitting up in a rush while her eyebrows where furrowed, the redhead just stared at him for a while. "What?!" she asked shocked as if he was out if his mind. "What makes you think that?!"_

"_Maybe the fact that he hinted to it?" he asked with a trace of sarcasm in his voice. "He said the same about Laura as he did to 'Ro…"_

_Thinking and trying to recall it, Jean nodded. "Right… He said to 'Ro she tastes so sweet…"_

"_Exactly… And I know what he means by sayin' it," Logan replied."It's the same when my senses tell me that you smell good. It doesn't refer to a perfume or shampoo. It simply means that your body tells my senses that ya…well…"_

_Noticing his hesitation to go on, Jean became suspicious. "__Well what?" she asked and he just looked at her for a while._

"_Willing…," he finished and her eyes grew wide.__ "But in his case it's probably the smell of fear that turns him on…" Noticing that she still stared at him he began to cock an eyebrow at her._

"_Can you borrow me your senses the next time you think I'm…willing?" she only asked, not knowing what to think about it and he shrugged._

"_Can do that…," he nodded._

_Jean became serious again and bit her lip. "So…you really think that she was abused?"_

"_Dunno… I only want to make sure that he lied," he replied. "At least I hope he did…"_

"_He's capable of that? Hurting an innocent child?" she asked and her eyes widened a bit when he nodded._

"_Yeah, he's definitely capable of that," Logan growled. "Back then he tried to rape Rose in our garden and gutted my dog since I called for help. He also called Laura his _lil' _toy."_

_Only nodding, she began to pull on the sheets lost in thoughts. "It would explain why she barely talks even if she has the vocabulary by now," she thought out loud.__ "I will do it after breakfast tomorrow and examine her. Since you can block my telepathy I assume she can do that, too. So examining her would give us the best results…" Nodding, he gave her a kiss and laid down._

_Nevertheless, even if her plan sounded good, Jean hadn't thought it would become so difficult. As soon as she had led Laura down to the infirmary, the girl had begun to fight against her__ and had even started to use her claws against the thick steel door, which Jean held together with her powers. The redhead had watched her and could tell that the girl was clearly afraid and wanted to flee. At least her senses obviously told her to do so. When Jean wanted to grab her Laura slashed her claws at the woman with a growl and used her chance as the door opened and escaped. _

_Upstairs, Logan was still having breakfast with some others and looked up when the girl suddenly jumped over the counter and into his arms. Confused he stared down__, heard her whimpering into his chest and gave his wife, who appeared shortly afterwards a cocked eyebrow. Before he could ask, Laura let out a shriek and ran out of the backdoor and into the snowy garden. "What…was…that?" he finally managed to say and Jean sighed._

"_She became scared because of the infirmary and freaked out…," she said. "It's too cold for her in a shirt only. We need to find her."_

_Leaving the mansion together with Ororo and Scott, they followed Logan, who'd picked up on Laura's scent. He stopped in front of a tree in the wood and looked up. "What now?" Ororo asked and followed his eyes. "I can't summon a wind or something like that without risking that she falls off the tree…"_

"_Jean?" Scott asked and turned to the redhead._

"_She's afraid of me now, Scott…," she replied and shook her head. "I'm the last one she would accept right now…"_

_Nodding, Scott began to frown when Logan suddenly looked around and walked over to another tree. "What is he doing now?" he asked the others and __watched how the man jumped up and disappeared in the tree as if it was a thing he did everyday, or better, as if it was a normal thing to do. "Does he know that this is the wrong tree…?" he asked the others, as Logan suddenly jumped over the heads into the other tree. "Gracious… If he had fur we could sell him as a kitten to a petting zoo…"_

"_Scott," Jean scolded him and looked up into the tree after shooting a glare at him._

"_Hey, kid," Logan said and held onto a branch while looking at the growling Laura. He noticed that she began to back slowly off. "I ain't gonna hurt ya, okay?"_

"_Mommy did," she grunted and backed off a bit more, never turning his eyes away from him._

"_She doesn't want to hurt ya either," Logan tried to soothe her. "Look, she only wants to make sure that __you're fine, okay?"_

_Shaking her head the girl prepared to jump off the tree. "She wants to hurt me…"_

"_She won't…," he assured her but saw her skeptical look. "Look,…will ya let mommy check on ya if I'm there, too?" he asked and waited for a reply while she thought it through. "I'll make sure she won't hurt ya, okay?"_

"_Promise?" Laura asked still skeptically._

"_Yeah… C'mon, let's get outta here before I freeze my butt off," Logan grunted and pulled her over. "Hold onto me, kid." Waiting for her to climb onto his back, he jumped out of the tree and landed as graciously as he'd jumped up on the ground._

_A bit later, he leant against the desk in the infirmary and waited for Jean to stop the mind-reading. It hadn't helped and she had to sedate her first just to knock her out via telepathy next, since the girl __wouldn't stop fighting. He heard Jean letting out a deep sigh and furrowed his brows. His wife sighing wasn't good… "What did ya see?" he asked and she turned around._

"_You were right…," Jean replied barely audible and with a mixture of hate and sorrow in her eyes._

"_What did he do to her?!" he instantly growled and clenched his fists._

"_I…I don't know. The things I saw were just too terrible. I couldn't look further," she said truthfully and reached out to stroke over Laura's dark hair._

"_Let me see!" Logan demanded but she gave him a pleading look. "Let me see, Jean!" Heaving a deep breath, she finally nodded and pulled him closer. With one hand on his temple and the other on Laura, Jean closed her eyes again and concentrated on the things she could read in the girl's head…_

"_She's out of control again, master," a man said and looked at the shadow in front of him._

"_Then mak__e her stop!" his master demanded and with a nod, the man left again. "You said it worked…"_

"_It did, master," another male voice said. "I think there's a problem within the subjects mind…"_

"_We need to make her bend to our will," the chilly voice, called the master, said in a half growl._

"_By doing what?" a female one now said with a scared undertone in her voice._

_It took a moment and there was silence only. Logan guessed that Laura must have heard those things only since all he saw within her mind was a white room with no one but her in it._

"_Get him and tell him I've work for him…," the chilly voice said and Logan recognized it. _

_It took a while and there was the sound of a door opening and closing again. Then he heard Sabretooth speaking. "What?" the mutant grunted._

"_I've work to do for you," the cold voice said. "Do you see the girl in the room?"_

"_She smells like the runt," Sabretooth growled disgusted._

"_That doesn't matter. Unfortunately the genetic changes I made couldn't erase this disgusting human part in her animal," the other man explained and from the sound Logan heard he could tell that the man walked up and down. "I want you to go in there and teach her a lesson…"_

"_She doesn't know fear," Sabretooth said._

"_Then you teach her…," the cold voice demanded darkly._

_Sabretooth chuckled and licked his lips while, as Logan guess, he showed his sharp fangs again. __"How far do ya want me t'go?"_

"_Do what you have to do but remember…we need her alive!"_

_Hearing Sabretooth chuckling once more Logan saw him entering the room. Laura began to growl and extracted her claws on both hands and feet, but Sabretooth only roared at her._

"_Is this all he can do?" another man asked in the additional room after a moment, as he suddenly heard a shriek and __saw how Laura was slammed against the window they looked through. "Obviously not…" He watched with the two other shadows how Sabretooth kept on hitting the girl brutally which soon turned into slashing at her. The man sighed and shook his head. "This makes her only the more furious…How is she supposed to learn fear if he…," he stopped when Sabretooth pinned the bleeding, but already healing girl against a wall. She was still wrapped up in a strong fit of berserker rage and kept on slashing out to hurt the taller man back. "What is he doing now?" the man asked and turned to the other one next to him. He watched how the mutant slammed the girl head first onto the floor and pinned her brutally to it, before he tore her clothes open with his claws._

"_The only thing he is good in…," the cold voice replied, obviously unimpressed by it._

"_That means?" the man next to him asked._

"_The girl knows no fear thanks to Weapon X's genes. He is showing her now what it means…"_

"_By doing what exactly?" a female voice asked and came over to the window, just in time to see Sabretooth bending over the still fighting girl__ and doing something she couldn't see. But she heard the terrible loud scream of the girl too well._

"_By breaking her will," the cold voice replied. "She will learn to be afraid of us and do what we want, because I will let him do this every time she fights back… She is like a dog. Give her a good beating and she will learn who her master is…"_

"_But, Sinister, this is…," the female voice said to him and shook her head when the girl went on screaming aloud. "She is…"_

"…_an animal. A thing, a creature I created. And so she is treated!" Sinister replied and stepped closer to look at the woman. "Do you have and complaints, my dear?" he asked and tilted his head a bit._

"_I agreed on carrying this child because I believed you wanted to help humanity by studying the healing factor!" the woman said close to start crying and closed her eyes when she heard the girl weeping aloud. "He is killing her! How can you do this? She is a little girl!"_

_Glaring at her, Sinister grabbed her __jaw hard. "You are not believing in the cause anymore, then, my dear?" he asked her in a cold and threatening low voice. "Pity…" He grabbed her roughly and opened the door to the additional room, where he threw her into. "Kill her!" he ordered with a look at the still rutting Sabretooth._

_The woman stared into the black eyes of the mutant in shock and noticed his evil grin that spoke volumes about what would expect her if he was done with the girl. Instinctively, she backed off but the door behind her was already shut and it was impossible to open it from within. She turned her head back to the grunting mutant and the weeping girl underneath him. She felt sick to the stomach by watching it and her eyes widened as he was suddenly stock still and let out a loud howl-like sound. The woman gasped in shock as he withdrew from the girl and threw her aside. The blood just flowed out of the little body and the woman was about to puke, as Sabretooth chuckled low and licked his lips. While she stared at him scared to death and noticed that he was ready again, Sabretooth eyed her like prey and came slowly closer. Panicky, she began to back further of but he leapt at her with an angry roar and slashed his claws at her to rip her clothing apart. The woman screamed in pain since he also tore her skin open, just to scream even louder when he buried his claws into her flesh on purpose. "Yeah…," Sabretooth chuckled. "Scream fer me…" While he pinned her roughly to the ground to satisfy his needs, Laura crawled over to the farthest corner, leaving a long blood trail on the ground and sought protection in it as good as possible. While she pulled her legs close and covered her head, her dead and emotionless eyes were fixed on the now screaming woman…_

_Letting go of Logan and Laura in a rush, Jean backed of with a tearstained face. Logan couldn't do much more than stare at the girl with eyes full of hatred for his enemies, as he heard how Jean suddenly ran over to the toilet and threw up heavily. Still, he couldn't move, only stare at the still sleeping Laura and fume. Finally turning his head when Jean came back, face pale and heavily panting, he noticed that she had trouble to stand at all. With one quick step he caught her fall and helped her to sit down on the ground, but noticed that this wasn't enough. His wife was too much a mess and in shock and felt panic rising within him as she suddenly breathed in rags. "Jean… Calm down! C'mon, ya have to calm down," he said and grabbed her wrist to feel her pulse. "Don't collapse on me now."_

_Staring at him with an odd look in her eyes, she opened her mouth to speak. "How…," she began but was panting too heavily to go on._

_Logan got quickly up to get a glass of water. "Here," he said and handed it to her. "Calm down first." He helped her to swallow a bit of the liquid and stroked over her back, when she suddenly shook her head._

"_What has this animal done to her…," she whispered hardly audible and he narrowed his eyes._

"_Exactly what I thought…," Logan replied darkly. "For just bein' a lab rat she behaved too strangely…" He looked up as she began to cough heavily and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Lay down! Your pulse is completely out of control." He got rid of his flannel shirt and pulled it under her head for her to lie down before he pulled her legs up and onto his knees. "Calm down, Jeannie…"_

_It took a great while for her to do so. The things she saw had been too horrible for her to cope with them so fast. When she looked at Logan again, he noticed the strange look in her eyes. She was still crying. "This animal is _never_ related to you…," she said through clenched teeth. "Not even Wolverine would be so cruel and do this to a person… He's an animal…"_

_Looking at her and then at Laura, he made a decision. "Make her forget!" he said determined and Jean said up with a confused look._

"_What?"_

"_Make her forget!" Logan said once more. "Erase her memory."  
"Logan…," she began but he cut her off._

"_He must have changed her healing factor, Jean. She doesn't forget traumatizin' experiences like I do! She will always remember it," he said. "She will never have a normal life with those memories bein' stuck in her head…"_

"_You know that I can't do this…," she gave back and shook her head. "Messing with a people's mind…"_

"_A child's, Jean! A child who can't choose for herself, yet," he corrected her and she bit her lip. "Jean, this memory is reason why she behaves so strangely… She can remember everything that was done to her. Would ya want to remember what you've just seen? As a child?" he asked and Jean looked down, shaking her head after a moment. "Can ya change her memories?" he asked and helped her up._

"_Yes… But, Logan, the Professor…"_

_Logan snorted with a cold look in his eyes. "May I remind ya that he messed with your head, too, without askin' for permission?"_

"_I know…," Jean sighed and went over to the bed where Laura was still sleeping. "What I meant was… What about the life she has here? If I erase her memory…"_

"_Keep her memories of bein' here with us, that she's adopted…, of the people she knows here and of what she has learned so far," he said._

"_She will become suspicious later when she's grown up… There will be too many years missing that will raise questions," she replied. "What about making her believe that we are her real parents? That she was with us from the beginning?" she suggested but he shook his head._

"_She will find out one day that she's a clone," Logan said and sighed. "…let her know that she's one."_

"_Logan…," she began but he gave her a sign to wait._

"_But make her believe that we raised her from when she was a baby. Give her the memories we have with our family. As if she'd always been a part of it and had a happy life so far…"_

"_But we would have to change our children's memories, too…"_

"_No…We just wait and see and explain it to them when necessary," he disagreed and watched how Jean ran both hands through her face._

"_I only hope this doesn't end in a complete disaster…," she sighed._

"_Give her a birthday, too!" he added._

"_Which one?"_

"_What about November 5?" he shrugged. "As Raven would say, she's a winter type."_

"_Okay…," Jean nodded. "I'll start working then. Would you leave, please?"_

_Logan nodded and kissed her before her turned around. "Good luck!"_

"_Better hope that this will turn out well…," she replied and sat down on a stool behind the bed to have a better access of the girl._

"_It will. And even if not… It's still better than livin' with the truth," he replied and left the room…_

_On the next morning Logan was occupied with making breakfast with Ororo and Raven, as a shadow stormed into the room. "Daddy!" Laura called and threw herself at his legs. "Ray said mommy allowed her to ride a horse after breakfast. Can I do this, too?" she asked and looked at him with her big hazel eyes. Exchanging a look with each other, the two women were practically speechless, while also Logan__'s mind had trouble to realize what had just happened. "Please, can I?" the girl asked again and pouted before she pulled on his jeans impatiently. "Please?"_

"_Ehm…sure…," he nodded. "I show ya later how to do that." Smiling happily she ran off again._

"_What…was…that?!" Ororo asked and gave him a questioning look._

"_Act as if it was normal, okay?" Logan said. "Jean and I will tell ya later."_

"…_okay," Mystique said but with a more than questioning undertone._

_When Jean entered the room, he instantly turned to her. "Did ya see…," he began and she nodded._

"_Yes… I never expected it to work that well…," she replied and kissed him._

"_Me neither," he said._

"_Eh?" Ororo made and looked to and fro between them. _

"_Later!" he said once more as Laura and Ray ran into the kitchen._

"_Mommy, daddy allowed me to ride a horse later!" the dark haired girl cheered and hugged Jean's leg, who could only smile at the girl._

"_That's good. Just be careful, okay?" the woman said and stroked over Laura's hair, while Rachel pulled on her father's shirt._

"_Can we ride on Othello?" she asked and he shrugged._

"_If no one else uses him, why not?"_

"_Then hurry up, daddy, or someone else takes him!" the little redhead said and he began to cock an eyebrow at her._

"_Excuse me?!" he asked and asked himself if Jean had secretly changed Rachel, too._

"_Cook faster, daddy!" Laura nodded and crossed her arms, a gesture that was imitated by Rachel._

"_We're hungry! And we want to be the first in the stable," Rachel added._

"_Slave driver," Logan growled and handed over a plate with pancakes to Jean._

_Watching him impatiently, Rachel began to make _tap tap tap_ sound with her feet. "If you don't hurry up, Isa and TJ will be faster again," she pouted. "And then we have to use another horse…"_

"_You've heard them, daddy…," Jean cooed. "Move your butt."_

_Snorting, he gave her a glare and sat down at the table with them. "I'm still faster than the two of ya when it comes to eatin'," he grunted and Mystique gave him a nod._

"_You don't eat, you usually wolf down your food," she remarked and he cocked an eyebrow at her._

"_What's that supposed to mean?"_

"_That out of __365 days you behave like a caveman at least on 330," Ororo said and Logan looked at his wife for a second._

"_Who's fault is that, huh?" he asked with a nod at Jean. "And don't ya think that 330 is a bit too often? That's nearly every third day…"_

"_Right…," Mystique nodded while thinking about it. "I think she meant 350 out of 365, didn't you, Ororo?" He growled. "Ask Jubilee!"_

"_What the hell does she know anyway, eh?" he grunted with a glare._

"_Obviously a lot," Raven smirked and chewed her pancake with a grin._

"_Daddy?" Rachel asked with crossed arms._

"_What?"_

"_You haven't even started, yet, and we are done eating," Laura complained._

"_So who's wolfin' down here, eh?" Logan asked but Rachel groaned._

"_Come on, daddy!"_

"_Alright, alright!" he quickly said and emptied his cup before he gave Jean a kiss and took three pancakes with him to eat them on his way. While the girls ran ahead, he followed them cursing and muttered something about not even being able to eat in peace._

"_What has gotten into Laura?" Ororo asked Jean as soon as the door was closed. "She's completely changes…"_

"_As if you've messed with her head…," Mystique said suspiciously._

"_I did…," Jean admitted and both women stared at her in shock._

"_What?!" both asked at the same time._

"_You'll get to know why later," the redhead explained with a serious look. "And if you do…you'll understand, believe me…"_

And they had, as Ororo remembered. Even if Charles had been angry first he understood the necessity of it. It had shocked her beyond limits of what Logan and Jean had told them…

"But what do you mean with…he's not coming?" James asked them with furrowed brows. "He has to…"

Ororo ran both hands through her face when she saw Jean's father sitting like a picture of misery on a stool and staring at the grave. Biting her lip, she went over and laid a hand on his shoulder. Startling a bit, he finally raised his head and smiled weakly when he recognized her. She thought that he looked way older than before Christmas. "Hey…," was all she managed to say and sat down next to him.

"Not a good occasion to pay a visit, hm?" John said and ran both hands through his face. "Where's Logan?" he asked barely audible.

"He's not good…," she said and gave the grave a brief look, feeling how everything within her clenched painfully. "He can't come down…"

"He should…," John Grey replied. "It's even worse if you don't deal with it…"

"He never takes part in funerals. It's something he can't do, especially not now," Ororo whispered and felt how tears gathered in her eyes again. Seeing that the man next to her nodded, she couldn't help but remember how they had first met…

_Jean was on her way back to her room as Bobby crossed her way and nodded at her to get her at__tention. It was a few days before Christmas and the redhead and still had some classes to teach. "Hey, Jean!" he called and the woman stopped with a surprised look. "The Professor wanted me to tell you that he needs to speak with you in his office."_

"_Okay… Thanks," she said slightly confused and turned around again to head back to Charles' office at the end of the corridor.__ Stopping in front of the heavy door, she knocked and waited for him to tell her to come in._

"_Please, come in, Jean," he finally said and she entered the office. _

"_You wanted to see me?" Jean said and closed the door behind her, just to stop dead in the tracks. She looked at the man in front of Charles' desk and felt how her heart began to pound strongly in her chest while time seemed to have frozen. Even after all those years she still recognized him. He was of course older, his hair gray but she had never forgotten him…The man in the chair stared back at her, too, unable to tear his eyes away from the shocked woman and got slowly up to come a bit closer. He watched how she had her mouth covered with one hand and saw the tears that slowly began to gather in her eyes, but he didn't know how to react to it. She recognized him obviously, but it had been too many years…_

"_Jean…," he said carefully as she suddenly made a quick step forward and clung to him sobbing aloud. Smiling and beginning to cry, too, he pulled her closer; never wanted to let her go again… "I thought I'd never see you again…,"__ he said after a while and cupped her face lovingly with a sad smile to wipe her tears away._

"_I think the two of you__ have a lot to talk about," the Professor smiled warmly and wheeled over to the door._

"_How… How did you find him?!" Jean mumbled under her sobs and he stopped._

"_Logan had asked me to look for him after your mother and stepfather had been here. He told me that you've tried to find your father a few times, so I looked for him and found John." He smiled at her. "You can stay here if you want. I feel like a good cup of tea anyway…" With that he left the room and closed the door behind him._

"_We have a lot to talk about, hm?" John Grey smiled and stroked over his daughter's cheek. "God, it's been… How many years?"_

"_32…," Jean replied and looked down, letting the number sink in, while he shook his head with a heavy sigh._

"_Look at my little girl…," he suddenly said and smiled warmly at her. "You're so beautiful…"_

_Smiling about it with a blush she became serious again. "Where have you been all those years?"_

_John took her hand and led her over to the sofa at the wall. He didn't reply first and tried to remember everything that had happened all those years ago. "After your mother threw me out I tried to get the custody," he began. "When we met each other again months later, she'd told the judge that I had abused you." He briefly looked aside when the redhead let out a snort and shook her head. "I told him that this wasn't true and your mother came up with a doctor, who had some evidence. The judge believed her and I was forbidden to see you or even get close to you…" John, who had his head lowered and looked onto the ground only, made a brief pause. "I tried it later again after your mother moved away, but I had no chance. The same doctor had some so-called evidence that because of the abuse you developed a mental-illness and had to be treated in a special clinic… The college I worked for kicked me out and I was unable to find any other job in the city, not even in the state because of that case. My reputation was destroyed by her. I found a job in Asia and moved there, but despite the judgment, I tried to contact you, but Elaine never let me," he told her. "I don't even want to know how horrible everything had been for you…" John looked at Jean from aside while she had her eyes fixed on her hands and stilled cried silently. "What did they do to you?"_

"_Well, where do you want me to start?" she sniffed and wiped her tears away. "You know what I am, right?"_

"_A mutant, yes. But where's the problem with it?" John asked her and she gave him a surprised look._

"_You…you don't care?"_

"_No…," he smiled and shook his head. "I even began to study mutant genetics. I don't understand why people have problems with a new stage of evolution… But from the way you're asking I think Elaine had. Am I right?"_

_She nodded. "Richard and she called it a disease and they tried to cure it…"_

"_By doing what?" he asked, already feeling that her tone didn't mean anything good._

"_After going from one doctor to the next and giving me one pill after the other, they brought me into a clinic for mental diseases in the end…"_

_John gave a short laugh and shook his head in disbelief. "I don't believe it…," he cursed. "For how long have you been in that psychiatry?"_

"_Two years. But they only took me back home because I acted as if I was fine again…," Jean explained sadly and began to knead her hands when the memories, she never wanted to remember, came back. "Otherwise I'd still be there today and probably crazy for real…"_

_Hearing it, John ran a hand through his face and shook his head once more. "Why mental disease?" he asked her after a moment and she gave him a brief look._

"_I've psychic and telepathic powers…"_

"_I see…," he nodded. "You know… Something that bothered me a lot was… The fact that this doctor came up with evident for an abuse…" John looked at her and noticed that she avoided his eyes on purpose. "Did this Richard abuse you?" he asked carefully and hoped he was wrong, but saw her nodding slowly_

"_Yes… Richard always took his chance after Elaine gave me those pills. He thought I wouldn't notice… He never raped me but…for me there's no difference…"_

"_IF I get my hands on him…," John said angrily and clenched his fists._

"_There's no need for it," she smiled weakly. "After they had their nice entrance here and threatened to take my children away from me, the Professor made them forget that they even know me. For them I'm a stranger now. Elaine doesn't remember that she had another daughter…"_

_He nodded first just to give her a surprised look next. "You've children?"_

"_Yes…"_

_John nodded again before he noticed her left hand. "And married as I see…," he smiled. "For how long?"_

_Jean stroked over both rings on her left hand. "7 years next May."_

"_Is your husband treating you well?" she heard him asking in a concerned voice and couldn't help but smile widely._

"_Logan?" she asked a bit amused. "Yes. Actually he's treating me more than good…"_

"_So you're happy with him?" John asked and leant back a bit._

"_More than happy… I can honestly say that I've never been that happy in my whole life than with him. He helped me through a lot of not so nice things."_

"_I hope so!" he smiled and she gave it back. "How many children do you have?"_

"_Actually five and an adopted girl," she said and he nodded._

"_Why actually?" he asked with a frown since the word appeared to him as odd._

"_We lost a son last year…"_

"_I'm sorry to hear that…," John said with a weak nod. "I know how hard that is. It happened to me and my ex-wife four years ago."_

"_I'm sorry," Jean said but he waved off._

"_Well, you obviously handled it better than we did. WE split after we lost another one. She said she couldn't look me in the eye anymore…"_

_Heaving a deep breath, Jean nodded in understanding. "I know what she meant… It was hard for me to even look at Logan at all after I lost another one a few months later. I thought it was my fault and that I failed him…," she explained and began to remember the pain too well._

"_Did you and your husband start fighting? Because we did," he asked but she shook her head._

"_No… Logan kept on telling me that it wasn't my fault and that he didn't blame me. That it just wasn't meant to be…"_

"_He seems to be a great man," John __remarked impressed and guessed that he was right since she smiled happily. "You obviously made a good catch if you're still so happy. It's a rare thing actually…"_

"_He is a great man," Jean nodded with a slight blush and turned the rings on her finger.__ "Anyway… We have twins, a boy and a girl who will turn 8 in May, a girl who turns 6 in February and a boy who's four months old."_

"_And an adopted girl, you said?" he asked and she nodded. "So he's a family kind of guy, huh?"_

"_Yes, he is. He can't get enough of them," she smiled._

_John turned a bit around and looked at her from aside. "I'd like to meet him," he said with a smile. "I want to get to know the man who's now on my daughter's side."_

_Turning her head, Jean gave the clock a brief glance. "He has classes until 2:30, but I think you can talk to him afterwards," she said. "At least if you can stay that long, I mean…"_

"_Of course," John nodded and took her hand. "Your Professor invited me to stay tonight after I told him that my flight back goes tomorrow at 9:30 p.m.," he said. "If I can stay one day, I'd like to spend as much time with you as possible. I already missed too much time with you because of _her_…" Reaching out he touched her cheek gently with a sad look and she smiled._

"_We can go for a walk until Logan's classes are over. If you want, I mean…"_

"_Of course!" Getting up, he took his coat and followed her out of the door. "Is he a mutant, too?"_

"_Logan?" Jean asked and John nodded. "Yes, he is. So are our children. We had some humans at the school, but after they realized that the cure that was invented was only temporary… She shrugged with a sigh._

"_Yes, I've heard about it," John nodded._

_Jean stopped when they reached the door to the garden and gave him an odd look. "Just one more thing…," she began and looked for the right words. "Don't understand it wrong when you meet Logan. He doesn't trust strangers at all. He has been through a lot of terrible things in his life before, like me, and after getting to know Elaine and Richard… Well, he wants to protect me and his family. So he will be…rather cold and __reserved towards you. It has nothing to do with you though. It's just his way with people."_

"_Not as he is to you and__ his children, right?"_

"_No, he only opens up to me and our children. Or those who he knows for longer," she quickly said. "As I said, it's not because of you."_

_After they took a long walk through the garden and Jean showed him around a bit, they ended up in her rooms in the West Wing. __John stopped in surprise when he heard a growling. "You have as wolf?" he asked is shock and gave his daughter a look._

"_Yes. He isn't dangerous," she said and went over to stroke over Miloh's head, while the animal still growled at the stranger. "It's okay, calm down. He means no harm…," she tried to soothe him.__ "We just got the husky for him as a partner and he wants to protect her. First, he didn't look at her and now he never leaves her side…"_

_John nodded and looked at the two animals more closely. "They are really two beautiful animals…," he said as Miloh growled again. "Is she expecting his cubs because he is so overprotective of her?"_

_Thinking about it briefly, Jean shook her head. "No… Actually that would be a bit too soon. I mean they were completely gone for two days, but… We__ just got her a few days ago…"_

"_Well, you never know.__ Wolfs, as far as I know, retreat with their mate for reproduction. So it could be. But where did you get an arctic wolf actually?" he asked in interest._

"_He followed Logan throughout Canada, so he brought him back home with him," Jean explained and saw that her father had noticed the pictures on the wall. Before he could say __something, the door opened and Rachel and Laura entered. "Hey…," she smiled at them and the girls stopped to give the stranger a look. "Had fun?"_

"_No," Rachel replied and her mother frowned._

"_Why not?"_

"_Uncle Scott said we'd never get math and that we should…should model ourselves on Jack and Lily," she pouted. "He's mean…"_

"_He said _you_ would never get math," Laura corrected her._

"_Sweety, why don't you ask daddy for help, hm?" Jean suggested and stroked over Rachel's hair._

"_Who's this?" Laura asked very Logan-like and gave the man a suspicious look._

_Jean looked at her father first before she turned back towards them. "He's my father," she explained and noticed the confused look in the girls' eyes. "So your grandfather, actually."_

"_No, grandpa's downstairs!" Laura immediately said and crossed her arms._

"_He's your grandfather, too," the redhead said. "You know,…usually children have two grandfathers and also two grandmothers."_

_While Laura gave a skeptical "Hm…", Rachel gave a surprised "Oh…"_

"_And who are those young ladies?" John asked with a smile at the children._

"_The left one is Rachel and the right one is Laura," Jean explained and he nodded._

"_You don't look like a grandpa…," Rachel remarked skeptically and John couldn't help but laugh._

"_Well, thank you."_

"_Where's daddy?" she asked next and looked at her mother, who turned to give the clock a look. "I don't know sweetheart… Maybe he's still downstairs?"_

_Taking Rachel's hand, Laura pulled her with her towards the door. "C'mon. We find him."_

_Watching them both heading off, John nodded at the spot where the girls had stood before. "Cute children," he said and shook his head with a chuckle. "And smart!"_

"_Laura's the adopted one," she told him with a smile "But you can't tell a difference. She almost looks like the twins..." _

"_I actually thought she looked like your husband… At least from what I can see on the pictures here," he said and she bit her lip, not wanting to tell the truth about her. "And adopted or not. A child is a child. And she has a nice family here, hasn't she?" He winked at her and Jean smiled again.__ "What kind of mutation does your husband have, by the way? He looks pretty strong…"_

_Jean gave the family picture a brief look. "He has a regenerative healing factor, superhuman senses, strength, stamina, agility, and reflexes," she explained and added with a smile. "And is resistant to telepathy. So I can only read his mind if he allows me to."_

"_Heightened senses?" John asked and she nodded. _

"_Yes. He can see, hear and smell things that are miles away. His way of tasting and feeling differs from normal humans, too," she said while he was thinking. "Yesterday he complained about too much salt in the food while I couldn't even taste it."_

"_Like a dog?"_

"_Never compare him to one!" she warned and he raised both hands._

"_No, no! But like a dog?" John rephrased it. Thinking about it, Jean nodded. "Interesting…," he mumbled. "You know, colleagues of mine who work in Australia and North America have found evidence, at least that's what they call it, that mutants and humans have two different ancestors." _

"_Really?" Which ones?"__ she asked and beckoned him to come over to the white sofas, where she sat down._

"_On the one hand we descend from the ape, as it is already known. But they've found evidence that there's a second __tribe," he explained and she listened attentively. "A pre-historical wolf. In that way they explain the beast-like mutants that do not only differ from their looks, like fur or so, but also by having fangs. Or those with heightened senses," he went on and she turned her attention to Miloh, who was occupied with licking over his new mates fur. "Some skeletons they've found even had claw like bones on their arms."_

"_Claws?" Jean asked after jerking her head aside quickly._

"_Yes. Why are you so surprised?" John asked her in confusion._

"_Well…he has claws…"_

"_Really?!" She nodded. "But no fur as far as I've seen it on the photo."_

"_No."_

"_A feral nature?" he asked next and she nodded again. "Then one of his parents probably was a descendant of the ape tribe and the second parent of the wolf tribe. He'd be a hybrid then."_

"_Is this theory proven for real?" Jean asked after a moment._

"_No, not yet," he said. "But there are lots of theories going on at the moment about more ancestors, like fishes or birds…__They try to explain all those different mutants with it. But the wolf-theory seems to be very reliable due to the bones they've found. Especially around Canada…" He noticed her look. "I guess your look means he's Canadian, am I right?" She nods. "Don't think he's an animal now, just because of it. We all are in fact animals."_

_She smiled. "You should talk with Hank about this. He practically studies mutant genetics," she suggested._

"_Of course. If he has the time."_

_Jean laughed. "For genetics?" she asked and waved off. "Always!" While he smiled, she gave the clock a brief look. "I really wonder where Logan is…He's never that late…"_

_As they went later down to the kitchen for dinner, where everyone else was gathered, Jean saw how all heads turned towards the door as they noticed the stranger. Laying a hand on her __father's shoulder, she gave him a smile and turned to the others. "This is Dr. John Grey. My father," she introduced him and could tell that the others were sceptical about it._

"_Father?" Ororo asked after a while and gave him a look. "Father like we've already had this show, father?"_

"_No," the redhead quickly said. "He's a good man, 'Ro."_

_Finally smiling, Ororo got up and came over to offer him her hand. "Ororo Munroe. Nice to meet you, sir."_

"_My pleasure," he replied with a kind smile._

_After introducing the other, both sat down as Jubilee stopped sucking on her straw with a grin. "So…did he already meet Wolvie?"_

"_Wolvie?" John asked confused and looked at his daughter for help._

"_You know that Logan hates this name, Jubes," Jean said but the younger woman shrugged._

"_And Wolvie knows that I don't care…"_

"_Has anyone seen him by the way?" Jean asked the others next as Moira gave a short laugh._

"_Oh, the last time I have seen him, or better heard him, was when he argued with Scott…"_

"_Scott?" John asked since his daughter had let out a heavy sigh._

"_Jean's previous fiancé," Jubilee explained. "Well, their plans to marry lasted as long until Wolvie stepped into this school."_

"_Jubilee!" Jean warned._

"_What? I'm only updating your father!" the girl said innocently._

"_Just ignore her!" the redhead told her father and rolled her eyes about the young woman. "And who has Jamie?"_

"_Logan," Ororo said. "I'd to take over a class, so he took him with him to his. As long as he didn't use the boy as a baseball…he should be fine." Noticing John's look, she quickly raised both hands. "He'd never do that! It was a joke!"_

"_What do they argue about this time by the way?" Jean asked and began to eat._

"_You really want to know?" Kitty asked and the redhead nodded. "If the new bike should be black or blue…"_

"_Excuse me?!" _

"_Yeah, unbelievable, isn't it?" Kitty asked as Jubilee took over._

"_Wolvie said to Cyke what he's care about it anyway, since he was a one-color-mutant only."_

"_Scott was pissed off and gave back that as old as Logan is, he should better get a pensioner drivers license or walker anyway or even better drive wheelchairs only," Kitty went on and Jean heaved a deep breath while some others had to stop themselves from laughing._

"_Wolvie said that he at least wouldn't sp__end the whole day in front of traffic lights and wait for green, because all Scotty sees is red, red, red," Jubilee said and looked at Kitty to tell the story further._

"_Scott gave back that he at least had a license, but Logan replied so what I've three. Scott said that he'd probably found them on the stree__t, because only brain dead people would be so dumb to trust him voluntarily with a car."_

"_Wolvie chuckled and said that he at least hasn't __an estrogen problem and would listen to N'Sync," Jubilee said._

"_And after that…," Kitty shrugged._

"_Thanks for the report…," Ororo commented ironically, but John had to laugh._

"_The two of them love each other, don't they?" he asked and the weather goddess nodded._

"_Oh, yes. Definitely love at first sight!"_

"_If both were gay, they'd be one hell of a couple. I'd bet on that!" Jubilee said, but Ororo groaned._

"_Dear, Lord…please no!" she said when Kitty gave her a look._

"_Why not? It'd be fun to watch!" _

_A bit later everyone was occupied with eating, except Logan and Scott who were both still nowhere to be seen, as Jean shot the clock a look and shook her head. "What are they doing so long?"_

"_Who knows…," Jubilee grinned and wobbled her eyebrows._

"_Jubes!" Ororo warned but the girl grinned even wider._

"_What? Maybe there's a hidden passion somewhere within them…"_

"_Mommy?" Jack asked and pulled on his mother's shirt to get her attention. "Who's the man and why does he looks o funny at me?"_

"_Jack! As far as I know you've learned to behave," she said with a look but John waved off._

"_No, it's okay," he told her and smiled at the boy, who gave him a skeptical look. "I'm John. Your mother's father," he introduced himself._

"_Really?" Jack asked and the man nodded._

"_He's your grandfather, Jack," Jean explained as Lily shook her head._

"_But grandpa is our grandfather already, mommy. He can't be our grandpa, too," she complained._

"_Sweety, usually children have two grandfathers and grandmothers. And since he's my father, he automatically is your grandfather," Jean said._

"_But grandpa isn't daddy's father, too, and he's our grandpa," the girl said as Jack cut her off._

"_Do you play baseball?"_

_John nodded with a smile. "Yes, I play it a bit."_

"_Cool! Then you have to play with daddy, Lil' and me, 'cause mommy sucks in it," the boy said as he received another look from his mother._

"_Jack, watch your mouth!" she warned him._

"_But you suck in it, mommy," he said. "Daddy said it, too!"_

_Laughing aloud, Ororo quickly tried to stop when she noticed Jean's look. "Daddy's boy, huh?" she winked with a grin but the redhead rolled her eyes only, just to look up next._

"_What's the matter if__ the bike's blue? It isn't yours anyway," Scott complained and entered the kitchen._

"_Ts…as if ya can handle a real bike," Logan gave back and pulled Jamie closer to his chest. "How about a Scooter, _Scooter_?" he smirked and Scott stopped briefly to shot a glare at him._

"_Funny, Logan, really!"_

"_Yeah, wasn't it?" Logan smirked._

"_God, where have you guys been?" Jubilee asked them and glared. "We waited and nearly starved to death because of you and you guys were smooching or whatsoever…"_

"_WHAT?!" Scott asked her in an almost high pitched voice. "Are you nuts or something?!"_

"_Well, what else? You were gone, Wolvie was gone…and tadaa both of you reappeared at the same time. Strange, huh?" she mocked and turned to the others. "I told you guys, there's some hidden passion between them!"_

_While Scott glared at her through his visor and went over to sit down next to Mystique, Logan went over to Jean and gave her a kiss. "Damn...they caught us. I told ya, Cyke, it would be too obvious…"_

_Staring at him in shock, Scott gave each other, who looked at him, a look back. "What?!" was all he was capable of saying and swallowed._

"_Sorry, darlin', but I wanted to tell ya about me and him for so long…," Logan apologized to his wife with a complete honest face and chuckled as Scott jumped off his stool. _

"_Hey, would you stop this?!" he hissed._

"_He's blushing!" Jubilee cooed. "How cute!"_

_Smiling a bit, too, but hiding it from Scott, Jean took Jamie from Logan and nodded. "I've always known, hon. Believe me…"_

"_As I thought," Logan nodded just to glare at the stranger next to her in the next moment. John, of course, had noticed the drastic change within the man's eyes. While they'd been sparkling with life and joy before, he now looked as cold as a cold blooded killer. "Who's this?" he heard him asking in a more than chilly voice that made his hair on the back of his neck stand up._

"_My father. John Grey," Jean introduced John to Logan, before she gave her father a look. "This is Logan. My husband."_

"_Nice to meet you, sir," John said and held __out his hand._

"_Father?!" __Logan growled and narrowed his eyes._

"_My real father," Jean said in hope to soothe him. "Not like this jerk of Richard…"_

"_Hm…," he made skeptically and took the hand he was offered._

"_Daddy?" Jack __asked pleadingly. "Can we go and play baseball later?"_

"_If, than tomorrow," Logan replied __and piled some food onto his plate. _

"_Yeah, can we do that, pl__ease?" the boy begged and pulled on his father's sleeve. _

"_Did ya plan anythin', darlin'?" Logan asked his wife, but she shook her head._

"_No, you can go and play," Jean smiled. "__Jack already decided that my father joins you."_

"_Did he?"__ he asked with an odd undertone but Lily nodded._

"_We're six__ with him, daddy. That's much more fun!" the girl cheered._

"_But daddy's in my team!" Jack instantly__ said._

"_He's not! He's with Ray and me!" Lily gave back but the boy shook his head._

"_No, he's not, 'cause I said it first!" He stuck out his tongue and the girl turned to her mother._

"_Mommy!" she whined and Logan sighed._

"_We switch teams after a while, okay?" he offered as Rachel gave her new grandfather a skeptical look._

"_And what if he's not as good as you?" she asked and began to pout._

"_That's why we switch. Equal chances for everyone," Logan repeated and looked at the clock. "And now go __upstairs and get ready for bed. It's late."_

_On the next morning, right after breakfast, Jean helped Ororo with __cleaning the dishes but remained at the window to watch her family on the outside. "Up to now they get along, hm?" her best friend asked and received look. "What? Don't you think?" she asked surprised. "Logan hasn't extracted his claws, he's accepted his hand…"_

"'_Ro, he hasn't said one word to him up to now," the redhead said and heaved a deep breath._

"_Well, you know Logan, don't you?"_

"_Yes, that's why I warned my father…"_

"_How come he's here all of a sudden anyway?" Ororo asked and closed the dishwasher to join her friend at the window._

"_The Professor has looked for him after Logan had asked him to do so. I told him about my past…," Jean explained and watched how Logan hit the ball John had thrown. "And that I was never allowed to see my real father… __So he asked him to look for him since I wasn't able to find him before."_

"_I see," Ororo nodded and laughed as Logan's home run was stopped by his daughters jumping at his legs. "Yes, really his kids…," she giggled. _

_When it was time for dinner again and the children were already inside, John helped Logan with bringing the things they'd used back inside and used his c__hance to talk to his son in law, since the man had hardly spoken to him before. "You're older than Jean, am I right?" he asked to start a conversation and received a brief nod. "Really?" John asked skeptically. "I know that Jean turns 41 this year, but you… You don't look like mid 40s or even early 50s at all…," he said and put the things next to where Logan dropped them in the gym. "If you're younger than her, then it's fine with me as long as she's happy with you. And she obviously is. But you are never in your 40s…"_

"_I ain't in my 40s," Logan grunted and closed the door._

"_30s?" John asked but Logan shook his head and crossed his arms. "Late 20s?!"_

"_Nope…"_

"_Come on…," he said a bit amused. "You are not in your early 20s either."_

_Logan nodded and led the way back to the foyer. "Right, I ain't."_

"_How old are you then?" John asked and stopped, which the mutant did, too._

"_118," Logan finally said and heard Jean's father laughing first, until he noticed that Logan really meant what he'd said._

"_No…"_

"_Yeah."_

"_Can't be!" John replied and shook his head. "You can't be 118. You look like 30 something. How old are you Logan? Honestly!"_

_Sighing, this one looked around and put his hands to his hips. "118," he said once more. "Born December 2 1897 in Canada."_

_Staring at his son in law for a while, John turned his head sometimes from one side to the next to really look at him from all sides. "Really…?" he asked and received a nod. "118?"_

"_Yeah," Logan nodded a bit annoyed. "Lookin' 30 somethin' since 1950 somethin'…"_

"_Amazing…," was all John could say and took his time to look at him from all sides once more…_

"How did she die?" John asked her all of a sudden and Ororo snapped out of her daydream.

Trying to calm her racing heart since he'd startled her, she swallowed twice before she answered. "We were attacked. Or better Logan and Jean were attacked by our enemies…," she began and he looked at her with tears still pouring from his eyes. "The two of them made a plan and wanted to destroy our enemies with their own weapons, since the technology our adversaries have make it impossible for us to attack them. So Jean and Logan joined their side after they'd been kidnapped and Jean, as Logan told us, was making sure that both of them didn't drift off too much onto the dark side. Just enough to fool our enemies. But those knew…" She had to heave a deep breath and ran both hands through her face. "They attacked Apocalypse together but he just blocked them… When he attacked them, Logan pushed Jean out of the way so that the attack would hit him, which it did, but the impact had sent Jean against a tree and…," she stopped and bit her lip hard while she shook her head. "She must have been unconscious before, otherwise she would have been able to catch her fall…"

"How did she die?" he asked again and the woman met his suffering eyes.

"She must have hit it with her head first. Apocalypse's attack had ripped Logan apart. All that had been left of him was his skeleton, so Hank went over to Jean afterwards and…" Again she had to stop and sobbed. "She's broken her neck… She'd died instantly…there was nothing we could do anymore…"

Only nodding, he wiped his tears away and looked at the grave. "So she didn't suffer?" Ororo shook her head. "But how did Logan… I mean… You said nothing had been left of him. How did he survive?"

"His mutation," she replied barely audible. "His healing factor kicked in after a few hours and he regenerated everything. But he suffered so much…" She shook her head when she recalled it and wrapped both hands around herself. "He was so close to die because the process used up all his energy… It was unsure for days if he could survive this at all. It was so horrible to watch this…," she said and he looked at her hands again. "First he suffered so much and then, when he finally woke up again, he gets to know about Jean. He's so different now…"

"Well, he's probably angry…," John suggested, but Ororo shook her head.

"No… No, he's not and that's the point," she said. "Back then he destroyed his whole room, he was aggressive and did everything to let out his rage, but now… There's nothing. No reaction of him at all and it scares me… It's not like him…"

"Ororo," Charles suddenly said next to her and made her look up. If she didn't know better, she would think that looked years older than before. "We want to begin. Where's Logan?"

"He's not coming," she replied calmly and he nodded just to move over to the grave…

* * *

Even if he heard everything that was said on the outside, Logan didn't show any reaction at all. He wanted to feel something but he couldn't. It appeared to him as if he was watching himself from afar, saw everything he did, but couldn't pick up on the emotion. And he knew why… After being alone for decades and having learned that getting involved with others only meant pain and sorrow in the end, it had changed with Jean. As he'd told her in NYC on their anniversary nearly 3 years ago, his life before didn't matter to him anymore, his real life had begun with Jean and obviously ended with losing her again. Only with her he'd felt alive. She'd made him feel things he'd thought he wasn't capable of and now with her gone, she'd obviously taken the new-found ability to her grave. No matter how hard he tried he didn't feel anything at all. Not even if his children were crying heartrendingly on the outside. It just didn't touch him. He heard how Ororo began to speak with a voice that was thick with tears and looked at Jamie, while he stroked slowly over the boy's cheek. Even if he felt dead from the inside, a tear ran down his cheek as he had to realize once more how much like Jean's Jamie's eyes were… 

When he opened his eyes a bit later, he realized that it was already dark and he must have fallen asleep. Logan startled a bit as he noticed Ororo sitting on the edge of the bed next to him with a sad look on her face. "I brought the children to bed already and fed Jamie," she told him in a broken voice. "We left some food over for you. Do you come down with me to eat?" she asked but he shook his head and looked away. "Logan, you haven't eaten anything at all in days… You need to eat something. At least a piece of bread or anything like that." Again he shook his head and she looked down. "Then try and sleep. If you need help I'm downstairs with John…" With that she got up and left the apartment to make her way to the kitchen.

It didn't surprise her that some others where also still gathered there. She only nodded at them weakly and sat down next to Scott at the counter. "And?" the man asked but she shook her head. "As I thought…"

"But he has to eat something," Heather said. "When was the last time he ate something?"

"In Japan I think," Hank replied and stared into his glass of whiskey.

"He hasn't eaten anything at all since then?!" Narya asked in disbelief. "That's weeks ago…"

"Can't you force him to eat something?" James asked but Hank shook his head.

"What do you think we tried years ago after Alcatraz?" he said and Ororo nodded. "There's no way at all to make him eat if he doesn't want to."

"What is he doing now?" John asked and looked at her through tired eyes.

"I don't know… When I entered the apartment he was sleeping with Jamie next to him. He woke up after I brought the children to bed and I told him to sleep."

"I doubt that he will do it," Hank said. "You know that he refused to sleep back then. I am sure he will do the same now…"

"To what purpose?" Scott asked them. "It won't change anything and probably only makes him sick… I mean, okay, he has a healing factor but we have seen what happens when this one doesn't work anymore, right?"

"So he was the same after Alcatraz?" Puck asked them.

"No," Hank replied.

"And that's what bothers us," Ororo added. "Back then he was angry beyond any limits. He destroyed things, attacked anyone that only looked at him… And now he simply doesn't do anything. He hasn't even talked to me when I was upstairs…"

"So it wouldn't make sense to pay him a visit before we fly back tomorrow?" James asked.

"I wanted to talk to him, too, before my flight goes back in the morning," John added.

Heaving a deep breath, Ororo swallowed first before she ran both hands through her hair. "I'd rather say you can talk to him but don't expect to receive any reply or reaction…," she said and they nodded sadly.

* * *

Upstairs, Logan hadn't fallen asleep again after Ororo had left. All he'd done was staring at the empty bedside next to him and not moving for hours. He didn't look up first when the door was opened slowly and a shadow became visible. "Daddy?" a voice asked and Logan raised his head a bit. 

"Yeah?" he asked barely audible and sat up a bit.

"Can we sleep here?" Jack asked and from the way his son spoke, Logan could tell that he had been crying.

"Sure," he therefore said and it didn't take long before the twins, Rachel and Laura laid next to him and had cuddled up, while they still cried heavily. Not knowing what else to do, Logan pulled all of them close as good as he could and waited until they had fallen asleep, before he gave in to his urge to run.

He needed to go out and stop his nose from picking up on _her _scents that still lingered everywhere in the mansion. So he did the best he could and strolled around the garden and wood for a while but realized soon that he couldn't care less. It didn't help at all and he didn't feel that his animal was the merest satisfied with it. Wolverine didn't say anything at all, he was completely calm and Logan couldn't even feel his presence, which he usually always did. The animal had always been in his head and he had heard his voice in the back of his head that commented on things or gave instructions, but now there was nothing. Suddenly realizing that he stood in front of Memorial Garden, Logan stopped and stared at the new stone in it. The first thing his body did without him telling to do was walking backwards. All he knew was that he didn't want to be there, not even close to it. So Logan turned quickly around and switched his head back to the front, just to jump backwards startled and stare. His eyes widened in shock and his mouth slightly open, he swallowed and closed his eyes for a brief moment, just to shake his head. "Ya ain't here…," he mumbled and opened his eyes again. "Ya ain't here…," he said again but his eyes still saw the same. "Stop doin' this to me, Jean…"

"Help me…," she begged and reached out but he stepped back and shook his head.

"Stop doin' this to me…," Logan said once more through clenched teeth and began to pant while she was crying. "I can't help ya!" Seeing her like this, he shook his head and backed further off until he hit the wall of the mansion. "Please, go… Stop huntin' me…," he said again and turned around to lean his head against the cold wall. For weeks, since he'd woken up, she'd been there or better he thought she was since he only saw her when he was alone.

And every time he saw her she wanted the same from him…

"Help me…," he heard her begging again and shut his eyes tightly while he bit his lip hard and shook his head. He didn't want to see her if she wasn't real. He could feel her presence right behind him, felt her sending chills sown his spine and his heart was racing horribly.

"Stop it…," he whispered but she didn't vanish, she was still there and it began to anger him. "STOP IT!" he suddenly barked and turned around to approach her with quick steps, but he came to a halt before he reached her. "What do ya want?" he asked aloud and in despair as everything within him began to clench. Everything he didn't want to feel began to rush to his heart and suddenly he felt it. The pain of being torn apart, the pain and sorrow that losing her again brought with it and now, seeing her in front of him made it only worse. He couldn't endure it. "What do ya want?" he demanded to know even louder and the agony he felt became visible in his eyes. "Leave me…leave me alone!" he pleaded and dropped to his knees while he couldn't hold back his sobs anymore. "Please…," he added in a whisper and shook his head again, just to look up when she touched him and knelt down in front of him. Logan looked at her with the same deep pain in his eyes while tears still wetted his cheeks. Still crying, too, Jean reached out to touch his cheeks, feeling him wincing first but leaning into her touch next, before he pulled her as close as possible and cried into her neck.

"Help me…," he heard her saying again and looked over her shoulder towards the mansion, but still rested his head onto her shoulder.

"How?" he asked in barely more than a whisper when she cupped his face.

"Kill me…"

Hearing her saying it, his eyes grew even wider in shock and he began to shake his head. "No…," Logan instantly said and backed off. "No!"

"You have to," she replied and grabbed his hand quickly before he was out of her reach. Shaking and crying at the same time, the redhead looked at him pleadingly. "Please…"

"I said no!" he gave back more self assured and tried to pull his hand away but she held it in an iron grip.

"I can't control her, Logan," he heard her saying through clenched teeth and in a voice that told him that she was suffering. "Something's wrong… I am not complete, I can't control her…"

"I helped ya before, I can do it again," Logan said but she shook her head. "That's bullshit, Jean!" he said a bit more loudly and blinked the tears out of his eyes. "Ya can control her so stop givin' me that shit!"

"I can't control her, Logan… He's in my head…," Jean whispered and closed her eyes tightly. "I hear him, telling me what to do… But his power…" She shook her head in agony. "It's too much… I can't handle his powers…"

"Whose power?" he asked and knelt back down in front of her, where he reached out to cup her face. "What are ya talkin' about?" Waiting for a reply, she just looked at him and it almost killed him to see her like that. "Jean?"

"Kill me…," was all she said but he shook his head. "I'm a danger to everyone, Logan… With his power I am even stronger and capable of more terrible things, is it that what you want?" she demanded to know angrily.

"I want you to be with me…," Logan replied through clenched teeth and her eyes softened a bit as she noticed the pain in her eyes.

"I am with you…," Jean replied in a whisper and stroked over his cheek lovingly, which made him sob even harder. "I'm always with you, Logan…"

"No, ya ain't…," he shook his head and lowered his head. "I need ya, Jeannie… So, please, don't do this to me…"

Swallowing hard, she wrapped her arms around him and cried silently into his back, while one of her hands wandered down his right arms and pulled it closer. "I'm sorry…," she whispered into his hair and closed her eyes. "But there's no other way… He's too strong…" With that she tightened the grip on his wrist…

"NO!" Logan shrieked in shock as he felt how her powers forced his claws to come out. He felt them stabbing right through her ribcage and how the blood began to flow down his arms, soaking his shirt and dripping into the snow. Quickly he pulled her limp around checked on her pulse but there was none. Like in a deep trance, he stared down on her dead form and swallowed hard as panic began to spread within him. Not knowing what else to do, Logan just knelt next to her body and watched how the blood that left it turned the white snow into a scarlet red… As he looked down on his bloody hands, he noticed that they were shaking and startled as fire suddenly consumed her body. When the flames disappeared again, all that was left from her was a burning hole in the ground. Nothing else. Panting and shaking even heavier, Logan backed of until his back hit the wall again and only stared at the spot in deep shock… Not feeling how the cold air of the night began to take over his body…

**Whew, that was one hell of a long chapter. 51 pages in Word. Much more than I planned but the chapter was very easy to writ. LOL Some of you might have noticed that the scene between L/J at the end of the chapter was a hint to the ending of the movie The Fountain. I just love that movie. : ) And I could finally use most of my pre-written chapters. Wohoo! Thanks to all reviewers! Please let me know what you think of this one and I hope I surprised you with Jean's death, because that was my aim. ; ) See ya!!**


	18. Chapter 18

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; )

**I totally forgot to write the following thing underneath the last chapter: **While typing Chapter 17 I was thinking about how to let Logan react. Since I already had the asshole-mode, I thought about something else and also asked some guys for their opinion. The most answers I got were: Logan isn't allowed to cry. He's the Wolverine and he just doesn't cry.

I remembered getting a review to Changes (I think by the alphamale or so) and it said that he is a Wolvie fan and doesn't like the way Marvel portrays him as the tough guy only. So, since I think it's ridiculous to say: Hey, it's Wolvie and Wolvie doesn't cry, I chose another way of portraying his grief. I don't like it that he isn't supposed to show emotions just because he is the Wolverine. He's still a guy with feelings and hey, he loves Jean, so why not showing him being weak, too. I already had the berserker rage in Changes, so expect a different portrayal of Logan here.

Oh and just one thing though: Why did so many of you believe that the Chapter 17 was the last one??

BTW: You should read WolverineKills' FF! It's great!

AND: Since I got two messages about not updating in a month: I had 13 exams at college within 2 weeks only and was more than busy. I really had no time to type. The first 16 pages were written right after the last chapter and I finished them at the beginning of July and then came my exams which lasted until July 20. And then Harry Potter 7 came out and I took my time to read the whole book within two days so that I can concentrate on typing again.

It's great that you guys missed reading the story but keep in mind that if I don't update that long it is because I am busy. ; ) I don't forget about the story. ; ) Don't worry! I still have plenty of pre-written scenes here and the end is already pre-written, too, even scenes for the epilogue. And btw I updated my second story. ; ) And I wrote a new one called **Finally**. I'd be happy if you guys read it. : )

**Changes ****Sequel – II. Covenant Part 18**

January had turned into February and the following months had passed, too. While everyone tried to get back to normal business and the new school year had begun, Bobby and Peter had taken over Logan's classes while the Professor had managed to talk Remy and Kurt into teaching Foreign Languages, since he knew that his team leader wouldn't come back to teaching so soon if ever. Now, during a break from classes Charles had gathered the X-Men in his office to talk with them about a more serious topic. It was nearly July and they had neither heard nor seen their enemies again. But he knew they weren't gone. Apocalypse couldn't have been destroyed so easily. So he sat behind his desk and waited for all X-Men to arrive, just to smile at them when all of them were finally gathered. "I need to discuss something with you," he began, folded his hands and looked into the round. "It concerns the X-Men and how we need to proceed in the future."

"What do you mean with it?" Scott asked and crossed his arms while he leant back in the comfortable chair in front of the desk.

"I mean that you will lead the X-Men from now on again, Scott," the Professor replied with a stern look on his face and noticed that everyone stared at him with widened eyes.

"But what about Logan?" Kitty asked and Charles' look darkened.

"Logan is a changed man," he said with regret in his voice and looked down. "He is in no condition to lead the team anymore. Jean's sudden death had hit him more than hard…"

"But we need him in the team," Scott disagreed. "He has the skills to lead us. We depend on his instincts…" Ignoring that the others looked at him in surprise, he kept on looking at the Professor. "Maybe we just haven't tried hard enough to help him…"

"Scott, we tried to talk him into the things he usually loves to do and all he did was to give us a look and walk past us," Bobby said. "He doesn't want to…"

"And from the way he looks I doubt that he could even handle a fight," Hank added. "He lost lots of weight. And I'm telling you again, Charles, that I would appreciate if you forced him to sleep. The few minutes or whatever Logan calls sleeping for months by now are doing him no good at all. He needs to rest."

"I know, Hank," Charles replied. "But as I said, he is blocking me ou..." Suddenly stopping and fixing his eyes onto the pen in front of him, the Professor earned furrowed brows and concerned looks from all sides.

"Professor?" Rogue asked and watched how Jubilee waved her hand in front of the older man's eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Charles?" Ororo asked next as he suddenly looked at her. There clearly was concern in his eyes and it made her heart jump.

"Go upstairs," was all he told her and she got up.

"Why, what's wrong?" she asked.

"He has a nightmare. Wake him up."

Only nodding, the woman left the room quickly and made her way to the upper rooms, while Scott bent forward a bit with a look on the Professor. "Have you found out who the man was that attacked Apocalypse?"

"Unfortunately no," Charles shook his head. "I tried to locate him but he is either hiding himself very well or there's more behind that mutant than we think…"

"Maybe a guest from the future?" Jubilee suggested and shrugged when she received looks. "Why not? Wolvie visited Jean back then, too, and told her to get Jamie back…"

While he listened to the ongoing discussion for a while, Remy looked to and fro between his friends. He wasn't sure if he should say it or not. What he had witnessed while he had tried to find a safe place to hide with the little boy in his arms, was something that sounded too ridiculous to be true… When the discussion turned into a heated one because of Jubilee, he cleared his throat and all eyes switched to him. Swallowing once, Remy opened his mouth to speak, but closed it again. What was he supposed to say? "Remy needs to tell you somet'ing…"

"And what?" Scott asked just to turn a bit around to have a better look at the man. It was obvious that his teammate felt uncomfortable. "Remy?"

"Well, Remy didn't tell you somet'ing…," the man admitted.

"And what?" Hank asked suspiciously.

"About da petite…," Gambit replied.

"Jamie?" Mystique asked and the man nodded. "What about him?"

"Well… When Remy was told to run, 'e did and da petite suddenly luire," Remy told then and wondered why he received odd looks only.

"Lui what?" Scott asked.

"Oh, qui…ehm…," the other man said and thought hard. "You know…like da sun."

"You mean shine or glow?" the Professor tried to help out and his X-Man nodded. "So Jamie began to glow?"

"Not da petite," Remy shook his head. "'is eyes."

"And what happened then?" Scott demanded to know while his eyebrows were furrowed.

"Well, 'e…," his opposite made and formed a half circle with both arms. "Puff…"

"He exploded?!" Jubilee shrieked and received a groan from her boyfriend.

"I think Remy means that he vanished. Am I right?" Bobby asked and the man nodded.

"And den da petite came back and Remy was…" Since he didn't know the right word, he made a sign with his finger that he was crazy.

"Confused?" Scott asked and received a nod. "But we didn't saw Jamie. We saw a full grown man…" he told the Professor and the others nodded.

"Who had quiet the look of Logan… At least from the hair and physique," Hank added. "And who was more powerful than anything I've ever seen…"

Thinking about it and remembering what he had see in some minds, Charles began to think about it carefully. "Maybe it was indeed Jamie…," he thought out loud.

"But how?" Hank asked. "Jamie is four months old. The man we saw was at least 20 or younger."

"If Logan managed to contact Jean via a device from the future and warned her about what would happen if they lost their son in our time… Why shouldn't Jamie from the future, who probably knows about the things that happened here, be able to contact his younger self in our time and come to help us?" the Professor asked but noticed that the others were rather skeptically. "We don't know how powerful the boy is yet. But from what you told me and not to mention his looks…I am sure that it was him. No other mutant on this planet would have been powerful enough to destroy Apocalypse with one blow only. Not even Jean had been able to do so and she is…was the most powerful mutant as far as I know. She was the only level 5 mutant I ever met… And only her son could be more powerful than her."

* * *

Upstairs, Ororo had entered the apartment and had already heard the noises out of the bedroom that told her, her friend had a more than bad sleep. She'd entered the room and had sat down on the edge of the bed; tried to wake him the whole time through. When she said his name for the at least tenth time, Logan suddenly jumped up, startled by her and landed on the ground, where he backed off. She could tell that he was obviously confused and caught in a panic attack. One look was enough to notice that he was still half asleep and didn't know where he was. So Ororo got slowly up and approached the mutant that sat panting and sweating in the corner of the room and tried to get his functions under control again. She saw the fear and panic in his eyes that watched her still in confusion and she knelt slowly down next to him. "Logan, everything is alright…," she tried to soothe him. "It was only a dream…" Reaching out to touch his shoulder, he backed off again and kept on breathing heavily. "It's alright. Try to calm down…" Finally touching him, she watched how he closed his eyes and ran both hands through his face just to bury them in his damp hair next, before he pulled his legs close and lowered his head. Under her touch she felt him still shaking and bit her lip while she thought about what to do next. She knew he didn't like to be touched by others but also that he needed the comfort. Sitting down next to him, she reached carefully out to stroke through his hair and began to feel the knot in her throat that approached every time she had to remember the loss of her friend. She felt as bad as the others and really didn't want to know what losing Jean meant or felt like for him. Since Logan didn't push her away as he usually did, she switched her position a bit to wrap both arm around his neck and tried to pull him closer. To Ororo's surprise he didn't start growling but gave in and wrapped his arms around her waist. She pulled him into a half sitting position and let him cry into her arms while she kept on stroking through his hair and couldn't help to start crying, too.

* * *

"What about John?" Scott asked after a while and looked at Hank and the Professor. "I am not fine with that we keep him here. We don't know if he is still under Apocalypse's influence or not. What if he wakes up at night and starts an attack?"

"He won't," Charles replied.

"Why not?"

"Because he is no longer under any influences," he explained. "I managed to destroy the control mechanisms in his mind but what confuses me is the large gap within his memories…"

"Large gap?" Mystique asked. "Like what?"

"Obviously Apocalypse makes sure that his servants can't remember what they have done once the shields are destroyed. I am not quiet sure why Logan was able to remember it…"

"Maybe because he managed to fight Apocalypse on his own?" Hank suggested and Charles shrugged.

"Could be… What's his status, Hank?"

"Well, his head trauma is healed and his bones have knitted back together," the man told him. "The internal bleeding has healed, too. But I can't tell how he will react once he wakes up…"

"Or better say how Logan will react if he gets to know that his brother is here…," Scott corrected him. "Has he woken up by the way?"

Concentrating on the mutant, Charles nodded. "Yes he has. But obviously he is sleeping again…"

"Then why do you look so concerned?" Kitty asked him.

"I don't like what his nightmare was about…," the Professor replied with a stern look on his face. "Or better why he keeps on dreaming about it…" Staring at his desk, he concentrated on Logan's mind once more and shook his head. The dream made no sense to him. Especially not that the man was dreaming about it nearly every night, or better, when he was too tired to stay awake anymore. He had known that Logan's refusal to sleep must have a reason, but knowing it now, it didn't make any sense to him at all…

"Professor?" Rogue asked again and the man looked finally up. "I asked if you mind that Remy takes one day off tomorrow? We need to buy some things for the children."

Smiling at her, he shook his head. "No, I don't. I would also appreciate if we could arrange a field trip within the next week. The new museum has a history exhibition that would come in handy, I think. Scott, if you find the time, please set up a schedule for it."

"Sure," the man nodded and got up. "Do you want me to ask Logan, too?"

Thinking about it, Charles shrugged. "You can try. But I think you already know his answer, don't you?"

* * *

Looking down on his sleeping form, Ororo wiped her tears away with her free hand from time to time, while his head rested in her other arm. She kept on stroking through his hair and looked at the clock, which told her that she was already sitting like this for hours. On the outside it was already getting dark and even the Professor had asked her mentally for the fifth time by now if everything was alright. Ororo looked down as she felt him stirring in his sleep. "You awake?" she asked calmly and stroked through his hair again.

"Yeah…," Logan grunted and asked himself how he'd gotten into that position.

"How are you feeling?" she asked when he sat up and leant against the wall next to her; avoiding her gaze on purpose.

"What do ya think?"

"Are the nightmares the reason why you refuse to sleep?" she demanded to know and was about to say something when he finally nodded weakly. "But why didn't you say something? We would have understood…"

"And then what?!" he snapped.

"The Professor could help you…," Ororo tried again.

"He can't," he grunted and looked away again.

"You don't know that…," she gave back and touched his shoulder. "Please don't shut yourself off from me now, Logan. Why can't you just sit down with one of us and talk? No one of us knows how to talk with you or handle you, because we can't tell what is getting on in your head…"

"And ya don't need to," Logan growled and got up to walk over to the door.

"Logan," Ororo sighed and followed him to Jamie's room where she watched how he began to change the diapers of the nearly one year old boy. "Could you stop to work for just one second?" Since he didn't reply, she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms when he put the boy down onto the ground and watched how he crawled over to his favorite toy. "I am talking to you!"

"So what? Sue me," he grunted and began to throw the dirty diaper away.

"Why are you doing this now?" she asked a bit angered and noticed that Jamie had looked up since he wasn't used to people speaking so loud when he was around. "Would you stop pushing me away like that? I am only trying to help you!"

"When is it getting' into your peoples' head that ya can't help me?!" he snapped with a glare.

"Logan," Scott suddenly said from the door and the man let out a sigh.

"Who invited ya in?" Logan asked in a low growl and shot him an annoyed look.

"No need to get all hostile, okay?" Scott gave back and exchanged a look with Ororo. "We planned a field trip for Thursday and I want you to come with us."

"No!"

"I wasn't asking," Scott gave back. "We need some older teachers on that trip."

Snorting, Logan handed Jamie the toy the boy wanted to have and took the empty bottle from the ground. "Just if ya haven't noticed but I ain't a teacher, so my answer is no."

"You are a teacher, Logan, you just don't teach at the moment," Scott said and crossed his arms.

"I don't only teach at the moment, One Eye, just if ya haven't noticed so far," Logan growled back and shot him a glare. "So it's still no."

"What else are you doing the whole day through?" the other man asked. "You bring your children down for breakfast, prepare them for school then you're gone again until somewhere at dinner. What the hell are you doing the whole day through?"

"What do ya think?"

"Guys…," Ororo sighed and ran a hand through her face.

"Well, I'm asking you!" Scott shrugged.

"Can ya count?" Logan snapped. "Just if ya haven't noticed but I have a few more kids to take care of…"

"That's not what I meant," the other man tried to soothe him. "But we all think that it's doing you no good that you keep on avoiding us. Why don't you take Jamie and come down to the pool with us later?"

"No, and now get out and leave me alone!" Logan snapped.

Noticing that he was about to reply, Ororo stopped Scott from doing so and left the apartment with him. "I really don't understand him…," the man cursed downstairs and heaved a deep sigh. "We only want to help him."

"He knows, Scott…," Ororo replied and ran a hand through her face. "Well, I will ask the twins and the others if they will come out with us."

"Damn…"

"What?"

"I forgot to tell him that Rachel dropped a lot in her grades and also the twins are not doing fine lately…," he said and put his hands to his hips. "And Laura started a fight with a boy during math…" He looked back at the door. "But I doubt now is such a good idea to let him know, huh?" he asked and she shook her head.

"I'll talk with them and let him know later…," she said and he nodded.

"Did he tell you what the dream was about?" he asked after they had turned to walked back down the corridor.

"No, he didn't. But it must have been a pretty bad one. But he admitted that it's the reason why he refuses to sleep at night."

"Well, the Professor said that he picks up on the dreams and thought it was weird Logan dreamed about such things, but well… He didn't tell us what they were about…," Scott told her and she nodded. "Well, I think we'll see each other later then." Giving her a short wave of his hand he headed for his rooms while Ororo remained on the same spot for a while and decided to talk to the Professor about her friend.

* * *

While he sat on the terrace in the sun with a book in his lap, Hank looked over to the group at the pool from time to time and smiled. He could hear their laughter from afar and it made him happy to see that they could be careless for a while and forget about the past months. His head slowly turned to his left where Jamie lay on a blanket with a toy in front of him and he smiled at the boy before his attention was back on the book. The boy in the meanwhile looked around a bit and up when Hank took the glass of wine from the small table to sip on it. Since it was soon of no interest to the boy anymore what the adult was doing, he let his green eyes travel over the garden and sat up when he saw something of interest. Right in front of him was a glowing orange dot floating in the air and he stared at it interestedly. The dot stopped in front of him and began to flow to one side of his head, then to the other just to make a circle around him and stop again right in front of the boy. Laughing in joy and reaching out to it, Jamie smiled happily but the dot was gone when Hank turned his attention once more to the boy. "Someone is really happy today, huh?" he asked him with a smile and received a smile from the child in return. "Well, at least you are…," he added thoughtfully and noticed once more that Rachel and Laura were only sitting on the bench near the pool but not joining the others. Also the twins didn't seem to be too happy, too, and he wondered if there was anything he and the others could do to change that.

"Hey," Moira suddenly said behind him and touched his shoulder while she walked around his lounger to kiss him. With a loud sigh she let herself fall onto the second one.

"Finally done working?" he asked and put the book aside to take her hand into his.

"Yes," she nodded and ran one hand through her face. "Forge wanted me to ask you if you could come down later to check on the results."

"I can do that," he nodded and watched how Jamie, who had crawled over to a plant, began to pull the soil out of it. "Ah, ah!" he made and shook his head. "Your dear aunt Roro will give you one hell of a sermon if you do that!" Looking at him for a while, Jamie suddenly uttered a cry of joy when he saw Miloh and Callie coming out of the wood and over to them. Crawling over to the stairs, he stopped there and waited until the wolf and his mate were close enough to reach out for them. "This wolf is a true miracle to me…," Hank said with a shake of his head, since Miloh had begun to nudge Jamie with his nose and give him a brief lick on the head, while the boy cheered aloud and grabbed the snow white fur of the animal. "What do you think, dear?"

"That I can't believe Logan lets him do that with the boy…," Moira replied and nodded at the wolf, who had bitten into the back of Jamie's hood-shirt and carried the boy back inside as if he was one of his cubs. But Hank laughed and the sounds that Jamie uttered told him that the boy enjoyed it.

"As long as Miloh doesn't start teaching him how to hunt…," he shook his head with a smile and sighed. "We need to do something about them."

"Whom?" she asked and followed his gaze. Seeing the children playing, Moira nodded when she understood what he meant. "I know… You know that Logan is trying to keep them happy."

"How?" he asked her back with a serious look on his face. "He can't deal with Jean's death either, so how does he want to keep his children happy if he can't even admit that he feels lonely. I wonder what the dream was about Charles mentioned…"

"Hey," a gruff voice suddenly said behind them and both turned around. "Where's Jamie? I thought you're watchin' him?" Logan demanded to know and looked more than unhappy with the fact that his son wasn't where he was supposed to be.

"Miloh carried him back inside. I don't know where he went," Hank replied and only saw that Logan rolled his eyes and was about to turn around. "Logan…," he quickly added and the man turned with a glare. "Charles wanted to talk with you."

"Well, but I don't wanna talk with him," the man gave back and left.

Sighing, Hank gave Moira a look. "I really wonder when he switched from being depressed into being aggressive… That happened way too fast…"

"It's his way of dealing with his loss… Everyone reacts in a different way," she said and looked at the pool again.

"Yes, but it won't make his situation better. I know he has to take care of five children all alone, but we understand that it is hard and it's not as if we won't help him…," he gave back and shook his head while heaving a deep breath. "I know he's lonely but I don't understand why he doesn't ask for company then…"

"Because it is not his way to do so, Hank," Charles suddenly said and wheeled through the door and onto the terrace. "From the way you look I can tell he doesn't want to talk with me?"

"How can you tell?" his opposite replied. "At least it's what he said, Charles."

"I see…," the man nodded and looked over to the pool. "Well, usually I would accept it, but I really need to talk to him. So if you would excuse me." With that the Professor turned around and wheeled back inside, where he made his way to the door to the West Wing and used the small stairlift to reach the upper level. Knocking, he waited for a reply but there was none, so Charles just went inside and followed his instinct.

"Which part of I don't wanna talk to ya didn't ya understand, Chuck?" Logan grunted and didn't bother to turn around from where he lay on the bed.

"I am sorry, Logan, but I can't accept it now," the other man replied and closed the door behind him, before he wheeled around to look at the mutant. "I need to talk with you."

Sighing in annoyance, Logan opened his eyes and shot him a glare. "Honestly, I don't care."

"Logan, this is not a solution at all," Charles sighed. "You always talked with Jean about your problems or feelings, so why not with us?"

"Because ya ain't her," Logan growled as a reply and looked away.

"But this doesn't change the fact that we would understand or that we are worried about you," the Professor gave back. "I know that you loved her and still do with all your heart, but think about your children! Scott told me that Laura started a fight during his math class without a specific reason, the twins' and Rachel's grades dropped noticeably and right now they just sit at the pool and do nothing but avoid the others. Is that what you want?"

"Are ya goin' to say that I ain't takin' care of them?" Logan snapped with a low growl and was ready to stab the man in front of him.

"No, I am not. But they are unhappy and we need to think about a way to change this," Charles tried to soothe him. "We all know that it is more than hard for you, Logan. But if you would accept our offers to help…"

"…then what?" he cut the Professor off and sat up. "Will it change the fact that they lost their mother and miss her? Everyone of ya keeps on sayin' that they can help, but ya can't, because no one of ya knows what it's like, so spare your breath and leave me the fuck alone!"

Watching how Logan got up and walked angrily over to the door, Charles heaved a deep breath before he asked the question he came for. "Why do you dream of killing Jean?" he demanded to know and Logan froze on the spot. "You are sending every time you fall asleep… And every time you do it's the same dream," he went on since the man didn't turn around. "Do you think it is your fault, Logan? That there was anything you or anyone of us could have done against Apocalypse's attack?" He shook his head. "There hasn't been anything, Logan. She tried to stop him, you both risked your lives in order to destroy him… Don't be so hard on yourself. It is not your fault."

Hearing a snort and a brief scornful laugh, he saw how the mutant shook his head but didn't turn around. "What the hell do ya know?" Logan asked and left the room. He walked down the stairs and into the kitchen, where he got himself a beer out of the fridge and looked out of the window and towards the pool. He knew Charles and the other where right with the children. But still he knew better. He was doing everything in his power to keep them happy, to support them as good as he could but he wasn't able and would never be able to replace what Jean gave them. And they missed what she gave them terribly. He knew that. When he ran a hand through his tired face, he suddenly heard a happy sound next to him and looked down, just to see how Jamie smiled up at him and stopped pulling on his jeans. "Done havin' adventures?" Logan asked, put the beer aside and pulled his son up into his arms where he looked at the smiling boy and placed a kiss onto the forehead. This one began to play with his father's shirt and kept on smiling. "Ya know people are called crazy if they smile for nothin', right?" he asked him and managed a weak smile when the boy laughed. "Ya really are crazy, kid… No denial in that." Looking out of the window and towards the pool again he heaved a deep sigh. "So, where's your friend, hm?" he asked Jamie and watched how the boy looked around. When he saw the tiny holes in the boy's shirt, he let out a groan. "Tell him to stop ruinin' shirts. It's the third one with holes in it."

"Hey, Logan," Rogue suddenly said and entered the room with her baby on her arm. Despite the look in his eyes, she gave him a warm smile. "How are you doing lately? I haven't seen you in quiet a while…"

"Fantastic," he grunted and watched how she began to prepare a bottle. "And you?"

"Well, besides that my man is more than close to being sucked dry by me…," she began and smiled at Jean-Luc when he started sucking on the bottle. "…fantastic."

"I see," Logan nodded and looked at his son again. "What do you want now, pumkin?" he asked with a frown and followed the boy's fingers. "Somethin' to drink?" he asked and received a nod. "Fine with me."

Rogue, who leant against the counter, watched him pouring some juice into a sippy cup that he handed to Jamie next. "Remy and I want to go some shopping later. Do you need anything from the supermarket or so?" she asked to make him talk a bit more. To her it appeared like they hadn't talked with each other in decades. "I can get it for you." Seeing the look he suddenly gave her the woman began to frown. "What?"

"Are ya tryin' the same shit on me like Storm and the others?" Logan asked her with a sharp edge to his voice and cocked an eyebrow at her.

"N…no…," Rogue replied quiet confused about the sudden change. "I just thought if you need something I can get it for you, so that you don't have to drive to the supermarket by yourself. I mean it's in our way anyway, so no need for you to get all snappy again…"

Closing his eyes briefly he looked at his boy. "I'm sorry," Logan mumbled. "It's just pissin' me of by now that everyone thinks they can nurse me…"

"I'm sorry, but I didn't mean it like that, Logan," she apologized and put the empty bottle away before she leant the baby against her shoulder and patted its back. "So, do you need anything?"

"No, not really," he said without looking at her. "But thanks…" Putting the empty sippy cup away he walked over to the door where she stopped him by touching his arm.

"I know you don't want to hear it," Rogue said in a soft voice. "But you know I'm here for you… So if you want to talk…"

"No, thanks," Logan waved off and left the room, leaving the young woman with a worried look behind her.

Sighing, Rogue looked at the boy in her arms and gave him a weak smile. "What about going upstairs and annoying your daddy, huh?" she asked and walked out of the door and into the corridor. "You even have my permit to scream as loud as you can, okay?" Entering the elevator she pushed the button to the upper level where she ran into Mystique and Scott. Seeing that the couple carried Tommy and Alex on their arms, she flashed them a smile and gave a brief nod before she disappeared into her room.

"Didn't look that happy, hm?" Mystique asked when they entered the elevator and Scott nodded.

"I bet she ran into Logan…," he answered and together they left the elevator and walked over to the rec-room where they put both boys onto the ground. "I go ask him if he wants us to watch over Jamie for a while," he added and got up to leave the room next.

In the meanwhile Mystique had gotten up to get some cookies and sippy cups from the kitchen; handing out the first to the two boys that had begun to crawl onto the ground in the large room. "Here you go," she smiled and both boys smiled when they saw the tasty objects in her hands. "But slowly, okay?" She sat down on the ground and watched them as Scott returned.

"Surprise, surprise," he announced and put Jamie down. "He really handed him out."

"Wonders never ceased," she nodded and reached over her head to get another cookie for the boy.

"And you know what the biggest surprise is?" he asked and sat down next to her. "He gave him to _me._"

"Maybe his eye-sight is bad and he thought you were Storm," Mystique joked and received a look from him. "What is Logan doing?"

"Nothing as far as I can tell." He smiled when Alex crawled over and onto his mother's lap. Scott watched how he was pulled close by her and smiled even wider when his son let out a cry of joy. "Do you want to have more by the way?"

"More what?" Mystique asked and ruffled Alex's dark brown hair that was commented with another laugh of her son.

"Children…," he said and received a surprised look from her.

"I…I don't know," she shrugged and broke eye contact. "I never thought about having some at all."

"And now?" Scott asked and shook his head with a smirk as Jamie pulled the plush animal away from Tommy. "Like his father…"

"I don't know," Mystique said once more. "What about you?"

Heaving a deep breath he shrugged and pulled his legs closer, so that he could rest his elbows onto his knees. "Actually I always thought about at least two…"

"Back then with Jean you mean," she corrected him and let go of Alex, who joined the other two boys. Seeing his nod, she looked away. "And now?"

"Well it depends on you," Scott replied. "If you don't want more it's okay."

"A girl would be nice…," she replied after a while and he noticed the smile she tried to hide.

"When this is all over," he said and she nodded before she rested her head on his shoulder.

* * *

Upstairs, Logan sat on the sofa and watched the husky and the wolf interacting with each other. It still was a miracle to him that first Miloh didn't show any interest in the husky at all and now he couldn't be separated from her anymore. Both lay on the soft blanket in front of the heater and the wolf was occupied with licking over his mate's head. While sipping on his beer, Logan remembered the first encounter between the two animals…

_Standing in the living-room Logan watched how the husky with the black and white fur and the blue eyes explored his new rooms, stopped here and there to sniff, just to return to the living-room again. The man couldn't hide that he felt a bit concerned about how the wolf would react to the husky. Usually a wo__lf picked his mate on his own, decided on his own if the female partner was worthy enough to be the alpha next to him. When he brought the husky down to show her where she could eat, his ears and nose told him that Miloh had just entered through the backdoor and was on his way towards them. It didn't take long and the wolf appeared in front of him a bit further down the corridor. The husky next to him has noticed the wolf, too, that has stopped and was watching them through his amber eyes. Logan heard the wolf sniffing from afar and it didn't take long before the animal began to growl. Intimidated by him and the unfamiliar surrounding, the husky sniffed, too, and had one paw raised while she watched him attentively. Miloh came slowly closer and didn't take his eyes from the foreign dog in front of him. He sniffed and surrounded the dog, ignoring that the husky whimpered and tried to turn away from him. Logan watched with his arms crossed how Miloh examined the husky while this one sniffed, too, before the wolf snorted and left to make his way to his rooms upstairs. Kneeling down next to the husky and stroking over her head Logan watched how the wolf disappeared behind the white door. "Well, at least he didn't kill ya," he remarked and got up, beckoning the dog to follow him…_

_A few days later Logan and Jean sat on the sofa together and watched TV while the husky lay on the blanket next to the table. Both mutants turned their heads as the door gave a short, screeching sound and watched how Miloh came back in from his daily strolls in the__ wood. The animal stopped briefly and sniffed before he went over to what he considered as his blanket. "That's not good…," Logan mumbled and watched how the wolf analyzed the situation before he just lay down next to the husky; making Logan cock a surprised eyebrow. "That's a surprise…"_

"_So he finally accepts her?" Jean asked with a yawn and snuggled deeper into his chest._

"_So it seems," he nodded._

_When both of them got up on the next morning they saw how both animals still lay on the blanket and were asleep. While the husky rested her head onto both paws, Miloh slept with his head on her ribcage and didn't even wake up when Jean walked past him to wake the children._

Letting out a sigh, Logan put the bottle away and got up. He didn't know what to do. He didn't feel like driving around since he didn't know where to go, he hadn't anything to do within the house, he didn't feel like taking a walk either… Stopping at the window he gave the others a brief look. Since the holidays had started and the others tried to distract his children, he felt even more futile. Logan crossed his arms and gave the pictures on the wall a brief look. He knew if she was here they would probably sit at the pool now and joke around. Something they always did in the summer. Or he would have taken her to the lake. Or they would have spent the day somewhere else, either with the children or not. But now with her gone he really didn't feel like doing anything at all. Nothing mattered and even things he liked couldn't give him a push anymore. Logan gave the two animals a brief look when Callie yawned and turned his head as the door opened. "Already back inside?" he asked his children and received a silent nod only. He watched how each of the returned to their rooms and sighed. He couldn't believe how much everything had changed within such a short time. He tried, didn't he? At least it appeared to him as if he tried his best to keep them happy. Walking over to the twins' door as a thought crossed his mind, he leant against the door with his arms crossed and looked at them. While Jack sat on his bed and pulled on his blanket, his eyes staring at something that probably only he could see, Lily had raised her head when he had entered. "What about goin' to see a movie?" Logan asked, even if he absolutely didn't feel like leaving his rooms at all.

"No…," Jack mumbled and threw the shirt from his bed.

"C'mon," his father tried to push him. "Get dressed. We can fetch a pizza or somethin' afterwards."

"No, I don't feel like it," the boy said again.

"Me neither, but ya guys need to get outta here," Logan replied. "I have to talk with ya about some school stuff to. So get dressed." With that he left to tell Rachel and Laura the same. A bit later they reluctantly left their rooms and followed him to his car.

After seeing a kids movie in the theatre and eating a pizza they arrived back home. It didn't need a diploma to see that the trip hadn't help at all. Logan parked the car in the garage and followed his children back inside where he ran into Ororo. "Hey," she greeted him and ignored that he rolled his eyes; thinking that she wanted to give him more advises. "There is a guy in the kitchen who wants to talk with you."

"Send him away," Logan grunted and walked past her without looking at the woman but she grabbed his arm.

"He said it's important."

"I don't care!" he snapped and shot her a glare. "Send him away."

"He said he needs to talk with you about some carbo whatsoever," she added quickly before he was out of her range and felt relieved when he stopped.

"Carbonadium?" Logan asked with a cocked eyebrow and from the way he spoke Ororo could tell that he was interested.

"Yes, something like that," she nodded. "He's in Charles' office."

"Well, tell him to come into the kitchen," he shrugged nonchalantly and disappeared. He definitely wouldn't go into the Professor's office and listen to his advises again. He had enough of all the advises that had been given him in the past months. When Logan arrived in the kitchen, he grabbed a beer out of the fridge and sat down on one of the tables. It didn't take long and Ororo came back, followed by Scott, Hank and Rogue and again Logan asked himself why they couldn't just leave him alone. Did he look so incapable of dealing with things on his own? A look aside and his eyes narrowed. "Steve…," he grunted as a greeting and switched back to his beer while the blonde man entered and gave him a nod only.

"Logan," the man nodded and the whole demeanor he approached the mutant on the stool with told everyone that both men hated their guts.

"What do ya want?" Logan demanded to know without looking up.

The Cap stopped on the other side of the counter and crossed his arms. His icy blue eyes briefly scanned the rest of the mutants that refused top leave. Not caring about them, he turned his attention back to Logan. "Your old friend tried to get his hands on the carbonadium synethizer," he told him. I thought I let you know…"

"So?" Logan grunted and swallowed a bit more of the liquid. "Who of them was it?"

"We think Omega Red," Steven replied. "At least it looked like him."

"Hm…," his opposite grunted and turned the beer in his hands. "Sabretooth?"

"Could be," the Cap shrugged and shot another look at Ororo and the others. "So what do you want us to do about it?" he asked Logan after a while.

"Don't care," this one said. "He didn't get it, so what?"

"Yes, but we like to know what he wants to do with it…," Steve said in return. "And if I were you I'd care. You know that this stuff can even kill you…"

"What is this stuff?" Scott asked and was first ignored by the Cap, but Hank answered for him.

"As far as I know it was the Soviets attempt of creating adamantium," he told the others. "It's more malleable but not as durable than adamantium is. But still practically indestructible."

"As long as doesn't get it, I don't care," Logan grunted and put the beer back onto the counter. "He needs it to stabilize his condition. If he doesn't get it, he dies, so what?"

"So what?!" the Cap asked angrily. "May I remind you that my men are protecting it? That I have the order from Fury to protect your worthless ass?"

"Well, my worthless ass has saved your worthless life last time as far as I can remember," Logan gave back.

Giving a snort, Steven shook his head. "And as far as I can remember this carbonadium stuff can kill you, or am I mistaken? Jim?"

"So?" Logan shrugged and gave him a look but the Cap only shook his head.

"You really don't give a damn, do you?" he asked him and received another shrug. "God, when Parker told me about your condition I thought he was kidding, but obviously he was right. You are the most self-centered asshole walking this planet, honestly!"

"Hey, he's not!" Rogue protested and shot him an angry look. "You don't know what he's going through lately!"

"Ah yeah…," Steven nodded and gave his old comrade a smirk. "I still don't get how you could do that…"

"Do what?" Ororo asked, showing her dislike for the man.

"You know how that job works, Jim. You know it for decades and what did you do?" he asked Logan. "Violated against everything soldiers like us stand for… That you lost your wife is your own fault!"

"Hey!" the weather goddess said aloud and made a step forward but the man ignored her.

"You know that people like us can't have a family. You know that having someone we care for only means that those ones will suffer in the end because of us…," he went on and noticed that Logan had his eyes fixed on the bottle in his hands. "So how, in God's name, could you start a family? Even have children?! It's something we can't do, we can't have! And you know that!"

"Hey, that's enough! You don't even know what you're talking about!" Scott said to everyone's surprise.

"No?" the Cap asked him. "Well, he does! Right, Jim?" Waiting for a reply he noticed that this one still looked at the bottle and didn't intend to look back at him. "Three wives and how many of them are still alive? None!" he said. "How can you be so stupid and think you can escape from your past, hm? A family is an unnecessary risk. And you know how it always ends for you! They die, you're alone. And then you have children!" Cap said and shook his head. "You know perfectly well that those men, who did the experiments on us, would kill even God to get their hands on your offspring. So how could you take this risk?!"

Now stepping forward, too, Hank snarled. "Would you stop talking to him like that?" he asked, still tried to remain polite.

"Why? He knows that I'm right!" Steven replied arrogantly. "You're cursed, Howlett! Cursed from the beginning and everything you ever touched died! And it will be the same with your children, but maybe you'll finally learn then!"

"Stop it!" Rogue nearly barked and stopped in front of him with looks that could kill. "How dare you talking to Logan like that?! He's not cursed!"

"No?" he asked her and crossed his arms. "Then ask him what happened to all the women he really cared for…"

"He cares for us, too," she hissed darkly. "And surprise, surprise, we're still alive!"

"Well, let's see for how long…," he shrugged.

"You are such an arrogant bastard!" Ororo remarked and shook her head, while she too had her arms crossed in front of her chest.

Giving her a smile, Steven nodded at Logan. "Well he was my teacher."

"I doubt that!" Rogue said and returned to the others while she heard him giving a short laugh.

"You're pathetic, really!" the Cap told Logan after turning back to him. "Where's the big bad Wolverine, huh? The killer the enemy was always afraid of? She has turned you into a simple lapdog without teeth to bite," he said scornfully. "You're nothing more than a weak man. Not even a shadow of the soldier you once were and they really dare to call _you _from all people the most dangerous mutant?" He shook his head and looked down on his comrade. "You can't even harm a fly if you wanted to…"

Grabbing the man's shoulder hard the red behind Scott's eyes became briefly visible. "That's really enough!" he said angrily but the Cap shook his head.

"No, it's not!" he replied and watched how Scott walked over to side with Logan.

"Yes, it is!" he gave back and crossed his arms.

"So he already hides behind others, huh?" Steven asked and nodded ironically. "Great job you've done… Really!"

"Would you say something?!" Scott asked his teammate and gave Logan a look, but this one got up and walked over to the door. "Hey!" he said and grabbed Logan's arm. "He insults you like that and you just leave?!" he asked him with anger mirrored in his voice. "If I'd say such things to you, you'd have punched the life out of me… You can't just let him do that and go!"

"Why not?" Logan asked and gave him a brief look. "He's right…"

Watching him leaving, the Cap shook his head. "Okay… I can't say more than that…"

"What?!" Ororo asked him and shot him a glare. "What do you mean?"

"Back then it had helped to talk to him like that. But now…" Again he shook his head. "He really is in his personal hell. I know him since World War II and have never seen him like that…"

"So you didn't mean what you said?" Rogue asked in confusion.

"Yes, I did. But I said it to make him realize that his behavior isn't like him," Steven explain and sighed. "Especially not that he just says I'm right and just leaves. Back then he had beaten me up to a bloody pulp…"

"You guys are weird," Ororo remarked and leant back. "Really. You really hurt him, do you know that?"

"He'll get over it," the Cap said nonchalantly. "Just tell him that we will take care of the synthesizer. See you around!" With that he walked around the counter and left the others behind.

"God…what an asshole!" Ororo cursed.

"Have you seen how hurt Logan was?" Rogue asked them and bit her lip hard. "And then he says he'll get over it. What a jerk…" Only able to shake her head about the man she walked over to the door. "I'll go and check on Logan."

"No," Scott intervened. "Just leave him alone. You know that he won't talk to you anyway. Just leave him alone."

"But he needs to know that this was bullshit," Ororo disagreed. "I mean Logan accepted that he is cursed. How stupid is that? It wasn't his fault that Jean died."

"Charles said that Logan blames himself for it," Hank said and all eyes turned to him. "I know it is ridiculous but he obviously believes that he could have prevented it… I have to talk to Logan anyway, so I'll go upstairs if you don't mind." With that he turned towards the door and left to make his way to the West Wing. The door to the staircase was only few meters from the kitchen away and as he knocked on the door on the second level he didn't bother to wait for a reply. There wouldn't be one anyway. Inside, he was greeted by Miloh, who had instantly raised his head to see who dared to disturb him and his mate. Since there were noises in Jamie's room, Hank closed the door behind him and walked over to it; watched how Logan prepared the boy for bed and had chosen to just ignore him. "Can we talk?" he asked him politely and waited for a reply.

"About what?" Logan grunted and pulled Jamie up into his arms after dressing him. Hank watched how he walked over to the bed, gave his son a kiss and put him down.

"And now sleep, 'kay?" Logan said and came over to the door where he switched the lights off. Showing Hank out of the room with him, he closed the door and checked if his other children were still in bed. "What do ya want?" he asked, obviously on the edge of his patience and turned around with crossed arms.

"You don't really believe what this guy said, do you?" Hank asked him but his friend looked away. "Logan, you are not responsible for…"

"Shut up!" this one snapped and gave him a glare. "What is so hard in just leavin' me alone, damn it?"

"Because we care for you, boy!" his opposite gave back. "No one blames you for what happened, it wasn't your fault! God dammit, Logan, you nearly lost your own life in the attack. You tried your best!" Giving up, since he could tell that his friend was too stubborn to listen to him, and because he looked away anyway, Hank sighed and crossed his arms. "I actually wanted to talk to you about the wedding. You know I want you as my best man."

"And I said I ain't comin'," came the grunted reply in an instant.

"You can't do that!" Hank disagreed. "Logan, I know how hard everything is for you, but you still have friends here and Moira and I will be more than hurt if you just ignore our wedding… I am not saying that you have to stay the whole time through, but at least for the ceremony. Come on!" Looking at him and waiting for a reply he received a shrug only. "Just think about it, okay? I won't be mad if you leave after the ceremony but I will be if you do not show up at all. Good night and forget about what that guy said. It's not true." Turning around he closed the door silently behind him and retreated to the room he shared with Moira.

* * *

On the early morning Jamie crawled on the floor of the kitchen while the adults were eating their breakfast. Since the twins, Rachel and Laura weren't downstairs Ororo guessed that they were still as deep asleep as her children and Rogue's children were. Only Alex sat on his father's lap and was slowly eating his pancake; not paying attention to what was going on around him. He didn't even look up when Miloh came down and Jamie cheered in joy as soon as he'd spotted his furry friend. Letting go of the curtains he crawled over to the wolf and reached out to touch him, whereas Miloh licked over the boy's already messy dark hair and made it stick up into all possible directions. Being done with his casual greeting, the wolf walked over to the small door that had been put into the backdoor for him and disappeared through it. Jamie, who had followed him stopped at the window and watched how the wolf walked down the stone stairs and through the garden on his way to the wood. Not knowing why his friend didn't take him with him, the boy pulled himself up onto both feet and supported himself with both hands against the window. Looking up, he gave Scott a brief look for help but the man switched his attention back to his breakfast, so the boy let his green eyes travel around until he found who he was looking for. "Da-da!" Having said this all eyes turned to him in surprise.

"Have you heard this?" Ororo asked Logan, who was still occupied with preparing a bottle for his youngest.

"Yeah, and?" this one asked without turning around.

"He says it and all you can say is _yeah and_?" Hank asked him in disbelief and heard his friend heaving a deep breath.

"He already says it for 1 ½ months, Furball. So no surprise there…"

"He began to say it with 8 months only?" Ororo asked with a surprised look at the boy, who didn't know why everyone was staring at him as if he was some kind of green alien. Seeing Logan's nod, she looked back at Jamie. This one pulled himself up onto both feet again and looked at the wood again. "Can he already walk, too?"

"A bit, yeah," Logan said and put the mash into the small bowl.

"You know that this is a pretty early development, do you?" Moira asked him.

"Not exactly. The twins'n Ray said their first word with 9 months and waked with 11 months," he replied.

"Yeah," Scott nodded. "And all three of them sit in classes with students that are 2-4 years older than them."

"Jealous?" Logan asked when he turned around.

"Dada!" Jamie said once more to attract his father's attention and pointed at the wood when this one finally looked at him.

"He'll be back, kid. Now come and eat," Logan said and walked over to the highchair where he put down the sippycup and bowl down. "C'mon." he added and beckoned his son to come over but this one shook his head and pointed once more to the outside.

"Mio," he said and Logan sighed.

"No, food!" this one replied and went over to pull him up and into his chair afterwards. "Now eat."

Pulling a face since he felt misunderstood, Jamie began to cry. "Mio!"

"Yer not getting' everythin' ya want, kid! Miloh will be back in a second and I want ya to eat," his father replied and crossed his arms, but the boy soon cried even louder until Logan rolled his eyes and walked over to the backdoor. Whistling after opening it, he waited for the wolf to come back over and closed the door again. "Sit," he told him and turned back to his son. "See? He's back. Now eat!"

From his position, Scott watched how Jamie stopped sniffing and finally obeyed. "What was it again?" he asked with a look at Logan. "_You're not getting everything you eat_?"

"Shut up!" this one snapped and took meat out of the fridge to prepare food for his two animals. When Jamie was done eating Ororo put him out of his chair and watched how the boy instantly stumbled over to Miloh. "Mio," he said happily and buried his hands in the white fur, whereas the wolf bit into the back of the shirt and carried him back upstairs. Watching it, Logan shook his head and filled two bowls with the meat.

"Logan…," Moira said after having watched the wolf, too. "Do you think it is such a good idea to let a wolf and a small boy interact with each other so closely?"

"Why not?" this one grunted.

"Well, because Miloh still is a wolf?"

"So?"

Sighing, the woman gave her fiancé a look. "He's a wild animal. Jamie is a human being. I think letting Miloh take care of Jamie as if the boy was his cub… Well, I think it is not good for Jamie's development…"

Only nodding while he took the bowls, Logan walked over to the door. "Two things," he grunted and gave her a glare. "First, I lived with wolfs for years after wakin' up in that fuckin' wood. Without them teachin' me, I wouldn't have survived. Second, if it wasn't good for his development, I highly doubt he'd already be talkin' and walkin'." Walking a bit, he stopped once more. "And third…," he added. "He's my kid, not yours!"

"Ouch," Bobby commented Logan's exit but turned back to his breakfast instantly, as Charles suddenly entered the kitchen.

"Hank," this one said and the look on his face told everyone that something important had happened. "He's awake…"

* * *

A few moments later the X-Men were gathered in Charles' office and looked at the man in front of the Professor's desk who gave them insecure and confused looks. He didn't know where he was or how he had gotten here at all. All he new was that his surroundings and all the faces weren't familiar. "So…," he began and turned back to the bald man behind the desk. "…where am I? And how have I gotten here?"

"You're in my school for gifted youngsters, John. In Westchester, New York," Charles explained in his casual calm voice and noticed the confusion of the man in front of him. "You don't remember how you got here?"

"Ehm….no," John said and shook his head, just to give the others a strange look. He didn't understand why some of them looked at him with hatred in their eyes.

"What is the last thing you can remember?" Charles asked.

"I…I was on my way back from a bar home," the man explained after a moment; obviously having trouble to remember it at all. "You know… I'm looking for my younger brother for years. I heard he used to visit that bar often, but they said he hasn't been there in a while."

Nodding after John had finished, Charles leant back in his wheelchair. "Can you remember when you visited that bar?"

John sighed and kept his eyes fixated on the tree that he could see through the window. "I don't even know which date is today…"

"July 10th, 2016," Ororo said and was surprised that John's head jerked into her direction.

"2016?!" he asked her in disbelief and she gave him a confused nod. "I went to that bar in… I think it was May 2014." He shook his head and looked at Charles for help. "Do you know what happened in between?"

"Not everything, John. All I can tell you is that we first met after Christmas last year. You were used by a very powerful mutant called Apocalypse and his ally Sinister," he explained but could tell that the man got more and more confused. At least he interpreted the frown as confusion.

"Essex? Nathaniel Essex?" John asked to the Professor's surprise this time.

"You know his real name?" Hank asked him and the man nodded.

"Yes. Last time I saw him was in Canada. He's a genius on genetics but a maniac in life," he explained. "What did you mean with I was used?!"

"Do you know Apocalypse?" Charles asked but John shook his head. "He turned you into one of his servants. He brainwashed you and probably in a way to make you forget what you did. I can only tell you what I know. I don't know everything he made you do."

"And what did I do?" John asked and looked at each of them; still not quiet sure to believe them at all. He looked at Scott attentively while the man told him about everything he was supposed to have done. When the X-Men ended, he ran a hand through his face and shook his head. He couldn't tell if the foreigner had spoken the truth, but something within him told him that he had done those things. Not knowing what to say a thought suddenly crossed his eyes and he raised his head in a rush. "Is Anna here, too?" he asked urgently and looked at each one of them.

"Who's Anna?" Kitty asked.

"My little baby girl. She was at home when I was on my way back," he explained. "Is she here?!"

"No…," Ororo shook her head and he looked down in disappointment.

"I can look for her," Charles offered him.

"How?"

"We have a machine called Cerebro. I am able to trace mutants and humans with it," he explained and noticed the hopeful look in his opposite's eyes.

"Do you think you could look for my brother, too?" John asked hopefully and tried to hide the worry that he feared something could have happened to his girl. "I mean does it work with a name only? Because I don't know what he looks like…"

The other looked from him towards Charles. He didn't need to read their minds since it was obvious what they thought about. Since no one replied John began to furrow his brows. "You brother is actually living at this school for years, John," the Professor finally replied. "He's our team leader. Or better said he was…"

"He's here?!" John asked shocked and got up excitedly. "Where?!"

"You know…," Charles said and heaved a deep sigh. "There's something you should know first…"

* * *

While Charles was occupied with finding Anna with Cerebro, Ororo had made her way to the West Wing to tell Logan the news. She couldn't tell how he would react to the news that his brother was still here. The Professor had done his best in the past months to shield him from Logan and now it was up to her to tell him that John was still here. She heaved a deep breath before she knocked on the door and went inside. "Logan?" she called and smiled at Callie, who had begun to wave her tail when she had noticed the woman. "Hey…," she said and went over to stroke over the dog's head. "Where's your master, hm?"

"What is it this time?" Logan grunted and left the bathroom with a towel only around his hip. "No, I don't wanna take part in any missions, no I don't wanna watch movie, teach or do any other stupid stuff, so piss off!" he listed when he walked over to the bedroom, where he threw the towel away and began to get dressed.

"Well, actually it's something else," she told him while she knelt next to the husky on the ground and kept on stroking over the fur. "Charles…"

"I know that he's here," Logan grunted and came back into the living room while he pulled his shirt over his head. "Do ya guys think I'm dumb?"

"You…you knew?" Ororo asked surprised. "But how?"

"Oh….wait….let me guess…," he said sarcastically and acted as if he had to think really hard. "Heightened senses?!"

"But he was in the basement," she replied and got up to face him.

"Storm…I can tell ya right now that someone far down north just made pizza with ham and cheese…," Logan gave back. "Do ya really think I wouldn't notice that Chuck kept my brother down in the basement?"

"Anyway," she sighed and ran a hand through her face with a look at the dog. "John doesn't know what has happened. We have told him and he wants to meet you." Getting a snort as an answer only she watched how he went out of the door and onto the balcony to light a cigar. She hadn't seen him smoking in years. At least not when he'd been with Jean. "Logan, he was looking for you. He even asked Charles before he knew you were here if he could look for you with Cerebro… He doesn't know what Apocalypse had made him do and was shocked to hear about…"

"Don't!" he cut her off with a glare.

"Talk to him… He already said that he wants to help us if there's another fight," she pleaded. "Charles is currently looking for your niece. John wants to look on his own, but we can't let him go in case Sinister wants him back. You can hold him back, Logan…" She crossed her arms and leant against the doorframe, watched how he blew the smoke into the air. "He really can't remember…," she assured him once more. "And he said he's looking for you for decades. Sinister and Apocalypse have stolen two years of his life. He was looking for you in a bar when they caught him and maybe they've killed his daughter. Logan, we can need him here. You've seen how strong he is and he's still your brother. You can't hold a grudge against him for something he can't be blamed for… Sinister is to be blamed, not your brother. And Jean told me that you always wondered what you're childhood would have been like if he hadn't been taken away from you…"

With his back to Ororo Logan glared at the pond in the huge garden. "Where's he now?"

"Downstairs in Charles' office," she replied. "Scott already told him he shouldn't get his hopes up too much. But the Professor confirmed that the things he told you even if he'd been controlled b Apocalypse were true. He really had been locked up in that psychiatry and was experimented on. And he spent most of his life looking for you…" She followed his movements when he walked past her without saying anything at all. "Where are you going?" she called after him but he had already disappeared through the front door. "Great…," Ororo cursed and met the husky's gaze when she looked up. "Now he'll probably beat him up…"

Downstairs Logan had reached the doors to the Professor's office and shot Hank and Scott, who both waited in front of it a glare. "Didn't think you'd show up," the latter said and watched how his comrade stopped in front of the door. "He's inside," he added with a nod at the door and furrowed his brows. "What's wrong?"

"I don't wanna see him," Logan grunted and turned around but Hank held him back.

"Logan he's…."

"I know that he's my brother," this one snapped and pulled his arm away. "Still I don't wanna see him."

"As I thought…," Scott commented after Logan had disappeared down the corridor. "I told you he would say that…"

"Well at least you warned John that Logan would react that way," Hank shrugged.

"_Scott, would you and Mystique please get ready?"_

"I think the Professor has found Anna," Scott said and began to walk towards his rooms. "Can you talk to John?"

"Sure," Hank nodded and entered the room the office next to him.

**I know it's not a real end or cliffie but I am sitting here for minutes now and can't find a real end. So I thought I'll end it here. Sorry for not updating in such a long time but I really had no time. I wrote a new one shot and posted it here and updated my other story. It would be nice if you guys would read and review them. : ) I'll try to post another chapter before I fly to the States. Thanks to all reviewers and please review again. ; ) See ya!**


	19. Author's Note

Sorry guys! My fault! I forgot that you can't review if you already had reviewed Ch19. I deleted the author's note before putting up the new chapter.

I'll just fix it!! Chapter 20 is therefore the new update aka Chapter 19. ;) Sorry for the confusion!!!


	20. Chapter 19

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; )

**Hey guys! So, the first chapter written from the States. LOL I really enjoy being here, but man… Driving through Manhattan with a car was horrible. It took us nearly 2 hours to get out of there and head to Pennsylvania. And it's unbelievable how much you guys can eat. But other than that there are really big differences between Germany and the US. Anyway, enjoy reading the new chapter. : )**

_Oh and before I forget it:_ You guys here are really into Hugh Jackman, huh? On the first day I was asked which movies had been shown on board and I said a boring one with Hugh Grant, I was asked Jackman? And said if they had shown his movies for the whole 8 hours, it wouldn't have been that boring. So the brother of my friend here, who works with movies, said that our beloved Hugh is very big in business here. But I knew more movies with Hugh than him. LOL And then yesterday we went shopping and wanted to buy House Season 3 (damn, it's not out yet), so I suggested, since my friend here has never seen a movie with Hugh before, that we buy Someone Like You. The woman behind the counter started yelling OMG, Hugh Jackman, I love him, he's so sexy… and I was like OO, because in Germany you'll get this answer if you told someone that Hugh's your favorite actor: Hugh, who? – You know, Hugh Jackman? – Ehm…no – X-Men's Wolverine? – Oh, that guy! Even my mom doesn't recognize Hugh as Wolverine on one of my posters. : ( Okay, enough bla bla. Enjoy!

**Contains a hint to House of M in which Logan does something that he's doing in a flashback here, too!!**

**Changes ****Sequel – II. Covenant Part 19**

"I now declare you husband and wife," said the priest and with one happy smile Hank bent forward to kiss the woman he could now proudly introduce as Mrs. Hank McCoy. After he broke the kiss, his heart made a big jump. Moira, who looked stunning as everyone had told him before, gave him the happiest smile he'd ever seen and after they'd linked arms and turned around, he could see that his friends were as happy as he was. Except maybe one of them. "Go ahead," he told Moira and stopped next to Logan, who had reluctantly appeared and was even dressed in a black, buttoned shirt and black pants. Giving him a weak smile, while his opposite had his hands buried in his pockets, Hank hugged him. "Thanks for coming. It really means a lot to us," he said and let go of Logan, who only nodded and turned around to leave. Watching him sadly, the furry mutant returned to his wife and proceeded to walk over to the decorated area, which was again Ororo's work.

"This looks so great, Ororo," Moira smiled and hugged her.

"I told you she's the best," said Hank and hugged his friend, too.

"Logan went back inside?" this one asked and looked down after receiving a nod.

"But it's okay," Hank waved off. "I told him I'd be mad if he wouldn't show up at all. I wanted him as my best man and he knew that… It must have been already hard enough for him to stay during the ceremony."

"Yes, he didn't look that happy," Moira nodded and leant her head against his shoulder. "Let's go over to Charles. He looks like he wants to tell us something…" Agreeing to it, he led her away from Ororo, who looked at the balcony to her right.

Biting her lip, she gave the others a brief look and finally decided to walk inside and over to the West Wing. She knew Logan wanted to be left alone and that they were probably going on his nerves, but she hated the fact that he was alone for nearly 24/7, especially on a day like this that must have reminded him of how happy his own wedding had been. Upstairs, she knocked on the door and went inside. Jamie was happily crawling around, while she could hear how the twins were playing with their PlayStation and Laura obviously played with Rachel. "Hey, sweety," she smiled at Jamie, who had crawled over to her with another big smile of his. "You're one happy camper again, hm? Where's your daddy?" She looked towards the balcony door, but couldn't see Logan there. Getting up she walked over to the bedroom door and knocked. As she'd thought he was sitting on the bed and had his head lowered. Looking down, Ororo closed the door and hesitated first. Should she walk over to him or keep a distance? She was well aware of how aggressive he could be in these days. The last time Scott had given him an advice a cup had hit the wall and shattered to pieces. Nevertheless, she doubted that he would do that now. He seemed to be so vulnerable that it really hurt one to look at him. Ororo finally heaved a deep breath and walked over to his side where she sat down. It surprised her that he didn't get up or looked away; he just sat there, had his head lowered and supported himself with his arms on his long legs. She really didn't know what to do. "Logan…," she said in a calm voice and reached out to stroke over his messy hair. He didn't back off or pushed her hand away like he usually did. But she didn't know if that was a good or bad sign… The sun from the outside reflected something on his chest. Curiously she bent forward to have a closer look and sadness was mirrored in her eyes when she realized what it was. It was normal for them. When he had went away, Jean had worn his two rings to keep them safe for him and now he wore her two rings around his neck and waited for her to come back. Everyone knew the background of the Phoenix. But the first time Jean had died, it had taken her four months only to come back; the same went for the second time. But by now it was August and her best friend had died 8 months ago. She didn't believe that Jean would be back so soon, or that she would even return from the dead this time. And she knew that he would wait forever. Jean would have done the same for him.

"What do ya want?" he suddenly grunted and she startled a bit.

"Keeping you company…," Ororo replied.

"I don't need company."

"Logan I've watched you during the whole thing. And I am not the only one who had noticed that you feel hurt," she said and kept her hand on his shoulder. Usually, he would have already pushed her away; the more it surprised her that he didn't do it now. "You shouldn't be alone now. I know that it must have been hell for you to watch Hank marrying Moira and being forced to remember how happy your own wedding had been. I won't say anything. I'll just sit here and shut my mouth…"

"Great and then?" he asked and turned his head to look her into the eyes. "Do ya think that'll change anythin'? That it'll make me feel better? That things will be easier?"

"Logan…," Ororo said in a sad voice since she had noticed the tears in his eyes. "God, why don't you say anything?"

"Like what?" he asked sarcastically. "How great life's been lately?"

"No, but you could at least talk about what you feel or think?" she replied. "We want to help you, but no one knows how, because we are endangered to either get hit by a cup or ran into your claws. You are right by saying that we don't know how you feel, no one can know it. But we know that it must be more than hard to deal with 5 children all alone and take care of things, while you still feel bad yourself. Just talk with me…" She held his gaze for a while until he looked away. "Tell me about things that bother you, about what you feel right now, if you have a problem…"

"_A _problem?" Logan asked with a laugh. "I have five problems in total…"

"What's wrong with the kids?" Ororo asked after figuring what he meant.

"What do ya care?" he growled and she sighed.

"Talk!" she said a bit louder. "Don't make me mad or Hank's and Moira's wedding party will be hit by a hurricane. So what's wrong?"

"Nothin' besides the fact that Laura beats up other students, Jack throws one tantrum after the next, Ray doesn't eat, Jamie accidentally uses his powers and nearly fell off the balcony yesterday coz he opened the door and had fun practicin' flyin' and Lily sits most of the time on her bed and doesn't do anythin'. But thanks, other than that my life's perfect…" He glared at the ground. "Not to forget to mention that their grades keep on droppin' even if I do their homework with'em. What more am I supposed t'do?!"

"Did you talk with them about it?" she asked and received a snort.

"Once?!" he replied sarcastically. "I keep on sayin' that every day." He shook his head. "It's this place… They ain't happy here anymore."

"Understandable," she nodded. "But I know that you're trying your best, Logan. It's not your fault."

"Why is everyone keepin' on sayin' that?!"

"What?"

"This _not-your-fault-shit_," Logan grunted.

"Because it isn't," she said and shook her head. "You love your children and you are trying hard, everyone can see that. We hardly see you downstairs because you spent most of the time upstairs with the children. What more can you do? It would be your fault if you left the mansion in the early morning and would stay away for the whole day. But you're not doing that. Back then when we thought you had died during the crash in Mexico the children and Jean had reacted the same way they and you do now. It's natural…," she said and he looked at her from aside. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost Kurt and had to take care of two children all by myself. I would go crazy… The only thing you're doing wrong is that you keep your feelings and anger inside of you. If you would talk…I'm sure you'd feel better then, too… And you know that you can talk with anyone of us." Stroking through his hair again, she waited for a reply but all Logan did was shaking his head. "Why is it so impossible for you men to just talk?!" she asked angrily. "Because you show weakness then? Or we might get a glimpse into your hearts?"

"If ya wanna snap, there's the door!" Logan growled and got up. She followed him and held him back.

"I've noticed that you've been crying, Logan, and if you want to remember it or not, but I have also been here the last time you broke down…," Ororo said and he shrugged.

"Get a trophy fer it," he replied and pulled his arm away. Only running both hands through her face in anger, she shook her head.

* * *

A few days later Jamie's big day had arrived and he turned one. Even if the boy didn't understand what was going on or why he had to sit in front of a cake with a candle, he still had fun to play with the papers his gifts had been wrapped in. Still, the best gift was his best pal Miloh and as soon as the wolf appeared in the kitchen to leave for his daily stroll in the wood, the papers were forgotten and Jamie followed him. "You'll stay here," Scott said before the boy could climb through the small door in the backdoor. "Your daddy will throw a tantrum if you just disappear again." Ignoring Jamie's loud protest, Scott carried him over to the others again.

"Mio!" he whined but the man shook his head.

"No, you'll have to wait until he's back," Scott said and was about to put him back into the stool as Jamie used his fists to hit him. "He growls?" he asked shocked and looked up at Ororo.

"So it seems," she shrugged when she pick up on the clearly audible growl of the boy. "He's Logan's son, what else did you expect?"

"Does he know that he purrs, too?" Moira asked with an amused smile since Scott had trouble to keep the boy, who threw a real tantrum by now, under control.

"He purrs?!" this one asked until he had wrapped both arms around Jamie to prevent him from moving.

"Yes, he does. It's too cute!" Moira laughed.

"But I doubt he'd do you the favour now," Jubilee remarked and chewed her gum soundly. "He looks more like a really pissed off little Wolvie…"

"She's right, Ororo nodded and gave Jamie a weird look.

"Why? What is he doing?" Scott asked since he couldn't see it. "Is he growing fangs or something?!"

"Oh, his eyes just turned black, but never mind," Jubilee said and backed off to the door. "If you're really lucky he'll do you the favor and throw things around. But never mind… I won't be anywhere close to him if he looks that evil! Bye!" With that she quickly left.

"Jamie dear, it's okay," Ororo tried to calm the boy and took him from Scott. "You have been such a happy camper the whole day through…" She placed a kiss onto the boy's forehead but it only made him growl louder. "Since when is he doing such things?" she asked confused and with a look at the others.

"Since ya pissed him off," Logan grunted from the door and entered. He took his little version and looked him in the black eyes. "Cut it off!" was all he growled and allowed his eyes to blacken for a short moment, too. It was enough to receive a whimper from the boy.

"That was rude!" Scott remarked and crossed his arms.

"Was it?" Logan asked sarcastically. "Well, the next thing that would've happened would have been him sendin' cups and plates through the room, but never mind. If ya wanna see how he destroys a window, ya welcome next time."

"If he's already that powerful, you should do something about it anyway," Scott replied.

"Like what?" Logan snapped and narrowed his eyes. "Ya want me to do the same to him like Chuck did to Jeannie?" he asked and bared his teeth. "I don't intend to be forced to kill my kid coz he became unstoppable, Cyke. And you guys will keep away from him if puttin' barriers into his head is the thing that's on your mind or you'll get to know my claws!" Turning around he left through the backdoor.

"Why does he always think that we want to harm the boy?" Scott asked and shook his head. "He really is paranoid sometimes."

Watching how he began to tidy up, Mystique looked out of the window next. "Actually…you sounded as if this was your aim…"

"She's right," Ororo nodded and suddenly saw something of interest on the outside. "Excuse me," she said and left through the backdoor, too. "Hey," she greeted and John, who stood on the terrace, turned around. "I haven't seen you in a while. How are you doing?"

"Fine, I guess… Except that I'd hoped your Professor would have found Anna," he said and turned back to the garden.

"He will find her. If someone can then Charles," she tried to soothe him and saw what he was watching from afar. "Have you talked to him, yet?" she asked with a nod at Logan, who held Jamie's hands and practiced walking with his son.

"No…"

"Just give him time," she waved off. "He's going through a hard one himself. He even snaps at his friends…" John nodded and crossed his arms.

"That's his son?" he asked her with a nod at Jamie.

"Yes, one of them. Jamie turned one today," she explained and he nodded again. "When you'd been still under Apocalypse's influence, you've told us that Logan looks like your old gardener."

"He does," John replied. "I'd like to talk with him but… Well, I have to accept that he doesn't want to see me. I can understand…"

"What was your father like?" she asked next. "Logan never told us."

Shrugging, John looked up into the sunny sky. "Hard working, a good man with a good heart who decided what he wanted to do in his life by himself. But he trusted people too easily. He always saw the good in them… No matter if they'd been or not…"

"Logan doesn't trust others at all," Ororo told him and he turned his head. "But that's no surprise after what he'd been through in his life. And he has a very good heart, too…" From afar she could see how Logan shot her a glare. "And he's heard that…," she said with a blush and quickly turned her back to him.

"Why do you call him Logan?" John asked and followed her back inside. "It's not his name…"

"When he arrived here, Charles told us that his name was Logan," she explained and walked down the corridor towards the dormitories. "Back then he couldn't remember his life. He regained his memories only a few months ago and since then we know his real name. But he hates it."

"But why?" he asked and shook his head.

"I don't know. But he wants to be called Logan…," she said and stopped next to her room door. "I hope we see you at dinner this time. And don't worry about your daughter. The Professor will find her and I am sure that she's fine." Smiling at him, she received a smile in return.

"Thank you," John nodded. "I'll see you later then. Hank has told me about your library here. I wanted to pay it a visit."

"Oh you really should!" Ororo nodded her appreciation. "Your brother must have read all books by now. But don't tell him I know." She winked. "He hates to be caught reading. It's not manly, you know."

Laughing, John nodded. "Yeah, I know."

"And he doesn't admit that he's very intelligent either," she shrugged. "You should see how many languages he can speak. He's a walking dictionary."

"Well, he had enough time to learn," he smiled. "I'll see you later."

"Yeah, bye." Ororo smiled once more before she entered her room. "Oh, Kurt!" she cried and put her hands to her hips. "How often do I have to tell you not to do this?" she asked her husband who hung head first from the ceiling accompanied by their youngest. "He can get hurt!"

"He alvays stops crying if I do that," he apologized and with a loud _bampf_ he had dis- and reappeared and was now standing in front of her. "Sorry…," he said and lowered his head.

"Men," Ororo replied and shook her head, as another loud _bampf _could be heard and she shrieked. "Where's Tommy?"

"I don't know…," Kurt shrugged.

"Not again," she cried. "We have to go find him before he ends up on the roof again." Grabbing his arms she pulled Kurt with her and went looking for her son. "If he has a hiccough then we'll have one hell of a day…," she cursed and went down the corridor.

* * *

After drinking some beer and smoking another cigar, Logan went upstairs to get ready for bed. He briefly checked on the twins, Jamie and Rachel, as he began to frown. Laura was sleeping in her bed but his youngest daughter was nowhere to be seen. He switched his eyes to his bedroom door and went over to enter it. His eyes saddened as he found her once more asleep in his bed and with her head buried in one of her mother's shirts. Logan ran a hand through his face and closed the door with a heavy sigh. It wasn't the first time that this happened and probably not the last. Carefully, he sat down on the edge and looked at the girl, whose face was tearstained. Even if his face didn't show the pain he felt deep inside, he still knew it was there. He couldn't remember the last night he had really slept and not lain awake all night and stared at the empty space next to him. As he was about to reach out and brush her red hair behind her ear the door opened.

"Logan, you have to help us," Ororo said in a voice that told him she was about to breakdown. He heaved a deep and annoyed sigh, pulled the sheets over Rachel's body and placed a kiss onto her temple, before he got up and followed Ororo into the living room. "Tommy keeps on teleporting. We can't find him…," she told him in a teary voice and wrapped both arms around herself. "Please, can you go and look for him?" With a roll of his eyes, he walked over to the balcony and stepped out into the cool night air. From afar he could hear a boy crying and began to concentrate harder on him. In the next second he had jumped off the balcony and walked through the dark garden.

* * *

"What if he can't find him?" Ororo cried and buried her hands in her hair. "What if he's injured or even dead?"

"He'll be fine, Ororo," Charles assured her. "If someone can find him then it is Logan."

"He'll be alright," Kurt said and pulled her close. "I know he is…"

"Then what is taking Logan so long?!" she asked next and at the edge of her patience.

"He just left," Scott tried to soothe her. "He has probably found him by now and is on his way back." He gave the others, who were all gathered in the kitchen, a look. "Why don't you start eating already?"

"How am I supposed to eat if my son's somewhere in Walhalla?!," she snapped as the backdoor opened and Logan came back inside with a crying Tommy in his arms. "Oh my God, you've found him!" Ororo cried and was holding onto her son for dear life in the next second, before she threw herself at Logan and sobbed into his neck. "Thank you…"

"Put a radar on him next time," this one grunted and was relieved when she finally let go of him. "He hung in some tree in the wood and was cryin' his eyes out."

"Thank you," said Kurt and hugged his son next.

"Hey, where are you going now?" Ororo asked Logan and took hold of his hand. "You haven't eaten anything at all today. Come sit down." Pushing him over to a free stool, everyone except her began to feel the tension that set in as soon as Logan had spotted his brother, who sat right opposite of him. "Here, eat some noodles," the woman said and put a plate and a bottle of beer in front of him before she returned to her seat and hugged Tommy again.

Logan ignored the noodles and opened the bottle instead while he glared daggers at the man in front of him. Scott and the others kept on looking to and fro between them only; felt how the temperature had rapidly dropped in the room. "So…," Scott began in hope to lighten up the mood a bit. "What have you been doing all day, John?"

"Not much…," this one replied and swallowed the last noodles he had on his plate. "Read some books, talked to the Professor…"

"And you?" Scott asked Logan next, but all he got was a roll of his eyes. "Come on, don't get all bitchy on us again. You must have been doing something today, Logan."

"Yeah, thinkin' of a way to get rid of ya," this one grunted and sipped on his beer. "If ya think that this small talk shit will make me talk to _him_…" He nodded at John. "Then you're wrong, bub!"

"God, Logan!" Scott sighed and leant back on his stool. "Do you want to behave like a male-bitch for the rest of your life and snap at everything that crosses your way?"

Logan shrugged nonchalantly. "Sounds good t'me…."

"I know how you feel, remember?" Scott said and was clearly angered. "I was crushed when Jean died at the Lake back then. I wished I'd been dead, too, instead of waking up every damn morning and feeling this emptiness within me. It was you who told me that it was time to move on, so why can't you do it yourself?"

"Well, guess what I've been wrong," this one replied and shot daggers at him. "So shut up!"

"You know…," John began and hearing his brother addressing him made Logan freeze in his movements. While he glared at him he narrowed his eyes in a silent warning. "I know how you feel."

"Yeah?" Logan asked sarcastically. "I doubt that."

"I do," his brother replied and looked him square in the eyes. Instantly the others felt how the temperature within the room dropped noticeably once more. Seeing the cold glare his brother gave him, John fixed his eyes on the glass that he held in his hand. "I lost my wife during childbirth… So I know exactly what it feels like, James…or Logan, if you prefer that." He looked up for a brief moment and saw how his brother now glared at his beer. A quick look to the side told him that the others were looking to and fro between them and waited for one of them to go on. "The worst are the nights…," he went on. "The loneliness, the memories, the guilt…the dreams… It all hits you like one giant wave at night. But the worst thing is…" He stopped to give a sad smile and stroked over the glass. "…that her scents everywhere and you still feel her presence… But when you reach out to where she should be…" He shook his head. "…there's nothing." Pausing for a brief moment John looked at Logan, who still glared at the bottle in his hand. "And people think we'll just heal, like always…," he went on. Hearing it, Scott looked down. It was exactly what he had said to Logan back then when Jean had died and the man had told him to move on. He had accused him of healing fast while he himself was suffering. Of course he had seen the pain in Logan's eyes after saying it, even if it hadn't been visible for longer than a second. Thinking about it now, he really felt bad about saying it. "But they forget that a soul never heals. A wound like that can't heal… Or they don't understand that our grief's different from theirs. That having two souls means to feel the pain twice as strong and with our senses even stronger than them." He looked at the others, who had remained silent and seemed to be pretty touched by his words. "So you see… You can't know how he truly feels. No one of you…"

"And you can't either," Logan growled, threw the bottle away and hopped of his stool to leave the room.

"Incorrigible," Scott sighed. "He is stubborn like a brick wall…"

"No," John corrected him. "It reached through. He's just covering it up…"

"Like he always does," the man nodded. "And he didn't eat again…"

"And I've told him that he needs to. I don't even want to know how many pounds he has already lost…," Hank sighed.

"He won't starve. We can't starve. At least not really," John said. "But I already figured that he looks pretty skinny… When was the last time he ate?"

"Don't know," Scott shrugged with a look at Ororo. "I haven't seen him eating something in months, have you?"

"No," she said and stroked through the now dark hair of her boy. "It's time for him to go to bed. We're off then. Has anyone seen TJ?"

"She's upstairs and plays with Isa," Mystique told her. "At least the last time I checked…"

"Okay, thanks. Night!" Ororo replied and left the kitchen together with Hank. At the door she stopped again and gave John a sad look. "I am sorry about your wife…," she added and left after receiving a nod from him.

"Scott," the Professor said from the door and wheeled into the room. "I want you and Mystique to head for New York City. I found Anna."

"You've found her?" John asked and got up. "Where is she? Is she okay?!"

"She seems to be fine. I am sorry, but I have to ask you to stay here. We don't know if Sinister is still around and if you are in danger," Charles told him in a calm voice. "I will let Scott and Mystique know where your daughter is and they will go and get her. It shouldn't take long."

"We'll find her," Scott assured John and patted his shoulder before he left the kitchen together with Mystique. "She's really okay?" he asked the Professor after exiting the elevator in the basement.

"I am not sure," this one replied. "She seems to be okay, but I can't tell what the girl has been through in the past months. Be careful in case that it is a trap. We don't know if Sinister is still looking for John… If he does, then the girl is the perfect way of lurking him or us into a trap."

"Shouldn't we take Logan with us then?" Mystique asked. "I mean he could sense if something was wrong."

"If there is a fight, Logan will be of no use in his current condition," the Professor shook his head. "You are right by saying that he can sense him, but I believe his senses are mostly shut down because his healing factor uses its power to keep his body working."

"We will be fine without him," Scott assured Mystique. "I doubt he would come with us anyway. You know him." He turned to head to the jet with her. "By the way… Is there any way of forcing Logan to eat something? He looks terrible…"

"I am already doing my best, Scott…," the Professor replied with a sad undertone in his voice. "Good luck and be careful!" He watched them exiting through the door to the hangar. Soon afterwards the jets engine could be heard.

"Professor," Forge suddenly said behind him. "Can we talk?"

"Of course, what is it?"

"Well… Hank and I have been going through the development of the new suits for a couple of months now. So far we added the old functions to the new prototype, but we still haven't figured out of how to strengthen the wearer's power… I don't know which technology Sinister has used, but… Even after analyzing the uniform Wolverine had worn as a Horseman…" He shook his head with a sigh. "We can't figure it out. It seems to be impossible to combine Logan's healing factor with the uniform. And if we use the old one and modify it… Well, he will still block our powers by wearing it."

"Hm…," Charles said and thought about what he had heard for a moment. "How long would it take to produce the uniforms with the technology you have now?"

"Probably a month or two," Forge shrugged. "It depends on how fast we can work… But remember," he warned. "By wearing them we can only block the function of our enemies to block our powers. We can't maximize our own gifts and Logan's healing factor will probably not work with the suit anyway…"

"I know," the bald man nodded. "But it's better than nothing, isn't it?"

* * *

On the next day, close to breakfast time, the Professor wheeled into the lab of the basement with a more than urgent look on his face. "Hank, on a word, please."

"What can I do for you, Charles?" the furry mutant asked and put his glasses down; concerned about the look that was visible on the older man's face. "Did something happen?"

"What would Logan have to do to get drunk?"

Staring at him in shock Hank began to think. "Well…it's impossible for him to get drunk. His healing factor doesn't allow it," he explained and told the Professor what this one actually already knew.

"Kitty told me just a few minutes ago that he has been very drunk at night," Charles replied and sounded concerned. "He couldn't even walk properly." But Hank shook his head. Still the Professor couldn't tell if it was a denial or because he couldn't believe it. "What if he mixed different strong alcohols together?"

Walking over to the computer he'd been working on, Hank shook his head. "No, Charles. His healing factor would fight it off within seconds."

"What else could he do to affect his healing factor so strongly?" the Professor asked next. "Any meds or something?"

"Honestly, I don't know, Charles," the furry mutant replied and leant back against a table. "It's impossible to tell how Logan's healing factor works… He usually fights meds of any kind off, too…"

"But I think I know what he's doing…," Ororo, who suddenly stood within the room, said and both men turned to look at her.

"And what?" Charles asked while turning his wheelchair around.

"Do you remember the second mission this Fury guy sent him on? The one that was supposed to last two weeks but Logan didn't return before four weeks?" she asked and both men nodded.

"Yes, he acted pretty weird back then," Hank said and nodded. "Do you know why?"

Nodding, the woman wrapped both arms around her. "Yes I do… And you are not going to like it…"

"_Hey, can we talk to you for a moment?" Peter asked and forced Jean to come to a halt with all the papers in her hands._

"_Sure, what is it?" she asked and looked at both men in confusion. It was rare that Peter or Bobby wanted to talk to her. Especially that they sounded so urgent._

"_Well, it is about Logan," Bobby said and crossed his arms._

"_What about him?"_

_Peter exchanged a look with Bobby. "We saw him in a bar yesterday after we came back from the movie theatre," he explained._

"_Yeah…," she nodded and had to use her telepathy to prevent her papers from falling down. "He goes to a bar sometimes, so where is the problem?"_

"_The problem is," Bobby replied. "…that we saw him mixing something into his drink…"_

_Hearing it, Jean had to frown. "Mixing what exactly into it?" she demanded t__o know and gave both men a look, but they shrugged._

"_We don't know," Peter said and shook his head. "We only thought that it was odd, since he usually drinks beer but he didn't on that evening."_

"_Well we thought you should know…," Bobby added and both began to walk backwards, leaving Jean with an even more confused look on her face behind them._

"_Thanks…," she mumbled and remained on the same spot before she turned around and headed for her rooms._

_Upstairs she threw her papers onto the next table, not caring that some of them fell to the ground. "Logan?" she asked aloud and waited for a reply, but there was none. Figuring that he was probably downstairs and still occupied with his classes, she entered the bedroom where she opened the wardrobe and grabbed his leather jacket. Not knowing what she was actually looking for she began to search through his pockets and even wallet._

"_Done searchin' through my things?"_

_Startling, she dropped the jacket to the ground and stared at Logan with widened eyes, who suddenly stood in the doorway, arms crossed, eyebrow cocked and only a towel covering his hips. "Jesus, Logan…," Jean gasped and got the jacket from the ground._

"_What are ya doin'?" he asked in a low growl and came closer while she backed off. He picked up on her nervousness too easily._

"_I…looked for something," she said and put the jacket back into the wardrobe._

"'_n what?" he asked while facing her. _

_Looking at him, Jean felt how her heart was racing in her chest. Right now he looked intimidating, even to her, and his dark eyes didn't help at all to lighten her mood. "Bobby and Peter saw you yesterday," she explained and wrapped her arms around herself._

"_And?" Logan asked in a very low voice, still looking more than pissed._

"_They said you mixed something into your drink, which wasn't your __casual beer…," she went on and thought it was better not to talk around the bush. Especially not in his current bad mood._

_Nodding playfully, Logan tilted his head a bit. "And that's a reason for ya to snoop around?" he asked and grabbed his jacket, a jeans and a shirt out of the wardrobe._

"_Logan, what did you mix into your drink and why?" Jean asked while he got dressed._

"_Had a headache, so what?" he grunted and she rolled her eyes._

"_Right… So you took an aspirin knowing that it had no effect on you anyway and mixed it with high proofed alcohol?" she asked sarcastically and felt how anger rose within her. "Do you think I'm stupid?"_

"_What's your fuckin' problem, Jean?" Logan snapped with a glare._

"_First, don't talk to me like that, mister and second," she said a bit louder. "…my problem is that you're hiding something from me. You're so weird lately…"_

_Nodding, he put on his shoes. "Right… I'm actin' a bit weird, so I'm the baddy again, eh?" he asked in a low growl and put his jacket on next. "Mind your own goddamn business, Red!"_

"_Logan!" she called after him but he'd already slammed the door shut, which got an additional hit from her fist in anger._

_

* * *

_

"_Are you sure?" Ororo asked and followed her best friend upstairs. _

"_It can't be something else," Jean replied and headed upstairs. "Come on, we've to hurry before he figures that __Peter and Bobby are keeping him busy." They entered the apartment together and went straight to the bedroom. "Look through the bedside table, I'll take his clothing," she ordered and a few seconds later they began to work._

"_Nothing," Ororo said after a while. "Only his casual things…"_

"_Same here," the redhead sighed._

"_If he really hides something, I doubt he would do it so openly, Jean," the weather goddess said and looked around the room. "He's not stupid!"_

_After looking around a bit more, Jean even climbed onto a chair to check the top of the wardrobe, before she went over to the drawer and looked through it. "Damn…," she cursed after even searching behind it and being unable to find anything._

"_Maybe behind the heater?" Ororo suggested and knelt down but shook her head. "No, nothing…" She watched how Jean knelt down next to the bed and began to search underneath it. Suddenly, her friend reappeared and she could tell that she was staring at something in shock. "What's wrong?" she asked concerned and walked over to where she redhead was with furrowed brows. Looking up, Jean held a small package with white powder up and Ororo's eyes widened. "Oh God…," she gasped and covered her mouth with one hand._

"_I don't believe this…," Jean mumbled and shook her head while her eyes were fixed on the package. _

"_Why is he consuming drugs?!" her best friend asked in disbelief. "That's not like Logan…" She watched how Jean got up with a tensed face._

"_He's not consuming it, 'Ro," she said and fought hard against the tears that came up. "It wouldn't affect him if it were the drugs only. He's mixing them in high doses with high proofed alcohol."_

"_But why?!" Ororo asked and ran a hand through her hair. She really couldn't believe what was just happening._

"_I don't know…," Jean shrugged and looked up when she heard how the front door was opened. It didn't take long and Logan came closer, unaware of what was going on. But as soon as he saw them, he froze on the spot. "But I'm curious to hear his excuse or it…," the redhead ended her sentence while she kept her eyes fixed on her husband._

"_I better leave the two of you alone," Ororo mumbled and left without looking at him once._

_Logan remained at the door and looked at the ground. Unsure of what to do or say, he kept his hands in his pockets. Jean sat down on the bed and shook her head in disbelief. "…why?" she asked after a while in barely more than a whisper and looked at him with tears in her eyes. She watched how he closed the door behind him and came over to sit down next to her. "Explain this to me, please!" she pleaded but he shook his head and lowered it. "Logan, I want an explanation!" Jean said louder and held the package up so that he had a good view on it. "Explain this!" she demanded once more but he remained silent. "Damn it, say something!" she yelled in anger and got up to walk over to the window, still shaking her head. "It had to do with that mission, hasn't it?!" she asked and after a moment he nodded. "What has happened?" Again he didn't say anything at all. Only shook his head and looked away. "Logan, tell me what has happened…," Jean pleaded in a softer voice._

"_I can't…," he finally said but it was hard for her to understand him at all._

"_You can and you will!" Jean replied harsher than before. "Since you came back you're completely not yourself! I've asked you so many times if something was bothering you, but you said no and then two friends have to tell me that _my _husband, of whom I thought he trusted me, takes drugs!"_

"_I do trust ya and ya know that!" Logan replied and looked away when he saw that she was crying._

"_Obviously not…," Jean replied disappointedly and looked away, too. "I thought we could talk about everything…"_

"_Not about this…," he said bitterly and shook his head._

"_Why not?!" she asked and sat down again but this time he got up and walked over to the window, where he looked out and crossed his arms._

"_I don't want ya know…," was all he mumbled and she sighed in frustration._

"_And I don't want to see you like this, Logan!" Jean replied louder and rand a hand through her face. "You said you'd be gone for two weeks, in the end it had been four and you were completely changed after you came back… You didn't say one word for days, only that you were fine and I didn't believe you!" She looked at him and shook her head. "Logan, I know you better than anyone else and I can tell when something's bothering you, so stop lying to me I'm your wife and I have a right to know!" Jean went on and exchanged a brief, but stern look with him when he finally turned around fir a second._

"_My squad was captured…," he finally said but still with his back to her._

"_What?" she asked with furrowed brows._

"_I had a mole in my squad who sold us to the enemy. So they captured us," Logan explained and she nodded unseen of him._

"_What happened then?" she asked calmer and he sighed._

"_I woke up on my knees and was secured to the ground…"_

"_Do you know who captured you?"_

_Smirking cynically, he nodded. "Yeah… I met him several times before…"_

"_What did he do?" Jean asked and reached out to touch his mind, but he blocked her out._

_Logan shrugged. "He wanted to know somethin'. So he asked me and every time I said that I'd no idea what he was talkin' about, he shot one of my squad," he explained and didn't see how she shook her head disgustedly and ran a hand through her face._

"_But…this can't be all…," she said after a while. "What happened then?" She heard how he heaved a deep breath and instantly knew that now came the hardest part for him. His demeanor had changed, he seemed to be even more tensed than before and she could see in the reflection of the window that his eyes had darkened even more. _

"_He stopped when there was only one left of'em," Logan briefly explained and cracked his neck. "'s that enough now?" he grunted annoyed and gave her a brief look, but Jean shook her head._

"_No, I want to know everything, Logan!" she said and he rolled his eyes. "One was left and then what? What did he do with him?"_

"_Her…," he mumbled and turned away again._

"Her_? So there was a woman in your squad?" she asked and received a silent nod. "Did you know her?"_

"_Yeah, I worked with her for some time back then in Madripoor. And he knew that, too…"_

"_Logan…what did he do to her?" Jean asked since she could sense that it was something big. While she waited for his reply, she kept on looking at his backside. If something messed him up so much then it was something big, she knew that._

"_He let six of his men have some fun with her right in front of me…," she heard him mumbling after a while and her eyes widened in shock. "She looked at me the whole time through and begged me to help her, but I couldn't…" He clenched his fists in anger. "When they were finally done with her they gutted her and left her to die. And then they just left…"_

_Only shaking her head, Jean wiped the tears from her cheeks. "What about you? What did they do to you?" she asked in barely more than a whisper and wrapped both arms around herself when she began to shiver. She couldn't believe how cruel men could be…_

"_Nothin'…," Logan replied with a simple shrug. "They left me there so that I'd to watch her dying…"_

_Not unnoticed of him, but he didn't care, she touched his mind and saw everything. She could see how hard he had fought against the chains that kept him to the ground, how hard he had tried to free himself and how much he'd wanted to help her and his comrades. So much that he had even begged his enemies to stop. Something he never did. Swallowing hard, Jean wiped her tears away again. "How…how did you get out?" she sniffed._

"_Fury and team found me after a bit more than a week…"_

_Hearing it her jaw dropped and her eyes grew wide. "A week?!" she asked in shock. "You were with them…no…" Logan still stood at the window and glared out of it full of hatred but also deep sorrow. After a while he looked down when her arms embraced him from behind and he felt her crying into his back. "Why didn't you tell me?" Jean sobbed but he shook his head._

"_I couldn't…"_

"_Instead of telling me you take drugs…," she said in complete disbelief and made him turn around so that she could face him. "I don't believe this!"_

"_I haven't taken them in over a week, Jean. I can't become addicted to it," Logan replied but she sighed._

"_Logan, it's not that you can't become addicted!" she lectured him. "You did something I thought you were never capable of! And since you mixed them with high proofed alcohol in higher doses, I assume that it wasn't the first time you did it. You knew the mixture would affect you," she went on and noticed that he looked past her. "You did it before, didn't you?"_

"_In the past, yeah," he admitted and lowered his head. "Coz it helps me to forget…" _

"_But only for a brief moment, Logan!" she sighed._

"_I only took them twice. Atomize them if ya want…"_

"_Already done," she said and he nodded. "Don't do that again…," Jean pleaded and touched his shoulder. "I don't want us to have secrets from each other, especially not something that big…"_

"_I'm sorry…," Logan mumbled and lowered his head again. "It's just… I can't talk about such things…"_

_Giving him a weak smile, Jean shook her head and touched his cheek. "You just did!" she told him. "Logan, it's okay to admit to be weak or if you can't deal with something. It doesn't make you a bad person… I want to know about such things. Especially when they bother you that much…"_

_He looked at her for a while before he made a step forward and embraced her tightly. "I'm really sorry…," he mumbled into her neck and buried his face in it._

"_I know…," she replied and pulled him even closer…_

"No, he wouldn't do that…," Hank said in denial and shook his head but Ororo nodded.

"He did… He admitted it."

"But why?!" the furry man asked and looked to and fro between her and the Professor; the latter looking rather blankly at the ground.

"He said, as far as Jean told me, that the mixture affects him and numbs his feelings for a moment. Logan said that back then he just did what he was asked for on his missions. But now he'd just think about too many things… If he just kills a father, if he takes someone's partner or child away…," she explained. "He said since he is with Jean and has a family on his own that he can't do such things anymore without going crazy…"

"That would explain a lot…," Charles mumbled and the other two mutants turned their heads to look at him.

"We have to talk some sense into the boy," Hank cursed and put his glasses away before he got rid of his white lab coat. "With him not eating or sleeping he already weakens his body too much. If the mixture is too high, it can cause more then severe damage!"

"Ororo…would you try and talk with him?" the Professor asked but the woman shook her head.

"I did yesterday…," she replied and crossed her arms. "But he threw me out…"

"What about Marie?" Hank suggested. "Both of them are close…"

"She already tried it, Hank," the woman said and shook her head. "He cut her off. But he admitted yesterday that the children are the problem. He doesn't know what to do about them anymore…"

"Well…," Hank said and walked over to the door. "Then let me handle it."

Exchanging a look with the Professor, Ororo began to frown. "What are you up to Hank?!" she asked him before he disappeared through the door.

"If talking doesn't help…," they heard their friend saying. "Then we have to use some force… I'll see you later."

"Do you think that this is such a good idea?!" she asked Charles in disbelief. "You know how aggressive Logan can become lately."

"Honestly, Ororo," the bald man replied and wheeled over to the door, followed by her. "I have done my best to manipulate Logan into eating and sleeping. He doesn't react to it… If we have to force him, then so be it. It's only for his own good in the end…"

"I think this is not such a good idea," she disagreed with him. When the elevator reached the upper level, they saw how Hank gave Scott, Peter and Bobby instructions. "They are not going to attack him altogether, are they?" she groaned and shook her head.

When Logan came down to the kitchen to fill the sippy cup for Jamie, he cocked an eyebrow as he saw his teammates standing close to the kitchen door and looking at him. He sensed that they were up to something and approached them very carefully. As soon as he had walked past them, Peter grabbed his arms and pinned them to his back. Before he could do something, the other man had half transformed into his organic form and had melted his arms with his own together. "What is this shit about?" Logan asked furiously since the rest had grabbed him, too.

"We have a nice talk now, my boy!" Hank said and was about to drag him down to the Professor's office, as Bobby suddenly yelped and hit the ground. Hank had turned but only seen that the young man held his leg and that his face mirrored the pain he obviously felt. "Logan, stop fighting! It's only for your own good!" he said aloud but his friend had already kicked Peter in the balls with a low growl and this one was forced to let go of him. "Grab him!"

"How?" Scott asked and ducked as Logan took a swing at him. With a snarl Hank jumped at Logan's back and tried to pin him to the ground, but the only result he got was that now the fight was really on.

"I told you this was insane!" Ororo said panicky and watched how Scott and Hank tried to fight a furious Wolverine off, while this one had extracted his claws and slashed at them in rage.

"What are they doing?" Rogue suddenly asked next to her and stared at the scenery in shock; Remy standing right next to her as Kurt teleported to his right.

"Remy dinks dat dey pissed off Logan, non?" Remy asked and Kurt nodded his agreement.

"Vat happened?" Kurt asked his wife, who let out a loud, dramatic sigh.

"Hank thought it was a good idea to force Logan into eating or whatever he was about to do with him," she explained. "And as you can see….Logan doesn't like it!" Everyone who had looked at her switched their heads back to the fighting as Scott suddenly crashed into a vase, which shattered to pieces, and saw how Hank was slammed into the wall by a more than furious Wolverine, who pinned him to it with one hand and pointed his claws at the throat of the furry mutant. "Shouldn't we intervene by now?" Ororo asked ironically and didn't wait for a reply but stepped forward to stop anything worse from happening. "Logan, let him go!" she pleaded but kept a distance to the growling mutant.

"What's this shit'bout?" Logan grunted and still pointed his claws at Hank's throat.

"We only want to help you!" this one replied and pressed himself against the wall to evade the sharp knives in front of him.

"By attackin' me?!" Logan snapped and slammed him into the wall once more before he let go of him. "Do ya have a death wish or somethin'?"

"That's what I'm asking you, my boy!" Hank gave back, clearly angered and straightened his clothing. "How can you take drugs when your body is already weakened by your lack of sleep and food?!"

"Logan takes drugs?" Rogue asked shocked and gave Ororo an even odder look when the woman nodded. Also the others stared at their friend in utter disbelief, but Logan only cocked an eyebrow at his opposite.

"Are you crazy or something?" Hank asked him as Scott and the others got slowly up.

"Are ya nuts?!" Logan asked in return and retracted his claws. "I ain't no takin' any drugs."

"'Ro told him, Logan," Scott said and rubbed the back of his head. "She told him that you took drugs and mixed them with high proofed alcohol after that mission this Fury guy gave you. And you were drunk at night, Kitty saw you!"

"Right," Logan nodded and rubbed the back of his knuckles, which were still bleeding. "I wasn't drunk but who cares…," he snapped and was about to walk away as Hank stopped him.

"You were! Kitty said that you couldn't even walk straight!"

"Let me think…," Logan replied sarcastically. "Might have to do with the fact that I used the Dangerroom, but never mind!"

"Sure," Scott nodded and crossed his arms. "Because you always leave it and can't walk straight…"

"Guys," Ororo intervened as the Professor and others came closer. "Come on, let's talk like grown-ups, okay?"

"Tell him," Logan snapped and pushed Hank's hand away as this one wanted to touch his shoulder.

"Where are you hiding them, Logan?" the Professor asked and received a glare. "You know that I hardly tolerate alcohol within the mansion, not to speak of Cigars…but I definitely won't allow drugs under my roof!"

"Are ya deaf or somethin'?" Logan growled. "I said I don't do drugs!"

"Then how come you've been drunk?" Hank asked him. "You can't get drunk and Ororo said that drugs combines with alcohol affect you a lot. Explain to us then how you managed to become drunk at night!"

"And again…," the other mutant growled. "I wasn't drunk!"

"Then what?" Scott asked him and tilted his head.

"What's it to ya?" Logan grunted and turned around.

"We are not done yet, Logan!" Charles called after him.

"Bite me!" this one snapped and slammed the door shut behind him.

"So much to your plan, Hank," Ororo said ironically. "I told you it won't work… You only pissed him off."

"Still, it doesn't solve our problem," this one replied. "If he really takes drugs he endangers not only himself but also his children."

"Oh, yeah," Scott nodded with a sarcastic smile. "Threaten him with taking the children away from him will do… Do you want me to start running now?"

"Scott," Ororo scolded him. "Maybe he said the truth and wasn't drunk…"

"Sure," he nodded. "So he just hit his leg and couldn't walk properly, huh?"

"No, I mean…," she began as Rogue suddenly uttered a shriek.

"He's bleeding!"

"What?" Hank asked and gave her a confused look.

"There!" the young woman said and pointed to the ground where they could clearly see a great amount of blood droplets. "He never loses blood when he uses his claws…"

"Except his healing factor isn't working properly," Ororo said. "It's been the same back then. Every time he left the Dangerroom I had to clean up because he was bleeding… Maybe that's the reason why he couldn't walk properly…"

"If it is, then we need to do something about it," Hank said with a look at Charles. "He can't go on like that. He has a responsibility towards his children."

"Ororo, he's upstairs in his room," Charles said and gave the woman a look. "Would you please try to talk to him and tell him that he needs to rest? I believe from all people he will listen to you the most."

"I can try," she nodded and walked of. Upstairs she entered the apartment and found Logan in the bedroom, where he sat on the edge of the bed.

"What do ya want this time?" he growled and when she came closer, she saw that he was looking at Rachel, who slept on a shirt she recognized as Jean's.

"Actually, keeping you some company," she replied and turned back to him, but he refused to look up.

"And again, I don't need company, so piss off, Storm!" he snapped in a hushed voice to not wake his youngest daughter.

"Logan, you can't do all of this alone," she said and heard him heaving a very deep breath. "You're not eating or sleeping, Rogue noticed that you've been bleeding… So how for God's sake do you want to do all of this?"

"Mind your own business," was all he grunted and kept looking at Rachel.

"Logan, please!" Ororo begged and sat down next to him before she made him look at her; ignoring that he growled. "I want you to lie down and sleep. You need to rest! Think about your children and how they'll feel if their father ends up in the infirmary. You really need to sleep…" She held his gaze for what seemed like minutes.

"Will ya stop goin' on my nerves then?" he asked and she nodded. "Fine!" he snapped and walked over to his side of the bed where he lay down. "And don't even dare to still sit there when I wake up!"

"I'll wait until you fell asleep and then sit down in the living room to take care of the children," she replied, crossed her arms and gave him her best _don't-mess-with-me-look_. But he only rolled his eyes, turned around and closed his eyes. "Good boy!" she smiled and stifled her laugh when he uttered another growl.

* * *

A bit later, after the children had woken up and prepared for the day, Ororo led them downstairs to the kitchen to make them lunch. "Hey, Jack!" Isa greeted her friend and gave him a smile. "Do you want to go to the pool with us later?"

"No," this one replied and sat down on a stool, accompanied by his siblings.

"Why not?" TJ asked and sipped on her iced tea. "Come on, it'll be fun."

"I said no!" the boy growled and glared at them. "Leave me alone."

"Sweety, don't be rude!" Ororo scolded him and put the plate in front of him.

"I'm not rude!"

"Someone has gotten up with the wrong leg, hm?" Scott asked him. "There's no reason for you to snap at others just because you are in a bad mood, okay?"

"I don't snap!" Jack snapped and pushed the plate away.

"Jack, now stop it!" Ororo said a bit louder. "I doubt you were taught to behave like this, were you?"

"You are not my mother!" he yelled and was out of the backdoor in a second.

"Unbelievable…," she sighed as she noticed how Lily, Rachel and Laura began to pull a face first and to sob next. "Oh, sweeties, come on," she cried and went over to hug them, accompanied by Scott, while Isa and TJ exchanged confused glances. "I didn't mean to be so loud. I'm sorry if I startled you," Ororo apologized and pulled to of them close.

"I want mommy," Rachel sobbed into her chest and the woman raised her head with a hurt look on her face, as she exchanged a look with Scott.

"I know, sweety," she said calmly and pulled her close. "I know…"

"Hey," Scott said after a moment when the sniffing had stopped. "Have you already met your cousin?"

"What cousin?" Lily sniffed into Ororo's neck.

"The daughter of your father's brother," he explained. "She's just arrived here. You wanna go and meet her?"

"No," Laura said and crossed her arms.

"Come on, why not?" Scott asked her. "I'm sure Anna wants to meet you guys. She needs some friends here if she's staying."

"Hey," John said as he entered the room with his daughter in his arms. "Thanks again for finding her."

"No problem," Scott smiled. "How's she doing?"

"Good," the girl with dark brown, shoulder length hair and brown eyes replied, while she snuggled deeper into her father's embrace.

"That's good," the man nodded. "Come on, sit down. We prepare lunch." He got up, accompanied by Ororo.

"I'm not hungry," Rachel said and Ororo sighed.

"Sweety, you have to eat," she said while she began to cook some noodles. "Your father already is worried like hell…"

"Daddy's not eating either," Laura lectured her.

"I know, but your daddy knows that it's wrong and he will eat something later," Ororo went on and smiled at John as he began to help them.

"You sure he will?" Scott asked her in a hushed voice.

"And if I've to force the food down his throat," the weather goddess replied determined. "He will eat!"

About thirty minutes later everyone was gathered in the kitchen and Ororo was proud to have been able to force the almighty Wolverine to come down for lunch. As she had guessed correctly, he had been awake and unable to sleep for longer than five minutes and now looked drowsily as ever. After putting a plate in front of him, she received a cocked eyebrow and was now forced to watch him using his fork to shove the noodles from one side of the plate to the other for minutes. Next to him sat Rachel, who looked through the plate and hadn't touched it either while the rest of them didn't look that happy to be in the kitchen, too. "Logan…," Ororo sighed. "Would you please eat something?"

"Ain't hungry," he grunted and threw the fork onto the plate.

"You need to eat!"

"No, mom, I ain't hungry," he said sarcastically once more and would have received some giggles if the situation wasn't so serious.

"Don't go all bitchy on me now!" Ororo gave back and looked pissed. "Look at Rachel! She isn't eating again because you are not eating. Try to eat something for her. She needs to eat!"

Looking at his daughter, he watched how she stared at the plate motionless. "Eat, pum'kin," he said but she shook her head. "C'mon, at least half of it."

"But I'm not hungry, daddy…," Rachel replied and gave him a look.

"You are and you're gonna eat that stuff now," Logan replied and with a roll of her eyes the redhead slowly began to swallow some noodles. "Good. And now to you," he said to Jack. "If I hear again that you behave rudely towards others, you gonna stay inside for the rest of the holidays without yer Playstation, got that?"

"But she started it!" the boy replied with a nod at his Aunt.

"I don't care right now who started what," his father gave back. "I didn't raise you like that and I won't tolerate that behavior, boy."

"She can't tell me what to do!" Jack yelled and hopped of his chair in anger.

"She's a grown-up, so she can and you'll listen to it," Logan hissed and saw how the eyes of his son blackened in a fit of fury. "And don't even dare to throw a tantrum now!" he warned him and the boy walked over to the door in anger where he gave the trash bin a hard kick that it toppled over.

"She is not my mother and I hate you!" he yelled while crying before he ran away.

"He doesn't mean it!" Ororo said when Logan looked down. "He's only angry."

"He means it," this one grunted and crossed his arms while he heaved a deep breath. "And he can be sure as hell that his holidays are over…," he added in a deep growl and followed his son upstairs. Exchanging a look with her siblings Rachel let the fork fall and stared at the plate again, while Lily and Laura did the same.

"Guys, please eat," Scott told them but they shook their heads.

"Hey," John said with a smile at the three girls, who gave him a suspicious look. "Do you want to do your father a favor?"

"By doing what?" Laura asked him with a cocked eyebrow.

"By surprising him with empty plates?" he suggested. "C'mon, he'll feel a lot better if you eat your noodles, okay? It'll make him happy if you do that for him…"

"Really?" Lily asked skeptically after a while and John gave her a smile and nod.

"Yeah, really," he replied. "Will you do that for him?"

Thinking about it for a while and exchanging a look with her sisters, Lily finally shrugged. "Okay…"

"Good." Smiling when they began to eat slowly, John looked at Ororo and winked at her.

"You're good with children," Scott remarked.

"Have some practice…"

"Would you be interested in teaching?" he asked. "Since Logan stopped we're running short at staff. Bobby and Peter still have other things to do and are already taking turns in doing Physical Education and Remy and Kurt are sharing the Foreign Languages classes your brother did before. So if you're good at anything just let the Professor know, we'll be glad to have some help."

"Actually I speak English only. I never learned French back then," John replied. "Which languages did my brother teach here?"

"He did the German, French, English and Spanish classes," Ororo told him while she watched over Tommy, who ate. "And for those who were interested Japanese and Mandarin."

"He speaks Japanese and Chinese?" he asked surprised.

"Not only that…," Scott smirked and shook his head. "In fact you could travel anywhere and be sure that Logan knows that language. He's a walking dictionary. But how come you don't speak French? I thought every Canadian did."

"Might have missed it," John smirked. "Right, honey?" he asked his daughter and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Tidy up!" Logan suddenly said from the door and gave Jack a push into the kitchen. "And don't give me that look of yours, boy!" he warned and crossed his arms. He watched how Jack began to throw the garbage back into the can. "Properly!" he warned him.

"I'm doing it properly!" the boy yelled and threw a can away.

"Not in that tone!" his father gave back and narrowed his eyes. "And now go upstairs into your room!" he added after Jack was done and watched how this one left the kitchen even madder than before. "And don't even dare to slam a door!" he warned him and waited until he could hear him reaching the twins' room on the upper level. Heaving a deep breath, he ran both hands through his tired face and looked aside when he felt something touching his leg. "At least you've fun," Logan mumbled and pulled Jamie up into his arms. "Has he eaten?" he asked Ororo, who nodded and pointed at the plates opposite of her, where the three girls had been sitting before. "They've eaten?!" he asked surprised.

"John talked them into doing you a favor," she told him and watched how Logan gave his brother a glare. "So they did it…"

"Thanks…," he grunted through clenched teeth and left the kitchen.

"Well, receiving a _thanks_ from him is as much worth as winning a million dollars," Scott remarked and received a look from Ororo. "What? It's true!"

* * *

While they sat together and discussed the new schedule for the next term with the Professor, this one suddenly stared blankly at his desk and furrowed his brows. "Professor?" Mystique asked him and exchanged a worried look with the others. "Is something wrong?"

Watching how he looked up and turned his head to look out of the window, the group began to feel worried. "Charles, what's wrong?" Scott asked and finally the bald man turned his head to look at them.

"It's Erik," he mumbled and Mystique let out a snort. "He just called for help…"

"Help?" the woman asked cynically. "As if he would ask for help…"

"I know, Raven," Charles said with a concerned look on his face. "But I can assure you that he just did and that this deeply concerns me… He wouldn't ask me for help if it wasn't something big…"

"Did he say what's wrong?" Ororo asked and watched how the Professor began to concentrate.

"He's in… He's somewhere underground…," the man shook his head while he still concentrated. "His voice gets weaker…" He waited another minute until he heard the last cry of help and gave Scott a stern look. "Scott, get dressed and the jet ready. This is serious!"

"But where do you want us to go?" the man asked and got up. "What if it is a trap?"

"Erik has no reason to attack us at the moment," the bald man said and wheeled over to the door. "I have a feeling that Sinister is behind that attack…"

"How can you be so sure?" Mystique asked him still sounding skeptical and crossed her arms. "He's the master of manipulation…"

Stopping at the door, the Professor gave her a look. "Because he said that he can't use his powers…," he replied and left to use Cerebro.

**And we know what that means, right? ; ) Thanks to all of you who reviewed: ) I hope you liked this chapter, too. It was pretty easy to write and I was done in three days. The drug scene with Logan really happened in House of M when he was with Mystique. The flashback scene was pre-written very early, so were some others. The next chapter will include some of my other pre-written scenes. I'm pretty bored here in the US, so I guess there will be some updates in the future. I will also start some of my other stories that I came up with. I am not so sure with which one I should start first… It depends on which works the best for me. So, please review!! See ya!!**


	21. Chapter 20

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; )

Hey, guys. Second chapter from the States. I really, really wanna go home. : ( I'm absolutely not happy here. This has nothing to do with your country!!! I'm just in a small village in PA and here's absolutely nothing you can do. No shops or anything. The next mall is about 30 minutes by car and I am boring my a off. : ( It's horrible. I'd love to see NYC or Washington but every time we plan a trip it's raining. : ( Anyway, here's the next chapter. If things keep going like they are now, I should be able to finish Changes while I'm in the States, since…I have nothing else to do. So, have fun reading!!

Oh, and if there are any odd expressions: I don't have my English-German dictionary with me, because it's too heavy. : ( Only the German-English one and this one's not that thick.

**Beta done by me.**

**Changes ****Sequel – II. Covenant Part 20**

After Scott had landed the jet and the X-Men had left it, they looked around the dark area in hope to find what they had come for. "Can you pick up on them?" Scott asked and gave Logan, who had needed to be persuaded by the Professor to come and help them through the sewer and factory, a look.

"No," this one grunted and looked around uninterestedly.

"I know you don't want to be here, Logan," he said. "But we need your help here, so come on!" He led the way to the entrance of the factory followed by the others. "Be careful and pay attention! I'll go in first," he warned and opened the heavy door. The inside was dark, only lit up by few broken lamps on the ceiling. Scott cursed when the door gave a screeching noise and waited if there was any reaction on the inside. If they were still there, then they knew they were coming. "And?" he asked Logan but this one shook his head. "We have to be careful if they wear their uniforms. If you see one of them, make sure to keep a distance and inform the others." After receiving nods of his team, he told them to separate and search the factory. Ordering Logan to lead one team, he led the other one and was surprised to find the place mostly deserted. It was unlikely, as he thought, that the Brotherhood had been here. At least he couldn't see any traces of them that indicated they or anyone else had been here at all. "Maybe you were right," he told Mystique, who walked right next to him. "And it was a false alarm…"

"He's probably preparing to attack the mansion by now," she replied cynically and rolled her eyes. "If he lays a hand on my son, I swear…," she began as Scott suddenly stopped and she bumped into him. "What?"

"Logan picked up on Sabretooth," he told his team in a hushed voice.

"So they're here," Bobby nodded and checked if someone was behind them. "Any signs of Magneto and his gang?"

"There's a door, why don't we check on it?" Mystique suggested and they headed for it.

In another corridor of the faculty, Logan led the group around another corner. Sabretooth's scent was still too strong as that the mutant could have been away for very long. Nevertheless, he wasn't so sure. His senses seemed to be working as if he was meters underground. "And?" Ororo asked him but he shook his head. "I'm sure they are still somewhere around…"

"What about Magneto?" Peter asked him. "Can you sense him?" he asked as Logan suddenly stopped and gave them a sign to do the same.

"Logan, what's wrong?" Ororo asked and tried to read anything in his eyes.

"Cyke said they found some mutants," he grunted and let go of his headset. "Obviously members of the Brotherhood…"

"And? Do they know where Erik is?" she asked him as he cocked an eyebrow at her.

"They're dead, Storm," Logan replied and saw how her eyes widened a bit.

"What?!" she asked him in disbelief.

"Seems as if Sinister's guys have done their job…," Peter mumbled and looked around. "Was Magneto with those mutants?"

"No…," Logan grunted. "They are currently lookin' for survivors…" He gave a door at the far end of the corridor a short glance. Somehow it looked strange… "Over there," he said and walked over to it. As he approached the door, he finally saw why it looked so strange. "Pyro's work…"

"So it seems," Ororo nodded and she followed him through the melted steel. A look around was enough to tell her that no one was there.

"They found Magneto, Pyro and Juggernaut," Logan informed them on their way back. "And two additional survivors. The rest is dead…"

"Damn…," she cursed as her arm was suddenly grabbed by him. "What?" Looking at Logan from aside, both, she and Peter, exchanged a look as they saw the furrowed brows of their teammate. They could tell that he had picked up on something.

"Run," was all Logan said before Sabretooth, Daken and two mutants, that looked too much like him that it couldn't have been a coincidence that they were here, broke through a nearby wall next and headed after them. "Cyke, have ya brought the survivors to the jet?" he asked aloud and listened to the reply. "Then start the fuckin' engines!"

"'Ro!" Peter yelled as the woman broke through the floor with a loud shriek all of a sudden. Stopping, he gave their followers a brief glance. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just keep on running!" she said and got up. "We meet at the jet!"

"Let's go!" Logan grunted and grabbed his arm to force him into a run. Ignoring the pain in his hands, he extracted the claws and heard how Peter changed into his organic form. Together they ran down the corridor and he could already hear how the jet's engines began to roar on the outside as Daken and his two doppelgangers blocked their way. "Hi, Dad," his son greeted with and evil smirk and a look to the side told Logan that their powers were obviously blocked; Colossus was forced to change back and his hands were covered with blood that left the cuts on his knuckles. "Nice of you to pay us a visit."

"Cut it off," Logan grunted and retracted the claws, but still kept his position to attack. He turned his head and searched for Sabretooth, but the mutant was nowhere to be seen. "Damn it…"

"He's after Storm…," Peter mumbled and exchanged a look with him. "What now?" he asked as a large red beam slammed Daken into the wall. Impressed by it, the two Wolverines whimpered and backed off a bit.

"Now!" Logan said and forced Peter into a run once more. "They're scared." Growling at them and baring his teeth, he leapt at the right one while his teammate attacked the second one. Together they slammed both Wolverines into each other, heard how bones cracked and let them drop to the ground next to the unconscious Daken. "Didn't I tell you to start the jet?!"

Scott shrugged with a smirk. "Well, I thought you could need some help. Did I hit them?"

"You hit the bull's eye," Peter replied and followed them to the outside where the jet was already hovering above the ground.

"Where's 'Ro?" Logan asked after they had entered it but the woman was nowhere to be seen.

"I thought she was back at the jet since she wasn't with you," Scott said and turned around.

"Obviously not!" the other man snapped and glared at him. After looking back at the facility, Logan suddenly felt his inner alarm setting off and ran back to the outside.

"Hey!" Scott called after him but his teammate was already gone. "Damn…"

"What now?" Bobby asked him while he was controlling the jet.

"He can handle himself," Scott replied but still looked worriedly at the open hatch. "Let's just wait…"

Knowing where the exit should be, Ororo ran through the endless corridors in the basement in hope to reach a staircase or something similar soon. Due to the fall she had lost her headset and was now running blindly around, as a noise behind her caught her attention. She stopped panting and turned her head, just to see a grinning Sabretooth standing only few meters behind her. Not thinking twice, she began to run again, as fast as she could, and soon reached the door she believed to be the exit. She opened it, went inside and stopped. It was a dead end. "No…," she gasped and was about to turn around as the door slammed open and a smirking Sabretooth blocked the exit. Terrified, since she knew that her powers were blocked, Ororo began to back off until her back hit the wall. She couldn't help but shiver and looked around for any weapon she could find.

"Look who's there…," the tall mutant purred and watched in purest satisfaction how the woman pressed herself against the wall. He heard her panting in exertion and smelled the fear that her body radiated. He loved to see her eyes being widened like that. Chuckling, he slammed the door shut and came slowly closer. He was aware of the fact that he was the hunter and she was his prey. Deciding to play that game a bit more Sabretooth cracked his knuckles with a feral grin. Every time the woman tried to run past him he quickly blocked her way with a chuckle until she gave up with a desperate sob. "Ahhh…what's that?" he asked her in faked pity and grinned when she glided down to the ground as he stopped in front of her. He knew he had her. "I haven't even started yet…," he hissed and grabbed her roughly before he pushed her forcefully to the ground.

"No…," Ororo cried and tried to fight him off when she felt his large hands grabbing the front of her uniform. "Please let me go!"

"Hm…," Sabretooth grinned and stopped his attempts for a moment. "What do ya offer me if I'll just let ya go, hm?" he asked and ran a claw over the woman's wet cheek with a low chuckle. "Can't do that…" His chuckle became even louder when he heard her screaming for help. With an easy movement he had pulled her up to bend her face down over the steel table in the room. "Yer borin' me, bitch!" he growled and grabbed her throat. "No fightin' at all… Too easy fer me, don't ya think?" He chuckled as she let out a whimper when he bent over her. "Or maybe…it's what ya want, eh?" he growled into her ear and rubbed against her before he grabbed the front of her leather pants. "Ever done it with my lil' bro'?"

"Please, don't…," Ororo whimpered and tried to move under his heavy weight but it only earned her another chuckle.

"I'll make it quick…," Sabretooth smirked and licked his lips. "Promise…"

Logan ran searching through the corridors and followed the scents he could pick up on. The basement was too unclear to find a direct way through it. He practically felt like running through the underground base of Alkali Lake, when he had tried to reach his friends in time and prevent them from dying. He knew why he hadn't wanted to come in the first place… As he turned around another corner the scents became stronger and he extracted his claws before opening a single door. Ready to attack whoever was behind it, he growled and was surprised to find the room empty; except for the woman he'd been looking for, who sat in the farthest corner, legs pulled close and looked back at him with a tearstained face. Retracting his claws, Logan clenched his fists as his senses told him clearly what must have happened in the room before. Seeing his look and feeling how shame washed over her, Ororo lowered her head and began to sob.

On the outside, Scott had been pacing in front of the jet and was waiting for his two comrades to return. They had to go back to the mansion quickly to bring the surviving members of the Brotherhood to the ICU and now his feeling kept on telling him that something must have happened. Logan and Ororo were both too long gone. "And?" he heard Peter calling.

About to shake his head he saw movement from afar. "They're coming. Start the engines and make sure that the radar works. We can't afford to lose a third jet," Scott said and gave Logan a worried look since this one carried Ororo, who had her arms wrapped around his neck and hid her face on it. "What happened?!" he asked but Logan just went past him.

"Nothin'," he grunted.

"What about…," Scott began and was cut off.

"She's fine," Logan replied a bit louder than necessary and felt how the woman in his arms startled. "Move your butt and let's head back home!" He went over to one of the beds that they had taken with them in case they had to transport wounded people. "Lie down," he said a bit calmer and helped Ororo to do so before he secured her. "We'll be home soon," he added and was about to head for his own seat as she grabbed his hand.

"Stay here…," she begged him in an almost inaudible voice and he saw the fear in her eyes. "Please…" Only nodding, he held onto the walls as good as he could when Scott sent the jet onto its way back home.

* * *

"What are their chances?" the Professor asked with a concerned look at Erik and the remaining mutants of the Brotherhood. 

Looking at his chart, Hank pulled down his glasses and sighed. "They were lucky…," he replied and gave Magneto a look. "But I have to say that John, Cain and Erik are in far better condition than those two… I can't tell if they will survive or not, but I'll do my best."

Nodding, Charles turned around and wheeled to the door. "Well, we already have a lot to do to find out more about the clones Sinister has made of Logan… Keep me updated, will you?"

"Of course," Hank said and returned to his work.

Just as the Professor had left the ICU a door opened and Forge stormed out of it. "Charles!" he yelled and the bald man stopped in an instant; obviously more than alarmed. "I made it! It should work!" Smiling, since he understood what the man meant the Professor nodded.

"I'll tell the others to meet me in my office in about 20 minutes."

Half an hour later the X-Men were gathered in the Professor's office. He was sitting behind his desk and waited. "So, what happened?" Scott asked him. "Any more attacks?"

"No," Charles soothed him. "I will let you know as soon as Logan is here." Just as he had said it the door opened and a pissed looking Logan entered with Jamie on his arm.

"What do ya want?"

"Would you please come closer and lay Jamie on the desk?" the Professor asked kindly, but all he received was a cocked eyebrow and skeptical look from the man at the door.

"Why?" Logan grunted and pulled his son instinctively closer in order to protect him. "What do ya want with him?"

"I asked Forge after Apocalypse's last attack to try and create a device that would allow us to connect with our older selves," Charles replied and earned questioning looks. "After hearing about the man who helped us in the fight… Well, I assume, Logan, that it was Jamie, who came to help us from the future…"

"Yeah, sure," Logan nodded cynically. "And I'm Santa's reindeer…," he added and turned around to leave when he was stopped by the Professor.

"The man who helped us created, as far as I've been told, a Phoenix, Logan," he said and the mutant at the door stopped. "Only Jean and her children can do that. There's no mutant whose powers are similar to Jean's. If someone can create a Phoenix and possesses a power so strong that it even beat Apocalypse…then it can be only Rachel or Jamie and since it was a man it has to be Jamie."

"Sounds logical…," Hank nodded and all heads turned to Logan, who still had his back turned to them and glared daggers at the door.

"Since Jamie obviously possesses about powers that allows him to switch into his younger versions, since Remy told me that the boy had suddenly vanished here before the man had appeared, I assume that he switched bodies with our Jamie in order to help us," Charles went on and looked at Logan as this one turned around.

"So what do ya wanna do?"

"With this device here," Forge explained and touched the object. "We should be able to do the same…"

"So?" Logan shrugged.

"So we have a chance to get to know why Jamie came to help us," Charles said. "There must be a reason behind it. Remember that your older version contacted Jean, too, in order to tell her about the impact the loss of Jamie would have on the future. By telling you this, we were able to prevent this future from happening. So what if Jamie came to change something?"

"Well, even if this crap is true…," Logan grunted. "Ya ain't gonna use my kid for some sick experiments, Chuck!"

"I tested it," Forge tried to soothe him. "It worked."

"Yeah?" the other man replied cynically. "Who did ya talk to then? The brain he lost?" He nodded at the Professor. "What did it say? _Help me, he's a madman_?"

"What if it really works?" Hank asked him and Logan turned to glare at him. "I mean… We could ask them when attacks will happen and prevent them… Maybe something will happen to us and the school tomorrow and he could tell us…"

"What if the thing explodes and kills my kid or teleports him to who knows where?" Logan replied. "Not…gonna…happen!" From afar he could hear a _click_ and saw that Forge had activated the device. Growling at him, his eyes suddenly grew wide as Jamie began to glow and disappeared. He stared at his empty hands in shock for a second until his brain realized what had just happened. "You…," Logan growled at Forge and his eyes blackened in rage. "…are dead!" About to leap at him, he was suddenly thrown back by a gigantic ball of light. As soon as it had come, it was gone again. Since all he saw was stars that danced in front of his eyes, Logan shook his head and looked up.

"Dad?" a young man that stood in the middle of the room asked and gave him a scared and confused look. "What's going on?"

"You don't have to be scared, Jamie," the Professor tried to soothe him and looked at the man in interest; practically as everyone else did. "We just did a little exchange. It won't take long and you'll be back home. But we have some questions first…"

"Exchange?!" Jamie asked and looked from him towards his father, who slowly got up and scanned him from head to toe.

"Yes," Charles smiled. "We exchanged you against your present version."

"Dad, what is grandpa talking about?" the man now asked his father and had both brows furrowed.

"It's 2016…," was all Logan could say since he was too absorbed in staring at him. He looked at the unruly, nearly black hair first that looked so much like his own, switched then to the two green eyes. He felt a sharp stitch in his chest. They were the perfect copy of Jean's, he thought. Other than that the boy seemed to have inherited his physical looks while the features were a perfect mixture of both parents.

"What?!" Jamie suddenly asked and awoke him from his daydream.

"How old are you Jamie?" the Professor asked and the boy turned to him.

"Tu…turning 16 in three days…," his opposite stuttered and began to feel uncomfortable. The looks he received from all those familiar faces were just too scary. "What do you mean with 2016?! What the hell is going on here?!"

"We don't have much time to explain, I am sorry," Charles apologized. "But we have some important questions. Was it you who came to help us against Apocalypse?" he asked and received a suspicious look and a nod after a while. "Why?"

"To change time…," was all Jamie replied before he cocked an eyebrow at the bald man and crossed his arms. Nudging Hank, Scott nodded at the young man and received a nod in return. It was too obvious who the boy's father was.

"Change time?" Logan suddenly asked and his son turned around. "I thought everythin' was fine by ya after we saved ya…"

"It was, yeah," the younger man replied. "Until we woke up one day and everything was different." Logan noticed the sudden change within his son. "Dad said… I mean you said that you guys must have done something wrong and that you'd warned mom about it."

After he thought about the things he'd just heard the Professor looked up from his desk. "Do you know what we did wrong?"

"No…," Jamie shrugged. "But I read some data about it. The things I changed by coming to help you… Well…" He looked at Logan, who had his arms crossed and cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Well what?" he grunted and noticed that his son suddenly looked ashamed at him.

"I didn't mean to be too late…," he heard him saying in hardly more than a whisper. "I wanted to save you and mommy. But all I managed to do was to save the others."

"What do you mean by that?" Charles asked with furrowed brows. "Which others?"

"Her for example," Jamie replied with a nod at Ororo, who had stared at the table most of the time; all she did was widening her eyes a bit. "She and some of the others died on that day due to another attack of Apocalypse," he went on and didn't see that the X-Men exchanged surprised glances. "I read that Apocalypse's attack killed my parents, destroyed the school and killed nearly all X-Men and their allies. Those in the basement survived, because mom's power protected them, long enough to save themselves. But the rest…" He shook his head.

"Who of them died?" the Professor demanded to know and watched how Jamie looked at the group again.

"The files said that Storm, Beast and Mystique had died instantly… Iceman, Gambit and Nightcrawler had died later," he explained and heard the shocked gasps of the group. "Uncle Scott had been in a coma for years due to his injuries. When he woke up… Well, you can't call it a life that he had. Mom always said that it would have been better for him to die…" He thought about what else he had read in the files years ago. "Oh, and dad's friends…"

"The Alpha Flight Team?" Logan asked and Jamie nodded.

"Yeah, they were killed in the attack, too…"

"Do you know what happened afterwards?" Hank asked him. "I mean…if Apocalypse wasn't destroyed…"

"He's not destroyed now," Jamie cut him off and shook his head. "He can't be destroyed. Only temporarily terminated. His power is too old and too great as that someone could destroy him forever. He will always come back…"

"So it's not over…," Scott mumbled and heaved a deep breath while he ran a hand through his face. "Great…"

"Well, all the files said was that…," the boy went on. "Apocalypse regained his power. He destroyed whole cities and countries within days and extinguished the human population. Afterwards he used his robots to hunt down mutants that were against him. After barely more than two weeks the world was his." He looked into the round and into the shocked faces. "Of course there were still mutant groups that tried to fight him," he added but shook his head. "But it was only a matter of time before he killed them, too…"

Letting the news sink in, the Professor began to think hard. "And it changed after you came to help us?"

"Yes it did," Jamie nodded.

"When you're nearly 16, boy…," Hank mumbled. "Then it's 2031 by you, am I right?" he asked and received a nod. "So the twins are 23 if I am not mistaken and Rachel is 21… Jeez…," he said and looked at the others. "Can you imagine that?"

"Well…," Bobby said with a nod at Jamie. "It's already hard to imagine _that_… I mean he's a baby here and now…_that_…"

"Thanks," Jamie said with a smirk and Bobby looked up but noticed that the man was talking to Jubilee, who blushed. "You keep on saying that to me even if you're nearly 42 in my time…"

"Sayin' what?" Logan asked with a glare at Jubilee. "Her casual stuff?"

"Yeah."

"Cut it off, Jubes!" he growled and the woman blushed even more. "Ya ain't gonna date my sons, mark my word!"

"Oh, it's too late for that anyway…," Jamie remarked before he could stop himself.

"What?" Logan asked suspiciously. "Who are ya and the rest datin'?!"

"Can't tell you, dad, sorry," his son replied. "I can only say that you hate Ray's boyfriend…"

Thinking about it for a moment, Logan suddenly glared at Scott. "Don't tell me she dates _his_ son?!"

"I doubt that, Logan," Scott replied with a snort. Suddenly he frowned. "She doesn't right? I mean…" He looked at Logan. "Don't tell me he's my brother-in-law in your time because if then I'll jump from the next building right now…"

"Guys…," Kitty cut them off as the device in front of the Professor suddenly began to beep.

"It's time. The exchange is over," Forge said and Charles nodded.

"Thank you for letting us know, Jamie," he said and received a nod. "Are there any things like attacks that will happen and which we can still prevent?"

"I don't know," Jamie shrugged. "The only files I read were about the old timeline. You locked them away so that no one else can read them anymore…"

Looking up when the room's light became brighter Logan saw that his son began to glow. He knew it was probably his last chance to ask him what was on his mind. "Hey! How's mommy?"

"Fine," Jamie replied. "You probably gave her and yourself a heart attack with this, but well…" He shrugged with a smirk. "You guys are fine. And still look the same from what I can tell."

"And still act like newly-weds I suppose," Scott remarked and heard the young man laughing.

"You bet," he nodded and suddenly gave his father a serious look. "I don't know when she came back…"

"Ya read my mind?!" Logan asked back with a cocked eyebrow and ignored that all heads had turned to him.

"No, I knew you'd ask," his son said and began to glow stronger. "Gotta go, I think."

"Jamie!" he heard his father calling and met his gaze. "Tell mommy to hurry up," Logan added and heaved a deep breath. "Tell her that I miss her…"

"I will," his son nodded with a sad smile. "Bye!"

They covered their eyes when the light became too bright; soon the room had its old color back. On the ground, right in front of them, sat the one year old Jamie and looked at them with big green eyes; a cookie in one hand and a paper attached to his back. "Da," he said and held the cookie up to his father, who came closer.

"Hey," Logan said, pulled him up and gave him a kiss. "Stole a cookie? Good boy!" Nevertheless, he began to frown when he saw the paper and left the room in silence to read it.

"I can't believe that ve vere supposed to die…," Kurt said and reached out to cover his wife's hands with his, but she pulled away. Noticing it, he only frowned and turned back to the Professor as he began to speak.

"So now we know why we got help…," the bald man said. "But it's a pity that Jamie couldn't tell us more about things that will happen now…"

"He's so cute, don't you think?" Jubilee grinned and sighed when the others rolled their eyes. "Oh come on! He's hot! Too bad that he didn't have a pic of his brother…"

"You're too old for him anyway," Scott remarked. "And besides…it's not our topic!" He ran a hand through his face and looked at Mystique, who still stared at the ground. Not knowing what else to do he entwined his hand with hers and gave her an encouraging smile.

"Well, at least we are warned that Apocalypse still exists. Not that I have believed otherwise…," Charles said and looked at Hank. "Please keep me updated on Erik and the others. Maybe they have some information about Sinister's whereabouts. Other than that, I will ask Logan to contact his old groups. They need to keep their eyes open." With that he gave them a nod that they could leave.

On the outside, they ran into Logan, who stood in the middle of the corridor and stared at the letter in his hand. "What's wrong, boy?" Hank asked him since the look on his friend's face told him that this one was thinking hard.

"Which date is today?" Logan mumbled without looking up from the letter that had been attached to Jamie's back.

"August 25," Scott replied. "Why?"

"What time?" was all Logan asked him and put Jamie to the ground.

Exchanging a look with the others first, Kurt checked his watch. "Nearly 4:17 p.m." He had barely said it when Logan let the letter fall to the ground, turned and ran down the corridor towards the backdoor.

"Okay, what was that now?" Scott asked when Mystique knelt down to read the letter. "What does it say?"

"That we gave them a heart attack…that we should be more careful with such things… God, has Logan written that?!" she asked and narrowed her eyes. "Can someone read his handwriting?"

Taking the letter from her, Ororo recognized that the first two lines had been written by Hank, while the following two were from Logan. "He wrote that….," she began and her eyes grew wide.

"He wrote what?" Scott asked but the woman had already started to run into the same direction than Logan had. "Must be something big. Let's follow her," he said and they headed off, too. They saw from afar how Ororo obviously ran towards the boathouse. It didn't take long and they heard her letting out a loud scream. "Faster!" Scott told the others and they stopped next to the weather goddess, who was staring at something in front of her. "God no…," he gasped as he saw what was wrong. On the jetty lay a soaked Miloh, who panted heavily, while next to him lay a just as wet TJ, who looked rather dead than alive and who Logan tried to revive. One look at the jetty told him that the girl must have slipped and fallen into the cold water.

"Be right back," Hank said and turned to head back for the infirmary to get medical equipment, while Ororo dropped to her knees and could only stare at her daughter.

"Kid, breathe…," Logan cursed and blew once more air into the girl's lungs when she finally began to cough. Turning her around he rubbed her back. "It's okay, just breathe," he told her and exchanged a quick look with Ororo, whose face was tearstained and who began to sob in relief.

"Mommy," TJ cried hoarsely and clung to her mother sobbing, whereas she had wrapped her free arm around Logan and was crying into his chest. Kurt, who saw this, looked away hurt.

"What happened?" Scott asked and pulled off his shirt to hand it over to TJ; looking at Logan and waiting for an explanation, when Mystique handed him the letter. Trying to read the handwriting, he soon gave up, when Jubilee snatched the letter from him.

"I had to decipher his writing in classes. Let the master handle it!" she said proudly and began to read. "_If it ain't too late, keep that in mind: On August 25 around 4 somethin' pm., TJ had an accident at the boathouse. Save her and the wolf. Logan PS: And if ya try a shit like that again, I'll make sure that it won't be Jamie next time who pays ya a visit._ He writes as he speaks…"

"So, she was supposed to die…," Kurt gasped and stared at his daughter, who was wrapped into Scott's shirt and still sobbed into her mother's chest. He practically felt his heart bursting in his chest.

"He, too," Logan mumbled with a nod at the exhausted wolf. "He tried to keep her above the water…"

"Sweety, what were you doing here?" Ororo managed to ask during her heavy sobs, when Hank arrived.

"I…I played Hide and Seek with Isa…," the girl cried. "I wanted to hide in…in the boat…"

"Did you slip?" Mystique asked her and received a weak nod.

"She must have hit her head," Hank said after feeling dried blood on the back of the girl's head. "We have to bring her into the infirmary. I'll make a scan to make sure that she hasn't any serious injuries." Nodding, Ororo watched how Kurt pulled his daughter up and joined the others on their way back. When she got up, she hissed and held her lower abdomen.

"You alright?" Logan asked and gave her a look from aside, but she nodded. "Sure?"

"It's because I ran," she said through clenched teeth. "I'm still… Well, it still hurts…"

He watched how she got slowly up. "Ya should tell the Furball and his girl…," he suggested and pulled Miloh carefully up. "Maybe he has…"

"I'm fine," she cut him off and looked away, but still held her belly.

"No, ya ain't," Logan replied and walked past her. "You're pale as a ghost."

She watched how he began to walk back to the mansion and joined him. "Logan…," Ororo said and he stopped; looking rather pissed. "Thank you," she said and had, before he could pull away, placed a kiss onto his cheek. "Thank you for saving her…"

"Whatever," he grunted and turned to enter the mansion. While she went downstairs, he went upstairs and put Miloh into the bathtub, where he began to clean him first and towel him dry next. "Good thing ya did," Logan said and stroked over the wolf's head while this one lay next to his mate and looked more than tired. He looked at him and couldn't help but think about the fact that his wolf had actually died today by the attempt of saving TJ. He would have drowned just like the girl. It would have been a disaster; not only for himself, but also for the children and Callie. "I'll get ya somethin' t'eat," Logan mumbled and got up to leave for the kitchen.

* * *

A few weeks later the new school term had begun and the teachers were occupied with their classes once more. The school had gotten some new additions to their students and especially the Professor and Scott had a lot to do with re-organizing rooms and classes, while the others kept on doing their casual stuff. During a break from teaching, Hank entered the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. "Pretty busy day, huh?" he asked Ororo, who sat at the counter and stared at the mug in her hands that was still full. "Ororo?" he asked since he hadn't gotten any reply and began to frown since he still didn't get any reaction from her. Giving her a concerned look he went over and touched her shoulder, which made her nearly jump off of her stool. "God, what's wrong with you?" he asked her after he'd caught her fall. "You behave so strangely lately… Did something happen?" 

"No," she replied and looked away.

"'Ro," Hank sighed and sat down next to her. "We know each other for years and I can tell when something is bothering you. You know you can talk to me…"

"It's nothing," Ororo only said and got up to leave the room, while Hank shook his head and gave her a concerned look.

"Hey, what's wrong with her?" his wife suddenly asked and entered the kitchen. "She bumped into me without even noticing it."

"I don't know," he shrugged and kissed her when she stopped next to him. "I'd love to talk a bit more to you, my dear, but my biology class is waiting."

"Have fun," Moira teased him and he snarled playfully.

Late at night Logan lay awake in his bed. It was once more a sleepless night for him and all he did was staring at the empty side next to him, while he kept on thinking about what his son had told him. She was back at the time his son would turn sixteen. That was all he knew and he also knew that he couldn't wait that long. He would never be able to live that long without her… Logan startled when the door of the bedroom was suddenly opened and growled. "What do ya want here?" he grunted as he saw who his guest was.

"I'm scared…," Ororo cried and he rolled his eyes before he lay back down.

"Then go to your hubby and leave me alone!" he hissed as she suddenly let out a loud sob. "Damn it, close the door before ya wake up my kids!" Logan grunted in a hushed voice and heard her doing so, before she came closer and sat down on the edge of the bed next to him. He looked at her from aside for a while, noticed how the tears were running down her cheeks while she stared at her hands. "Go t'Kurt…"

"I can't…," she replied in barely more than a whisper and shook her head.

"Why not?" Logan asked her annoyed and ran a hand through his face. "Damn it, I wanna be alone…"

"I'm confused…," Ororo sobbed as if she hadn't heard him and began to knead her hands nervously. "…and Kurt wouldn't understand."

"What?" he groaned in annoyance and frustration. "Say what ya want and stop babblin' around."

Turning her head she looked at him through wet and empty eyes. "I don't understand what happened…"

"He raped ya. That happened!" Logan grunted. "Anythin' else?!"

"But why didn't he kill me?" she asked him and sobbed. "I was helpless, he could have killed me afterwards… Why didn't he do it?"

Logan didn't reply first and looked at her. She really was a mess, he thought and heaved a deep breath while he tried to think like his arch nemesis. If he was him and had raped her, why wouldn't he kill her or keep her as a trophy? Sabretooth could have taken her with him to have more fun with her. He knew how messed up his nemesis was. He enjoyed torturing others until they began to beg for him to kill them and even then he went on. So what could have been a reason for Sabretooth to not kill her? Looking at her again, his eyes began to scan her body as it hit him. "If I were ya…," Logan said and she met his eyes again before he sat up a bit. "I'd make a test…"

"You…," Ororo stuttered and her eyes widened. "You think…"

"Why else should ya still be alive? If he was really goin' for it, he'd have either killed ya or taken ya with him," he grunted and closed his eyes with a sigh. "Would ya leave me alone now?"

She sat next to him and stared at her belly in shock. Her heart had begun to race in her chest in fear. What if he was right? Heaving deep breaths, since breathing suddenly appeared to be very hard, she began to shiver and suddenly threw herself at him with a desperate sob. Growling, since he only wanted her to leave and be alone, he nevertheless listened to her heartrending sobs. Only rolling his eyes in annoyance, Logan reached out to comfort her until her sobs became weaker. "What…what if I'm pregnant?" she mumbled into his chest and quaked with fear.

"Get rid of it," he grunted and she let go of him to stare at him with widened eyes.

"I can't!" Ororo shook her head. "I could never do this…"

Shrugging Logan lay back down. "Well, then risk your life," he said nonchalantly. "Ya know what the Furball and his girl have told ya after Tommy was born."

She ran a shaky hand through her face and heaved a deep breath. "Would…would you make a test with me?" she asked him and he cocked an eyebrow at her.

"No!"

"Please…," Ororo begged and held his gaze, but Logan shook his head.

"I said no!"

"Logan,…please…"

Growling, he roughly grabbed her hand and pulled her with him. "I hope ya know that you're pissin' me off!" he grunted and left his rooms.

After they had paid the basement a visit and she had disappeared in his bathroom for a while, he now watched her from aside while she stared at the stick in her hands, which trembled. He couldn't hide his annoyance that she had dragged him into this situation. He wasn't interested and didn't care about it. At least that's what he tried to tell himself. While he kept on looking at her from aside, saw how she chewed on her lower lip in tension, he only hoped that the result would be visible soon. He only wanted to be left alone… "No…," Logan suddenly heard her gasping and a second later the test fell to the ground, while she began to pant heavily. "God, no…," Ororo added and buried her face in her hands before she began to sob aloud. He sighed and laid a hand on her shoulder. He had barely touched her when she had already turned and cried into his chest.

When Logan woke up a bit later it was still dark on the outside and she slept half on top of him with a tearstained face. He sighed in frustration and pulled her off him before he got up to get his leather jacket from the ground. "How am I supposed to tell Kurt about this?" he suddenly heard her asking in scarcely more than a weak whisper.

"Dunno," he grunted and put his jacket on.

"Where are you going?" Ororo asked frightened and sat up when he went over to the door.

"What do ya think?!"

"Can I…," she began but he cut her off.

"No!" Logan said and pointed a finger at her. "Stay here, sleep and don't even dare t'follow me! I wanna be alone and I mean it." With that he left his rooms and headed for the back door.

Hours later, he sat on the outside in the grass next to Jean's stone and sipped on a bottle. While he did so he couldn't help but feel a presence close by; as if someone was standing behind him. He began to frown as he saw a small orange dot that suddenly floated in front of him and encircled his head. The presence he'd begun to notice began to feel stronger, but suddenly disappeared as he heard footsteps coming closer. "Piss off!" Logan growled and sipped on his beer again.

"No!" Scott said and went down to his knees next to him; giving the stone a brief look. "You know… Someone once told me that it was time for me to move on…"

"Heard that before and again, dickhead, I've been wrong, so piss off!" Logan grunted and turned his head away from him.

"Logan…," Scott began and sat down in the grass next to him. "It's October by now and you're doing that for nearly a whole year…"

"And?!"

"And we're worried," he replied and shook his head.

"As if you'd care…," Logan snapped and sipped on his bottle again.

Scott sighed. "I wouldn't be here if I didn't care, right?" he asked him and ignored that the man rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Logan… Did you put drugs into the drink?" he demanded to know next and received a glare. "The Professor told me to keep an eye on it. And from the way you look lately…"

"Go get laid," Logan growled but Scott was unimpressed.

"Do you think Jean would like this?" he asked him. "Seeing you like this?! You have children to take care of!"

"I _do _care for them, Summers!" Logan snapped aloud. "Don't ya even dare t'accuse me of not takin' care of them!"

"Yeah, at day," his opposite replied angered. "At night you sit here and try to get drunk. You try everything to kill the pain, don't you?" he asked him. "Does it help?! Feeling numb from the inside for a few minutes? Does it bring her back or help you through the day?!"

Logan glared at him full of hatred and uttered a low growl. "If ya don't shut up, Summers…," he warned.

"Then what? You'll beat me up? Well go ahead," Scott gave back. "You're angry and you keep that anger buried within you while it needs to be released! So go ahead, beat me up if you think that this will change anything at all!" He startled a bit when Logan threw the bottle against the next tree all of a sudden and got up. He prepared himself for being hit by a fist in the next minute and was surprised to see that the man just turned around and left. Only shaking his head, Scott felt how anger rose within him and got up, too. "Fine! Then run again!" he yelled. "Go on and keep on turning yourself into an emotional moron if you think that this will change anything!" He could hear from afar how a door slammed shut within the mansion and sighed. He then turned to look at the tombstone. "Wanna do us all a favor, Jean?" he asked and ran a hand through his hair. "Come back…and that quickly…"

* * *

When Logan returned to his rooms at sunrise Ororo still slept in his bed and he rolled his eyes in annoyance. After throwing his leather jacket into a corner he went over to Jamie's room and then to the bathroom to prepare the boy for the day. He then woke up his children and told them to get ready and meet him in the kitchen, while he went downstairs to prepare their breakfast. "Good that I see you, my friend," Kurt said and received a cocked eyebrow. "Have you seen, 'Ro? I have vaited for her all night, but she hasn't come back after telling me she'd go for a valk… I'm vorried…" 

"She's asleep," Logan grunted and put Jamie onto the counter.

"You know vhere she is?" the blue mutant asked hopefully and received a nod. "Vhere?"

"Upstairs, okay? She's fine," Logan sighed and handed his boy a bottle.

"But vhy didn't you tell me?" Kurt asked him in disbelief since he hadn't slept all night due to his worry for his wife.

"Why does everyone of ya have to go on my fuckin' nerves, damn it?" Logan snapped and didn't hide that he was more than pissed of.

"What's wrong here?!" Hank asked and entered the room with furrowed brows and followed by Moira. He looked from Kurt to Logan and back.

"Nothin'!" the latter grunted, took his son and left.

"What's wrong?" Moira asked Kurt, who uttered a heavy sigh and sat down on a stool. She could see that he was depressed.

"Why is he so angry again?" Hank asked him next and poured him and his wife some coffee.

"I only vanted to know vhy he didn't tell me that 'Ro stayed vith him last night," the nearly black mutant shrugged and became confused when he saw the shocked look of Moira.

"Ororo spent the night with Logan?" she asked aloud and the mug nearly fell to the floor.

"I doubt that they did what you think they did, dear," Hank soothed her but she only gave him a look that spoke volumes.

"Why else should she be staying with him then?" she asked and crossed her arms.

"He's still grieving for Jean," her husband replied and shook his head. "He doesn't care for anything else but this and his children lately, so I highly doubt he slept with Ororo."

"I vaited for her all night…," Kurt said sadly and looked at his cup. "But she didn't come…"

"God…," Moira cried and ran a hand through her face. "Why didn't Logan tell you?!"

"Because he was in the garden all night," came the reply from the door and all three of them turned to watch how Scott entered, followed by Mystique and Alex, who held onto his mother's hand.

"It's already freezing cold at night," Moira said and exchanged a look with Hank. "What's he doing on the outside?"

Mystique helped Alex onto a chair and began to pile some pancakes onto a plate for him. "He sits next to Jean's grave…"

"We have to do something about this," the dark haired woman replied and shook her head. "It's not good for him…"

"I tried to talk some sense into him," Scott said and smiled when his son uttered a cry of joy when his mother handed him the plate. "He's stubborn like hell…"

"And I've seen what he has been like back then, Moira," Hank added and shook his head. "It's impossible to get through to him if he doesn't want to. The more you try the more dangerous he'll become…"

"But still…," she sighed and put her mug down.

"It's useless, believe me!" her husband said. "We tried everything back then… He just doesn't care."

"But we have to do something…," she mumbled and looked up when Kurt suddenly jumped off of his stool and headed for the door.

"Gott, vhere have you been?" he asked Ororo, who stood in the door and had both arms wrapped around herself. When he tried to touch her she backed off.

"Are you alright?" Moira asked her suspiciously and turned around to have a better look at the woman, who seemed to be a complete mess.

"I…I need…," Ororo began and evaded Kurt again to the surprise of her husband. She wrapped her arms around herself protectively and gave Moira a look. "Could you check on me?"

Only nodding and trying to ignore that it was just odd how her friend behaved, Moira got off of her stool and beckoned Ororo to follow her. "Sure… Now?" she asked and received a nod. "Then come on…"

They were barely gone as Kitty stormed into the room. "Hey, would you help us, please?" she asked in an urgent voice.

"Why, what happened?" Scott asked alarmed and came closer.

"Remy chose the wrong words and Logan knocked him out with one blow," the young woman explained while Hank sighed loudly.

"What did he say to him?" he demanded to know.

"Well, Remy's in a bad mood since he had a major throw down with Rogue yesterday and he's still a bit drunk," Jubilee explained matter of factly. "He bumped into Wolvie, who told him to piss off and…"

"WHAT did Remy say to him?" Hank asked again and crossed his arms.

"That behaving like an asshole won't bring Jean back…," Kitty answered barely audible.

"Great…," Scott cursed and exchanged a look with Hank. "Where's Remy now?"

"Lays in the foyer on the ground," she said.

"And Logan?" Hank asked.

"Took the children out to eat somewhere else where people stop getting on his nerves," Jubilee explained.

"Take me to Remy," he said and put his cup down. "And then I'll talk to Charles. It can't go on like this…"

Watching nearly all of them leaving, Mystique looked at her son and stroked through his dark hair. "Well, I doubt it'll help…," she mumbled.

"What?" Alex asked and stopped eating to look at her with his big, light-blue eyes.

"Nothing dear," she waved off. "Mommy was just thinking out loud…"

* * *

While he watched his daughter interacting with Isa and TJ, John was bent over the banister on the terrace and heaved a deep breath. "How are you doing, John?" he heard the Professor asking behind him and turned his head when the bald man stopped next to him. 

"Actually good," he smiled and looked back at his daughter.

"She's doing well as far as I've heard," Charles said after following the man's gaze. "And she has already made friends here."

"Yeah," the man next to him nodded and crossed his arms. "Still… I really appreciate what you have done for us, but…" He sighed. "I already told Anna that we would leave."

"It is because of your brother, I suppose?" Charles asked. "The tension between you and him is the first thing I notice everyday next to Logan's grief. But it is not a reason to leave, John."

"It's just…," the dark haired man began and looked to the ground. "I can understand him. But he's already feeling bad enough, so I don't want to be a reason that adds itself to his condition."

"You know," the Professor began and wheeled a bit forward while he watched over the children. "Your brother is not holding a grudge against someone forever. He would have reacted differently to you if Jean hadn't died. I am sure of that. It's just…that Jean really meant and still means a lot to him. She helped him to change, to forget about his past… Since she's gone he has nightmares again that she had managed to suppress…"

"About the experiments on him?" John asked and received a nod. "Yeah, I know them… I have them, too…"

"Logan just needs time. He still hopes that Jean will come back and I believe that's the only reason why he's still here," Charles said bitterly. "He knows that you can't be held responsible for what has happened. It had been the same with him back then when he attacked us. Apocalypse had controlled him, Logan hadn't had a chance to fight back. He knows that it wasn't his fault… Just give him a bit more time to get used to you. Even if he says that he doesn't want to talk to you…I doubt he means it. It's only very hard for him to trust others." While he had spoken, Charles had held John's gaze. "And I think, besides that I would deeply regret to see you leaving us, that you are still in danger. We don't know where Sinister is hiding and if he'll try to get you back, John. Here at the mansion you can be save from him. The same goes for your daughter. She can go to school here and learn about mutations. And we can help you protecting her."

"So you think I should stay?" John asked and Charles turned his wheelchair around to wheel back inside.

"It is up to you. If you decide to go, we won't stop you. But as I said, we can really need your help," the Professor replied. "And besides…," he added and stopped briefly. "I doubt you would just leave your brother's side after finding him after all those years… I'll see you at dinner, I hope."

"Daddy!" Anna suddenly called and threw herself at his legs before he could react. "Isa asked if I can sleepover at her place, can I? Please?"

"Does her mother know?" John asked and pulled her up into his arms.

"I'm staying at my father's place tonight," Isa told him. "He's cool with that."

"So can I?" Anna cooed and gave him her best pleading look, which made John chuckle.

"I think so, but I will still have a talk with her father about it, okay?" he asked and put her back to the ground.

"Cool," Anna smiled and ran back to her friends; leaving her father thoughtful behind. After telling her that he would be inside, he made his way through the kitchen and towards the door next to it, which led him upstairs. Heaving a deep breath he knocked and waited. After a while the door was opened. "Can we talk?" he asked carefully and gave the shorter man an insecure look.

"'bout what?" Logan grunted and had his eyes narrowed.

"It's important," John tried and waited a while before his brother finally let go of the door and turned around. After entering the apartment, John took his time to look around. The rooms here were much bigger than his own, even if Anna had a second bedroom right next to his own. The interior was also much brighter than his, which was caused by the two white two-seaters and the one-seater around the wooden table, but also the light parquet on the floor and the rest of the light wooden furniture; not to forget the curtains, which were white and light-yellow. "Nice," he remarked and looked at the names on the two doors on the right, which told him that it were the kids' rooms, and the one door on the left, which told him that the boy he'd already met must have a single room. All in all he counted 5 names and assumed that the two remaining white doors on the left must lead to the bathroom and bedroom. He couldn't deny that he liked the apartment. It really looked cozy to him.

"What…do ya want?" Logan cut him off and awoke his brother from his daydream.

"I'm sorry," John apologized since he hadn't noticed that he had been so taken with looking around. "I, ehm, I talked to the Professor. I told him that I was thinking about leaving," he said and tried to read any reaction in his brother's face, but there was none. "He said that he would appreciate if we stayed, but… I mean I know that you already have a hard time. So, if you want me to go, I'll go… Just let me know and I'll pack our things." Looking at Logan for a while, he had hoped to receive an answer, but again there was none. Taking that as a _yes_, he only nodded and turned around to leave.

"And where do ya wanna go?" Logan suddenly asked and John turned around.

"I don't know," he replied honestly. "Back to Canada I think…"

Nodding, Logan went over to a desk and opened a door, before he began to rummage in it. "And then?" he asked while he looked for something. "What if that bastard still looks for ya or your kid?"

"Well, we'll see," his brother shrugged. "I only don't want to stress you and remind you of what happened, you know. I mean I finally know where you are and everything, but I also want to consider your wishes. And if that's that you want me to leave, I'll do that. You only have to say it…"

"Hm…," Logan made and got up from the ground again with an old box in his hands. "Ya should read them," he said and handed the object to his opposite.

"What are those?" John asked him with furrowed brows.

"Mom's diary and some letters," Logan waved off and crossed his arms again. "We found them on the old estate…"

Nodding, John went through all the papers. "What do they say?" he asked and saw that his brother shrugged.

"Letters to that idiot gardener, things that were on her mind… Some stuff about father," Logan listed. "That she had an affair and got pregnant, that she wanted to leave with that idiot…" John sighed. "That she feared I'd be the same monster like you…"

"Monster…," his brother spat and shook his head while his eyes flashed in anger. "What does she know anyway?! Father did everything for her and she threw herself at this idiot…"

"Well, too late t'change that," Logan shrugged. "Ya can read them and throw them away afterwards, I don't care. I'm through with that shit…"

"Okay…," John nodded and got up. "But you still didn't answer my question…"

Looking at him for a while, Logan thought hard and shrugged. "Stay here if ya want…," he mumbled.

"Sure?" his brother asked surprised but also insecure.

"Yeah," came the reply and Logan watched how his brother put down the box on the table and came closer. "But don't expect me t'do a happy dance 'bout it. For me you're a stranger and a former enemy."

"I know," John nodded and stopped in front of him. "But still I'm glad to have you back…"

"Don't even think 'bout playin' the big bro' now," Logan warned him but accepted the hug.

Smiling at him, John patted his shoulder. "I'm sorry about your wife," he said and noticed that his opposite looked down. "I know how terrible it is… And I mean I only have one child to take care of." He heaved a deep breath and looked at the wall near the window. "That's her?" he asked and nodded at a picture. Following his gaze, Logan nodded and watched how his brother went over to look at it. "She's beautiful."

"Yeah," Logan replied barely audible and swallowed hard. In the past months he'd done his best not to look at any pictures that hang on the walls in the apartment.

"The Professor said you believe she will come back," he heard John saying and nodded. "Well, if you believe it…why shouldn't she?" he gave him an encouraging smile and pulled something out of his back pocket. "That's my wife," he said in a sad voice and Logan began to frown when he looked at the picture.

"That's Ann," he mumbled and his brother furrowed his brows.

"You know her?" he asked in surprise and received a nod.

"She took me in every time I ran out of money or food," Logan told him. "She was a good girl…"

"Yes, she was," John nodded, gave the picture a loving look and put it back into his pocket. "So…5 kids, huh?"

"Yeah," Logan nodded and turned his head when Miloh entered to bring his mate some meat. "I just cleaned the floor, you freakin' dog…," he cursed and sighed.

"Where did you get an arctic wolf?" his brother asked and looked at the animal more closely. "I thought they lived in Canada."

"He followed me around when I was up there, so I took him back home with me."

Nodding, John watched how the wolf lay down next to the husky and growled at him. "Is she pregnant? Because he's so protective of her and brings her food…"

"Yeah, I think so," Logan replied and ran a hand through his face. "I have to ask the Furball to do a scan to be sure. At least if he lets me touch her…"

"Well," John said after a moment. "It's time for dinner soon. Will you do me a favor?"

"What?" his brother asked and raised an eyebrow.

"Eat something, okay? I mean I haven't eaten or slept for over a year after losing Ann… I know what it feels like," he said. "But still I can tell you from experience that you will feel more than horrible after a while and even more so when you begin to eat again. Believe me, you don't want to experience it! So better start eating slowly again. It's better than eating nothing at all, okay?"

"I'll think about it," Logan grunted after a while and received a nod before his brother left.

When they sat at the table together a bit later, John kept an eye on his younger brother and watched for minutes how he shoved his food from one side of the plate to the other. Sighing, he took a sip from his glass and exchanged a look with the others. "You said you'll think about it," he said and looked at Logan again, while all heads had turned to him; waiting for Logan to snap since they were unaware that both men had talked to each other before.

"I ain't hungry," Logan grunted and let the fork fall onto the plate.

"You'll feel like dying, believe me," his brother said worriedly. "Try at least to eat half of it."

Looking to and fro between both men and feeling surprised that they really talked with each other, they waited for Logan's reaction to it. "Do you want to eat something else?" Moira asked him. "I can cook something else…"

"No," he grunted and looked away.

"Logan, you should really do something about those depressions of yours," Scott suggested and heard him giving a snort.

"Says the guy who believes that I take drugs… Yeah, sure."

"Okay, I have been wrong about it. I'm, sorry," Scott replied. And watched how he got up to leave the room. "Come on, don't run away again!"

"I ain't runnin' away," Logan snapped.

"What is it then you're doing?"

"Ray's cryin', but never mind," he replied and made his way upstairs where he went over to Laura's and Rachel's room, but both girls weren't in it. So he went to the twins' room next and froze at the door…

* * *

Unknown of him the X-Men had gathered in the Professor's office and listened to the news he had received. They looked up when the door opened and Logan came in. They noticed the stern look on his face and the Professor watched how he came straight over to his desk and put something onto it. He gave the keys a surprised look and Logan a questioning one afterwards. "How am I supposed to understand this?" he asked him and met the man's gaze. 

"I'm leavin'," Logan simply replied.

"Where are you going and when will you be back?" Mystique asked him but he shook his head.

"I won't," he said with a brief look at them. "Me and the kids are goin' back t'Canada and we'll stay there."

"What?!" Hank asked aloud and got off of the sofa to stare at him in shock.

"You can't just leave!" Ororo said and looked at him pleadingly.

"Yeah, I can. It's a free country and my decision is final," Logan replied and turned back to the Professor. "Thanks for everythin' and good luck." He turned his head when Ororo jumped out of her chair next.

"No, you can't just leave!" she said again but he walked over to the door.

"Yes, I can," he said once more and his hand touched the doorknob. He knew it was a shock for them, but not for him. Not after seeing his children before…

The Professor hadn't looked up the whole time through. He only stared at the keys in front of him. "Logan…"

"Ya can't talk me outta it, Chuck," the man said and gave him a look. "We ain't stayin'!"

"I don't want to talk you out of it," the bald man replied to the shock of all others.

"But Charles!" Hank tried to intervene but he was cut off.

"No, Hank. It is his decision and I will accept it," he replied. "But only on one condition!"

Logan sighed and rolled his eyes. He should have known that it wouldn't be that easy. "What?"

"You go with them on that mission we just discussed," Charles said. "We can need your help on it. Do it and you can leave…"

The others stared at the Professor frowning, exchanged glances from time to time and looked to and fro between the bald man and the man with the unruly hair; both held each others gazes for minutes. They didn't know what the Professor was up to, but were anxious to get to know how Logan would react to it.

"Only that mission, Logan," the Professor tried again. "Please…"

Sighing, the man rolled his eyes. "What mission?" Logan grunted and crossed his arms.

* * *

Of course, as he had thought, they had directly stepped into another trap of Sinister and his men. The Professor had been told by a source he actually thought he could trust that Sinister had another lab located up at the border of Canada. So they had traveled there right after the last meeting and landed close by. Logan had led them up through the snow and also through the complex underground, when he had suddenly stopped. 

"Logan, what's wrong?" Scott asked and watched the man from aside. This one narrowed his eyes a bit and concentrated. "What do hear?"

"A beepin'," Logan grunted and went over to the source of it. He looked at the 10 tanks in front of him for a while.

"Beeping?" Hank asked him clearly worried and heard how Logan cut carefully into the metal of the tank.

"Shit…"

"Shit what?" Scott asked and came closer with the others, just to stop dead in the tracks. "Oh God…"

"I can defuse some bombs, but not this one," Logan told him and took the timer. "We've three minutes, so move!"

"Okay, guys, run!" Scott shouted and they followed Logan as he led the way back. "Come on, people, faster! Storm, hurry up!"

"Tinmen, help her!" Logan ordered while running and tried to push his senses to find the way back. While running, he kept on checking on the timer and had to watch how it merciless counted backwards. He knew he shouldn't have come… When there was only one minute left, he saw the last metal double-door from afar.

"It's closin'," Bobby shouted and felt how panic began to rise within him.

"Peter, hand Storm to Beast and run to the second door," Scott ordered. "Stop it from closing!"

"Okay," Colossus said and did as he was told, while Logan had started into a run and used his weight to prevent the first one from closing.

"Hurry up!" he shouted as the doors kept on closing and gritted his teeth as he tried to slow down the process. He watched how his teammates went through and waited until Scott was on the other side, too, before he had to let go.

"Logan"! Cyclops shouted as the door went shut and his teammate was trapped.

"Go, I find another way," he heard him shouting through the door.

Unsure of what to do, Scott heard Colossus yelling at him to hurry up, since he couldn't hold back the doors anymore. "Hurry up!" he told Logan, before he ran towards the second door.

Behind the first one, Logan kept on looking around for another way, but there was none. The only way out was through that door, the way down the basement was a dead end. "Damn it," he cursed and slammed his fists against the metal door as an idea crossed his mind. Extracting his claws he rammed them into it and began to cut when his eyes caught the sight of the timer in his free hand, which just counted from 00:01 to 00:00. He heard the ten tanks blowing off and the wave it caused slammed him against the door. Only able to see stars, unable to hear anything but a loud whistling sound and with blood dropping from a cut above his right eye and his cheek, Logan turned his head and his eyes widened as the giant firewall moved through the small corridor like a huge wave. He felt how his skin began to burn and it didn't take long before he was blinded by the light.

"What was that?" Bobby asked and stopped on the outside as the ground began to shake.

"The explosion…," Scott said and looked at the building from afar. He grabbed his headset. "Logan, where are you?" he asked but all he could hear was roaring. "Logan, do you read me?"

"No!" Ororo shouted and they all turned their head as another earthquake shook the ground. They soon had located the source of it and had to watch how the building collapsed. "No…," the woman cried and covered her mouth with her hand.

"Logan, come on…," Scott mumbled and searched the area for any sign of his teammate.

Inside, Logan lay on the ground; bloody and his skin heavily burned. He tried to fill his burned lungs with air, but all he breathed in was the toxic the fire had left behind. He was unable to hear how the building above him collapsed. In fact, he couldn't hear a thing anymore. Barely able to see a thing, he managed to turn his head and felt how life was slowly drained from him. Nevertheless, a weak smile became visible on his face. "Jeannie…," he mouthed barely audible and his head dropped lifelessly to the ground at the same time the whole building collapsed…

**I had pre-written the last two scenes for months. Finally I was able to use them. The next things that follow were pre-written long ago, too. I am really happy that I can finally type them up. LOL I have a large pile of papers next to me, which were the reason why I had to leave some Hugh Jackman movies at home, LOL, because the bag was too heavy. : ) So, please review!!! Thanks to those who have reviewed the previous chapters. See ya!!**


	22. Chapter 21

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; )

Since some guy told me in a review that my English (grammar, language or whatsoever) was atrocious and he hardly understood something. I know that I am lazy when it comes to the beta thing, but now I ask myself if that is true?

I mean he read the first Changes installment and I know that my English sucked there (the same goes for the first stories), which has a reason. I had a long break from the English language back then and started to write Changes to practice it. So after more than a year I'm more experienced with it again and I know that the first stories really need a complete revision.

But since he wrote the review to a story which I just finished (meaning _Don't forget_…), I ask myself if what I write is really so hard to follow and understand. If, then please tell me! And, yeah, I know that I still have to do the beta on that story, too! So, please let me know!!

Oh and I'd be happy if some of you would review to my new story!!!

**And **BlueTigress** was reviewer number 150. I wrote you a PM and told you that you can state a wish, so please let me know soon!!!**

**Changes ****Sequel – II. Covenant Part 21**

"What happened?" the Professor asked and wheeled towards the X-Men that stood in front of the ICU. From the looks of their faces he could tell that something serious had happened and he was just about to reach out to them mentally when Scott spoke up.

"It was a trap," he told him when Charles came to a halt next to them. "Sinister or one of his men had placed a bomb next to some oil and gas tanks. When Logan found the timer we barely had more than three minutes to get out. If Logan hadn't been with us…" He shook his head, knowing that it was true. "…we wouldn't have made it."

"And where is Logan?" the bald man asked since he couldn't see the mutant. "And Hank?"

"Logan was still inside the building when it blew up and collapsed," Peter told him without looking up.

"Hank's trying to revive him…," Ororo said barely audible and kept on staring at the ground while tears ran down her cheeks. She wrapped her arms around herself and leant back against the wall.

"But…if the building collapsed as you said," the Professor said and looked at Peter. "How did you manage to get him out of it?" About to reply, Scott looked aside when the door opened and Moira stepped into the corridor with a defeated look on her face. "Moira?" Charles asked her hopefully but she shook her head.

"Hank's still trying," she told them and heaved a deep sigh. "But if you ask me…," she added and shook her head. "…it's useless. I think Logan doesn't want to." She ran a hand through her face and looked into the shocked and sad faces, as the elevator opened and John came closer.

"Hey, I saw you're back," he said and stopped next to them when Scott put a hand on his shoulder and beckoned him to follow him a bit down the corridor. "What?!" John asked him and stared at him with widened eyes after the man had told him what has happened.

"I'm sorry," Scott said and shook his head when they heard how a door opened.

"I need your help," Hank told Moira and grabbed her hand.

"Hank…it's useless," she said. "You're already trying it for about thirty minutes…"

"His heart is beating again but I need help with the surgery," he replied and dragged her into the other room.

"We should go upstairs into my office and wait for them," Charles suggested after running a hand through his face in relief. "We can't do anything here."

"You coming?" Scott asked John but the man shook his head.

"No, I wait here."

"Me, too," Ororo said and sat down on the ground next to the door; unaware that the others gave her an odd look, since they had noticed again that she behaved strangely. Only nodding at them, Scott followed the others toward the elevator and afterwards to Charles' office.

"Do you mind?" John asked and nodded at the spot next to her on the ground. He sat down when she shook her head and watched how she pulled her legs close. "Do you want to talk?"

"About what?" Ororo asked and gave him a confused look.

"I've the same senses like my brother, you know," he said and she looked down. "I know what happened to you… So if you want to talk…"

She gave him a weak smile. "Thanks, but…all I managed so far was to talk to Logan," she told him and gave a short laugh. "I can't even tell my own husband about it…"

"Well, it's always easier to talk to a close friend than with someone you're married to," he shrugged.

"I hope he'll make it…," Ororo sniffed and wiped her tears away.

"Yeah, me too," John nodded and lowered his head.

Upstairs in the office the X-Men waited in silence for Hank or Moira to show up and tell them any news. After what seemed to have been decades the door was finally opened and a more than depressed looking Hank entered. ""What can you tell us?" the Professor asked him as soon as the mutant had closed the door and crossed his arms. "How is he?"

The furry man watched how all eyes turned towards him and sighed. "Well, as you have already heard I managed to revive him after 32 minutes…"

"But?" Scott asked since he sensed a _but_-sentence here.

"Due to the fire and toxic smoke his lungs are heavily damaged and he's not breathing on his own. Moira and I managed to remove the splinters that were left over from the explosion, but I can't tell if there are still some stuck in his body," Hank told them. "His skin was heavily burned in the explosion, too, and his healing factor practically doesn't exist due to what has happened in the past months. I'm supplying him with what his body needs to become stronger again, but…"

"But what, Hank?" the Professor asked and met the man's gaze. He could tell that the things before hadn't been the bad news at all.

"Even if his bones are protected by adamantium he has a heavy head trauma. He's in a deep coma and to be honest…," Hank told them and heaved a deep breath. "…he was over thirty minutes without oxygen. I can't tell how much more damage his brain and other organs have taken because of it, or…" He rubbed the back of his nose. "…if he will wake up at all."

"What will you do?" Charles asked him after he had let the news sink in.

"I can't do much besides keeping him under supervision. Moira and I will take shifts so that always one of us is with him. We can only hope that his healing factor kicks in before the adamantium poisons him again," Hank informed him. "I will keep you updated on his condition," he added but stopped at the door. "Oh and Charles…"

"Yes?" the bald man asked.

"Those two mutants from Magneto's group," the blue man said and received a nod. "They just died. I'm sorry. But Magneto's, Cain's and John's condition has gotten better. I'm in the basement then."

"Damn…," Scott cursed as soon as the door had been closed. "What now? We still have no clue where Sinister's hiding and only Logan knows how to contact his groups…"

"Honestly, I have no idea, Scott," the Professor sighed. "It's my fault, I should have been able to sense that it was a trap." He shook his head. "If Logan doesn't survive this…"

"He will survive this," Mystique hissed, but looked down in the next second. "He has to…"

"And now tell me again what exactly has happened," Charles demanded to know and leant back in his wheelchair.

* * *

A few days later Moira entered the ICU and was surprised to find Hank asleep in the chair next to Logan's bed. Smiling weakly, she went over to the monitors and compared the data she could read on them with what her husband had written down on the chart. After noticing that there hadn't been any positive changes, she went on with checking the wires and tubes as Hank stirred in his sleep. "Hey," she smiled weakly and could tell that he would need a few minutes to realize where he was. 

"Morning," he mumbled and stretched with a long yawn. "Fallen asleep again… I'm getting old." He looked up and watched how she began to check the wounds under the bandages. "And?"

"He's still not healing," Moira replied in a concerned voice. "But what scares me is that he's ice cold."

"Ice cold?" Hank asked with furrowed brows and got up to lay a hand on Logan's chest. "You're right…," he mumbled and looked at the monitors. "He hasn't been the last time I checked."

"But what could have caused this?" she asked. "If he's in a major healing he always burns up to impossible degrees. But now it's the opposite. What if he has taken more damage than we thought and his brain was affected by the lack of oxygen? Or what if…what if…"

He could read in her eyes what she was about to say. "Then we'll keep him alive and wait for his healing factor to kick in," Hank said determined. "His brain is not the source of his mutation. It's in his spine. Even if he's in fact dead…there's still the chance that his mutation kicks back in."

"But if he doesn't want to, Hank…," Moira disagreed. "Then it's our fault if he suffers even more than before…"

"He has to live. His children need him," he replied and went over to a cupboard. "And besides…he doesn't know!" he added and exchanged a look with her.

* * *

"I think that's all for today," the Professor smiled at the students and watched how they began to pack their things, when he noticed that Hank was waiting for him at the door. Nodding at him, he beckoned the mutant to come inside after the students had left. "I hope the face you make has nothing to do with our patients in the basement," he said when Hank closed the door and came closer to stop in front of the desk. 

"I'm afraid so, Charles," the blue man sighed. "I've good and bad news for you. Which one do you want to hear first?"

"The good one, I think," the Professor replied.

"John has woken up and we think that Erik should wake up either today, too, or tomorrow," Hank told him. "John has some trouble to remember things but Moira and I think that it has to do with his former concussion. It should be only temporary."

"That's good," Charles nodded and sighed. "And the bad news?" he asked, even if he thought that he already knew what the mutant was about to say. "I assume it has to do with Logan…"

Confirming his guess, Hank nodded. "The only thing that keeps him alive currently is the machines. If they are switched off…he dies." He watched how the bald man leant back and heaved a deep breath. "Still I am convinced that his healing factor will kick in. The positive thing about Logan's condition is, even if it's tasteless… That with him being practically dead the adamantium poisoning can't affect him. So if his mutation kicks back in it will suppress the poisoning again."

"But can we be sure that Logan's mutation will kick back in?" the Professor asked. "Because I, and I am sure also his family and friends, want to make him suffer more than necessary. If he's dead we have to accept this, Hank, as hard as it is. But keeping him alive, probably against his will…" He shook his head. "It's not the right thing to do. Is she downstairs with him?"

"Yes, she is," he nodded. "And I am on my way downstairs again, too. I have to check on our three Brotherhood members again. So, if there is any news. I'll let you know." After nodding politely, he went back to the elevator.

* * *

"What's next?" Isa asked and turned to her friends. 

"Math…," TJ groaned and pulled a face. "I hate math."

"It's not that hard," Jack said and also his sister nodded. "You're only too dumb."

"I'm not dumb!" the dark-blue girl pouted and tried to slap him but the boy evaded her hand quickly with a grin. "You're mean!"

"What class do you have now?" Isa asked the twins, since they had different classes than the other students of their age.

"History, I think," Lily said. "And then French."

"French's boring," her brother groaned and glared at Isa when she giggled.

"Yeah, because you already know it," she teased him and squealed when he growled. "Don't bite me," she mocked him and hid behind TJ.

"Cow," Jack grunted and began chasing her after she stuck out her tongue.

"Hey," Scott said after he saw the two children storming into his classroom. "What are you doing here, Jack?"

"Chasing cows," the boy replied and glared at the blonde girl, who giggled. "I'll get you later!"

"No, you'll get to your class now," Scott replied and shoved him out of the room. "Off you go. TJ, hurry up!" he added and waited for the girl to enter the classroom, before he closed the door and walked over to his desk again. "Okay, guys. Open your book on page 56. We'll start with exercise 2."

While writing and listening to their teacher, Isa looked up when a boy of her class grinned at her. She tried to ignore him first, when three others around him began to giggle. "Hey, what's going on?" Scott asked them and turned around.

"Nothing," one of the boys said innocently and waited for his teacher to turn back around again, before he threw a paper over to the blonde girl. Frowning, she opened it and glared at them.

"You're mean," TJ said aloud after seeing what stood on the paper.

"TJ," Scott scolded her.

"But they're mean," she replied and pouted.

"Who's mean?" the man asked and noticed the grins of the three boys. "I think you guys have a nice chat with me after class," he told them and turned back around to go on with his work.

"Ignore them," TJ whispered and gave her friend a sympathetic look. "They are idiots." Sighing, Scott turned around again to give her a look. "Sorry…," the girl mumbled embarrassed and felt how her cheeks became warmer when the boys giggled again.

"Don't listen to them," TJ told Isa after their class was over and they headed to their French class. "They are stupid." Only shrugging, the blonde girl entered the room and sat down on her casual seat at the window. TJ sat down in front of her and it didn't take long before Jack sat down next to Isa and Lily next to TJ. "How was history?" the dark-blue girl asked the girl next to her.

"Boring," this one sighed and rolled her eyes dramatically. "We already knew what Aunt 'Roro had told us today and Daddy had even added some facts when he had told us about it."

Nodding, TJ gave the depressed girl behind her a look and noticed that Jack already gave her looks from aside. She could tell that the boy felt something was wrong. "How's your dad?"

"I don't know," Lily shrugged and became depressed. "Uncle Hank doesn't allow us to see Daddy…"

"Why?"

"He said Daddy needs to rest."

"What's wrong?" Jack asked Isa but received a shrug as an answer only.

"Mike and the others were mean to her again," TJ told him and saw how he narrowed his eyes.

"What did they say?" he asked and looked to and fro between the girls.

"Nothing," Isa mumbled and looked out of the window.

"They drew a picture," TJ told him and ignored that the blonde girl was glaring at her warningly. "…of you kissing her while she fries you."

Hearing it, Lily giggled. "Jack has a girlfriend," she mocked her brother, who began to growl at her.

"Shut up!" he snapped.

"Hey, Ray," TJ greeted the redhead, who'd just sat down next to her older sister. "How was PE?"

"Okay," the girl said and gave her brother a look since the boy was still growling. "What's wrong with him?"

"He's a girlfriend," Lily informed her sister and ducked when Jack threw a pen at her.

"She's not!" he snapped.

"Don't listen to him, Isa," the girl teased her brother. "He's shy."

"Shut up!" Jack said louder and jumped up, but Lily only stuck out her tongue. "Freak!"

"Idiot!" Lily gave back and narrowed her eyes.

"Stupid cow," he growled.

"Better than a mop-top," she snapped when Isa jumped up.

"Leave him alone!" the girl said aloud and all heads turned into her direction. Blushing, she felt how her heart began to beat faster and sat quickly down again. Before Lily could reply something, Remy entered the room and dropped his books onto the desk.

* * *

"Can I talk to you for a second?" John asked and entered the kitchen around lunch time. 

"Sure," Hank shrugged and beckoned him to follow him to the outside. "What's wrong?"

The taller man heaved a deep breath and scanned the dark garden with a quick look. "My brother and I both have a healing factor, right?" he began and Hank crossed his arms with a nod. "And his healing factor, as you told me, isn't working currently, so he can't heal."

"Correct," his opposite said.

"I know that my healing factor is also in my blood," John went on. "So I want you to take my blood and give it to my brother."

Sighing, Hank rubbed the back of his nose and turned to go back inside. "That's not possible, John."

"Why not?" the other man asked and followed him back inside. "Why is it not possible?"

Not knowing what was going on, the others looked to and fro between both men. "Because your blood has to match his. I can't give him your blood if it's not of the same type. It would kill him," Hank explained. "And since you're only half brothers…" He shook his head. "I doubt that your blood will match Logan's. He has a special and rare blood type even I had never heard of before."

"But you don't know until you didn't test mine, right?" John gave back, unwilling to give up. "And I want you to do it!"

Looking at him for a while and seeing how determined the man was, Hank finally nodded. "Fine… I'll do it first thing tomorrow," he promised, but John shook his head.

"No, you'll do it now." He grabbed the man's arm and dragged him towards the elevator.

"Wow," Scott said impressed. "First time I see him acting all Loganish…"

A bit later Hank reappeared with a paper in his hands and an even larger frown on his face. After analyzing the blood he was more than surprised and it wasn't hard for him to figure out that something wasn't quiet right. "And?" he heard John asking who had waited with the others in the kitchen. "Can I be his donor or not?"

"Ehm…," Hank made and stopped at the counter; aware of the fact that all eyes were on him. "Logan and you are sure that you are half-brothers, right?"

Furrowing his brows John shrugged. "Yes. I mean we don't even look like brothers. Why are you asking?"

"Because I have to tell you that you are wrong," the blue man replied and looked into the confused face of his opposite.

"What do you mean, Hank?" Scott asked, since he didn't understand one word either. "Are they not brothers at all?"

"No, what I mean is that Logan and you can never be half-brothers," Hank told John, who was now completely confused. "Both of you have the blood type D+. It's the same Jack, Laura, Lily and Jamie have, since Logan is their father. I first thought that D+ is the type all mutants with a healing factor have, but I've been proven wrong, since a colleague told me that he had a patient with a healing factor and the blood type was not D+."

"So that means?" John asked him.

"That either Logan is not the son of your former gardener or…," Hank paused. "That you are not your father's son…"

Letting the news sink in John had to sit down again and began to think hard. "But… This can't be. The gardener began to work for us four years before Logan was born," he said and shook his head.

"Then Logan probably isn't the son of the gardener," Hank replied. "Why not?" he asked when John shook his head again.

"Logan looks like his twin," the man replied. "He has to be his son. There's no way that Logan is not the son of the gardener…"

Having listened in to the conversation, Kitty looked at John. "You are 12 years older than Logan, right?" she asked and John nodded. "What if…what if your mother has known the gardener long before he had actually begun to work for you?"

"No," John shook his head. "No, that's not possible…"

"Why not?" Scott asked him.

"Because we lived far away from the town. My mother would have needed someone to bring her to it and she had always been at home," the man explained. "It's not possible that they had an affair for more than 12 years without anyone noticing something."

Having listened to the conversation Hank sighed and shook his head. "Well, if what you say is true…then we have a problem." He read through his test results again. "Logan and you have the same blood type, but you are convinced that he's your half brother and the son of your former gardener. Am I right?"

"Yes," John nodded with a shrug. "There's no other way."

"Actually…there is," he heard Hank saying and began to frown. "If both of you share the same mutation and the same blood type as half brothers…," the blue man began to explain. "…then this can only mean one thing…"

"What?" Scott asked him and looked to and fro between both men.

"That both of them inherited their mutation not from their fathers," Hank replied and added. "Which would be very unlikely anyway. As far as I know only related mutants share the same mutations. Natural mutations are unique."

"I still can't follow you," Scott said and frowned when he noticed the cold look on John's face. "What does it mean?"

"That we inherited our mutation from our mother," John grunted and began to clench his fists. "And that means…"

"…if she had an active mutation that she's still alive," Hank finished and laid a hand on the man's shoulder before that one would explode. "It doesn't mean that she really is, John…," he tried to soothe the man but this one only gave a snort and glared at him.

"As fucked up as our lives are, she is, believe me," he growled and heaved a deep breath to calm himself. "So, can you use my blood?"

"Yes I can," Hank replied and beckoned him to follow him. "But it doesn't mean that it will help Logan. So don't get your hopes up too much."

"Well, at least we'll try," the man behind him mumbled and entered the elevator after him.

* * *

"How often do I have to tell you that I can't remember?" Pyro snapped and glared at the Professor, who sat in his wheelchair next to the boy's bed. "Leave me the fuck alone, man." 

Sighing, Charles closed his eyes for a brief moment. "And again, John, if you would allow me to read your mind…"

"What for?" the younger man asked him angrily. "So that you can mess with my head? No, thank you!"

"I assure you that this is not my intention."

"Yeah, sure," Pyro nodded and snorted scornfully. "And the next thing I know is that…"

"Listen to him," a deep and gruff sounding voice suddenly said from one of the other beds and both men turned their heads in surprise.

"Erik, you're awake," Charles said in surprise and wheeled over to the tired looking man in the bed net to Pyro's. "How are you feeling?"

Smirking a bit, Magneto closed his eyes and leant back against the soft pillows again. "Despite that his yelling," he nodded at Pyro, "…made my headache even worse, I feel actually quiet well."

"That's good to hear," the Professor nodded with a smile. He couldn't deny that seeing his old friend awake again made him quiet happy. "I called for Hank. He should come as soon as he treated Logan."

Hearing that name made both Brotherhood members look up. "He's…he's here?" Pyro stuttered and Charles began to frown when he noticed that the man looked scared. "That monster's here?"

"He works for the enemy, Charles," Erik said and his face had changed in a mask full of hatred. "He was with them."

"Oh," the Professor made when he finally understood why both men had looked so worried. "That wasn't Logan."

"Yeah," Pyro laughed scornfully. "Sure. Where do you think I got those from?" he asked and pointed at the three long, still visible scratches on his chest that would definitely leave scars.

"It wasn't our Logan," Charles said once more. "Sinister produced clones of him. We found about 80 clones of different ages in a facility in Canada and destroyed them, but obviously he has some more. But I can assure you it wasn't our Logan."

"So…if what you say is true, Charles, and it is not another attempt of protecting this animal," Magneto said skeptically. "Then where's the Wolverine now?"

Before he could reply, the door opened and Hank came back in. "I'm sorry, but it took me a bit longer," he said and walked over to the two beds. "I see you're awake," he noticed rather chilly with a look at Magneto; not hiding his dislike for the older man.

"So it seems," Erik smirked.

"How is he?" Charles asked and it took Magneto a while to figure out that it wasn't him the man was talking about.

"Still unchanged," Hank replied with a worried look. "Moira and I are still trying to lower his fever, but up to now we only managed to raise it."

"I assume you are not talking about me," Erik said and looked to and fro between both men.

"Obviously not," Hank snarled.

"Hank," Charles said and laid a hand on the man's arm. "What about the wounds?"

"Thanks to John's blood Logan's slowly healing, but as I said," Hank shrugged. "His condition is still far from being good. But at least I can confirm that he's alive and that his brain is working again, too."

"The Wolverine's sick?" Magneto asked with an amused smirk and saw from the corner of his eyes that also Pyro grinned. "Now, that's a surprised."

Snarling at him, Hank went over to the monitors and began to check them before he examined Magneto and then Pyro again.

"How's he?" John asked and entered the ICU where both women were occupied with putting ice packs onto his brother's body.

"Still burning up," Moira replied and checked the monitor. "But at least he finally gives signs of being still alive."

Nodding, he walked over and stopped next to the bed. He looked at his brother for a moment, before something caught his attention. "He's not attached to the machine anymore?"

Looking up, Moira shook her head. "No, he's finally breathing on his own again," she told him. "But was about time after receiving your blood about two weeks ago." She sighed and wiped sweat from her forehead. "We can't do more, can we?" she asked the woman opposite of her, but this one shook her head. "Then let's hope this will stop his fever from becoming even higher. He already reached 108F…"

"Can I stay here?" John asked and nodded at a chair next to the bed on which he sat down after receiving a nod. "So now it means wait and see?"

"I think so," Moira said and gave her patient a look. "With his healing factor finally working again all we can do is sit and wait. I'll be upstairs. If something happens, call me." With that she left the room and left the three mutants alone.

"He has a chance right?" John asked after a moment. "I mean…he hasn't taken any damage from it, has he?"

"I don't know."

Nodding, he leant back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Well, let's hope not."

* * *

"That's all?" Charles asked and received a nod. 

"So they just…came in and that's it?" Scott asked and gave Magneto a skeptical look. "What were you doing in that facility anyway?"

"As I said," Erik replied in a calm voice and crossed his arms, while he ignored the leader of the X-Men. "We had a meeting."

"To what purpose?" the X-Man asked and crossed his arms, too. He was more than sure that the Brotherhood leader was hiding something.

"Why all those questions?" the older man asked him. "It doesn't change anything at all anymore. So why not concentrating on the more important things?"

"Well, I'd say it is more important to find Sinister than…."

"Scott," the Professor intervened. "I read his and John's mind. It's all they know. Obviously they had a mole in their group or Sinister had kept them under surveillance."

Walking over to the window, Scott shook his head. He looked at the garden for a moment, before he turned again. "That could mean that we either have a mole in our group, too, or that he's watching us. I mean…they seem to know where we are. First he attacked Jean in that alley, then he'd expected us in Japan and did not only destroy our jet, he'd also caught Logan and then he'd managed to lure us into a trap twice," he listed and lowered his head for a moment. "There's something seriously wrong. What if there's a spy in our school?"

"Why not a spy in your team?" Magneto smirked. "As I've just heard you said Sinister had caught the Wolverine?"

"Logan is in a coma for weeks," Scott snapped. "I doubt Sinister would risk losing one of his strongest men if Logan really was a spy. And besides, Logan was grieving for Jean. He was in no condition to fight."

"Are you sure?" his opposite asked and got up to walk over to the window. Standing next to the X-Men, Magneto exchanged a smirk with Pyro. "What if he fooled you?"

"Yeah, sure," Scott nodded and moved away from him to stand next to the Professor. "You can't act like that."

"That's what you believe," Erik sighed and returned to the sofa to sit down next to Pyro. Both, Scott and the Professor noticed the amused smile on their lips.

"Anyway," Charles said and gave each of them a look. "We have to wait until Cain wakes up. Maybe he remembers more."

"I doubt that, Charles, but of course you are welcome to try," Magneto said and Scott only rolled his eyes.

"Anyway, I have to take care of my son," the X-Man said. "Let me know if there are any changes."

Watching him, Magneto spoke up when Scott had reached the door. "How is Mystique by the way?"

"Better off without you," Scott replied and smirked when his opposite's smile faded instantly and was replaced by a glare. "See you later!" He closed the door behind him just to run into Mystique next. The woman leant against the wall opposite of the door and had her arms crossed.

"He's inside?" she snarled and narrowed her eyes when he nodded. "He's fine again, so why isn't he kicked out?"

"You know the situation," Scott said and took her hand. "We need his help. I don't like it either that he's here, but I think the Professor believes it would even be more risky if he stayed somewhere else."

Only snorting, she allowed him to pull her close and kiss her. "Still I don't like it," Mystique said and stroked over his shirt. "I hate him."

"I know," he said and caressed her cheek. "Just ignore him and don't listen to what he says. So, where's Alex?"

"Playing with Tommy," Mystique replied and leant her head against his shoulder when he wrapped one arm around her hip. Together they walked upstairs to where Ororo was watching over the children. "Hey."

"Hey," the weather goddess greeted back and fixed her eyes on the children again.

Scott exchanged a worried look with his girl. Both had to notice again that something about their friend was odd. "'Ro?" he asked in a calm voice and sat down next to her, just to see how she moved over to bring a distance between them. "What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing," Ororo replied and bit her lip. She was well aware of her friends staring at her from aside, but she was determined not to react to it.

"Since that mission you're behaving odd," Scott said in a calm voice and began to feel completely worried. "I mean Logan said you're fine, but… I think something must have happened to you. You know you can talk to us about it. We help you if we can." He reached out to touch her shoulder, but as soon as he did she got quickly up.

"You can't help me," was all they heard her mumbling before the woman left the room.

"God, what's wrong with her?" Scott asked and looked at Mystique.

"I don't know," she shrugged and got up. "But I have a feeling it is something big. Didn't she spend some nights with Logan after the mission?"

"Do you think they've an affair?" he laughed.

"No, of course not." Mystique rolled her eyes. "But probably he knows what is wrong with her."

Shrugging and running his hands through his hair, Scott got up to sit down on the ground with the children. "Well, we can't ask him, can we?"

"Yeah, I know," she said and sat down next to him. "But still I'd like to know what happened to her. The children told me that she has a hard time to concentrate on her work in class. And Kurt was looking for her again. Obviously she sleeps somewhere else."

"As I said…," he sighed. "Odd…"

* * *

"Fuck!" 

Turning around in surprise, Moira gave Hank a slap onto the arm and rushed over to the bed. "You're finally awake," she said and checked the monitors. "We were worried."

Covering his face with one hand, Logan shook his head. "Why couldn't ya just let me die, damn it," he grunted and Hank sighed.

"Maybe because you have children to take care of who love and need their father?" he asked him ironically. "Or maybe because you are our friend and we don't want to lose you?" Only able to shake his head, he began to write down the information on the chart. He noticed that his patient began to frown first and closed his eyes next. "Is something wrong?" he asked him.

"What's wrong with my ears?" Logan grunted and began to rub them, which now made Moira and Hank furrow their brows.

"How much do you hear?" the furry mutant asked and pulled a tray closer.

"What?" Logan asked in return and jumped when Moira pulled his head closer to examine his ears.

"How much do you hear?" she asked him louder and heard him sighing.

"Would ya stop whisperin'?!" he growled and pulled his head away.

"Obviously nearly nothing," Moira told Hank, who gave a sympathetic nod and wrote it down. "We should tell Charles to talk to him mentally. Screaming at him won't do him any good either."

"And do ya think this is funny?" they heard their patient suddenly grunting and exchanged a look, since they had no idea what he was talking about. "Switch the fuckin' lights on!"

Staring at him in shock, both mutants exchanged a look with each other. "The…lights are switched on, Logan," Moira said and hoped he understood it, while Hank grabbed a small light from the tray.

"What?!" Logan asked.

"I said the lights…," she said louder and still felt her heart pounding strongly in her chest.

"I heard what ya said," he snapped. "What do ya mean with the lights are switched on?! I can't see a fuckin' thing!"

Hank laid a hand on his patient's head to be able to check on his eyes and shook his head. "He took more damage than we thought…," he mumbled and gave his wife a look. "His pupils are not reacting to the light." He had barely touched Logan, when this one lashed out at him.

"What are ya doin' and who's touchin' me?!" the mutant growled and already began to clench his fists, when Moira laid a hand on his shoulder.

"It's Hank, Logan," she said loudly before she turned to her husband. "Charles is on his way down. She's with the children." He nodded and ran a hand through his face; still unable to believe it. "I go upstairs and inform the others…"

"Okay," Hanks said and got hit by Logan before he could evade the attack. "Logan, stop fighting! You have to lie still. You're not fully healed, yet, and I don't want to be forced to sedate you."

* * *

"He's awake?" Ororo asked and got off of her stool. 

"Yes…," Moira nodded but sounded everything but happy.

"But?" Mystique asked and gave her a skeptical look. She could easily figure that something was wrong and since the woman was biting her lip, she knew that she was right.

"He's in more than a bad shape," the woman told them and all X-Men began to frown. "And I mean mentally and physically…"

That means?" Scott asked while he leant against the fridge and had his arms crossed. He tried to read something in Moira's eyes when she looked at him.

"He's blind and can barely hear anything at all," she told them and while some gasped in shock, others covered their mouths with a hand and stared at her. "His smelling ability obviously took some serious damage, too, due to the toxins. Hank stood right next to him and Logan didn't recognize him. And that will make his mental condition only worse than it already is…"

"Could that one even get worse?" Scott asked her and received a nod.

"Obviously, yes," Moira said and ran a hand through her hair before she crossed her arms. "The first thing he asked was why we didn't let him die…"

"Great," Mystique sighed and shook her head. She then noticed Ororo's look and was about to say something to her, when the woman spoke up.

"Can the damage be repaired?" she asked barely audible and had her arms wrapped around herself.

"I don't know…," Moira replied honestly. "His healing factor should have been able to take care of the damage. It will probably take a while before it heals his ears and nose, but we don't know why he can't see. Logan had been able to rebuild organs before. His eyes are healed, so he should be able to see…" She shrugged. "Well, I'm downstairs again. When you speak to Logan use the left ear. He seems to hear more with it."

"Damn," Scott said since it was the only thing he could come up with. "What now? If he doesn't get better his children need to know."

"They're taken care of," Mystique said. "It would be the best to keep the truth away from them for a while. Maybe Logan gets better."

"And what if not?" Kitty asked them. "They need to know!"

"Right," Bobby nodded next to her. "Jack already keeps on asking why he can't see his father. They need to know."

"Where are you going?" Rogue asked when Ororo walked towards the door.

"Downstairs," was all the weather goddess said and left.

"I really want to know what's wrong with her…," Scott mumbled. "Does anyone of you know?" he asked the others bur they shook their heads.

* * *

Downstairs again, Ororo left the elevator and saw that Hank and Moira were standing on the outside and obviously discussed something. She knew that nothing had changed within the past two weeks after Logan had woken up, but couldn't find a reason why the doctors weren't with him. "If I were you," he told Ororo. "I wouldn't want to go in there." 

"Why?" she asked in confusion and stopped next to them.

"Let's say," he sighed and crossed his arms. "Logan got his hands on some equipment that we can now order again."

"But he's calm now?" she asked and looked to and fro between them when they shrugged.

"We had to sedate him. He was sleeping for about ten minutes, but his system fought the drugs off," Moira told her. "The Professor is now inside with him and tries to talk some sense into Logan."

"We know that it must be a shock for him, but right now he's just behaving impossible," Hank added and heard something shattering inside the room. "And obviously he's caught up in another fit of rage."

"I'll go inside," Ororo said determined but was held back.

"Don't!" Hank begged her and shook his head. "He won't listen to you anyway."

"He needs someone right now," she gave back and pushed his hand away. "You know that he never expresses what he really feels, except with Jean and he's obviously depressed."

"'Ro," he called but sighed when the woman disappeared behind the door. "I'd rather say he's furious and not depressed…"

"Logan, please calm down," the Professor tried it again and had to watch how the angry mutant just got rid of all the wires in and on his body. "Please, just listen to me!"

"Where's the fuckin' door?!" Logan asked in a low growl and got up. By touching his legs he figured that he was wearing sweatpants, but since he felt cool air on his chest, he knew he was shirtless.

"Logan…," Charles sighed in frustration and watched how the man looked around in a useless search. "Where…?"

"The door!" Logan cut him of a bit louder and the Professor exchanged a look with Ororo in defeat.

"On your right…," he finally said and watched how the mutant turned and bumped into a chair. Charles closed his eyes tightly when the object slammed against the next wall. "Ororo…," he tried to warn her when Logan bumped into her next and began to growl.

"Logan, what…," she said and was shoved aside by him. She gave the Professor a brief look and followed her friend, who tried to find his way to the elevator. "Wait!" she said and touched his shoulder.

"Leave me alone!" he hissed and slapped her hand away.

"Let me help you," Ororo said a bit calmer and grabbed his arm. Ignoring his warning growl, she led him over to the elevator, ignoring the looks Hank and Moira gave her, and waited for the door to open.

"I don't need your help!" Logan snapped, but she dragged him into the cabin and pushed the button.

"I'm sorry for this…," she managed to say and stroked over his arm, which he pulled away. "But I'm glad that you survived…" She could tell that he ignored her when he just exited the elevator. Nevertheless, Ororo quickly followed him in case he needed help. It hurt her to see him being so vulnerable. Determined to help him as he had helped her, she kept a distance to him but was ready to help him if she needed to. Watching how he searched his way through the corridor, Ororo froze on the spot when she looked down it.

Not noticing it, Logan used his hand to get his bearings by touching the wall and hoped to find the door to his rooms. If he was honest to himself he had no idea where he was. A growl escaped his throat again as he bumped into someone else. "Damn it, get outta my way!" he snapped. Feeling how a hand touched his cheek, he began to growl even lower. "This ain't a fuckin' petting zoo, so take your hands off me!" Furiously, he grabbed the hands roughly and froze. While his heart began to race in his chest, the others had come out of the kitchen to look what was wrong. Ororo, who had come a bit closer, turned when she heard how the elevator opened and the Professor appeared. One look of him was enough to tell her what he was thinking. He, too, was obviously alarmed. She looked back at Logan who stood still like frozen on the same spot and held the hand of his opposite. But suddenly he shook his head. "No…," he mumbled and began to heave deep breaths. "Why didn't ya tell me…? Logan asked barely audible and in disbelief. Even if he couldn't hear anything at all, he still heard his heart racing within his ears. When he felt how a hand touched him again, he backed off. "Why didn't ya tell me?!" he demanded to know again, but this time louder than before. "How could ya not tell me…?"

Seeing how despairingly he looked, Ororo bit her lip hard and began to cry. She watched how her friend shook his head while panting and pressed a hand against his head in disbelief. She could clearly tell that he was more than hurt. Logan in the meanwhile gave a brief laugh in disbelief and didn't care that he was crying. He felt how a hand touched his arm and pulled it roughly away. He was hurt, more hurt than he had felt in the past months that he had spent alone and waiting. But now he felt how this pain was quickly replaced by anger. "Don't even dare t'touch me, Jean!" he said aloud and sounded not only desperate, but also angry beyond any limits. Turning around he supported himself against the wall and lowered his head; only able to shake it while he was still crying. Finally, Logan looked up and into the direction where he hoped the redhead was. "Why are ya doin' this t'me?" he asked her broken and ran a hand through his hair. "Why didn't ya tell me?!" he added again through clenched teeth and let go of the wall. "Ya used me, ya made everythin' even worse by doin' it and now ya keep _this_ away from me?!" Unable to believe it, Logan closed his eyes for a brief moment and shook his head. "You're such a goddamn bitch!" Turning around, he went on to look for a way out of this situation, as a hand touched him once more. Slapping it roughly away, he turned around growling and narrowed his eyes that were full of hatred. "Don't ya even think about touchin' me!" he hissed and backed off while his hand searched for the corner. "Stay the hell away from me, ya hear me?" he added warningly. "Don't ya ever dare t'touch me ever again!" Turning around when his hand had finally found what he was looking for, Logan disappeared around the next corner and left a crying Jean behind him…

**Whew, finally I was able to use those scenes. You guys won't believe for how many months I had them pre-written on papers. LOL The scenes from Logan waking up to the end were one of the first I had pre-written and finally, I can throw them away. Anyway, sorry for not updating this, but I was pretty much stuck. Descena, I had to smile while reading your wishes of how Jean should return. Well, I couldn't tell you that she would return. ; ) I hope I was able to surprise you at least a bit. Please review and thanks to those who did review the last chapter!!! See ya!**


	23. Chapter 22

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter: )

Sorry for not updating sooner, but we went on one trip after the next. First we went to Dorney Park, then shopping on the next day and we watched Bourne Ultimatum and then the day afterwards to the Renaissance fair. So, pretty busy. LOL And I actually finally hadn't had a writer's block.

Blue Tigress: I granted your wishes here. The Jean one comes later in its full version. LOL Oh and I really had to think about one with Magneto… I hope I did okay. ; )

**Changes ****Sequel – II. Covenant Part 22**

Having watched Logan, the X-Men exchanged looks with each other before their eyes stopped at the still crying redhead. On the far end of the corridor Charles heaved a deep breath. He had seen it coming; probably as the furious weather goddess next to him had. But still he had respected the wish of his former student that now leant back against the wall and ran a hand through her face. "Ororo…," he said and the woman next to him looked down with tears in her eyes. They were both, tears of anger and of sympathy. "Logan looks for the way for his old room. Would you…?"

Only nodding, Ororo walked past him and stopped next to Jean, who she gave an angry look. "Sorry, but you don't deserve better!" she said and ignored the shocked look the redhead gave her. Just walking past her she quickly made her way towards Logan and laid a hand on his shoulder. "It's me."

"I said…," he growled and pushed her hand away.

"I know. I'll only lead you to our old room," she offered and was about to take his hand, when he pulled away again. She could tell that he was beyond any possible anger.

"Stop babying' me!" Logan said aloud and narrowed his eyes. "I don't need your fuckin' help! From no one of ya!"

Letting him go, Ororo bit her lip hard and watched how he went on searching for the staircase. It was then that she heard a sob behind her. She felt how anger became stronger within her and turned to go back to the redhead. "I told you it was wrong!" she yelled and forgot for the moment that she had other problems to take care of. "How can you do this to him?! Do you have any idea how much Logan had to suffer because of you in the past months?" she asked her opposite aloud and in complete disgust.

"'Ro, calm down and let us talk like adults, okay?" Scott asked and laid a hand on her shoulder, but she slapped it away and turned her attention back to the redhead.

"You are the cruelest _thing _I've ever seen!" Ororo barked at her and ran away while crying.

Jean only shook her head and lowered herself to the ground. Watching her sobbing even heavier, Scott knelt down next to her and pulled her close. He heard how Moira went after Ororo and couldn't believe the chaos of the last minutes. He still was too confused to understand at all what had happened. "Where's Logan?" he asked the Professor when this one came closer.

"He's found his old room," the bald man replied and sighed. "Now he's shielding himself from me again…"

Nodding, Scott helped Jean up. "Come on, let's go clean you up. Your children don't need to know about it, yet." With Mystique's help he brought Jean over to their room and left the others behind to deal with the situation.

"What now?" Hank asked after he had arrived, too.

"Honestly, I don't, Hank," Charles said and shook his head. "You might tell John about his brother's condition. Maybe he can talk to Logan."

"I can try."

"Any chance you can do something about Logan's eyes?" the Professor asked after they had arrived at the staircase.

Sighing, Hank shrugged. "We still don't know how this is even possible, Charles. His healing factor is working again and should have taken care of his eyes. You have seen the damage the explosion had done on them and they have been repaired. Neither Moira, Jean or I know why he can't see."

"We should give him time to work things out," the bald man suggested and received a weak nod. "I don't know either what else we could do to help him…"

* * *

At night Ororo opened the door to Logan's old room and switched on the lamp on the bedside table to put a tray with two sandwiches and a soda onto it. Since he wasn't on the bed she began to frown and looked around, just to find him sitting in the farthest corner of the room. She bit her lip hard when she looked more closely at him. He had his legs pulled close while his head was lowered and buried in his hands. She could tell that he was either boiling from within and tried to keep the Wolverine locked up, or that he was depressed again and was on the edge of his patience. But either way, Ororo knew he would probably want her to leave. Nevertheless, she knelt down next to him. "Logan?" she asked and hoped he would hear it.

"Leave me alone…," he grunted barely audible and didn't move an inch.

Unwilling to do so, Ororo wrapped her arms around his chest and leant into him. "I wanted to tell you…," she cried and closed her eyes tightly. "But Jean stopped me and I told her that it was wrong. I told her over and over again to tell you…"

Logan turned his head away from her and faced the wall. But still she noticed that he'd been crying. "For how long is she already back?" he asked her in barely more than a whisper.

"She saved you… We saw the explosion and how the building collapsed. We thought you were dead," she told him sniffing. "Then there was another explosion and she reappeared with you… We didn't know where Jean suddenly came from and had no time to ask her then, since you needed medical attention."

Hearing it, Logan clenched his fists. "How long was I out?"

"We went on that mission in September. We know have the middle of December," Ororo told him. "You woke up two weeks ago on November 25."

"So she's back for nearly 4 months by now and no one told me?!" Logan asked her through clenched teeth.

"She thought it would be only harder for you to know she's back, but not being able to see her," she said and wiped her tears away. "I told her she was wrong, but she wanted to wait until you can see again." She heard him snorting and watched how he bit his lip in anger. Ororo was convinced that she hadn't seen him being that angry in months. "You must be hungry," she therefore tried to change the subject and grabbed his hand. "I made sandwiches for you."

"Ain't hungry…," Logan grunted and looked away again.

"You need to eat, Logan. Your body needs to get used to normal food again," she begged and got up, still holding his hand. "Please eat at least one, okay?"

He reluctantly allowed her to drag him over to the bed and felt how she put something onto his lap. Again, he felt anger rising within him. "I still can't believe that she did that…," he growled and searched for a sandwich.

"She thought she did the right thing…," Ororo replied and looked at him from aside.

"What if my eyesight never returns? Would she've never told me then?!" Logan asked her angrily and swallowed one sandwich. "I saw her before the building collapsed…I thought I was goin' t'die and was happy to see her one last time and she…" He shook his head angrily while more tears ran down Ororo's cheeks.

"I know…," was all she was able to say and began to notice how tired he was. As if he had read her thoughts, Logan put the empty soda bottle down and reached out to look for the bedside table, before he put the tray onto it and lay down on the bed. "Do you want to be alone?" she asked him carefully.

"Don't care," he grunted and closed his eyes wile trying to get comfortable.

"I'll stay here then, okay?" Ororo offered and lay down on the other side of the bed.

"Just keep her away," he replied in a low growl and pulled his legs close.

"Try to sleep," she said.

"Funny," Logan grunted and heard how she switched off the lights.

Unable to find any sleep, Ororo lay awake and kept on thinking about the past weeks. She had been too occupied with dealing with her own problems and avoiding Kurt, but also with thinking about Logan and how scared she was for him. She knew he would react the way he did. She had expected exactly that. Ororo turned her head in the dark when she heard him turning around and switched on the lights again. Rolling onto her side, she looked at him and noticed that he'd reached out to her side in his sleep. When her hand touched his, he stirred and withdrew again. She bit her lip hard. She couldn't help but think about what he was going through. Becoming thoughtful, her hand touched her still flat stomach. Even if she tried, she couldn't deny what was there. Ororo remembered the advice of everyone to just get rid of the baby, but knew that it wasn't an option to her. It stood against everything she believed in. She was well aware that she did everything wrong lately and that avoiding her husband, who still didn't know wasn't an option either. It would soon show and she couldn't hide from him for 9 full months.

"What's wrong now?" Logan grunted sleepily, since he had heard her uttering a suppressed sob.

"I thought you're sleeping," Ororo mumbled and wiped her tears away. The surprise that he actually had heard it didn't occur at her immediately.

"No…," he mumbled and ran a hand through his face. "What's wrong?"

Looking at him, she bit her lip hard. "I don't know what to do…," she sobbed and pulled her legs closer.

"Storm," Logan sighed. "A bit louder and more precisely."

"The baby…," she tried to say. "I don't know what to do about it… I know that I am risking my life, I know that it is wrong to keep it, but…" Ororo ran both hands through her tearstained face. "I could never have an abortion and kill a baby. I can't blame the child for what this bastard did to me… But then… I don't know if I can ever look at it or even love it…"

"If ya know all that why do ya wanna keep it?" he asked her drowsily but in a serious voice. "Ya can die, 'Ro!"

She nodded and recalled that he couldn't see it. "I know…," the woman therefore said and heaved a deep breath while she stared at the sheets. "But it's a living human being and I'd think of myself as a murderer. I can't do this, Logan…"

He nodded. "So you'd rather die?" Logan asked and sat up. He couldn't see her frown, but guessed that she was looking at him. Remembering what he had been through in the past months and hearing her excuses made him angry. "I mean…that's great! Your daughter and son will probably lose their mother, Kurt will lose his wife and has t'raise the kids alone… Speakin' from experience, Storm, it's the best thing ya can do, really!" he said cynically and heard that she sat up, too. "Do ya have any idea how terrible it is, 'Ro? Knowing that you've t'raise your kids alone? Seeing their faces which tell ya everyday again how much they miss their mother? If ya really loved them, ya wouldn't be so selfish and only think about your own conscience, but about the consequences your decision has on your family!" While his heart had begun to beat strongly in anger, he had also noticed that her sobs had become stronger. Trying to calm down again, since he knew she couldn't be blamed for his anger, he heaved a deep breath. "What does Kurt say t'all of this?" Logan asked and waited for her reply.

"He doesn't know…"

"What?!" he asked in disbelief.

"He doesn't know…," Ororo said a bit louder; thinking that he hadn't understood what she'd said.

"'Ro, are ya outta your mind, or somethin'?" he asked her and could only stare into darkness. "You'll be four month pregnant at the end of this month! How can ya not tell your husband about it?!"

Hugging her legs, she rested her head on them and shrugged. "Because I…," she sobbed and heaved a deep breath. Up to know she hadn't talked to anyone about it. No one else except him knew what Sabretooth had done to her, while Moira and Hank simply knew she was pregnant. "I feel so ashamed and dirty. I can't look at him… I can't even stand being in the same room with him anymore." Having said it, Ororo let herself fall back onto the bed again and began to cry heavily into the pillow.

Thinking about it and that she had spent night after night in his rooms after it had happened, Logan furrowed his brows and shook his head. "But… How can ya stand sleepin' next t'me then?" he asked her in confusion. "Or talkin' t'me about it?"

Sniffing, she wiped her tears away. "Because it's different with you. You told me your opinion once and you just leave it at it. But Hank and Moira…" She shook her head. "They keep on coming to me and tell me what to do… And then their looks. All this sympathy and pity… I can't stand it. And you just don't do it."

"Yeah, coz I'm blind," he grunted and lay back down, too.

"No, you wouldn't do it," Ororo replied with a look at him. "You just say what you think and that's it and they just can't leave me alone."

Thinking about it Logan nodded and sighed. "So ya decided t'just stick t'me, eh?" he asked her. "Even if I keep on sayin' that I wanna be alone."

Knowing that it was an attempt to cheer her up a bit, she managed a weak smile. "I know that you're only saying it but don't mean it, Logan…"

He snorted. "I always mean what I say!"

"So you want me to go?"

"I said I don't care, remember?" he grunted and pulled his pillow closer. "But still ya need t'talk to the Elf. He needs t'know."

"How?!" Ororo sobbed and felt completely lost. "I don't know how…"

"By tellin' him what you've just told me!" Logan said in a stern voice. "And ya can't allow that this son of a bitch takes over your feelings and thoughts. You're destroyin' yourself by doin' it!"

Staring at his left hand that rested on the pillow, she took it and stroked over the two rings. "What will you do?" she asked him and looked into his face, but he only snorted.

"Can't say that I wanna _see_ my kids anymore, can I?" he replied cynically.

"Your eyesight will come back…," Ororo said encouragingly and squeezed his hand with a weak smile, but he shook his head.

"I doubt it," Logan grunted. "It's been two weeks since I woke up and it had been nearly three months that I was out cold… My healing factor should haven taken care of it by now…"

"I'm sure of it, Logan," she replied and withdrew her hand to switch off the lights again. "Just be patient. Night…"

"Whatever," he mumbled and rolled onto his back to cover his eyes with one arm. He knew the major headache he had would prevent him from finding any sleep, but he also didn't want to ask her to bring him downstairs. His head and ears hurt like hell and the constant whistling noises he could hear drove him nuts. Only sighing, he finally turned around and pulled his pillow closer.

* * *

"So he can't see anything at all?" John asked and turned around to look out of the window when Hank shook his head.

"I'm sorry, but we don't know how this is even possible," Moira apologized.

"That's the point," the man replied and shook his head. "It is _not _possible. Our mutation protects us from things like that."

"We are waiting for Logan to wake up. Maybe it has changed," Hank said hopefully. "Anyway, we just wanted to let you know, so that you are prepared."

John nodded and went over to the room of his daughter when he'd heard a noise. "Thanks. We'll be downstairs in a minute."

Nodding, Hank beckoned Moira to follow him and together they left the dormitories to head down for the kitchen, when they saw Kurt and his children. "Morning," he greeted the mutant, who turned around with a sad look.

"Guten Morgen," he replied and pulled Tommy closer.

"Have you seen mommy?" TJ asked the two adults, who exchanged a look.

"She…hasn't stayed with you?" Moira asked. "Again?"

"No," Kurt shook his head and held his head lowered. When he heard both of them sighing, he looked up with furrowed brows. "Do you know vhy?"

"No…," Moira quickly said and grabbed Hank's hand. "She probably wanted to help Logan. It must be very hard for him…"

"What's wrong with Uncle Logan?" TJ asked and looked to and fro between the adults.

"Nothing, dear," the woman said, when Hank shook his head. "What?"

"If he comes down for breakfast, they'll notice it anyway," he said and knelt down to explain the situation to the girl. "Understood?"

"He can't see anything at all?" TJ asked with widened eyes.

"No, dear, he can't," Moira said sadly and noticed the look in the girl's eyes. "It is important that you show consideration for him, okay?" Seeing that the girl nodded, she gave her a weak smile and stroked over her head. "Let's go and have breakfast." She suggested.

* * *

Upstairs Ororo slowly awoke and tried to stretch, just to notice that she couldn't. First beginning to panic, she soon noticed what the source of it was. In his sleep Logan had wrapped one arm around her and was cuddled up to her from behind. By the way he was breathing she could tell that he was still asleep and decided to try and rest a bit more, too. Just when she had closed her eyes again there was a knock on the door and Jubilee entered. "Oh…," the young woman said after seeing the position in which both mutants lay on the bed. "I…I didn't mean to interrupt anything…"

"It's not what it looks like," Ororo said, but still felt how her heart began to race. She knew there would be probably a lot of gossip if the girl told someone else. "What do you want anyway?"

"Oh, ehm…," Jubilee made, still unable to take her eyes from the couple. "Well, Jean thought that… Well, if Wolvie wanted to shower he…" She pointed at the things in her hand and put them onto the bed. "Here." Giving them a last look, she closed the door behind her again and returned to the kitchen.

"Damn," Ororo cursed and froze when Logan took a deep breath behind her.

"What?" he mumbled against her neck and slowly began to realize what was wrong. "Sorry," he said and let go of her.

"No, that's okay," she said loud enough for him to understand it.

"Then what?"

"Jubilee just brought some of your things," Ororo sighed and rolled onto her back. "She must think who knows what now…"

Before he could reply something, Logan heard how she jumped up and was suddenly gone. Furrowing his brows, he sat up and tried to pick up on anything, but except the whistling in his ears he hardly heard anything. Beginning to feel worried, he got up and began to slowly search his way to the bathroom. "Everythin' alright?" he asked and jumped a bit when she suddenly touched him.

"Yeah, I had to throw up," she said and ran a hand through her face. "Hadn't had this in a while…"

"Ya alright?" Logan asked furrowed his brows.

"Yes I am," Ororo replied. "Stay here." She walked quickly back to the bed and got his things for him. "Here. I put your clothes on the toilet," Ororo told him and led him into the bathroom. "Your shower gel is in your right hand, the shampoo in your left. I put your toothbrush and toothpaste into the washbasin, okay?" One look at him clearly told him that he was annoyed. She knew how much he hated to be dependent on others. "Okay, let me know when you're done. I'm in the bedroom," she added and closed the door behind him. After a moment she could hear the water running and sat down on the bed. She still felt nausea and like throwing up again. Ororo bit her lip and looked at the door for a moment, before she decided to lie back down until Logan was done in the bathroom. While she waited she kept on thinking about what he had told her. She knew she had to talk to Kurt, she was also aware of what she risked with the baby, but still she could never kill it. She remembered how they had found Laura at the facility in Canada and what Logan had said to her after he had wanted to kill the girl. He had said that it wasn't the girl's fault she existed; it was the fault of the sick scientists behind it. She thought the same about her baby. It hadn't had a choice in this and she couldn't be the one to sentence it to death. It was against her nature to do it…

Ororo looked up when the door to the bathroom opened and Logan came out of it; still drying his wet hair and looking more than unhappy. She could feel how her heart clenched and got up to comfort him. "I'm sure it'll be fine again," she said and gave him a brief hug before she led him over to the bed. "I'll take a quick shower and then we go downstairs to eat."

"No."

"You need to eat. Don't start getting all stubborn on it again," she cried and sighed.

"I will eat," Logan replied and threw the towel to the ground. "But I ain't gonna go downstairs…"

"Okay, I'll bring you something then," Ororo said and saw his smirk. "What?"

"So ya gonna feed me for the rest of your life then?" he asked cynically and ran a hand through his hair. "Do ya wanna move in and maybe dress me the next time?!"

"Logan," she groaned and threw her hands into the air. "You have to learn dealing with it. It doesn't happen from one day to the next and I'm your friend. So of course I'll help you until you can do things on your own again. It takes time and I told you before that it will get better. Just be patient, please!" Only receiving a snort from him, she shook her head and went into the bathroom next.

* * *

"Okay, guys," Scott said and entered the kitchen. "Forge finally got the new suits. All X-Men report to him after breakfast. We'll test the uniforms in the Dangerroom then."

"What about us?" John asked and glared at him. "If Iceboy gets a new uniform, I want one, too."

"You are not an X-Man anymore," Bobby gave back. "So you don't deserve one."

"Bobby!" Scott scolded him. "The suits are X-Men uniforms. You made your choice back then to leave us, so you won't get one."

"And they are expecting our help?!" John asked Magneto outraged and also Cain glared at them.

"But…," the X-Man went on. "Forge is working on devices that will allow you to have the powers we have with the new uniforms."

"What?!" some X-Men asked and stared at him.

"The Professor decided that this is the only solution," Scott said. "We need their help, they need ours. Erik and he decided to join our powers once again and fight together. To accomplish this, we have to make sure that they can use their powers."

"Great," Bobby cursed and exchanged glares with John. "So they are not only living here, we also have to train with them?"

"Bobby," Hank said sternly. "I am not fine with it, too. But they are mutants like us and the way you behave is not better from the way some humans treat us."

"But I, unlike you, don't forget that he tried to kill me at least three times in the past years!" the younger man gave back. "In the end they will try to save their own butts anyway. You know what they are like!"

"And who do you think you are, Icyboy?" John spat. "The good X-Man without any edges, with the perfect family…" He grinned. "Oh, no…hold on. Wasn't it your brother who'd called the police and because of whom we nearly got killed?"

"Shut up!" Bobby said aloud and both got off of their stools, ready to attack the opposite.

"Guys!" Scott said aloud and stepped into their middle. "Don't even dare to start something!" he warned before he gave the smirking Magneto a look. "Would you say something?"

"Why should I?" the older man shrugged and crossed his arms in amusement. "This is your house and I am only a guest. Hello my dear." He smiled at Ororo, who had just entered the kitchen. The woman only gave him an odd look and went over to get a tray; trying her best to ignore the whispers of Jubilee.

"What are you doing?" Scott asked and watched how she began to pile food on the tray.

"Logan needs to eat," she mumbled and went on while turning her back to them.

"Okay, but Kurt was worried since you were gone again all night long," her friend said and crossed his arms. "You can't do that, 'Ro. And besides that, we meet in the Dangerroom after breakfast to test the new uniforms. I need you there."

Turning around she gave him a shocked look and felt how her heart was in her mouth instantly. "I…I can't."

"Logan will be fine for a few minutes without you," Scott sighed. "Moira can watch him. You are the second in command and will lead team 2. No more discussions," he added and went over to the door, not seeing that the woman began to panic.

"I really can't," Ororo said once more and earned furrowed brows, while the three Brotherhood members smirked.

"Why not?" Scott asked and stopped at the door.

"I…," she began and looked for a good excuse. "I'm not feeling well."

Looking at her sceptically, he scanned her from head to toe and shook his head. "You look fine to me."

"But I'm not," she cried and bit her lip hard when tears gathered in her eyes. "I can't…," she whispered and shook her head.

"Told you they are all crazy here," John said towards Cain, who grinned. "The older they get, the more pathetic they are."

"What's wrong with you?" Mystique asked her and ignored her former comrades. "Why are you crying?"

"Because she's crazy, thought that's obvious," John smirked and earned a glare.

"Shut up!" Bobby hissed.

"Whoah, I'm scared," his opposite mocked and winked at him.

"'Ro, come outside with me for a second, please," Scott said and beckoned her to follow him but she shook her head.

"I need to bring Logan his food," she replied and kept her eyes fixed on the ground.

"No, he can wait for five more minutes," he replied and grabbed her arms, just to frown at her when she jumped with a terrified _No_. Since his mistrust was now awoken for real, Scott tilted his head a bit and looked at her. "Okay, seriously, what's wrong with you? Since that mission you behave odd. You can't tell me that it doesn't have a reason."

"I'm fine," Ororo mumbled and wrapped her arms around herself. She looked up when Moira entered and tried to find a way out of the situation.

"'Ro?" Scott asked and she switched her attention back to him. "Give me a good reason why you can't lead a second team in a Dangerroom session," he demanded and Moira froze on the spot, looking from the man to the desperate woman and back.

"Oh, she can't," she quickly said and earned questioning looks.

"And why?" Scott asked her while crossing his arms.

Ororo gave Moira a pleading and scared look and saw how the woman tried to come up with something. "She…," the brunette began and saw the big frown in Scott's face. "She's coming down with something and had a light fever yesterday. So I can't let her do Dangerroom sessions."

"Fever?" John laughed and earned a glare. "Yeah, sure…"

"Whatever," Scott sighed. "Then Peter leads the second team." He turned to leave for the basement and Moira gave, unseen from the others, the weather goddess a warning look. This one only grabbed the tray and left quickly, before someone else could stop her.

"She's really odd," Kitty commented and went on eating her cereals.

"I'm telling ya," Jubilee whispered. "She's an affair with Wolvie!"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Bobby said and gave her a look.

"What?" Cain grinned and the heads turned to him. "The runt and the weather witch?" He laughed and shook his head. A look aside told him that John was grinning about the same thing and he began to laugh even harder. "Imagine that. He must get electrocuted every time they…"

"Cut it off!" Rogue interrupted him. "It's not true. Logan loves Jean and wouldn't do that to her."

"Well…," Kitty made and tilted her head a bit. "After what Mrs. Grey did…I wouldn't be so sure."

"Anyway, it's not of our business," her friend replied and looked at the man to her left for help. "Right, hon?"

"Qui," Remy nodded and smiled at his son when this one gave him a smile.

Looking at the little boy in disgust, John crossed his arms and nodded into Magneto's direction to get his attention. "They breed like rabbits…"

"Yeah, because we know what family means," Bobby hissed and got up. "Come on guys, let's go." He waited for his friends to get up before they left to head down for the Dangerroom.

"They are so pathetic," John grunted. "Why can't we just leave?"

"Because we need their help unfortunately," Magneto sighed and suddenly smirked. "Pity that the Wolverine doesn't take part into the session. I'd have loved to see if he's still good enough to be thrown around…" His smirked widened when his two companions began to laugh aloud.

* * *

"Oh, Remy doesn't dink so," Remy grinned and loaded another card which he threw into the direction of his adversary. Some of his comrades shielded her eyes as the cards exploded and caused a huge fireball to light up the room. "Remy likes dat," the man smirked and looked down his new uniform that was covered with a black leather trench coat; similar to his casual brown one. He looked aside and watched how Iceman used his beam to glide around the room. He grinned again when another ice beam hit an enemy on the other side of the room, where Jubilee, Peter and Kitty were still occupied with fighting.

"What do you think?" Scott asked and came to a halt next to him. "How does it work?"

"Remy loves dis suit!" the Cajun smiled happily.

"Good to hear that. Let's only hope they'll work against Sinister's men, too," his opposite replied. "End simulation!"

About to take a punch, Colossus nearly hit Kitty, who quickly phased. "Hey!" she glared at her husband.

"Sorry, but I didn't reckon with that," he apologized and watched how the room turned fully back into its normal state.

"Whatever," she snapped and rolled her eyes.

"Guys, come together," Scott demanded and waited for them to obey. "So what do you think? Any problems with the new uniforms?"

"Mine is a bit tight," Jubilee said and pulled on the leather.

"Then you shouldn't be eating so much candy," he gave back. "I mean serious problems with it? Forge wanted to know if you begin to feel dizzy, nausea or if anything else is bothering you since the material is organic. So is anyone of you having problems?" He looked around and only saw how his teammates began to shake their heads. "No? Good. Then let's go shower and I'll let Forge and the Professor now," Scott said and led the way to the door. "We might have another meeting with the Professor, I'm not sure about that. He said something about a new jet."

"Well, was about time," Bobby said and got rid of his gloves. "I think the Alpha Flight Team needs their jets, too."

"Precisely," Hank nodded and glared at Kitty once more when she smirked at him.

"You don't want to know what you look like, Hank," she giggled.

"I assume sexy beyond limits," he said and turned his head away to hide that he felt hurt. Even if the uniform was not too tight, he still felt uncomfortable in it. "And besides, I am 52 years old…"

"Well, a grandpa in leather, why not?" Jubilee joked and laughed when he snarled. "And Scott's only 5 years younger…"

"What's that supposed to mean?" this one asked her and earned a shrug.

"Nothing," the girl said innocently and followed the women into the shower. "Too bad that Wolvie isn't well… I'd loved to see him in the new uniform."

"Impossible…," Kitty sighed while getting rid of her uniform and shook her head.

* * *

A few days later Ororo awoke at night and turned around in Logan's grip to look at the clock. She sighed in frustration and ran a hand through her face. Again she had awoken in the middle of the night without any reason and knew she wouldn't find any sleep so soon, even if she was tired like hell. Drowsily, she got slowly up and switched on the lights on the bedside table. She turned her head when the man behind her gave a protesting grunt and turned around in his sleep. Since she didn't want to wake him up again, Ororo grabbed her sleeve shirt, pulled it over and made her way down to the kitchen. She hoped that a hot tea would help her to find sleep as it usually did. After filling a cup with the hot liquid, she leant back against the counter lost in thoughts. She didn't even noticed first that Kurt stood in the door and watched her in surprise, but as soon as she did her eyes grew wide and all she wanted was to leave.

"'Ro…," Kurt said as he noticed it and blocked the way to the door. He hadn't has any chance to talk to his wife in weeks since she, as he thought, avoided him on purpose and ran away every time they met.

"Let me go…," Ororo said and avoided to look at him.

Not understanding her and why she was this way all of a sudden, he shook his head and gave her a pleading look. "Vhy are you avoiding me?" he therefore asked with a hurt look in his eyes. "Vhat did I do?"

While she thought that her heart would burst in her chest, she began to feel scared soon. "Nothing…," she mumbled and wrapped her arms around herself.

"Then vhy are you not talking to me anymore?" Kurt asked and reached out to touch her cheek, but she backed off. "'Ro…vhat is the reason that you are not staying vith me and our children anymore? Ve miss you…"

Beginning to imagine that the room suddenly became very small, Ororo began to panic. "Please, let me go…," she begged him with tears in her eyes, but still refused to look at him.

"Not before you tell me the truth." He shook his head in despair. When she avoided his touch once more and began to cry, Kurt looked down. "Are you…sleeping vith him?" he asked, since he feared this the most. "Logan, I mean…"

Hearing it, she looked up to stare at him in shock. "No… What makes you even think that?!"

"Because you're staying vith him for veeks?" he asked and met her gaze. "Or because I know that you vere in love vith him before?"

Ororo sighed and ran a hand through her wet face. "That's years ago before the twins were even born...," she said but he shook his head.

"You don't forget about strong feelings like this."

"I care for Logan as a friend and I love him as a good friend," she replied. "Nothing more…"

Kurt looked at her in complete confusion and made a step forward, just to see that she made one backwards. "Then vhy are you not staying vith me?" he asked and tried to find the answer in her eyes, but she began to cry even harder and shook her head.

"I…I can't tell you," she sobbed and wrapped her arms closer around herself.

"Vhy not?!" he asked more demanding and stopped her from leaving.

"Let me go!" Ororo cried and began to breathe heavily.

"No! Not before you tell me vhat's going on!" Kurt replied and began to feel really worried when she suddenly cried harder. Since his heart had begun to beat strongly in his chest in fear, he swallowed hard before he asked what he was thinking in the past weeks. "Don't you love me anymore…?"

"Of course…," she sighed and didn't notice that he came slowly closer.

"Then vhy are you doing this?" he asked in a calm voice and stroked over her cheek after finally managing to touch her. "Vhat is bothering you so much, 'Ro? You know you can tell me…"

Meeting his concerned look she shook her head and sobbed again. "I can't…"

"Vhy not?" Kurt demanded to know. "Vhat's vrong?" Ororo looked at him for a while, while he kept on stroking over her cheeks. With a loud sob she suddenly clung to him and cried into his chest. Not knowing what to think anymore, he pulled her close and stroked over her back. "Tell me vhat's wrong…," he begged and listened to her attempts to speak.

"I'm…I'm pregnant," Ororo finally managed to say and felt how he let go of her. One look into Kurt's face was enough to tell her that he was shocked and scared at the same time.

"But…it can't be…," he stuttered and shook his head. "Ve vatched…"

Looking down in shame, she heaved a very deep breath. "It's not yours…," she told him barely audible and noticed his shocked look when she raised her head again.

"V…vhat?!" Kurt asked and had trouble to understand the meaning of what she'd just told him.

"It's not your baby…," Ororo said once more and ran a shaky hand through her tearstained face. "It's…," she began and only saw his hurt and disappointed look before he teleported. "Kurt!" she said aloud, but her husband was already gone. Staring at the spot where dark smoke was still visible, she began to pull a face in despair and sank to the ground sobbing, where she pulled her legs close and buried her face in one hand.

On the next morning during breakfast, Kurt was staring at the counter only and didn't notice the looks the others gave him. It was more than obvious to them that something must have happened. They had never seen their teammate like this before and looked at him clearly worried. Receiving a nod from Mystique, Scott got up to sit down next to Kurt and laid a hand onto his shoulder. "What's wrong with you?" he asked and began to feel more than concerned when he noticed the tears in his opposite's eyes. "Did something happen?"

Only nodding, Kurt stared at the counter again. "'Ro's pregnant…"

Letting the news sink in, Scott nodded and thought about what to say. "Well, that's…," he began when the mutant gave him a look that looked more than hurt.

"It's not mine…"

"What?!" Hank asked since he had heard the conversation. "But we thought that…"

"You knew?" Kurt asked him in disbelief and gave Moira, whose cheeks were flushed, a shocked look. "Vhy didn't you tell me?!" he asked and got off of his stool.

"Well…because we can't tell you if she doesn't want us to do so," Moira shrugged. "We're bound to maintain confidentiality…"

"But we actually thought," Hank went on and shook his head in disbelief. "…that I was yours… What makes you think that it is not?"

"Because she told me," Kurt replied and looked down.

Scott in the meanwhile had his brows furrowed and shook his head. "But…who's the father then?" he asked him and tried to find an answer in the Elf's face when this one looked back up.

"I think it's Logan's," he said and didn't care that by now everyone was staring at him in shock. "Even if she denies it, but vhy else should she be staying with him for veeks?"

"But…Logan wouldn't do this. And Ororo neither," Rogue disagreed.

"Why not?" Scott asked her. "Logan has been depressed beyond limits and 'Ro had been weird since that mission. Maybe something had happened on it while both of them had been still in that building and she had spent the night with him in some kind of…state of shock or whatsoever…" He looked aside when Kurt shook his head.

"It's because of me…," the man said in barely more than whisper.

"Why because of you?" Rogue asked him and furrowed her brows and received a hurt smile from him.

"Vhy vould she stay vith someone like me, if she can have someone normal like him?" Kurt asked them and looked down when he shed a tear. Before someone of them could say something, he had teleported away.

"I don't believe that…," Scott said and shook his head.

"Ask us," Hank replied in the same tone. "We thought it was his baby and believed she needed time to sort things out… But not that…" He shook his head. "But it makes sense. Why else should she sleep night after night next to Logan?"

"Jean…," Scott suddenly said and all heads turned towards the door where the redhead stood. "You heard this?"

"Yeah," she nodded and entered the kitchen to pour herself a coffee.

"That's all you have to say?!" Hank asked her in disbelief. "How can you stay so calm when Logan is probably the father of…"

"He's not," she said without looking at anyone of them and sipped on her coffee.

"How can you be so sure?" Scott asked her.

"Because I am," was all Jean said and left again.

"You know what?" Jubilee said and pointed at the door. "_She_'s weird since she's back. Really scary…"

"Right," Kitty nodded in agreement. "She behaves like some kind of…robot…"

"Whatever," Scott sighed and got up. "Does anyone know where John is? Forge wants to test Logan's uniform on him and begin to make one for him, too."

"So he joins the team?" Peter asked him and looked up.

"Well, he didn't say no," the man shrugged. "So, if anyone looks for me, I'm in the basement."

* * *

"'Ro…," Logan sighed and patted her back again. "C'mon… It'll be alright."

"No!" the woman sobbed and clung to his shirt again after looking up. "No, it will not be alright, Logan! It will not!" she cried and shook her head. "God, what did I do…?"

"Tellin' your husband the truth," he grunted and felt how she let go of him. Touching his chest, Logan pulled a face when he became aware of how soaked it was. He couldn't tell for how long he tried to soothe her by now, but it must have been hours. To him it appeared as if he was stuck in some kind of loophole with her. First, he had woken up due to her crying her eyes out, then it had taken him minutes to find out what was actually wrong with her and after finally managing to put her back to sleep, he had woken up again due to her crying her eyes out and the whole drama had started all over. Logan guessed that breakfast was over by now, if the others hadn't even had lunch already. "I'm hungry…," he grunted and looked into the direction where he thought she still sat.

"I don't want to go down…," Ororo sniffed and moved over to the middle of the bed where she pulled her legs close and wrapped her arms around them. "Possibly the whole schools knows it already and think of me as some kind of slut…"

"Jesus…," he cursed and got up. "Tell me how to get to the kitchen from here," Logan grunted.

"You want to go down alone?" she asked surprised and in a voice that told him she was still crying.

"Well, I have to, right?" he grunted and began to walk over to the door very carefully. His right hand was in mid air and he began to feel his way forward with it. "I'm hungry."

"Why…," Ororo began to sniff and wiped her nose in her sleeve. "Why don't you ask Rogue or Kitty?" Their room is…"

"…far away from mine," Logan cut her off and rolled his eyes. "Just tell me where the fuckin' door is."

Looking up again, she began to frown since he was staying in the middle of the room. "It's on your far right, Logan. You're on your way to the bathroom right now…." After wiping her tears away once more, she got up and grabbed his hand to lead him over to the correct door. "Here."

"Fine…," he growled. "And now?!"

Since she stood right next to him and had a good look at his face, Ororo began to feel bad. "We can send someone else…," she offered and had a bad feeling to let him go downstairs alone. The others would probably think of her as the cruelest person of this planet; first betraying her husband and now letting a blind man look for his way to a room that was practically at the other side of the mansion.

"Where…is the kitchen?!" Logan grunted annoyed and waited for the instructions.

"I don't have a good feeling if you go alone…"

"The kitchen!" he said more demanding. "I'm starvin'!"

Sighing, she led him outside of the room and placed him right in the middle of the corridor. "Walk down this one until you come to the stairs, go down and then turn to your right until you reach a corner. Then it's right again and the second door on your left." Ororo walked back to the door and watched him. After a moment she saw him shaking his head and began to frowns. "What's wrong?"

"Guess!" Logan grunted and really began to feel like he was at the very edge of his patience with her for today.

"I…I don't know," she replied with a shrug.

"Can I tell, since I can't see a fuckin' think, if a wall, which I need to look for things, is right next t'me or not, if I run into it when I turn to might right or left, or not…," he listed in a tensed voice and felt how she gave him a nudge to his right until his shoulder touched a wall.

"Sorry…," Ororo whispered before she bit her lip hard and moves back to his room. "God, Logan, please be careful…," she begged when he began to walk down the corridor; his hand being constantly in contact with the wall next to him. She wondered what he felt like at the moment; if he was scared or terrified. She knew she wouldn't do one step without help if she couldn't see a thing. Feeling how more tears gathered in her eyes, Ororo began to sniff again. "Damn hormones…," she cursed and walked back over to the bed to let herself fall onto it.

"'Ro?" Hank suddenly and made her nearly jump. She sat up in a rush and stared at him with widened eyes. "I need to talk to you," the man said and closed the door behind him.

"About what?" she asked barely audible and began to feel more than uncomfortable.

"You know…," Hank said and leant back against the wall next to the door. "All of us met a pretty sad and devastated Kurt in the kitchen today." He watched how her head shot up and her eyes grew wide. "I ask you a question now, even if it is not of my business, but as your doctor and Kurt's friends, I want to know the truth. Do you understand me?"

"Yeah…," she nodded but avoided his gaze. She felt how she began to quiver in nervousness and thought that her heart would burst through her chest. She knew what would come next…

"Is the baby you are carrying Logan's?" Hank asked without hesitation and waited patiently for an answer. He watched how she bit her lip and kept her eyes on the ground. Her hesitation and silence only led him come to one conclusion. "God, 'Ro, please don't tell me it's really Logan's baby…" he said shocked and came slowly closer. "Tell me that this isn't true…" He kept his eyes on her as she began to sob loudly and knelt down in front of her. "Why did you do this?! I thought everything was alright with Kurt and you were happy with him?!"

"It's not Logan's baby…," Ororo sobbed and lowered her head to bury it in her hands.

"What?" he asked in confusion. "But if it is neither Kurt's nor Logan's…" Hank shook his head and tried to make some sense of it. "Whose baby is it?"

"I can't tell you…," she cried and turned her head away.

He watched her for a while and tried to figure it out. He had noticed how weird she behaved since that mission and shared Scott's opinion that something must have happened there. "What happened on that mission that you didn't tell us so far?" he asked her in a calm voice and looked into her tearstained face. "Something must have happened on it that changed you so much… You know you can trust me. I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to do it," he promised and took her hands into his. "Just tell me what happened…" Swallowing hard, while tears dropped onto her hands, Ororo held his gaze for a while. She wanted to trust him but deep within her she was still too shocked and wounded to talk about it. She uttered another loud sob and bent forward to wrap her arms around his neck, just to cry into it next. Feeling that something more than serious was bothering his friend, Hank wrapped both arms around her and pulled her close.

In the meanwhile, Logan had managed to descend the stairs and stroked over the wall to find the corner that was somewhere ahead of him. He stopped briefly to close his eyes when the skull breaking headache became stronger again. By now he really asked himself how messed up his mutation was. Not only that he was blind, his smelling and hearing ability had also taken serious damage and now he also suffered from a headache that gave him the impression his head was torn into two. It actually became worse everyday. Shaking his head to get rid of the dizzy feeling, Logan began to walk further.

"Daddy!" he heard someone calling behind him and not only froze on the spot within an instance, he also closed his eyes while heaving a deep breath and uttered a silent curse. His children were exactly the persons he didn't want to meet on his search. Only feeling how hands grabbed his legs and at least three people leant into him, he could only guess who it was. From what he had understood it was either Lily or Rachel…or Laura. He couldn't tell it at all.

"We thought you were still in the basement," someone else said and he heaved a deep breath. "Mommy told us you were still in it and we can't see you, so why are you here?"

Not knowing what to do and unable to tell how many of his children were actually here or where they stood, Logan tried to come up with an explanation. "Well…I, ehm," he said and began to feel more nervous than before. How was he supposed to tell his children what was really wrong? "I sneaked out…"

"You missed my birthday, daddy," someone said and he knew it was Laura. He remembered that he and Jean had given her a birthday on November 5.

"I know, pumkin…," he sighed and ran a hand through his face. "I'm sorry…" Trying not to act odd, Logan used the wall for support and lowered himself on one knee. "C'mere," he said and waited for her to hug him. "I'm really sorry, sweety. We'll celebrate it later, okay?"

"But you didn't miss Ray's birthday, dad…," Jack said with a frown since his father was hugging Rachel.

"You missed mine," Laura said while standing on the left side of her father and touched his shoulder.

"What's wrong, daddy?" Rachel asked and looked at him.

"Nothin'," Logan waved of and hoped that he could still save the situation. "I'm just tired, ya know…"

"Really?" Lily asked and still held onto his knee. After receiving a nod, she tilted her head with a frown. "Why are you not looking at us?" she asked frowning and heard how her father heaved a deep breath before he got up.

"Are you coming back to us and mommy?" Jack asked him next and leant against his leg.

Running a hand through his face, Logan tried to find a way out of this situation. He neither wanted to scare his children, nor did he intend to tell them the truth. How were they supposed to accept something he couldn't? "Look…," he began an all children looked at him. He knew there was no way around the truth. "I…"

"There you are," John said and grabbed his arm. "Sorry, but I need to talk to your father. Don't you guys have classes?"

"But, daddy…," Lily said and looked at the two adults.

"You can talk to him later, okay?" John smiled and dragged his brother with him. When they were out of the children's reach he bent down a bit. "Saved you?"

"Yeah, thanks," Logan grunted.

"What were you looking for anyway?"

"The kitchen," he replied. "I'm starving and 'Ro didn't want to leave the room…"

"Thank God I picked up on you, huh?" John smirked and began to lead him. "What do you want to eat? I can use a second breakfast, too…"

Upstairs the Grey children dropped their bags to the ground and looked for their mother, who stood on the balcony and stared at the snowy grounds. "Mommy?" Lily asked and the redhead turned. "What's wrong with daddy?"

"Why is he not staying with us?" Jack demanded to know and crossed his arms.

"And why is he behaving so odd?" Laura added.

Sighing, Jean walked back in. "Give daddy time, okay?" was all she said. "He just needs a bit more time…"

"Time for what?" her son asked. "Why is he not looking at us?"

Biting he lip and about to start crying, Rachel gave her mother a scared look. "Doesn't he love us anymore?"

"Of course he does," Jean replied and looked at her. "It's just…," she began and tried to find an explanation. "It's not easy for him with me being back and everything that is going on at the moment, okay?"

"But is he not happy that you're back?" Laura asked and the redhead sighed.

"Just be patient," she replied.

"But I don't understand…," Jack cried. "Why are we not together?"

"Because we are not!" Jean said harshly and noticed the shocked looks of her children too late. "God, baby, I'm sorry!" she quickly said and wanted to touch her son but he backed off.

"Daddy never snapped at us when you were gone!" he growled and walked over to the door angrily. "I don't like you…"

"Sweetheart, I'm sorry…," his mother said once more and sat down on the sofa to run both hands through her hair. She exchanged a look with her daughters and looked at them pleadingly, but they only turned to follow her brother.

"Come here, Jamie," Lily said and waited for her brother to crawl over to her, but Miloh had already bit into the boy's shirt and carried him to the outside. Stopping at the door, the girl gave her mother a look. "You're odd, mommy…," she remarked and closed the door behind her.

"I'm sorry…," Jean said again and lowered her head.

* * *

"But why do you want to keep the child, 'Ro?" Hank asked her in shock and still couldn't believe what he had heard.

"Because I can't do this…," the woman cried. "I can't punish a child and kill it for what its father did to me. It's murder!"

"Yes, it will be if you suffer from a shock and blood loss again," he gave back. "Damn it, 'Ro, we nearly lost you when you gave birth to Tommy. The boy nearly died, too… Why do you want to risk your life now for a child that was forced on you?!" He shook his head and walked over to the window to look out. "You can still have an abortion. Moira and I might be able to lower the risk of…"

"No!" Ororo said aloud and got up to turn to him. "I will NOT kill this baby! I can't do something like that!"

"You can die, 'Ro!" Hank gave back. "You and the child can die and what will happen to Kurt and your children then? Do you think about this, too? Do you want your children to grow up without their mother? You have seen how hard it was for Logan, do you want Kurt to experience the same?!"

Only shaking her head, she wiped her tears away. "You can't make me change my mind, Hank! I will not kill the baby… I will not!" For emphasis she shook her head and wrapped her arms protectively around her belly.

Hank was only capable of shaking his head and began to look around the room. "Where's Logan?" he asked her after a moment and noticed that she had sat down again.

"He wanted to eat something…," she mumbled and the mutant frowned.

Coming closer and stopping next to the door again, he gave her a look. "He went down alone?"

"So it seems," Ororo said through clenched teeth and avoided his gaze on purpose. "Would you leave? I want to be alone…"

"Fine," Hank sighed and opened the door. "But don't forget what I said… You're risking your life…" With one last look on her he turned to leave the room and heaved a deep breath after closing the door behind him. "Stupid…," he cursed and was determined to find Logan next.

* * *

"I really don't understand it…," John cursed and put a plate in front of his brother before he sat down next to him with a plate on his own. "This shouldn't be possible."

"Wrong person t'tell that," Logan replied and reached carefully out until his hand touched the sandwich. "Thanks."

"No problem," John waved off. "So,…what now?" he asked and received a shrug. "Did your hearing or smelling at least become a bit better?"

"Not much," his brother mumbled while chewing on his breakfast. "I can't even tell what I'm eating here…"

Only nodding, John heaved a deep breath and looked at him from aside for a while. "What will you do about your family…? About Jean?"

"Don't wanna see her…," Logan grunted and gave a snort with a cynical smile next. "Ain't possible anyway, ain't it?"

"What I don't understand is…," the man next to him said and put his sandwich back down. "She was there for you the whole months through. Jean had never left your side… So why didn't she tell you that she was back after you woke up?"

"Don't care," his brother grunted as a reply and was unconsciously glaring at the counter.

"But it must have a reason," John said and gave him a look from aside. "She was on your side all day and night since the accident happened… She must have known how hard the past months have been for you and how much you've missed her… If her not telling you doesn't have a reason…then I don't know…"

"And again…," Logan replied. "Don't….care!"

"You should," his brother said. "Your children are confused. They don't know what's wrong… And they miss you…"

"Don't ya think I miss them?" Logan growled. "How is this supposed t'work? With me not seein' a thing? Sabretooth or Daken or someone else could come, break into my rooms and steal them without me even noticin' it… I'm a danger t'them. I can't protect them if necessary…"

"I thought you learned to fight blind during your training as a samurai?"

"Yeah, and usually I can," Logan grunted. "But not with my senses bein' turned off…"

Thinking about it for a while, John had an idea. "Do you hear like a normal human being or worse?"

"Worse."

"What about smelling?"

"Even worse than that," his brother sighed in annoyance and frustration. "Why?"

"Maybe we can work on it," John suggested. "I learned the same fighting styles than you. Maybe we can train you in a way that you can fight if necessary. You would just have to think…different than before. I've heard that blind people's other senses sharpen to take over their lost ability to see."

"Yeah, their hearing sharpens," Logan grunted. "Mine doesn't really exist currently."

John only rolled his eyes and got off of his stool to grab his brother's arm. "Come on, let's test it!" he said and pulled the surprised Logan with him.

"What?!" this one asked.

"Let's try it."

"Are ya nuts?!" Logan said and tried to stop him. "What are ya up to? Throwin' me into the Dangerroom or somethin'?!"

Grinning at him, John gave a short laugh. "Yeah, something like that."

* * *

A bit later on that day Magneto was walking around the mansion and smirked at most of the children who gave him a frightened look. He couldn't help but think how pathetic they were. While his old friend kept on keeping the school open, their enemies were on the outside and he was practically stuck with the people he didn't want to be with. He regretted that he hadn't had a chance to meet the Wolverine or his children up to now. He really wanted to see if the man's small copies were as dumb as their father, he thought. When he turned around a corner his smile widened. "Hello, my dear," he greeted the woman, whose eyes instantly narrowed. "I see you are still quiet well…"

"Leave me alone," Mystique said and pulled her son closer.

Looking at the boy, who looked back with his big light-blue eyes, Erik smirked. "So, you couldn't get your hands on the Wolverine, as I see," he mocked her. "I assume Summers was only second best but you took him anyway, didn't you? Once a hooker, always a hooker…."

"Shut your mouth!" she hissed and bared her teeth. "You can be happy that I didn't kill you so far! You deserve to be dead for what you did to me and the others."

"Killed me?!" he laughed and crossed his arms. "My dear…," he went on and his face became a mask of hatred. "As if you had the means to do it…" Mystique pulled Alex even closer and backed off a bit when the man came closer. "If I were you I'd watch my back more often…," he warned her and stroked over the boy's cheek with a smile. "Just a thought…" Turning around, Erik walked further down the corridor, while Mystique felt how her heart began to beat faster…

**Not exactly the ending I wanted to write but the chapter became too long. I have almost all scenes for the next chapter pre-written, since I still have dozen pre-written dialogue scenes here. So I will use them. I hope you guys enjoyed reading the chapter. Please review and thanks to the old reviewers!!! See ya! **


	24. Chapter 23

1**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter: )

What do you get if you throw Rogue, Pyro and Stryker into a movie? – The 25th Hour!

It's always too funny to see X-Men characters working together in another movie. LOL It's the same with Mystique and Angel in Punisher or Wolverine and Storm in Swordfish.

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 23**

It was still the middle of the night when Logan awoke and thought once more that his head was torn apart. He grabbed it with both hands and shut his eyes tightly when the pain seemed to become stronger and stronger with every second that passed. When he began to heave deep breaths in hope to ease the pain the women next to him moved and switched on the lights, just to give him a worried look. "What's wrong?" Ororo asked in concern and sat up, just to see how Logan curled up and buried his head in his pillow. She then knew what was wrong all of a sudden and figured that he was suffering from another fit of pain. Something he had nearly every second night or day by now. "Do you want me to get Hank?" she asked and touched his shoulder.

"No…," Logan grunted through clenched teeth and held his breath when the pain became stronger again. Nevertheless, he heard her getting up and leaving the room.

When Ororo came back with Hank, who looked half comatose in his PJs, right behind her, she was surprised to find the bed empty. "Where did he go?!" she asked and walked over to the door to check the corridors, but they, too, were empty. When she came back inside both mutants heard noises out of the bathroom and exchanged a brief look with each other. "Logan," Ororo said worriedly and knelt down next to her friend, who was kneeling in front of the toilet and throwing up what was left of his dinner within his stomach. "I told you it was bad," she said to Hank, who had knelt down next to the man and gave him a concerned look. "He has those fits nearly every second night by now… And they seem to become stronger," she told him while rubbing Logan's back and handing him a cool cloth.

"We need to do another examination," Hank suggested while his eyes were still fixed on Logan. "Something must be seriously wrong with him…"

"Oh really…," they heard Logan mumbling and watched how he rested his head on his arm that supported him against the toilet. He still heaved deep breaths and felt again like throwing up.

"I'd give you something against your upset stomach or to help you to find any sleep," Hank said. "But I fear that it will be useless and your system will fight it off anyway…"

"Can't you just try?" Ororo asked him and helped Logan to get up and back to the bed. "He never sleeps when the pain's so strong…"

Thinking about it and coming to the decision that he couldn't do more harm, he nodded and disappeared. While she waited, Ororo sat down next to Logan and stroked through his damp hair. "I'll get you a bucket. Just in case," she said in a soothing voice and went over to the bathroom again. When she came back Hank had reappeared and was watching over Logan taking some pills.

"I can't promise that they will help, Logan," he warned his friend and took the glass of water from him. "But they are the strongest I have to offer."

"So?" Logan asked and rolled back onto his belly to bury his face in the pillow again. "They won't work…anyway…"

"Obviously they do," Hank said and checked on the pulse before he got up again. "He's sleeping."

"Already?" she asked in surprise. "What did you give him?!"

Stopping at the door, he turned around to meet her eyes. "A dose that would knockout an elephant…"

Looking from him to Logan and back, Ororo began to feel concerned for her sick friend. "But…isn't that too much?!" she asked, but Hank shook his head.

"He had those pills in a way higher dose before. It shouldn't harm him," he soothed her. "I'll let Jean and Moira know about his condition and we will try to find out what's wrong with him. I'm sure something's wrong with his head…"

"But what?" she asked and he shrugged.

"I don't know…," he replied and began to feel weird. "I only hope it's not an aftereffect of his lack of oxygen… I mean I tried to revive him for thirty minutes. It must have done some good damage to him…"

"It's not your fault, Hank," Ororo said and shook her head.

"If it is his head, 'Ro," he replied and opened the door. "Then it's my fault…" With a last concerned look on Logan he closed the door and returned to his rooms again.

* * *

While Hank sat in the kitchen on the next morning and stared at his cup, he still tried to bring an order to everything that went on in his head. There were too many things bothering him at once. Way too many. Sighing, he sipped in the dark liquid and put the cup back onto the counter again when Kurt teleported into the kitchen. "Good morning," Hank greeted him and received a weak not only from his friend. He could tell that Kurt was still depressed and thought that Ororo had cheated on him with Logan. Thinking about it and what Ororo was about to destroy with keeping the truth a secret, he made a decision that would probably bring him in even more trouble. "Kurt, would you mind to sit down, please?" he asked and the man at the fridge looked up. "I have to tell you something…"

"Vhat?" Kurt asked and came over but didn't sit down.

"You should sit down, believe me," Hank said and nodded at the stool next to him. "What I am about to tell you now… Well, let's say I am actually not allowed to talk about it at all as 'Ro's doctor, but I think you need to know the truth. Especially for the sake of your children and your marriage…"

"It's Logan's baby, right?" Kurt asked even more depressed than before.

"No, it's not…," Hank said and earned a surprised but also confused look. He heaved a deep breath and looked for a way to begin. "Do you remember the mission Ororo went on? The one where you stayed here to watch over the children, because Scott only wanted to take a few X-Men with him?"

"Ja," Kurt nodded and still tried to figure out what his friend wanted to tell him with it.

"Ororo had been weird afterwards, hasn't she?" Hank asked and received another nod. "I talked to her a few nights ago. I wanted to know from her if she and Logan had really spent a night together and she had told me what has happened on that mission," he went on and exchanged a brief look with the man next to him. "What I tell you know is something only me, Logan, 'Ro, Moira and you know about, okay? No one else does and I think Ororo doesn't want anyone else to know. Maybe Charles knows, too, you can never tell…""

"Okay…," Kurt said and couldn't hide that he got more and more confused, but also worried with every minute.

"The team was surprised by Sinister's man on that mission, you know that. What you don't know is that Ororo had been separated from the others," Hank told him and held the man's gaze. "In fact…Sabretooth has attacked her."

"But…," the nearly black mutant next to him said and shook his head. "I don't understand…"

"He's raped her, Kurt," the furry mutant said and gave his friend some time to let the news sink in. "That's why she was acting so weird. Obviously only Logan knew and he's helped her to keep it a secret. From what she told me, she felt too ashamed and dirty to tell you. She's unable to even look at you and that's why she stayed with Logan. She said she felt as if only he understood her and could protect her," he went on and noticed that Kurt had begun to stare at the counter speechlessly. "It's not that she doesn't love you anymore, Kurt. Ororo does love you! She's just afraid of how you'd react and that it could destroy everything the two of you have…"

Sitting on the stool like frozen while his mind had some trouble to understand what he had just been told, Kurt opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. When he looked up and met Hank's gaze, he shook his head and tried it again. "But…," he said and looked away once more for a brief moment. "So it is his baby? Saretooth's?"

"Yes it is," Hank nodded and sighed. "We already tried to talk her into an abortion. She knows how dangerous it is for her to have another baby. You know what nearly happened when Tommy was born and what we've told you… She wants to keep it."

"But vhy didn't she just tell me?" the Elf asked and shook his head. "I vould have understood… She could have told me…"

"Most woman react this way after being raped, Kurt," Hank said. "They think it is their fault, that they have to be blamed and they are afraid that no one will believe them. Thankfully, Ororo doesn't feel this way, but still she's ashamed of herself. She will need some time to get over the assault and I can't tell what will happen if she's to face Sabertooth again… The most important thing now is that she needs our support. She has to realize that she risks her life by having this baby."

Getting up, Kurt only nodded and didn't know what to do. He was too surprised by the news to think straight and needed some time to get over it. "Dankeschn," he thanked Hank, who only nodded, and teleported away.

Heaving a deep breath and hoping that he had done the right thing, the furry mutant wanted to sip on his coffee again, as Moira entered the kitchen. "Good," he said and got up. "I need to talk to you."

* * *

A bit later the day Logan lay on one of the beds in the infirmary and waited. He heard them talking next to them but was unable to figure out what all the medical terms meant. If they meant that he was about to die, he was fine with it. Just as he was about to ask why they didn't get started, he heard how the door on his right opened and began to growl. "What's she doin' here?" he grunted and sat up, just to be pushed down again by Hank.

"We need Jean," he told him and ignored the low growls of his friend. "The more opinions we have, the better for you, Logan."

"But I don't want her t'touch me," Logan hissed and tensed his muscles. Hearing it, Jean looked away when Moira gave her a sympathetic look.

"She won't touch you, okay?" Hank sighed and began with the examination. After trying everything he could for the next twenty minutes he shook his head. He was unable to tell what caused the strong headaches and, as Moira told him, there were no unusual things in Logan's blood either. Except for him being unable to see, he was healthy. "I don't know…," Hank finally shrugged and shook his head in disbelief. "You are fine…"

"Fine?!" Logan snapped. "Do I look fine t'ya?"

"Actually, yes," Moira replied and checked the chart again. "Except for your eyes nothing is wrong with you. Your hearing is becoming steadily better, your smelling, too…" She looked up and thought about it. "Lots of people, who suffer from depressions like you, suffer from symptoms that don't have an origin. It's the depressions fault, Logan. Probably that's the reason why…"

"It feels like as if I've a knife in my brain and ya wanna tell me it's depression?!" Logan asked her aloud and angrily. "Don't give me that crap!"

"But it's possible…," Jean said in a calm voice.

"Shut up!" he instantly snapped.

Cupping his friend's face to examine it again, Hank turned it gently. "Have you hit your head during a trainings session with your brother?" he asked, but Logan shook his head. "Maybe a nerve on your neck is stuck and causes the pain," he suggested next. "But if that's the case you wouldn't be able to move your head so freely…" He sighed in frustration and took a small lamp to check on Logan's eyes again. Surprised he let his hand slowly sink again.

"What's wrong?" Moira asked and came a bit closer.

"How much can you see right now, Logan?" Hank asked his patient, who shrugged.

"Shades…," this one replied and looked up. "Why?"

"Yes, why?" Moira asked and gave her husband a look. "What did you see?" she added and exchanged a look with Jean, who had come closer, too.

"His eyes show a minimal reaction to light," Hank told them and used the lamp once more to show them.

"It's possible that your head hurts because your eyes seem to become better," Moira suggested. "Your brain has to get used to the information it receives from your eyes again… And if your hearing and smelling is better again, too,…" She shrugged. "Well, it could be possible that your brain is overwhelmed by the information it receives…"

"You should take it easy, Logan," Hank said and gave him enough room to get up. "Patience is what you need now. We can't do much more than wait…"

"Great…," Logan grunted and hopped off of the bed to look for his shirt and put it back on. After he had done it, he looked for his way back out again and stopped in the corridor to think about where to head next. Figuring that the elevator was on his right, he went that way as he heard the door behind him opening again.

"Can we talk?" Jean asked and stopped next to him when he waited for the elevator door to open.

"No," he grunted and entered the small cabin, growling when she did the same.

"The children are confused…," the redhead told him in a calm voice.

"Oh really?" Logan asked cynically and exited as soon as the door had opened again. He got even more pissed when she still followed him.

"Logan, I need your help," Jean said in a pleading voice and it was enough to make him stop in an instant. Coming to a halt right next to him, she looked at him from aside and waited for an answer.

He turned around to where he thought she was and narrowed his eyes. "My help?" he asked.

"Yes," she replied with a nod. "I really need your help…"

"Then just jump outta a window," he hissed coldly and Jean made a surprised step back. "That'll be easier for me…" Turning back around, he left her frozen on the spot and with a shocked look on her face to look for his way back to his room.

Upstairs Kurt knocked on Logan's room door and waited. It didn't take long and Ororo opened; the shock to see him was clearly mirrored on her face. After he had looked at his wife for a moment Kurt lowered his head shyly. "I know…," was all he could say and knew by the way she reacted to it that she had understood what he meant. The woman walked back to the bed and sat down to bury her face in both hands. Kurt hesitated for a moment but finally came inside and closed the door behind him, just to kneel down in front of her. He gently cupped her face and made her look up. It hurt him to see her crying again. "Vhy didn't you tell me?" he asked her in a soft voice. All she could do was to shake her head and looked down. Hearing her beginning to sob, Kurt wrapped both arms around her slim form and pulled her close. He felt how she wrapped her arms around his neck and began to cry into it. "Ve'll make it," he promised and closed his eyes to lean into her. "I'll help you."

"I'm so sorry…," Ororo sobbed and shook her head. "But I didn't know what to do…"

Feeling even worse since she was so much in despair, Kurt cupped her face and kissed her. "I love you," he said calmly and wiped her tears away.

She leant into his touch and closed her eyes for a brief moment. "I love you, too," she whispered and slowly managed to calm herself again. Nevertheless, her heart was still racing horribly in her chest, so she leant into him again and closed her eyes.

"Hello," Kurt greeted after the door opened and Logan entered.

Figuring what must have happened, he nodded and closed the door again. "So she finally told ya?" he grunted and walked around the bed to sit down on it.

"Hank did," Kurt replied and rubbed gently over his wife's back.

"What are ya gonna do now?" Logan asked and leant back against the pillows.

Looking at Ororo, who looked back up at him, Kurt gave her a weak smile. "Ve'll vork something out," he replied and placed a gentle kiss onto her forehead, before he looked back at his friend. "If you need 'Ro's help, she can stay vith you…," he offered but Logan waved off.

"I'm fine. Ya need t'work on your things."

"Logan…," Ororo began and sat up but saw that he was shaking his head.

"Go with your hubby," Logan said and tried to get more comfortable against the pillows. "In that way ya won't wake me up every night again and abuse me as your tissue," he added and made her smile weakly.

"But if you need help…," she went on and was cut off by him again.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know…," he waved off. "Your room is so far away from mine that I'm incapable of findin' it," he added sarcastically, since in fact the couple's room was only three doors next to his own. "I'll knock if somethin's wrong."

Getting up, while Kurt had wrapped an arm around her waist, Ororo still gave him a worried look. "Promise?" she asked and waited for another nod of Logan before she opened the door. "You should sleep a bit more. You haven't slept at all after…"

"I know," Logan sighed and ran a hand through his face. "But I can't sleep if ya keep on talkin' t'me, can I?" he asked and received a "sorry" before they finally left. Sighing again, he rolled onto his belly and buried his head within the pillows. He was glad that Hank had broken his promise to not tell anyone else and that the couple had finally talked, but thinking about the pain in his head began to drove him nuts again. He hoped that by just closing his eyes he would fall asleep soon and could forget about it for a while. Looking for the blanket, he pulled it nearly over his head and curled up.

* * *

It was in the middle of the night when Ororo had woken up and felt like a cup of tea. On her way downstairs she briefly checked onto Logan and felt relieved that the man was sleeping, when someone touched her shoulder. "Can't sleep?"

"You obviously neither," she said with a look at John.

"Happens sometimes," he shrugged. "Is he sleeping?" he added with a nod at his brother's room door and received a nod. "That's good."

"I was on my way to the kitchen," Ororo said and began to walk again, followed by him. "Do you like tea?" she asked and returned the smile he gave her. Walking next to each other in silence, John had to frown when the woman suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and noticed the change in her eyes. A look into the room told him way. On the counter and staring at the cup on it, Jean sat and didn't even notice the two of them first. When the woman looked up she gave each of them a brief look and began to stare at the cup again. Ignoring her, Ororo walked over to pour herself a tea, just to smile at John when he did it for her. "Thanks," she said after he had handed her a cup and they sat down next to each other at the counter. She gave Jean only a brief look when the redhead suddenly grabbed her head and closed her eyes tightly. "So does it work?" Ororo asked John and chose to just ignore whatever Jean was doing.

Not knowing what she meant, he furrowed his brows. "Oh, that…," he finally guessed but shook his head. "Not without his senses," John replied and she nodded in understanding. "He's practically helpless if he's incapable of locating his enemy."

"I see…," Ororo mumbled in sympathy as the cupboards around them suddenly began to shake violently. While she instinctively turned towards Jean, John got off of his stool.

"Earthquake?" he asked when he noticed that the woman was staring at the redhead, who had begun to heave deep breaths.

"What are you doing?" Ororo asked Jean and put her cup down.

"She's doing that?!" the man next to her asked surprised and turned when he heard someone approaching. It didn't take long and Charles Xavier wheeled into the room; looking more or less drowsily in his PJs.

"What's wrong?" he asked and his eyes fixed instantly on the panting redhead. Right after waking up all of a sudden he had picked up on a strong source of power and scolded himself for not figuring out that she was behind it. As soon as the shaking had begun, it stopped again and Jean looked up; apparently only realizing just now that she wasn't alone.

"I'm… I'm sorry," she mumbled with flushed cheeks and quickly left the room to the great surprise of the others.

"Jean, we really need to talk," the Professor said worriedly before the woman walked past him.

"No, we don't," she replied and was gone in the next second.

Closing his eyes with a heavy sigh, Charles shook his head. His eyes fell on Ororo when he looked up again. "Would you try?" he asked in his casual calm voice. "I can feel that something is wrong with her but I can neither read her mind nor does she want to talk to me." He noticed Ororo's hesitation. "I know that you are still mad with her because of the way she'd treated Logan… But I think there's a reason behind it and I need to know it." He felt relieved when the woman sighed but finally gave a nod and left the room to go and look for Jean. Charles only hoped that she would manage to talk to the woman. His eyes fell on John next, who still seemed to be confused by what has just happened. "How is Logan doing?" he asked him to distract the man a bit.

"Not good," John replied and emptied his cup. "The training lessons are not working out. Even if his senses seem to get better, he still can't locate his enemies."

The Professor nodded and looked down. In fact, it was exactly what he'd thought. "I don't even want to imagine how hard it must be for Logan…," he said and made John look down. "He doesn't know a life without his mutation anymore and has always depended on it…"

"Yeah, I know…," his opposite nodded and looked back up.

"I think you are aware of the fact that Logan can't deal with it even if he gives everyone the impression that he can," the Professor asked and received a nod. "I know you already have a lot to do with your training as an X-Man and taking care of your daughter, but… Would you take care of him?"

"Sure," John shrugged and smirked weakly. "He's my little brother, isn't he?"

"Thank you, John. I am really glad that you decided to join the team," Charles said with a kind smile on his lips and turned when he heard a door closing.

"She doesn't want to talk to me," Ororo said and sat back down next to John. She noticed the look the Professor gave her. "You think she's dangerous again?"

"I don't know, Ororo," he replied and turned around. "I really don't know…"

"What does that mean?" John asked after the Professor was gone and she slapped her forehead.

"I forgot… You can't remember," she mumbled.

"Remember what?" he asked and turned a bit around so that it was easier for him to face her.

"You've actually seen what she's capable of. But you can't remember since whatever Apocalypse did to you," Ororo explained and noticed that he was now even more confused that before. "Not here," she said and grabbed his hand to drag him over to the rec-room.

After they had sat down on the sofa and she had told and explained to him how powerful Jean was, John had only whistled impressed and was now leaning back.

"So if she goes nuts she can in fact…wipe us all out at once?" he asked and received a weak nod. "But why is she here if she's so dangerous?! I mean there are children around here, not to forget to mention her own…"

"She was in perfect control," Ororo said and shook her head. "Something like that in the kitchen hasn't happened in years. Not as long…" She suddenly broke off and furrowed her brows.

"Not as long as what?" he asked and bent forward again when the woman didn't reply or move. "You still there?" John asked and touched her cheek.

"It's Logan…," he heard her mumbling and became even more confused.

"What about him?" John said and now it was up to him to raise an eyebrow. "What has he to do with it?"

Looking at him and studying his features, Ororo couldn't help but smile. "You look like him just now. With that eyebrow and look…"

Smiling back at her with a warm look in his eyes he noticed that she was blushing. "Don't worry," he said in a calm voice and she looked back up. "I don't touch married women… It's not right. I mean…," he added with a nod at her. "I don't deny that I like you a lot. You're beautiful and it's a pity that you're married… If you were not…" He shrugged with a wolfish grin that made her giggle.

"Yeah, definitely his brother…," she nodded and shook her head with a smile.

"Why, did he say the same to you?" he chuckled and kept his eyes on her.

"No. But he turned me down back then," Ororo replied in a calm voice. "I had a crush on him…," she added barely audible and saw that he nodded. "Well, at least you don't laugh…"

"Why should I?" John shrugged. "So… What has he to do with it?" he asked to come back to their old topic.

"It's difficult to explain… I don't know if you have the same problem he does," she said and once more he furrowed his brows. "Berserker-rage?" she asked and he nodded.

"I can control it actually… Hadn't had it in a while."

"Well…," she began and pulled her legs close before she hugged them. "We call Logan the positive and Wolverine the negative. You've met Wolverine, haven't you?"

"Actually...," John shrugged. "Maybe I have while I served Apocalypse. What's Wolverine like?"

"Primal, dangerous, he runs on instincts only and has a strong killer-instinct," Ororo explained. "Logan has managed to control him over the years but it's not as if Wolverine was gone. He fights for dominancy if he's not fine with something."

Having heard it, he nodded and tried to imagine it. "So…a dark side? A second soul?"

"We actually came to call it double personality," she corrected him.

"And what does this have to do with Jean?" he asked since he still didn't understand the connection.

"Jean has the same problem. Jean is the positive, Dark Phoenix is the negative… Or double personality," she went on. "Dark Phoenix is similar to the Wolverine. She's full of joy, destruction and evil. A cold and merciless killer. After Alcatraz, when Jean came back, her powers were instable. Logan has taught her how to cage her beast like he does. That's why they felt attracted to each other from the first moment they've met." She waited for a nod before she went on. "Their beasts reply to another, tame each other and only Logan or Wolverine is capable to stop Jean if necessary. I think…," Ororo stopped to heave a heavy sigh. "That Dark Phoenix is fighting once more for dominancy. Maybe she blames Jean for Logan not being with her… And if Jean loses the fight…" She shook her head and gave him a scared look. "I don't even want to imagine what happens then…"

"Then we need to do something about it," he suggested.

"If Logan is determined not to talk to her," Ororo said in a stern voice and shook her head. "Then it's impossible to make him. He can be stubborn like a brick wall."

Smirking at her, John winked. "Well… Then we have to trick him into something…"

* * *

When Scott was on his way to his classes he couldn't help but notice again that Mystique behaved strangely. He'd asked her before and she had turned him down; telling him that she was fine, that nothing happened or that he was ridiculous. Still, from the way she looked and acted he could tell that something was odd about her. She seemed almost nervous to him, something that was rarely the case. Reaching out he grabbed her arm in a gentle grasp and made her stop. "What's wrong?" he demanded to know and put his hands to his hips. "You're behaving so oddly lately."

"It's nothing!" she replied and looked away, but heard him giving a snort.

"Come on," Scott said and his voice told her how ridiculous she sounded. "You act as if the devil himself was behind you." He touched her cheek to make her look at him. "You know you can tell me…"

"It's Erik…," Mystique admitted and lowered her head. "I think he's up to something."

"What?" Scott asked and furrowed his brows. "Did he threaten you?!" Seeing her weak nod, he felt how anger rose within him. For a brief moment the red beam light behind his glasses became visible.

"I think he'll seek revenge for my betrayal," she said calmly and made once more sure that no one was behind her. If it had been an empty thread or not, from the moment on Magneto had said it she felt like being followed no matter where she went. "He's like that…," she added and gave him a worried look, but he shook his head.

"He wouldn't dare to attack you within the mansion," he replied. "Not even he is that stupid." Becoming aware of her worried look, Scott reached out to stroke over her cheek. "I'll make sure that you're safe," he promised her in a gentle voice and returned the warm smile she gave him. Mystique made a step forward to lean into him after a brief kiss and wrapped her arms around his waist. Still smiling, Scott rested his head on hers and pulled her even closer, just to hear a _click, flap, click _and an amused chuckle next.

"How cute…," Pyro mocked and came slowly closer. His dislike for the couple was too obvious in his eyes and he didn't intend to hide it.

"Mind your own business, John!" Scott said and stepped in front of Mystique, but the younger man only smirked and kept on opening and closing his lighter. He watched how the man came closer with an indefinable look in his eyes and tensed his muscles when he stopped in front of them.

"Or what?" Pyro asked and his hand suddenly began to burn. After he gave Scott an arrogant look, he held up his hand into Mystique's direction. Smirking, he winked at her, just to retreat with a satisfied laugh after the eyes of the woman widened.

Noticing her look, Scott pulled her closer and pressed a kiss onto her forehead. "It's okay," he tried to soothe her and glared into the direction Pyro had disappeared into. "I'll tell the Professor about it." He looked up when he heard someone approaching and also Mystique turned her head in his embrace. "Hey, Logan," he greeted the man and couldn't hide his surprise to see him. "Where're you going?"

"Outside," Logan grunted and narrowed his eyes in an attempt to sharpen his sight. From the way the shade was shaped he guessed that it was Mystique and a sniff confirmed it. "Somethin' wrong?"

"Magneto and his lapdogs think they can threat her," he heard the man saying and nodded.

"So what?" he shrugged and walked past them. "Just blast them."

"How come I knew you'd say that?" Scott asked but a small smirk came across his lips. "Do you want us to come with you?"

"No, thanks," Logan replied and stopped at the door to the kitchen. "Need some time t'think."

"Obviously his sight is really better," Mystique remarked and looked up. "What do you think?"

"Well,…," he said and laid an arm around her shoulder to guide her further down the corridor. "There's a pool, a pond…"

"Oh, shut up!" she scolded him and gave him a slap against the chest. "Don't be so mean to him!"

"He'll be fine," Scott chuckled. "And now let's hurry. Last day of classes before the holidays. I want to get over with it." Kissing her again, he held the door open for her.

* * *

While the classes were held in the inside, Logan sat at the pond on the outside and smoked a cigar. He inhaled the smoke deeply, listened to the noises the snow made under his boots and exhaled again. The cool air stroked over his skin and he closed his eyes for a while to just listen. His senses had become better a bit during the past few days but still they weren't as accurate as before. The voices within the mansion weren't more than a dull humming and he was hardly able to smell the smoke that left the chimney. Still feeling depressed about how his life was at the moment, he lowered his head and ran a hand through his face. He wouldn't care if he was deaf or had lost his healing ability… As long as he was able to look at his children… Letting out a sigh, Logan sucked on his cigar again as suddenly something bumped into his back and sent him some meters through the snow. Not knowing what had hit him, he got up again and kept a crouched position; his heavy and fast breath visible in the air. Concentrating as hard as he could, he tried to locate the threat if there was one. But he couldn't hear a thing. Nevertheless, his fast beating heart and gut feeling told him that there was something wrong. When Logan was about to turn around, something sharp stung into his left side and he let out a howl-like sound in pain.

"Can't see me, old man?" a dark voice whispered into his ear and his eyes widened in shock. "Too bad. Then the whole fun's on my side, hm?"

"Argh," Logan made when Daken pulled his three claws out again and in- and exhaled deeply to ease the pain. "What do ya want?" he grunted while holding his side and narrowed his eyes; seeing how one of the shades in front of him moved.

"Again?" Daken asked playfully annoyed and sighed arrogantly. "We already had this, dad…,"he said dramatically and watched smirking how the man made a step backwards. "So...," he went on and slowly began to encircle Logan. "What is it like? Not being able to see a thing?"

Growling, Logan bared his teeth and narrowed his eyes even more. He still asked himself why his son didn't have a scent. From the first encounter on this question was repeating itself over and over within his head. Through his eyes he saw once more how a shade moved and began to follow the movements. He knew he hardly had a chance if Daken decided to attack, what he would most likely do, but he definitely wouldn't go down without a fight. "So?' he asked and saw how the shadow stopped on his right. "Done talking?"

Daken chuckled and cracked his knuckled. "Actually...," he began and suddenly kicked Logan into the back. "...yeah!"

Not knowing how the man had done it, Logan turned around and made instinctively a few steps backwards. With his eyes narrowed he kept on searching for any movements, but as soon as he saw a shade moving again, it was suddenly gone and he received a kick from another direction. He couldn't help but getting more and more pissed off. Growling, he extracted his claws on both hands and slashed at the shade, just to hear a chuckle from his right and being thrown down to the ground next.

"I like you way better like that, old man," Daken mocked and used his claws to leave three long gashes on his adversary's back who dropped to one knee with a hiss. "Don't you want to fight back, dad? It's boring that way, you know?"

"Why don't ya just shut up, kid?!" Logan grunted and made a quick move when Daken uttered a growl. Leaping at him, he punched him as hard as he could and landed a second one right afterwards.

"I'll kill you!" Daken hissed enraged and jumped at the surprised Logan with a loud roar.

* * *

Sitting in their class, the twins looked towards the window at the same time and exchanged a look with each other. "Heard that?" Lily asked and made Scott look up from the board.

"What is it this time?" he asked them slightly annoyed since it was the fifth interruption in total. That's why he hated the last day of class. Everyone was too excited and no one paid attention. But Jack, instead of giving him an answer, only nodded and jumped up at the same time as his sister to take a look out of the window. "Hey!"

Ignoring Scott, the twins concentrated on the noises they heard and the girl shrieked when she saw both men fighting. "He's attacking daddy!" she told her teacher with fear in her eyes and heard her brother beginning to growl next to her.

"Who's attacking Logan?" Scott asked and thought it was ridiculous until he saw Logan flying past the window and crashing into a tree. "Shit...," he cursed and threw his book onto the desk. "Stay here!" he ordered and ran out of the class. While he ran towards the elevator to get his new uniform, he gave the Professor a mental note about the attack. "You can't do anything without your uniform!" he said aloud when John ran past him.

"Then get yours!" the man gave back and ran towards the backdoor and out of it. Growling in anger he extracted his bone claws and leapt at Daken's back: leaving gashes on his own that healed quicker than he'd expected.

"What a surprise," Daken mocked and turned towards John. "Still around, huh?"

"Leave!" his opposite growled and watched how a bleeding and heavily panting Logan got slowly off the ground. He knew their powers were once again blocked by their enemy's uniform.

"Uhhh," Daken laughed and held up his own claws. "Think you kill me without your powers? I heal...you don't! Wanna see an example?" he asked and turned to attack Logan again when John quickly intervened. Both roared in anger and began to bare their teeth as their fury overwhelmed them. Giving in, John's pupils dilated and soon his eyes were as black and merciless as Daken's.

Not knowing where they were, Logan made a step backwards and still panted in exertion. He heard the roars, cries and growls but he couldn't tell where they were.

Cursing under his breath, he was suddenly grabbed from behind and cried out when fangs bit deep into his neck: drawing blood and causing it to wet his shirt. Beginning to writhe in the strong grip, he heard his enemy uttering a low growl and knew who it was. "Sabre...tooth," he grunted hoarsely and used his claws to stab at anything that he could reach, until the tall mutant roared in pain and let go of him. While he pressed a hand on his bleeding neck, Logan took a defensive, crouched position and held up one pair of claws into the direction where the furious growl came from.

"Yer done, Jamey," he heard his enemy roaring and saw the shade moving too late. Being tackled, he hit the ground hard and all air left his lungs at once. After receiving two hard punches and still feeling how blood left the wound on his neck, Logan growled and began to slash in hope he would hit him.

Only chuckling and evading the attacks far too easily, Sabretooth gave Daken a satisfied look, who had buried one pair of claws into John's chest and watched in satisfaction how the mutant dropped to the knees after they became too weak. "Too bad that ya can't see that, Jamey," he purred into the smaller mutant's ear. "Yer dear bro' is just bleedin' ta death..."

"Or better said," Daken laughed arrogantly and held the struggling John in a firm grip, while his claws went even deeper into the man's heart. "It's fun listening to his fading heartbeat."

"No!" Logan growled and slashed once more in fury; this time leaving three gashes in Sabretooth's uniform.

Seeing it, the mutant began to growl even lower and wrapped his hand around his nemesis throat, not caring that his nail-like claws cut into the flesh, and raised him easily into the air. "Wanna follow him, Jamey?" he hissed and heard how a door slammed open behind him.

"Let him go!" Cyclops yelled and stopped to adjust his visor. In the meanwhile Storm's eyes began to glow and the sky darkened immediately. The two mutants exchanged a surprised look and Sabretooth took a quick swing at the same time as Cyclops shot his beam. While this one hit the tall mutant and sent him flying through the garden, Logan dropped to the ground.

Not understanding what was happening or why the X-Men were suddenly able to break through their uniform's power, Daken twisted his claws in John's chest and pulled them roughly out. "You're finished!" he hissed and let the limb body drop to the ground. When Gambit, Iceman and Colossus began to run his way and he could also see Magneto and his two men from afar, them man decided it was wiser to retreat and turn to run towards the woods.

"Follow them!" Magneto ordered Pyro and Juggernaut, who began to chase after their enemies, followed by Colossus, Iceman and Mystique.

"I need Jean and Moira!" Scott barked and pressed his hands onto Logan's cut throat. He felt how panic began to rise within him when he had to watch how the snow became redder and redder and saw how the breath of the man on the ground came in almost panic-like rags. "I need someone here!" he said even louder and gave his teammate a worried look.

In the meanwhile Ororo had knelt down next to John and stared down on him in shock. She didn't even notice the pool of blood that began to cover the ground, nor did she pay attention to anything around her when she pulled off her glove with a shaky hand to check on the man's pulse. Her face lost all color when she couldn't find one. "Oh God," Moira suddenly gasped next to her and knelt down to check on him. "Damn in!" she cursed and looked at the mess in front of her, not knowing what to do. "Hank!"

"I can't!" her husband replied and tried with the help of Scott to stop the bleeding on Logan's throat. "He's nearly cut through his whole throat," he mumbled and reached out for new bandages to press onto the wound. "Where's Jean, goddamn it!" he asked aloud and noticed that his friend was slowly closing his eyes. "Stay awake, Logan!" Hank said and shook him slightly. "Don't give in, you have to stay awake!"

"What if our uniforms block their powers?" Scott asked him and looked up. "Did you test it?"

"No…," the man next to him shook his head and cursed when the all his attempts failed. "He's losing way too much blood. We have to bring him and John down for a surgery."

"What happened?" Forge suddenly said next to them and stared at the scenery with widened eyes. "Did they fight?!"

"No, they were attacked," Scott replied. "Did you test if our uniforms block their powers?!" he asked in an urgent voice.

"Ehm…no," Forge said and began to calculate it. "It's possible…."

"Storm," Scott called and the woman looked up with tears in her eyes while John's head rested in her lap. "Step away from him. Your uniform might block his power to heal!" he ordered and waited for her to do so. He, too, backed off from Logan and watched from afar how Hank still tried to keep the man conscious.

"His heart's not beating…," Ororo said next to him in a terrified voice. "What if he's dead?"

"If he has the same ability than Logan, he'll be fine," he tried to soothe her and pulled her close. They watched for agonizing long minutes how the two doctors worked on their friends and saw from afar how the others returned from their chase. "Keep a distance to them!" Scott said aloud.

"He's healing," Hank said after a while and Scott but also the others gave a loud sigh in relief. Except for the Brotherhood of course. While Hank watched over the healing process and still felt deeply worried about the great amount of blood that covered the snow around him, he turned his head towards his wife, who shook her head. Giving her a brief nod, he began to dress Logan's throat and wounds. "Peter, would you be so nice to bring him upstairs to his room?" he asked and got up. "I'll need to get some IVs to push his system a bit more. He needs to rebuild a lot of blood."

"I like that sight," Magneto mocked and only smirked at the angry glances he received from the X-Men. His two followers chuckled and followed him back inside.

"Such an asshole," Bobby cursed and went over to help Peter with Logan. "Support yourself on me," he offered and wrapped one arm around his friends waist when this one collapsed after making three steps.

"Hank!" Peter called after catching the fall.

"He'll be fine," the man waved off and walked further towards the mansion. "He's just weakened by the loss of blood."

"If you say so...," Bobby mumbled with a look at his best friend and helped him to pull the limb body over his shoulders.

"Where is Jean?" Scott asked again since the redhead was nowhere to be seen.

"In her room," the Professor suddenly said and wheeled closer. "I warned her and told her to protect Jamie in case Sabretooth or Logan's son were coming after him." He gave the two pools of blood a disgusted look. "Logan's alright?"

"Hank takes care of him," Scott told him and crossed his arms after receiving a nod. "But John doesn't look good..."

"Scott," Moira said and made him turn his head. "I've a weak heartbeat here. Can you carry him to the ICU?" she asked and got up.

"If he's not as heavy as Logan is," he replied and walked over to her. "Can you help me, "Ro?" he asked and looked at the woman, who gave him a look as if he's just turned into Sinister.

"No, she can't!" Moira said and he sighed.

"Right, I forgot about the baby, sorry!" he apologized and used all his strength to pull John's limb body up and over his shoulder. Thankfully, the man was not as heavy as Logan with his adamantium bones. Still it cost him some effort to carry the man all way down to the ICU, where he put him down onto a bed and watched how Moira began to undress him. "Will he make it?"

"Yes, I think so," she nodded and cut through the shirt to pull it off. "Well, he's Logan's brother in the end...," Moira added with a shrug. "But still he scared me. This bastard has done some good damage on his heart..."

"But he will be fine?" Scott asked again, heard her sighing and received a nod. "I'll check on Logan then." When he left the room, he ran into Ororo on the outside. Not knowing what to say, since the woman still seemed to be a complete mess, he gave her shoulder a reassuring squeeze and went his way.

The woman remained at the door a bit longer before she finally entered the room: receiving a look when she did so. "How's he?" she asked in a calm voice and looked at the bandages around John's chest and waist.

"He's doing better," Moira told her and checked the monitors again. "His heartbeat is slowly becoming stronger but it's still irregular. And he obviously reacts different to healing than Logan..."

"Why?" Ororo asked since she had noticed the pause Moira had made.

"While Logan is probably burning up with fever again, he's freezing cold," she explained and touched the man's skin. "Would you stay here with him? I want to check on Logan." Waiting for a nod, she gave one back and left the room.

Standing rather helplessly next to the bed, Ororo, who had changed into her casual clothes before coming here, made a step forward and looked at John for a moment. Her hand reached carefully out and took his into hers.

"Mh...," he made and heaved a deep breath before his head rolled onto the other side. Even if John pulled a face and was obviously still in pain, he opened his eyes a bit and scrutinized her through half closed eyes. "So you're my nurse...?" he asked in a hoarsely voice and coughed.

"You scared us," Ororo said and sat down on the edge of the bed. "How are you doing?"

"It's cold...," he whispered and began to shiver.

"It's your reaction to the healing," she told him calmly and touched his shoulder, just to be surprised how cold he really was. "Hold on. I'll get another blanket."

"How's Logan?" he asked and curled up in an attempt to get warm, while she came back with another blanket.

"Healing," she said and spread it over him before she tucked him in and pulled the woolen blanket up as far as possible. Sitting down next to him again, she began to run his shoulder carefully. "Thanks for helping him out..."

"Well he's my brother," John replied tiredly and wrapped his arms around himself. "Do you have a heater in here?"

"No," Ororo replied and gave him a worried look when his shaking became stronger. Not thinking about it she lay down next to him and wrapped her arms around him. Unsure of what to say, she only gave him an embarrassed smile and wasn't able to keep looking into his intense eyes.

"Actually...that only works if you're naked...," he remarked drowsily and in a shaky voice.

"Sorry, not today," she tried to joke and was well aware of his fast beating heart. Recalling that he was still in a major healing, she almost feared what his heart beat would do to him. Trying to distract him from being so close to her, she began to stroke over his back and could tell that he was slowly falling asleep. Thinking that it would only keep him away, she stopped it.

"Go on...," John mumbled, being half in oblivion and moved so that his head rested on her shoulder.

While Ororo lay next to him and continued with stroking over his back the door suddenly opened and she gave her visitor a shocked look. "It's not what you think!" she instantly said after Kurt gave her a questioning look. "He reacts the opposite way to healing than Logan and is freezing horribly. There are no more blankets here, so I..."

"It's okay," he waved off with a weak smile. "I can get more."

Smiling at him, she nodded. "That would be great..." Hearing how he teleported away again, she gave the sleeping man on her shoulder a look and reached out to touch his shoulder again. Sighing, since he was still cold and shivered, she pulled him closer and waited for Kurt to return.

* * *

"But I wanna see daddy!" Jack said and raised his voice before he tried to get past Bobby again.

"You guys can't!" this one said and grabbed the boy by his shirt, which earned him a low growl and a strong slap. "Logan's sleeping. He needs to rest!"

"You keep on saying this for weeks!" Laura said angrily and narrowed her eyes in anger. "He's our daddy and we wanna see him!"

"God!" Bobby cursed and let go of Jack after receiving another slap. "Stay here!" he added before he went inside the room and over to Hank, who was occupied with checking on Logan again. "The kids become aggressive..."

Sighing, the furry mutant looked up and put his glasses back into his pocket. "I'll be there in a minute. Tell them to wait."

"It's me who's getting beaten up. I hope you know that!" Bobby replied and left the room again. "You have to be patient. Hank will be here in a minute."

Groaning, Jack rolled his eyes and crossed his arms to give him the typical _Wolverine-is-impatient-look_.

It took five more minutes before Hank finally left the room and closed the door behind him. "I know that you want to see your father," he began and had barely said it when the twins and Laura began to growl, while Rachel pouted. "He needs to rest and his wounds need to heal."

"But you're telling us that for weeks, Uncle Hank," Rachel complained and he squeezed the back of his nose.

"I know and I am sorry," he apologized. "Wait until tomorrow, okay? But let him sleep now."

"We will just sit next to him and not say a word," Lily promised and gave him her best puppy-dog eyes look, but he shook his head.

"Why not?!" Jack asked angrily. "For weeks everyone tells us that we can't see daddy or that he's busy and when we see him he suddenly has to do something else..."

"I can't change it, Jack!" Hank said a bit louder and Bobby could tell that he was annoyed. But so was the boy. "Go back to your rooms, sleep and you can see your father in the morning after he's woken up, okay?"

"Yeah," the boy replied knowingly and mistrustful. "Sure..." Turning around, he walked down the corridor followed by his siblings.

"Jean really needs to talk to them," Hank sighed and gave Bobby a look.

"I'm the wrong one to tell that!" this one replied after raising both hands and turned. "I need to get out of this uniform. I feel like being trapped in that thing..."

"Well, then you shouldn't eat so much ice crème," the other man joked and earned a look. "The leather still needs sometime to adjust to your movements, you know that. What am I supposed say?"

"Yeah, yeah...," Bobby waved off. "See you around!"

Only shaking his head, Hank went back inside the room and could tell that Logan was awake. "You should sleep."

"Tell that my head," his patient grunted and ran a hand through his face. "How's John?"

"Better. But instead of burning up like you," Hank told him and put a fresh cool cloth onto Logan's forehead. "He begins to freeze as if he was standing naked in the snow."

"So?" the man in the bed mumbled and closed his eyes again.

"He should be fine again tomorrow," his friend replied and sat down. "So should you. Just don't move your neck. From the way you sound your vocal cords are still healing. And I doubt you already have rebuilt enough blood. You lost a lot. The children were terrified when they saw it."

"Mine?" Logan asked huskily and in a weak voice.

"No, yours threatened Bobby and me, because they want to see you," Hank said. "You can't keep on running away from them, Logan. They need to know what is going on. Your eye sight is becoming better, so why not telling them what happened?"

"I don't want them to worry," his opposite mumbled.

"But they do exactly that," he scolded him. "I told them they can see you in the morning. You should sleep now. I'll stay here with you, while Moira and 'Ro stay with your brother."

"Hm...," Logan made and already was half in oblivion.

* * *

While they had breakfast together and Hank had chosen to just ignore the questioning looks of the children, he and Scott discussed the attack from the day before. Most of them had decided to sleep in on the first day of holidays and Hank, as well as Moira, knew that their two patients would probably sleep even longer, which again would annoy the children that finally wanted to see their father.

Downstairs, Ororo was still asleep when John began to stir and pulled her unconsciously closer with one arm. His eyes slowly began to open after heaving a deep breath and it took him some time to realize where he was and who lay next to him. When he reached out to brush a strand of hair from her face Ororo awoke and opened her eyes sleepily. As soon as she realized that it was him next to her, her eyes grew wide. "Oh God…," she groaned and sat up to run a hand through her face. "Don't tell me I fell asleep…"

"So it seems," John shrugged and sat up next to her.

"Damn!" she cried and buried her hands in her face. "I've told Kurt I'd come upstairs as soon as you've warmed up a bit."

"Hey," he said in a gentle voice and laid a hand on her shoulder. "Nothing happened. You took care of me, for which I am really grateful, and you feel asleep because you were tired. That can happen." He gave her a reassuring smile. "And Kurt doesn't seem to be the overly jealous guy… Hw won't be mad with you."

Having looked at him while he had spoken, Ororo sighed and shook her head. "I know…," she replied. "But I don't want to disappoint him again…"

"He won't be disappointed," John said and shook his head. "And if, then I tell him personally that nothing had happened… Or we fight it out…" He smiled when she gave him one. "Thanks for keeping me warm," he said and stretched. "I haven't slept that well in weeks. Do you have a shower around here?"

Looking at him with a slight blush on both cheeks, she nodded. "It's down the corridor on the left side. Opposite of the Dangerroom."

"Good," he smirked and took a look under the sheets. "Well….," John said in a surprisingly hushed voice and Ororo would have bet that he was blushing now. "I hate to ask, but… Would you mind going upstairs to my room and bring me some clothing?"

Staring at him while her heart was suddenly racing in her chest, she felt the heat making its way to her face. "You mean…?" she stuttered and pointed at his lap that was covered by the three blankets under which she lay, too. "You're…."

"I didn't know…," he apologized in complete embarrassment and really meant it. "I swear I didn't realize it! I would have told you!"

"Oh God…," she sighed and buried her face in her hands before she gave him a look. "Moira could have told me…"

"I'm sorry!" John said again and shook his head.

"She has to be sorry for not telling me…," Ororo gave back. "I'll get your things. Be right back." Getting up, she walked over to the door and suddenly stopped to make a turn toward the cupboard. "Here," she said and handed him a larger towel. "Why don't you go and already take a shower. Usually the boy let their stuff lie around everywhere. There shouldn't be a problem to find some shower gel or so."

Nodding, he waited for her to turn her back to him before he got up and wrapped the towel around his hip. "I need a cold shower first anyway…," he mumbled and ran a hand through his face; not noticing that she had heard it.

Upstairs, the other still had breakfast and the kitchen became rather crowded. The babies were crawling around on the floor, Miloh and Callie in the middle of them, while the older children sat next to their parents on the stools. The loud shattering of them forced Hank and Scott to speak louder than they had intended to. "The question is," Scott replied and leant more in to not start shouting. "How did they get into the school grounds without the alarms going off? Forge said the system worked perfectly."

"They did!" the man nodded and emptied his cup. "I wouldn't have noticed if you guys hadn't run into the basement like a beehive that had detected honey. Where's Ororo by the way?" Looking for the woman, he turned away from the conversation.

"I'm rather asking myself what their attack was about," Hank said and furrowed his brows, which made him look even more beast-like. "Did they come to get Jamie again, was it a warning?" He looked up to give Jean a look. "Or was their aim Logan only? There are too many questions."

"Then find the answers."

Hearing the grunt, both man and nearly everyone with their backs to the door turned, as suddenly some shrieks could be heard and some stools nearly crashed to the ground. Also Miloh uttered a howl-like sound and rushed over to the door followed by his barking made. "I actually thought you'd be sleeping until tomorrow, Logan," Hank smiled at the man, who sat on the ground and felt relieved to see his friend being already up. "Tell your children not to choke you to death. I would like to sleep next to my wife tonight." Only shaking his head when Jack jumped onto his father's back, he turned back to Scott. "Why am I talking anyway?"

"Good questions!" Scott smirked and exchanged a smile with Mystique. But he could also tell that Jean felt rather uncomfortable.

"Uncle Hank was mean to us, daddy," Lily pouted and stuck out her tongue when the furry mutant raised an eyebrow at her. "He didn't allow us to see you…"

"And that for days!" Laura added, which Rachel commented with a fast nod.

"And you were mean to us, too!" Jack said and looked at his father rather disappointedly. "Why don't you spend time with us anymore?"

Looking at him guiltily, Logan reached out to touch his son's cheek. "I tell ya later, okay?"

"Yeah, that's what you and the others keep on saying for days…," the boy replied and pouted, when Jamie stumbled over and was pulled close by his father.

"Hey," this one smiled and placed a kiss on his son's cheek. "How're ya doin', kiddo?"

"Da," Jamie made and touched his father's cheek with a smile.

"You're good, huh?" Logan smirked

"As always," Rogue commented and smiled at them when Logan got up to sit down on the counter. Instead of returning to their stools, his children sat down next to him and didn't notice the brief glare he gave Jean.

"John's still sleepin'?" Logan asked and tried to recognize the food that was in front of him, but except of blurred colors, he couldn't tell what was what. Noticing that he had trouble to pick the food, Jean used her powers to pour him a coffee and pile some pancakes on his plate. "Thanks…," he grunted and looked away.

"You're welcome…," she replied in barely more than a whisper and looked down.

"No, he's not," Scott said and nodded as a greeting. "He's behind you."

"Hey," John greeted and patted his brother's shoulder. "You good?"

"Tired," Logan grunted and wolfed down his food. "You?"

"Yeah, pretty much the same," his brother said and looked around on the search of his daughter. "Is Anna still sleeping?" he asked and turned with a smile when someone squealed behind him.

"Daddy!" the girl cheered happily and wrapped her arms around his neck when he pulled her up.

"Hey, baby," he smiled and kissed her tenderly. "Had a good night?"

"Yeah, but Uncle Scott sucks at reading bedtime stories," she pouted.

"What?!" Scott asked surprised and heard both men chuckling. "Last time I did that!"

"No!" Alex complained and gave his father a warning look.

"You're the exception!" he soothed his son and pulled him onto his lap.

"Daddy," Rachel began and pulled on her father's sleeve. "Will you stay with us tonight?"

Sighing, Logan leant back a bit. "We'll see, okay?"

"Why?" Laura asked him. "It's either yes or no…"

"Why don't you sleep in daddy's room for tonight?" Jean suggested and tried to give them a smile.

Looking to and fro between her mother and father, Rachel gave her a look. "Why can't daddy stay with us?"

"Pumkin," Logan said and couldn't tell if the others were looking at him or not. "We'll see, okay?" he asked and stroked over her cheek. Receiving a weak nod from her, h gave her one back and went on eating his breakfast.

* * *

On the next day, after the children had spent the night with their father and Logan had explained the whole situation to them, especially why he had avoided them most of the time, Moira, Hank, Ororo and John were mostly gone for the whole day through and reappeared after dinner all of a sudden, to which Logan and Jean hadn't come, since the redhead was kept busy by the Professor and Logan was told to do stupid exercises in the gym. While he was showering upstairs, Jean stood with her arms crossed in the kitchen and watched how Ororo put plates onto the table. Counting them and still not knowing what the woman was up to, she gave her a look. "Who else is coming?"

"Oh, Hank and Moira," Ororo waved off. "John didn't know if he can come or not. It depends on Anna."

"Okay," Jean said and wrapped her arms around herself. "But I really…"

"No!" her friend quickly said. "You'll stay here!"

Sighing, the redhead was about to look somewhere else when her attention was drawn back to the table. "Candles?!"

"Why not?" the weather goddess replied. "Looks cozy…" She sat down and waited for Jean to do the same. Even if she tried to hide it she still felt uncomfortable next to her friend. Knowing that the redhead was obviously close to lose control, she rather wanted to be somewhere else. Impatiently, Ororo kept on looking at the door and waited. It took a while, in which both women didn't speak with each other, before Hank entered followed by a shadow.

As soon as Logan had picked up on Jean's scent, he snorted and turned around. "Oh, no!" Hank quickly said and grabbed his arm to drag him into the room. "You'll stay here, boy!" Ignoring the protesting growl behind him Hank placed Logan opposite of Jean, when Ororo jumped up.

"I forgot to check on Tommy!" she excused herself with a wink at Hank. "Be right back!"

Hank in the meanwhile put food on Jean's and Logan's plate and gave the watch a brief glance. "Hank?" he heard Moira asking and smiled internally. "Charles just asked me to come to his office. He needs to speak with us."

"About what?!" Logan asked and looked up with a glare.

Hank returned the look. "I want both of you to sit here when we come back!" he warned them and began to walk backwards. "Start eating!" Stopping at the door again, he gave both a last look and went over to the corner where Ororo and Moira were waiting.

In the kitchen Jean stared at the plate in front of her, while Logan had his arms crossed and glared at his. The uncomfortable silence and his cold demeanor began to tear on her insides. She felt the need to say something but didn't know what. "Do you…," she began and here voice was barely more than a whisper. "…feel better?"

"Do ya care?!" he snapped without looking up and made her bite her lip.

"I wouldn't be asking otherwise, would I?" she asked and looked up when she saw him raising his head, just to stare directly into his cold eyes. "Logan, I'm sorry…"

Unimpressed by it, he took the fork. "Heard that before…," he grunted and began to eat. Not knowing what else she could do or say, Jean did the same.

"At least they're still here," Hank commented the rather chilly scenery in the kitchen and entered with Ororo and Moira behind him.

After they, too, had sat down and begun to eat, Moira couldn't cope with the terrible silence anymore and flashed them a smile. "How's your eye sight, Logan?" she asked and ignored that he rolled his eyes. She could tell that he just wanted to go and not being forced into a conversation. She knew he hated such things. "You seem to be more…independent lately."

"Better…," he grunted in annoyance and leant back again to cross his arms.

"Do you see things more sharply again?" she asked next and noticed that he gave Jean a glare.

"Unfortunately," he said and ignored that Hank and Ororo exchanged a look with each other.

"And your hearing and smelling?" the woman asked next.

"Good," he grunted, emptied his beer and got up, just to be stopped by Hank again.

"Would the two of you start talking with each other?!" the man asked in complete annoyance and looked to and fro between them.

"No!" Logan simply said and nodded at his opposite's hand that still held his arm in a firm grip. "And now let go of me or I'll try if my senses are good enough for my claws to reach their target."

"Then try!" Hank snapped to Logan's surprise. "But we want the two of you to finally talk again. How much longer do you want to go on like this?!"

"Haven't decided yet," Logan grunted and pulled his arm away.

"Would you say something, please?" Hank asked Jean, who had looked at her plate most of the time.

"And what?" she asked him in return. "I already said I was sorry…"

"And you don't care, am I right?" Moira asked Logan.

"Precisely!" this one snapped and watched her getting up.

"But you love each other!" she went on. "You've been through so much together!"

"You're both unhappy with the whole situation. Everyone can see that the two of you are suffering," Ororo added when Logan suddenly gave a snort and narrowed his eyes.

"Suffering?!" he asked her in a chilly voice that would have made her back off if she could. "She doesn't even know what that means!"

"Of course I do!" Jean said aloud to the surprise of everyone and jumped up.

"Ah yeah?" he snapped into her direction. "That's why ya forced me t'kill ya again, right? Because ya know what it means!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hank asked after he and the others had begun to look to and fro between the couple.

"Oh, ya don't know?" Logan asked him cynically and crossed his arms, but his eyes remained fixed on Jean and he had trouble to contain his anger. "The night after the funeral she came back."

When the other turned to her with surprised and shocked looks, Jean looked away. "You did?!" Ororo asked and her jaw dropped slightly when her friend nodded weakly. "You didn't tell us!"

"You've seen it, Jean!" Logan hissed, completely ignoring and forgetting about the others being with them in the room. "You've seen how I felt, ya knew what ya were doin' t'me…"

"I told you it was the only way!" Jean cried and shook her head. "I wasn't in control…"

"Ya weren't in control before and I helped ya!" he gave back aloud; by now also having the attention from some others on the corridor. "And ya know perfectly well that I'd have done it again, no matter how long it'd have taken. Instead, ya forced me t'kill ya and I'd t'watch again how ya die in my arms!"

Shaking her head and ignoring the others that now looked into the room, Jean sniffed. "There was no other way…"

"Stop givin' me that shit!" Logan barked. "Ya left your children behind, Jean! And it was me who had t'take deal with their sadness, it was me they came to at night while cryin' their eyes out and it was me who had t'take care of five children all alone for nearly a whole fuckin' year! Just because _you _thought you'd be doin' the right thing!"

"It was the right thing!" she yelled while crying and backed of when he made a step forward; his eyes being only two tiny slits.

"For you," Logan hissed. "Not for your family! And in one your needs and wishes are second t'the one of your family."

"That means?" Jean asked while wiping her tears away.

Looking back he shrugged. "That you're currently nothin' more t'me that a heartless, selfish bitch!"

"Logan!" Moira said shocked about his words and still stared at him speechlessly when he looked at her.

"What? Ya wanted the truth, ya got it!" he grunted and walked over to the backdoor where he stopped again. "But the tip of the iceberg really was that ya kept it a secret that ya were back…," he added.

"I…," Jean began crying but he opened the door.

"Save your breath."

"You've kept it a secret back then, too, when Wolverine was trying to take over!" she defended herself and caused the cupboards to shake briefly.

"Oh, so it's payback?!" Logan asked angrily and turned around to stop right in front of her. When he straightened up to his full high, she made another step back.

"Guys," Ororo intervened. "Come on, take a deep breath and calm down." While she joined Jean's side and Hank Logan's, Moira stepped into their middle. They knew if the negatives came out to fight, they would be better to not even be in the same room with the two mutants. They watched both mutants exchanging glares for what seemed to be an eternity,

"It ain't the same, Jean!" Logan hissed.

"It is," she gave back. "You left for 10 months because you knew your negative was about to get out of control. And it was the same with me!" Again they looked at each other angrily.

"Look…," Hank said in his casual calm, diplomatic voice. "Go outside, take a walk and talk. I am more than convinced that everything is just a very big misunderstanding and…"

"_Misunderstanding_?!" Logan grunted and gave him a look. "How would ya react if first, your wife dies, then she comes back and forced ya with her powers t'kill her even if your beggin' her not t'do it and she sees how miserable you're, and then, after nearly a fuckin' year, she's back and does what?! She doesn't say one fuckin' word!" he released the anger that he'd kept buried with him for months. "So ya wanna tell me it'd be okay for ya?!"

"No…," Hank replied and looked away.

"Then what are we discussin' here?!" the man next to him snapped.

"That you also have to think about your children," Moira replied calmly.

"Think about my children?!" Logan asked her cynically. "What the fuck do ya think I did in the past _months_?!"

"Logan, we all can understand that you are angry…," Hank tried it once more but was cut off again.

"I'm _beyond_ angry, bub!" the man next to him growled.

Only shaking her head and heaving a deep sigh, Moira turned to Jean. "Why don't you say something?" she asker her and met the woman's gaze.

"And what?" I can't say more that I'm sorry…," the redhead replied and lowered her head again.

Sighing, Ororo finally grabbed Logan's hand and dragged him out of the backdoor. Since he resisted against her effort to do so, she used her powers to give him an extra push. "Come!" she snapped and shut the door behind them after she had finally reached her aim. As soon as the door was closed, Moira and Hank gave Jean a disappointed look.

"How could you do this to him?" Moira asked her in barely more than a whisper. "How could you force him to kill you?!"

"There was no other choice…," Jean replied through clenched teeth and her fists shook.

"How do you want to know?" the woman asked coldly while crossing her arms.

"Because I felt it!" the redhead hissed and turned her back to them next.

Nodding and exchanging a look with his wife, Hank crossed his arms, too. "And did you also feel what you did to him with it?" he asked her and returned the glare. "Do you even know how much Logan has suffered after your death?! He even wanted to leave the US forever with the children because they couldn't stand being here anymore. And he'd have needed you especially after the explosion!"

"Right…," Moira nodded in agreement. "Hoe could you not even talk to him?!"

"I DID talk to him!" Jean gave back and seemed to be completely infuriated by now that even the windows vibrated. "But since he even blocked me out mentally, I thought that he was mad with me because it took me so long."

"And why did it take you so long?" Hank asked rather matter-of-factly.

"I…don't…know," the redhead hissed in annoyance and gave both of them a look that could kill.

"Whatever…," he waved off and began to watch Logan on the outside more closely. This one leant against the banister with his arms crossed, while he rubbed his closed eyes with one hand. It was enough to make Hank frown. "You've a lot to repair…"

Just as he'd said it the door opened and Ororo came back inside with Logan. Jean fixed her eyes on the ground when he just walked past her, but looked up when the weather goddess stopped next to her. "He moves back in with you," she told her and noticed Jean's surprised look. "But he wants me to tell you explicitly that he does it for the children and not for you." Having said it, she received a weak nod from the redhead and watched how she turned around to leave.

"Did you notice something?" Hank asked her but also gave Moira a look.

"That she nearly tore the windows apart?" Ororo asked and crossed her arms.

"Besides that."

"What?" Moira asked and furrowed her brows since she hadn't noticed anything else.

"Forget about everything he's said before," he told her and could tell that she was even more confused now.

"He's not feeling well," Ororo said calmly and gave Jubilee and the others at the door a look. "Go to bed!"

"His eyes are making more trouble than he wants to admit," Hank said and had his eyes fixed on the ground while he analyzed the rest he had noticed. "And he moves way slower than earlier today, so I suggest something is still wrong with his hearing."

"Why do you think there's something wrong with his eyes?" Moira asked him. "He ate on his own and was obviously able to find the fork without problems, too."

"He didn't see the banister," Ororo told her.

"It's dark on the outside!" her opposite gave back.

"It's pretty dark inside of here, too," she said and shook her head. "He can't see things that are directly in front of him. He looked past me and is jumpy. The tiniest sound is enough to startle him…"

"What about you?" Hank suddenly asked and she looked up at him.

"Me?!" Ororo asked him in confusion and began to look to and fro between them.

"Have you thought about it again?"

Realizing what he was hinting to, she crossed her arms and shook her head with a determined look on her face. "I'll keep it!"

"You're risking your life, 'Ro!" Moira sighed and gave her a pleading look.

Walking over to the door, the weather goddess stopped there and gave them an angry look. "Why can't you be like Logan?!"

"He's not fine with it too," Hank replied and turned to have a better look at her.

"I know," she gave back." But he at least says his opinion once and that's it! He doesn't try to manipulate me!"

Moira's jaw dropped and she gave her husband a brief look. "Manipulate you?!" she asked in shock. "Ororo, we're afraid that you might die!"

"If you start bleeding internally again and we notice it too late…," Hank tried again but the woman shook her head.

"I know, Hank! You've told me often enough," Ororo said in annoyance and ran a hand through her face.

"Apparently, it hasn't helped," he gave back in a stern voice. "You can die! Think about that!"

"Good night!" was all she replied and turned around to leave.

* * *

Early on the next morning, three days before Christmas, Jean exited the bathroom and walked back over to the bedroom. She gave Logan, who's sat up in bed a brief look and put a shirt back into the drawer before she turned back around and furrowed her brows. To her he seemed to be confused. "What's wrong…?" she asked him carefully and came slowly closer. Noticing that he heaved very deep breaths, she sat down on the edge of the bed and scanned his face for a moment. "Did you have a nightmare?" Jean asked and looked back into his face. Thinking about it, she was sure that she would have picked up on a nightmare if he really had one. But since he still blocked her out, she couldn't be sure.

"No…," he grunted and still looked around the room with furrowed brows.

"What's the matter then?" she asked in a calm voice.

"I can't see…"

"What do you mean? You can't see what?" she asked and looked more closely at him when he turned his head into her direction.

"Anythin'…," Logan replied and for the first time since she was back, she could clearly hear panic in his voice. "I can't see a fuckin' thing!"

With widened eyes Jean cupped his face and looked at his eyes more closely. "But… You said just yesterday that your eyes were better," she said and couldn't hide her fear. Trying to ignore that he had begun to quiver, she had to give up on her examination. She couldn't see anything unusual. "How much did you see at dinner? Honestly!"

"Shades…," Logan grunted and pulled his head out of her touch.

"Why didn't you tell us?!" she asked in shock and stared at him. "I thought your eyes were back to normal!"

"Coz I thought they're finally healin'?!" he snapped.

"Get up!" Jean demanded and took his hand to guide him. "Hank and Moira have to check on this, too. And we do a scan." Forgetting about her own problems, she waited for him to get up.

"Ya know ya can't scan my head," he grunted and stumbled when she just pulled him with her. "Not so fast, damn it!"

"I'm sorry!" she apologized and slowed down. "We'll find a way to get a scan. Come on." Holding his arm while she led him downstairs to the kitchen, Jean kept on giving him looks from aside. Unsure if she should say something or not she walked towards the kitchen, where she found the others. "Would the two of you come down to the lab, please?" she asked and Hank gave her instantly a worried look.

"What's wrong?" he asked and got up to walk over to her followed by Moira. Seeing that the redhead looked at Logan, they followed her eyes and noticed that he looked past them. Realizing what was wrong, Hank took his friend's chin into his hand and turned the head for an examination. "That's impossible," he gasped.

"Watch it!" Logan growled and pulled his head away; feeling pissed that everyone had to touch him again.

"It can't be that you're blind again!" Moira said and cupped his face.

"He's blind?!" Ororo asked in shock and entered the kitchen with Kurt.

"What about an advertisement in a newspaper?! Or better neon letters on Times Square?!" Logan growled and made a step backwards after slapping Moira's hand away. "Leave me alone!"

"Let's go!" was all Hank said and grabbed Logan's arm to pull him with him.

"Not…so…fast!" Logan snapped and growled even louder when he was just pulled to the elevators.

* * *

After Jean had helped Logan onto the bed of the scanner, she joined Hank and Moira, who discussed how to proceed next. "We can try to make one, but… I doubt the rays will get through the adamantium," Hank said and looked up.

"We have to try," Moira sighed and gave Logan a brief look. "The rays of the CT should be strong enough."

"CT?!" they heard Logan asking and all of them turned their heads. "Do ya want met t'be a livin' magnet?!"

"That's a MRT, Logan," Jean tried to soothe him. "You'll be fine, don't worry!"

"I doubt you guys can make it worse than it already is," he grunted and looked away.

"Lie down and don't move, okay?" she said in a calm voice despite her racing heart. Touching his bare chest, she pushed him gently down but he growled.

"Take your fingers off me!" he warned her through clenched teeth and felt how she instantly let go of him.

"Sorry…," she apologized and turned to leave the room with Hank and Moira.

While the CT was working and made picture after picture from Logan's head, Hank kept on shaking his own. "This is useless," he said and sighed. "The adamantium is blocking it. This will lead to nothing!"

"Well, not all parts," Moira said and clicked on one picture that was shortly afterwards portrayed on the screen. "See?" she asked and pointed at it. "There's no adamantium blocking his eyes, ears, mouth and lower jaw-bone. If we can find a better angle…"

"I know," her husband cut her off. "Still it is useless!"

"What's that?" Jean suddenly said and pointed at one picture. "This shadow here behind his eye."

The couple bent forward a bit and narrowed her eyes to see what the redhead meant. "I don't know," the furry mutant shook his head. "But it definitely doesn't belong there and hadn't been there before…"

"Well," Moira said and looked up at him. "Since it can not be a tumor due to his healing ability…"

While the couple had discussed the possibilities, Jean had begun to think on her own. "He had metallic splinters in his body from the explosion," she mumbled and the two mutants turned towards her, while the woman had her eyes fixed on the scan. "What if…he got hit under his jaw or another spot that is not protected by adamantium and the splinter is stuck? Maybe it cuts off the blood supply to his eyes, which would mean that his healing factor can't repair the damage on his eyes. Maybe due the punched he had received against the head the splinter has moved again. You know how sensitive the brain is…"

Nodding, since what she's said sounded logical to him Hank gave her a stern look next. "If you're right…," he said and Moira turned away since she knew what he would say next. "Then you know what this means…"

"We could try to do a surgery…," Jean suggested and looked at them.

"How?" Hank asked her and shook his head. This spot is impossible for us to reach. We can't tell how far the splinter is located in his brain. Not with this scan! And there's no way we can get through the adamantium!" Reaching out he switched the monitor and machine off. "Sit up, Logan!" he told his friend through the speaker.

"The thing got in, so there's a way to get it out again," the redhead said angered and crossed her arms, but Hank only groaned.

"Jean, please!" he said angrily. "Think rationally! The splinter is stuck somewhere in his brain, we can't tell where exactly, there's no way we can make a better scan or do a surgery… Even if we did one, we could damage neighboring parts of his brain, since no one of us is an expert in brain surgery, and that would mean more damage than there already is! Or worse, we could even kill him! I'm sorry, but there's…no…way!" His mask of anger softened when she looked up with tears in her eyes.

"He rather wants to be dead than blind, Hank," Jean replied in a hushed whisper and bit her lip when Moira laid a hand onto her shoulder.

"He'll get used to it," she tried to soothe her. "His other senses are working normally again, or nearly normally. It's hard, but…" She sighed and shook her head.

"And what if we're attacked again?" Jean asked them. "It's not in his nature to be helpless! Can you even imagine what this will do to him if someone of us is killed or worse one of our children and he wasn't able to help?!" Heaving a deep breath to prevent herself from crying, she ran both hands through her face and shook her head. She didn't even dare to imagine… When her tears began to fall, she leant back against the wall and covered her face with her hands.

"I go and tell him…," Hank said in barely more than a whisper after looking down and exchanged a brief look with Moira before he left the room.

In the next room, Logan looked up when the door opened and heard someone coming closer. Figuring that it was Hank, he waited for the mutant to say something. "So?" he asked since his teammate didn't say a thing.

"Well… Jean found a remain of a metallic splinter that is stuck in your head. We believe that it's the reason for your condition," Hank explained and watched Logan nodding. "The splinter must have entered somehow during the explosion in that facility. It obviously blocks the blood support to your eyes and prevents them from healing."

"So what? Get it out!" Logan grunted and leant back a bit.

"That's the problem, Logan," Hank sighed and looked for the right words when his opposite cocked an eyebrow at him. "With your adamantium protecting your skull… It's inoperable…"

"Meaning?" his friend asked and tried to ignore the odd feeling in his gut.

"That…it's permanent…," Logan heard Hank saying in barely more than a whisper and just stared at him.

Having trouble to let the news sink in, he closed his eyes and raised a hand before he shook his head briefly. "Ya mean…," he said and furrowed his brows. "It's gonna stay this way for sure this time?!" he asked and felt how Hank patted his shoulder, just to give it an encouraging squeeze next.

"Unfortunately, yes," Hank replied and gave him a sympathetic look. "I'm sorry, my boy… But there's really nothing we can do…"

Sitting on the bed like frozen, Logan heaved deep breaths and just stared at the ground…

**First of all, I'm sorry for not updating sooner, but this chapter gave me a headache. I had the scenes in the lab and some in between pre-written for months (the dialogue), but I added the scenes between John and Ororo and Sabretooth and Daken to this chapter and had to get the curve to the dinner and lab scene. Writer's block is all I say: ( And then, I didn't think I could make it before the Emmys start. LOL 15 minutes before they'll begin. Usually I'd be watching them now in Germany at 2 a.m. LOL Please review and I know this chapter sucks. I'm sorry: ( See ya!**


	25. Chapter 24

1**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter: )

**Descena and I have begun to write a story together. It would be nice if you guys could give us an opinion or suggestions on it!!! It's called **_About vows and men_

**And I am sorry for not updating sooner, but I had a major jetleg from flying back to Germany. I even slept 18 hours in a row because I couldn't sleep for 50 hours at all. It wasn't funny… And then my friends invited me to celebrate that I was back and now college started again. So I was busy and only managed to update **_Repairing what's lost_**, since it has short chapters. Sorry for that: (**

**And just a question but what is wrong with writing **_We've_**We learned it at school like that, even the British version We've got and I was told it's wrong?! Even my grammar books say We've, so what's wrong with writing it??**

This chapter includes a **flashback to Changes Sequel 1 Chapter 10** (italics and bold letters). The flashback is rated M and for mature readers!!! So be warned! Flashback is again written in _italics_. The flashback takes place after Logan's doppelganger and Logan attacking the mansion as Death and after Sabretooth's first attack on Ororo and before Jamie was born.

And what's up with all those 24's?? This is chapter 24, the image value thingy while logging in was 24, on Nov 23rd is my 24th birthday... OO scary...

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 24**

Hank had just stood next to Logan and was watching him. Even if he wanted, he couldn't do much more than that. He didn't know what to say or do to make this shock any easier for his friend. "Logan…," he said in a calm voice and made a step forwards.

"Where's the door," Logan hissed and the furry mutant could easily tell that he was furious.

"I'll show you," Hank offered and heard how Logan slammed his hand onto the bed.

"I don't want ya t'show me," his friend roared. "Just tell me where that fuckin' door is!"

"On your left," Hank replied in a calm voice. "Just turn left and head straight." He watched how Logan got up and did as he was told but bumped into the small table on which the tray stood. Hank closed his eyes when both objects hit the opposite wall and sighed heavily next.

In the meanwhile, Logan had found the door and stood in the middle of the corridor. Knowing that the elevator was on the left from the infirmary he headed that way. "Wait!" he heard Jean calling and felt how she grabbed his arm.

"Leave me alone!" Logan snapped and pulled his arm roughly away.

"No, the elevator is on your right," she said and gave him a push into that direction. "You were in the lab, not the infirmary, Logan." Ignoring his warning growl when she took his hand, she began to lead the way. "I'll show you."

"Stop babysittin' me!" Logan said aloud after they had entered the elevator.

"I only want to show you…," the redhead tried to sooth him in a calm voice and waited for the door to open again. Instead of leading him to the West Wing door, she stopped at the kitchen and pulled him inside of it.

A sniff was enough for him to figure out where he was. "I wanna go upstairs…," he grunted annoyed.

"You need to eat something first," Jean said and turned to look at him; ignoring the looks the others gave them on purpose.

"How?" Logan asked cynically. "By sniffin' it out? Or are ya gonna hand feed me?"

"Logan…," she sighed and rubbed her temples when her head began to hurt again.

"Don't…play the nanny now, Red," he growled. "I warn ya!" Turning around, he reached out to look for the doorframe and used the wall to find the way to the West Wing door.

In the kitchen Jean stared at the ground and shook her head. "What's wrong?" Ororo asked and met her gaze when the redhead looked up.

"Did you find out what's wrong with his eyes?" Scott asked next and gave her his full attention when she nodded.

"He has a metallic splinter in his brain from the explosion. It's stuck and we think that it somehow prevents his healing factor from reaching his eyes," Jean explained.

"Will you do a surgery then?" he asked and began to frown when she shook his head. "Why not?!"

"We can't because of the adamantium…"

"But…what does that mean?" Ororo asked and watched the redhead closely. "For Logan I mean…?"

Looking away, Jean swallowed hard and bit her lower lip. "He's blind… Permanently…"

Covering her mouth in shock, Ororo stared at her first before she exchanged a look with Scott. "But you need to do something….," she said in denial. "It almost killed him the last time… He can't deal with not being able to see…"

"I know that!" Jean snapped and narrowed her eyes. Sighing, she ran her hands over her face and looked at them in surprise and confusion. She hadn't noticed that she was crying or that Scott had gotten up to hug her. Confused about is as she was she just allowed him to pull her closer.

Upstairs, Logan sat on the ground in the bedroom with his legs pulled close and his arms resting on his knees. He stared into nothingness and even kept his head lowered when the door opened. When Jean entered the room and didn't see him first, she furrowed her brows. About to turn around again, she stopped after spotting him and closed the door silently. "Why are you sitting in the corner?" she asked and wiped her tears away before she came slowly closer.

"Was easier t'find…," he grunted and turned his head away from her when she knelt down next to him. Hoping that she would just go away and leave him alone, he had to realize that she wouldn't do it. "Have fun…"

"With what?" Jean whispered.

"T'protect our children if they attack us again," he growled and clenched his fists angered. "It's up t'ya now so don't dare t'screw it up!"

"Logan…," she sighed and looked back up when he went on.

"If they attack I want ya t'bring them into safety and stay with them no matter what," he added and made her frown.

"But… What about you?"

"Forget about me…," Logan grunted and she couldn't help but stare at him in shock.

"I'd never leave you behind!" Jean said in a stronger voice and shook her head.

"Ya will, ya hear me?!" he said louder and made her leant back a bit. "I ain't gonna risk my kids' life just because of this shit!" he added and pointed at his eyes. "What matters is their life and not mine!"

"But…," the redhead swallowed and heaved a deep breath. "They'll kill you…"

"Don't care," Logan grunted and looked away again.

"You can't give up like this!" she protested and dared to touch his shoulder. "That's not like you!"

"You're a doc, Jean!" he snapped. "Ya should know better, so stop behavin' like a stupid lil'girl and face the truth!"

Looking at him angrily, Jean moved around and cupped his face roughly. "I _won't _accept this, Logan! I'll find a way!" she said determined and noticed his smirk.

He only gave a short snort and shrug and pushed her hands away. "Then go on waistin' your time."

Not knowing how to deal with his constant rejection, she heaved another deep breath. "How can you say that?!" she asked and stared at him.

"How?!" Logan asked and she knew he was beyond anger by now. "Well, it ain't ya who doesn't see his children growin' up, ain't it? You'll know what they'll look like later, ya can protect and help them if necessary," he snapped and ran both hands over his face just to bury them in his hair next. He lowered his head and shook it. "Ya don't know what it's like…," he added in a surprisingly calm voice and could hear and smell that she was crying silently. When he felt her hand touching his head he pushed it away again. "Go away!"

"Logan…," Jean sniffed and noticed that he moved away from her and further into the corner.

"Go away!" he demanded once more and she gave in.

"I'll bring you something to eat then," she offered and got up.

"Ain't hungry…"

"You need to eat," Jean sighed in exhaustion and heard him growling.

"Do ya have trouble t'understand English today?!" he snapped aloud. "I said go away and I ain't hungry! So piss off!"

Feeling a sharp stitch in her heart, she nodded and left the room just to begin walking. Before Jean had even noticed it, she was standing in front of Jake's tomb stone that was covered with snow. Not caring about the cold white stuff, she knelt down to wipe it away and just stared at it for a while. She couldn't help but think about the fact that the boy would have turned three in February and wondered what he would have looked like. "Jean?" a voice behind her asked and made her startle. "Hey, I've been calling your name for at least five minutes. Are you daydreaming?" Scott, with his hands in his pockets to keep them warm, came closer and noticed her tearstained face. "Hey…," he said softly and knelt down next to her to put a hand on her back. "He's stubborn again, huh?"

"I don't know what to do…," she sniffed and wiped her tears away. "I mean we already are in a major crisis… He hates me…"

"He doesn't accept your help, hm?" he asked and she shook her head.

"It's not only that, Scott…," Jean sighed and kept her eyes fixed on the stone. "He can't stand being in a room with me. I can feel that every time… And now…" She shook her head. "He'll need my help and knows that. And this makes him only madder at me…"

"So you're afraid that the two of you will split?" he asked and saw that she nodded weakly. Nodding, too, he looked at the stone briefly. It was no secret to him or the others that Logan didn't want Jean to be close by. The man didn't make a secret out of it that he disliked his wife at the moment and only stayed with her because of the children. And Scott knew that the woman next to him behaved odd lately. Or better since she was back. "Jean,…think about it… The two of you have been through so many major crises. And if a relationship survives the loss of a child…," Scott said and stroked through her hair. "…then it will survive this, too. You know Logan. He's the last one to admit that he needs help or is not feeling well."

"He did admit what he feels and this is what scares me," Jean replied and looked at him. "He's given up. He's even told me to just leave him behind during an attack…"

"Just leaving him behind, huh?" he asked and shook his head. "And who am I supposed to fight with?" Hearing her weak attempt of a laugh that sounded more like a sob, he reached out to touch her cheek. "I promise that I'll take care of him in case of an attack. And if I have to carry him out of there personally."

"Thank you," she whispered and sniffed again.

When she pushed her hair back he frowned. "Did he hit you?"

"What?"

"You cheekbone," Scott said and stroked lightly over the bruise.

"That was my own stupidity," she waved off. "I didn't switch on the light at night and ran into the doorframe of the bathroom…" Seeing his skeptical face, Jean sighed. "It's true, Scott. Logan wouldn't hit me."

"You didn't tell us that this imposter had abused you, too," he said in a serious voice. "Do you really believe I hadn't noticed that you couldn't even walk normally without being in pain back then?"

Turning away from him, she fixed her eyes on a tree. "That wasn't because he hit me… He hit me only once or twice."

"Once or twice?!" Scott asked in disbelief. "What did he do to you then?"

"Doesn't matter," Jean sighed in annoyance and snarled when he made her look at him.

"What did this bastard do to you, Jean?" he asked but she avoided his gaze. Knowing that she wouldn't reply to his question, he began to think about it on his own. He remembered that she had looked like someone that was in major pain. She'd also been jumpy during that time and had looked scared of the faked-Logan every time she had seen or heard him. His eyes suddenly widened in shock. "Don't tell me he…"

"Yes, Scott, he has raped me," Jean snapped in annoyance and with dark eyes. "Satisfied now?"

"Why didn't you tell us?!" Scott asked in shock and ran a hand through his hair.

"Because Logan broke into the mansion on that day," she sighed and shook her head.

"And afterwards?" he asked. "You never said anything at all!"

"It's not something you just talk about, Scott!" she said angrily.

"Does Logan know?" he demanded to know and saw her nodding. Nodding in return, he thought about it and suddenly slapped his head. "Now I get it…," Scott said and made her frown. "That night when we went out… When Logan became angry and attacked you in the kitchen…," he went on and she rolled her eyes. "Now I understand why you've been so scared of Logan…"

_While Jean had linked arms with Logan, Mystique and Scott just walked next to each other and followed them into the pub. "How about the corner over there?" the redhead asked the black haired woman, who nodded. Leading the way towards it and being fully aware of some men staring at them, to their men's dislike, they sat down opposite of each other with Logan and Scott next to them. After ordering something to drink, Logan looked around the room and didn't pay attention to what Jean and Raven were talking about. What he paid attention to was the way some guys were staring at his girl and he gave them a warning look. "Hon," Jean said and put a hand on his thigh. "I need to use the bathroom. Would you mind getting up?" Flashing him a thankful smile after he did what he'd been asked for, she pulled him into a kiss._

"_Same here," Raven said and gave Scott a brief smile before she followed the redhead._

_Logan instantly glared at two men since they dared to talk to his mate and sipped on his beer angrily. Not only was the pub crowded, something he didn't like, and men were staring too much at his girl, he was also stuck with Scott, something he didn't like either. While he kept on sipping on his beer, Scott sat opposite of him with his arms crossed and had obviously decided to act as if Logan wasn't there at all. For minutes no one of them moved or even looked at the other one for even less than a second, until Scott looked at his watch, "What's taking them so long?" he asked since the woman were gone for nearly 20 minutes by now._

"_Ya don't get it, do ya?" Logan grunted and shook his head about the man's stupidity._

"_Get what?" Scott snapped._

"_Do ya really believe it's coincidence that we _accidentally _met down the street and _accidentally _were on the way t'the same pub?" the other man grunted and gave a short laugh. "Or that both of them _accidentally _have t'go onto the toilet at the same time?"_

"_I still don't get what you mean, Logan," Scott replied and noticed the cocked eyebrow. "What?!"_

"_God, are ya stupid," Logan said and rolled his eyes. "They want the two of us t'talk, bub."_

"_Fine," his opposite replied with a shrug and put his soda down. "Then talk!"_

_Logan gave a brief snort and crossed his arms, too. "Forget it!"_

"_As you wish," Scott shrugged and couldn't care less. "Can you at least tell me where they are?"_

"_Playin' pool in the back room," Logan grunted and emptied his bottle._

"_Great…"_

_

* * *

_

"_Can you tell what they are doing?" Raven asked and watched how two more balls disappeared in the holes._

"_Not talking to each other…," Jean sighed and sipped on her soda before she went on playing the game._

_The other woman could only shake her head and leant back against the table. "How can two men be so stubborn?" she asked and the redhead gave a brief laugh._

"_They can!" she replied and rolled her eyes after a brief look at the door._

"_What?" Raven asked with furrowed brows and turned just to roll her eyes, too. She watched how two men entered, obviously to use the second table, and smirked at the two women. She couldn't help but give Jean a knowing look, which made the redhead grin. "Let's see how long it'll take them…"_

"_What are two so beautiful ladies doing here all alone?" one of the man asked and Jean couldn't help but giggle about Mystique's reaction._

"_Oh please…," the woman sighed and rolled her eyes once more. The men had reacted faster than she'd thought. Looking at Jean again she bent forward a bit. "And the next thing they come up with is a drink, huh?" she whispered and the redhead only shrugged smiling._

"_Can we buy you a drink, ladies?" the second man asked._

"_No, thanks," Jean waved off and hid her smirk when Raven rolled her eyes again. It was way too easily to read in the woman's face what this one thought about their company. She looked aside when one of the men came closer._

"_Why not?" he demanded to know._

"_Because we're not interested maybe?" Mystique asked in annoyance._

"_And why's that?" his friend asked and also approached the two woman at the table._

_Angered about their behavior the woman turned around and glared daggers at them. "Can't you just accept a no?!" she asked and felt how Jean touched her arm._

"_Raven!" she warned and shook her head. "Leave it, okay?"_

"_Right," the taller man of the two grinned. "Listen to your friend, baby." Chuckling he turned and smiled at Jean, who gave him a warning look only. "What about you, sweety, huh?" he asked and grabbed her hand to pull her closer. Smelling the alcohol on his breath and figuring that he obviously had too many beers, she gave his hand a brief look and heard how the other man behind her focused his attention on Raven._

"_Don't be such a prude, gorgeous," he said and approached her. "I'm sure the four of us can have a lot of fun."_

"_Touch me and your hand will never touch anything again," Mystique warned him and began to tense her muscles. _

_Behind her on the other side of the table, Jean pulled her hand roughly away and began to feel disgusted by the strong odor of alcohol in the air. She gasped in surprise when her opposite pushed her against the table all of a sudden and cupped her butt with one of his large hands, while he pressed against her with a dark grin. Instinctively she began press her hands against his chest and tensed her muscles when his free hand grabbed her neck to force her into a kiss. "Let go of me!" Jean hissed and turned her head away._

"_Come on, baby," he grunted and tried it again. "We can also use the bathroom if you want."_

_Not knowing what to do since using her powers would mean to expose them as mutants, Jean watched how Mystique slapped the second man after he had touched her butt. "Bitch!" he cursed and was about to hit her back when the woman kicked him into his groin and sent him to the floor with a howl-like sound._

"_You wanna make trouble, too, baby?" the man, who still held Jean captive, asked and tightened his grip on her._

_Glaring at him in return, the redhead tried to recall what Logan had taught her about defending herself against a stronger adversary. "You've three seconds to let go of me," she warned and narrowed her eyes when he chuckled._

"_Or you do what, slut?"_

"_How about this?" Jean asked and used her knee to kick him into his groin, too. While he dropped to the ground she quickly took his hand and turned it to twist his arm. In the meanwhile, Mystique had begun to hit and kick the second man while this one tried to grab her in anger and got even madder, since his attempts were useless. When his friend managed to grab Jean's arm the redhead kicked him against the knee with her boots and made him instantly letting go of her. "If I were the two of you, I'd leave now," she warned and watched how he backed off limping._

"_You heard what she said, right?" Raven asked and twisted her adversary's wrist until he hissed in pain. "So if you still want to use your little thing down there…piss…off!" With that she gave him a good push to the door and glared daggers at him._

"_Better hope I don't get my hands on you again, bitch!" he warned and was joined by his friend at the door._

"_You gonna regret this!" this one added and followed the other man out of the room._

_While heaving a deep breath, Raven turned around just to stare at Jean. "Logan will be pissed…," she remarked and made the redhead frown._

"_Why?" this one asked and watched how she came closer._

"_Your wrist," Mystique said and Jean looked down on it. "And your bleeding," she added with a nod at it and watched how the redhead touched it. "Come on, we fix it."_

"_I think we should better help our men," Jean said instead and earned a confused look from her friend. "Something's happening in the front…"_

"_They can handle themselves," Mystique waved off and led her further to the bathroom. "I'd rather fix Scott up later, than running into a furious Wolverine when this one sees that you're hurt. So come on!" she said and dragged her into the restroom._

_

* * *

_

"_You didn't hear me, did you?" a fat man asked Scott, who still sat on the same spot and looked back at him. "We don't wanna have mutant scum here, so piss off!"_

"_Really?" he asked and put his soda down. "As far as I can tell there was no sign at the door!"_

_Glaring at him, the man grabbed his opposite roughly by the shirt and pulled him up. "You think you can risk a big mouth, mutie?!" he hissed and turned around when someone touched his shoulder. "What?!" he snapped and glared daggers at the man next to him who dared to give him the same look back._

"_Put him down," Logan grunted and waited for the man to do so, but instead another one appeared._

"_Says who, hm?" _

_Looking at him, Logan narrowed his eyes. He could tell that they wanted to fight, no matter what he would say. Deciding that he hadn't had a good bar fight in years, he wanted to risk it. "Your worst nightmare, if your buddy here doesn't put him down, bub!"_

"_Another mutie, huh?" the man asked and grabbed Logan's collar before he gave Scott a look. "Your boyfriend, prettyface? So what are you, huh? The woman in your relationship and he's the man?" he mocked and chuckled when he turned back to look at Logan. "Your lot isn't welcome here, pal, so take your girl here and piss off!"_

"_Logan…," Scott warned since he had noticed the change in the man's eyes. "Let's go…"_

"_No," his teammate growled and cracked his neck. "I'm sick of people like them."_

"_People like us?" the man who held Scott asked and turned to look at him. "Did you hear that, Jeff? People like _us_!"_

_The man called Jeff gave a faked grin and pulled Logan closer. "You're gonna regret being born, scum!" he hissed and took a good swing that sent Logan to his knees._

"_Stop it!" Scott said and grabbed his adversary's wrists while he looked at the man on the ground, who held his abdomen. "We'll leave, okay?! So calm down!" Hearing how his comrade suddenly chuckled, he furrowed his brows in confusion and began to ask himself if Logan had either lost his mind or if he had missed a joke that had been funny._

_This one got slowly up and pressed one hand in his abdomen while he glared at the men. "Is that what ya gonna teach your kid?" he asked Scott and cocked an eyebrow. "People bully ya, so run away?!"_

"_Better than fighting, Logan," this one gave back. "Violence is no solution!" The men, who had listened to it, began to grin._

"_And sometimes, Cyke, ya gotta get your hands dirty!" Logan replied and cracked his knuckles._

"_Freaks!" one of the men laughed. "You guys are so fucked up, you even fight your own lot!"_

_Glaring at him, Logan turned. "Like this more, bub?" he asked and took a good swing that sent the man into the next table._

"_Logan!" Scott said aloud and was staring at the mess in shock._

_The man on the ground got up with a more than pissed off look on his face. "You gonna regret that!" he hissed and drew a butterfly knife. His friend suddenly punched Scott, while the other guests got up to see what was wrong all of a sudden._

"_Someone should call the police!" a woman yelled and backed off when Logan and his opposite began a merciless brawl. _

_

* * *

_

_Mystique leant against the white tiles and watched how Jean cleaned the wound. "What's going on out there?" the redhead mumbled and took some tissues to dry her face._

"_A fight…," her friend shrugged after she had opened the door a bit and frowned when she noticed the look Jean gave her._

"_We better hurry up," this one said and threw the tissues away. "I don't need my powers to know who is in it…"_

_

* * *

_

"_Had enough?!" Scott asked angrily and was still breathing hard in exhaustion. _

_In the meanwhile, Logan had knocked out his adversary and was smirking at his teammate._

"_Piss off!" Scott added and gave a knocked off chair an additional kick. "What are you grinning at?!" he asked Logan, who chuckled._

"_So the sissy finally got some balls, huh?" he mocked him._

_Snorting, Scott grabbed Logan's arm and began to pull him away. "Let's find Raven and Jean and then we drive back home!"_

"_Right…," Logan chuckled but glared at the bartender next._

"_Get out of my bar, freaks!" this one barked and earned a cocked eyebrow and unimpressed look from the mutant._

"_They're at the back door," he informed Scott and followed him out of the front door, while he informed Jean about it. He couldn't help but smirk since his teammate was still angry and tensed. "Don't tell me ya don't feel better now?!" he asked and received a warning look. Nevertheless, Logan also noticed the weak smirk and smirked back. "As I thought…"_

_On the outside, Jean and Raven were waiting at the cars and gave their men a look. "What happened to you?" the latter asked when she noticed the bruises in Scott's face. "Don't tell me the two of you beat each other up?!"_

_The man gave Logan a brief look. "Actually…no!"_

_Jean, who had taken notice of Logan's weird look, lowered her head. "What has happened then?"_

"_Some mutant haters…," Scott hissed and began to rub his cheek when this one began to hurt. "Come on, let's go." He gave her a gentle push towards their car and Jean began to follow them, but was suddenly held back by Logan. When he grabbed her arm, she startled and looked at him with widened eyes._

"_What happened t'ya?" he growled and Scott froze on the spot._

"_Nothing…," she lied and held her breath when he pushed the hair from the left side of her face._

_In an instant his eyes blackened and he began to growl. "Who touched ya?!"_

"_It's okay, Logan!" she said and hoped to soothe him with hit, but his grip on her arm tightened._

"_Nothin's okay!" he snapped. "The two of ya smell of other males!"_

"_What?!" Scott asked and let go of Raven to give her a shocked look. "Had some fun?!"_

"_God!" Mystique groaned and crossed her arms. "We had to kick two men's butts, okay? Get a grip!"_

"_Who attacked you?" he demanded to know and came closer again._

"_Scott, please!" Jean begged but sounded angered by now. "Can we just go home?!"_

"_No, we can't!" Logan grunted. "Who touched ya?" he asked once more and saw from the corner of his eyes how Mystique glared at two men that had just left the bar. One sniff was enough to answer his question. With a low growl he let go of his wife's arm and began to walk towards them with clenched teeth._

"_Logan, please!" Jean called and ran a hand through her face._

"_They attacked you?" Scott asked and didn't wait for a reply before he joined Logan._

"_Would it make a difference if I said no?" Mystique asked angered and went over to the redhead. "Is it just me or is Scott's car gone?" she asked since she couldn't see the blue sports car somewhere._

"_Great…," Jean cursed and groaned in frustration, since the men were arguing now and she knew how it would end._

"_Why don't you stop them with your powers?" her friend asked and only shook her head when one of the drunkards crashed into the wall._

"_If Logan's in that state there's no way of stopping him," the redhead explained angered and wished she could blast the men right here and now when they began a brawl. "You know…the strange thing about evolution is that it has apparently forgotten to evolve their brains… Instead of doing a step forward they are back to the Neanderthals…"_

"_Well, using their brains has never been their strength obviously…," Mystique hissed and crossed her arms when the men came back to them._

"_Get in the car!" Logan growled and opened the door for the glaring redhead._

"_Hope you're happy now!" she snapped._

"_Get inside!" he grunted._

"_Stop giving me orders, Logan!" Jean said aloud and glared daggers at him that he returned. She slammed the door shut and buckled up, while Scott had finally noticed that his car was gone and came over to theirs with loud and angry curses. Mystique only rolled her eyes and walked around the car to sit down next to the red head in the back, while the men took their seats in the front; both glaring out of the windows._

_The mood remained chilly until they reached the mansion and retreated to their room, where Jean snapped as soon as Logan had closed their bedroom door. "You think I'm the inferior sex, don't you?!" she asked him furiously and her eyes were burning with rage. "That I'm incapable of dealing with things on my own and need my strong man to protect me?!" Before he was able to answer she stormed out of the room and to the kitchen in the need of a drink that would hopefully help her to cool down._

_Looking up from his tea, Hank began to frown when he noticed the angry look on her face and narrowed his eyes when he saw the now clearly visible bruise next. Moira's eyes widened in surprise when her he began to snarl and pinned Logan to the wall right after this one had entered the room. "What did you do to her?!" he demanded to know since he thought the man had hit the woman he regarded as his younger sister._

"_Hank!" Scott intervened and explained the situation to him before Logan's threatening growl could become even lower._

"_How can you leave her alone in a place like this?" the furry mutant asked angrily and glared at Logan from across the counter._

"_Ask her," this one snapped with a nod at his wife and turned to her. "She's Ms I-can-deal-with-everythin'-by-myself!"_

"_I dealt with him, Logan!" Jean shot back and had her arms crossed._

"_Right…," he nodded arrogantly and came slowly closer. Too slowly as the other noticed. "So ya gonna tell me that ya can always fight a man off without usin' your powers, eh?" While he glared at her she gave him a self-assured look in anger. Logan only nodded. "That's a yes, hm?" he asked and she shrieked when he suddenly pressed her face down onto the counter and held her pinned her to it. Struggling against him physically, Jean had to noticed that he held her in a deadly grip._

"_Are you crazy, Logan?" Hank asked and came closer. "Let her go!"_

"_What has gotten into you all of a sudden?!" Moira demanded to know and was clearly angered._

"_Then tell me, darlin', how you'd deal with me _without _usin' your powers!" Logan snarled into her ear. "What would ya do now, eh? Defendin' yourself?! Well, go ahead!" He let go of her and quickly caught her hand that she wanted to use to slap him after turning around. "Ya can't defend yourself against a man without your powers if you're surprised like that, girl! Especially not against two men, don't ya realize that?!" he asked and walked back over to the door angrily. "Next time ya use your powers or ya call for help, got that?!"_

_Moira gave Jean, who only stared at the ground with tears in her eyes and rubbed her wrist unconsciously, a shocked look and got up to support her friend. "What has gotten into him?!" she asked the men angrily._

"_He's right," Scott shrugged and put his glass down._

"_What?" Hank asked and looked at him. "Since when do you of all people agree with Logan?!"_

"_Because he has a point here."_

"_What point?!" Moira snapped at him and gave the woman a sympathetic look when a tear ran down her cheek. "He hurt her!" she said and gave the redhead's wrist a worried look._

"_The point is," Scott said and got off of his stool while addressing Jean. "That the two of you were careless!"_

"_Right…," Moira nodded cynically. "We're women, so we depend on our knights, hm? Your face is the proof that you weren't successful either, Scott, so don't even start that macho topic!" Hearing her being angry like that made Hank's mouth slightly drop in awe. _

"_What do you think could have happened if one of you had been alone with those two drunkards?" Scott asked Jean, who still refused to look up at all. "Logan has a point here, Jean! You were completely at his mercy just now. He could have done anything with you and you wouldn't have been able to defend yourself without your powers. What do you think could two men have done to you, hm?" he asked her seriously but in a gentle voice. "Don't you realize that we're scared for you? And you know perfectly well that especially Logan reacts extremely if he gets to know that you are either in danger or smell like another man. How do you think he would feel if something serious had happened to you and he hadn't been able to help you?" With a last look at her he left and returned to his room; hoping that Mystique had either calmed down or was already asleep._

"_Still Logan's method of showing her was wrong, Scott!" Moira yelled after him and gave Jean a surprised look when she just left the kitchen._

_Upstairs she entered the apartment and found Logan sitting on the sofa and still glaring at the table. She closed the door silently and sat down next to him but without daring to look at the man. Instead her focus was on the by now burning wound above her eye and the new bruise on her wrist and she realized that her cheek must have been bruised in the fight, too, since it began to hurt as well. It was then that she began to realize what he'd meant before. She had been scared to death by his sudden attack and her mind automatically began to imagine how she would have felt if a stranger had done this to her. Looking at him from aside, while he looked back at her, Jean began to pull a face and moved closer to bury her face on his neck. Logan on the contrary pulled her onto his lap and wrapped his arms around her shaking form protectively._

"_I didn't mean t'be that harsh…," he mumbled into her hair in barely more than a whisper. "I'm sorry…"_

"_You scared me…," she sobbed and held onto his shirt._

"_I know…," Logan sighed and stroked over her hair. "But, Jean… Don't ya understand that I'm worried if ya refuse to use your powers in dangerous situations?!" he asked. "And worried is a big understatement, girl! Do ya think I want the same happenin' to ya as Sabretooth did t'Ro or my previous partners?"_

"_The same already happened to me…," he heard her crying into his shirt and sighed._

"_How am I supposed to know, Red? Ya never told me what that imposter did t'ya…," Logan replied and pulled her into a sitting position on his lap, before he brushed her hair aside. "Ya never talked about it… What happened back then? Ya know ya can tell me…" Biting her lip hard, Jean looked away, which made him give her a concerned look. "Jean, since it has happened our sex is different… As soon as it gets a bit rougher I can smell fear on ya and that has never been the case before… So what happened, hm?"_

_Not moving for a while and just staring at her wrists, Jean finally moved so that she was able to rest her head in his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. His steady heartbeat helped her to calm down a bit and closed her eyes when he reached out to wipe her tears away with a gentle touch. "It was practically the same you did…," she mumbled and knew this would become hard for her._

"_What did he do?" Logan asked calmly and cocked an eyebrow at her since she took one of his hands into hers._

"_Close your eyes," Jean demanded barely audible and waited for him to do obey, before she did the same and began to show him…_

_**Holding the pillow tight to her head, Jean stared at the opposite wall in the darkness of the room. Even if she tried it, she couldn't find any sleep. Too much of a mess were her emotions and she desperately still tried to find a reason why everything she has was going to hell. Hearing him moving behind her, her heart kicked into high gear when she raised her voice bit. "Do you still love me at all?" she asked him barely audible and heard him turning around a bit. After weeks of just living next to each other without talking to each other at all, she was sick of it.**_

"_**Sure," Logan replied and still looked at the opposite wall.**_

"_**Then why are you doing this?" Jean asked him despaired and ran a hand through her face, while she felt tears coming up again, as they always did when she thought about her marriage.**_

"_**What?" he gave back and she could tell that he was already pissed off again.**_

"_**All of this! Your strange behavior, the way you talk to others, how you treat the kids and me…," she listed and rolled onto her back. "Why? I don't understand this. And then the things with Emma. I mean, what are you missing all of a sudden? Everything was fine before you took off to that mission and I refuse to believe that nothing has happened to you." Swallowing to suppress a sob, she began to cry silently. "Don't you realize that everything we have is going to hell?" Stressed, he turned around and looked at her oddly from aside. Reaching out, he grabbed her hand and pulled her over to him, before he turned around completely to pin her down to the mattress by holding her hands firmly over her head. "You're hurting me!" Jean said and tried to free her wrists again, when he suddenly kissed her hard.**_

"_**I want it a bit rougher today," Logan growled in a low voice, which made her shiver.**_

"_**But I don't want it at all, Logan. Not after everything you've done," she gave back and stared into darkness, knowing that he could probably see her. Gasping when he bit her neck with a growl, she felt his face stopping right next to hers. **_

"_**Don't care!" was everything he said before he kissed her roughly once more.**_

_Feeling how his lips crushed on hers with a violent force she'd never felt him using before, Jean felt panic rising within her. She tensed the muscles in her arm and tried to ease the firm grip with which he held her wrist still pinned above her head, but it was completely useless. She shrieked when he suddenly flipped her around and pressed her face down onto the bed. Jean began to concentrate her powers on him, only to realize that nothing happened at all. Before she could think about it any further, a painful gasp escaped her mouth and he used his right hand to pin both arms forcefully onto her back with a menacing low growl. Unable to see anything at all except the blackness of the room, she understood perfectly well what he was about to do. "No!" Jean said panting and arched her back but was pressed down by his weight. Feeling how he strengthened the firm grip on her wrist and grabbed her hip with his other hand, she couldn't help but start crying in fear of what he was about to do; desperately she tried to use her powers against him once more. She heard her heart racing in every inch of her body when he got rid off her panties in a rush. "Please stop it!" Jean begged crying heavily but he only chuckled._

"_Ya think you're better than me, darlin'?" he hissed into her right ear while he pushed her wrists upwards until he heard a painful whimper from her._

"_No…," she cried and shook her head as good as she could. "I never did, I swear!"_

"_I don't think so, ya know," he growled and pushed her further down while he smirked about her desperate sobs. "Ya ain't better, Red. You're weak…," he hissed and parted her legs with his knee; ignoring her terrified shriek when his skin touched hers._

"_No, please, don't!" Jean begged under her heavy sobs, feeling how a sharp pain rushed down her spine as he strengthened the pressure on her arms again. "I'll sleep with you, but please not like this…Please…" Crying even heavier, she let her head sink in defeat. "Please…"_

_Pulling her hand away crying, Jean heaved a deep breath before she opened her eyes slowly, just to look into Logan's glaring ones. "Did he do it?!" was all he asked through clenched teeth and his eyes blackened for a brief moment, when Wolverine's rage came to the surface by the thought of another male hurting his mate._

_Looking away, Jean nodded weakly still sobbing. "He gave a short laugh only and took what he wanted. Over and over again…," she explained crying and buried her face in his shirt. "And I couldn't do anything… I didn't understand why my powers were failing me back then. He only told me that I was weak and inferior to him and I believed him…"_

_Shaking his head when he remembered what she'd done in Japan, Logan could only hiss in disbelief. "How could ya do this in Japan, darlin'?!" he asked. "How could ya ask me t'just take ya after what has happened to ya, knowing that Wolverine hated ya?! Do ya know what he could have done t'ya?!" _

_She snuggled deeper into his embrace and sighed. "Because I know you'd never take me by force, Logan. No matter how pissed off you are, you'd never do this…"_

"_Jesus, Jeannie…," he only said and shoo his head before he pulled her closer and wrapped his arms around her protectively. "Why didn't ya tell me sooner?"_

_Cuddling up to him, she closed her eyes. "Because it hurts… And too many other things had happened back then…"_

"_Pity that I killed him," Logan growled full of hatred. "I'd do it painful and slowly now…"_

_Playing with his shirt absently, Jean heaved a deep breath to calm herself again. "Back then I've thought that it was my fault… That I've provoked him by…well, because of the thing with Scott…," she went on and felt how he was about to reply. "But I've figured now that you were right with the things you've told me about those soldiers in that village in Vietnam…"_

"_Right with what, Jeannie?!" he asked her softly and tilted his head a bit to have a better look at her._

"_That those soldiers didn't possess the bodies of those women or girls, but destroyed their souls by forcing themselves on them…"_

"_He didn't manage to destroy ya." Logan shook his head and stroked over her cheek absently to wipe her tears away._

"_No… No, he didn't," Jean said calmly. "Do you think I'm weak?"_

"_Are ya kiddin'?"he nearly laughed but kept his voice low because of the children. "Jean. You're the strongest woman I've ever met. Hell, you're the most powerful mutant on this planet. Ya wouldn't be it, if ya were weak, right?" Smirking and trying to cheer her up again, he made her look up. "And besides… The alpha male only mates with the strongest female… Thought ya knew that?" Smiling weakly, Jean raised her head a bit to kiss him. "It's already late. Let's go t'bed." Nodding, she got off if his lap and made her way to the bathroom, while he went to the bedroom to get rid off his shirt and jeans. He waited for her to come out of the bathroom again before he went into it next. Before the redhead lay down in the bed she went over to their children and made sure that the twins and Rachel were still asleep. When she lay in bed, she looked at her wrist again and couldn't stop her thoughts from drifting off to the imposter once more. Before today she hadn't realized that it still bothered her that much. She hadn't noticed that her subconscious still dealt with it, while she thought she was over it. Startling, when the mattress moved a bit, she sighed in relief when she saw that it was only Logan. Since he looked at her worriedly at her, Jean tried to give him a soothing smile. _

"_Everythin' alright?" he asked and lay down next to her._

"_Yeah," she nodded and switched off the lights on her side of the bed._

"_You're lyin', Jean…"_

_Turning around again, she pulled her pillow close but didn't look at him. "I just thought…that I was over it…"_

"_Ya can't tell me that ya can just forget about it, Jeannie," he replied and supported his head with one arm, while his eyes were fixed on her. "I've seen what he's done t'ya. Ya can be happy that ya dealt with it so well so far. But it's impossible that ya can just forget about it and act as if nothin' has happened. Especially because ya believed it was me back then…"_

"_I know…," Jean sighed and ran both hands over her tired face when he reached out to touch her arm._

"_You're damn tired, darlin'. Let's sleep…," Logan said and turned around to switch off the light on his side of the bed. "We can talk more later if ya want, 'kay?" he added and gave her a look over his shoulder._

"_Thanks." Yawing when the lights went out, she heard him moving over a bit to give her a gentle kiss on the cheek, before he withdrew again to give her enough space. "Don't do this!" Jean instantly said and reached out to touch his arm in the dark. "Come here…"_

"_Ya sure?" Logan asked insecurely but her powers nudged him gently._

_Moving over, he was about to wrap his arms around her, when she stopped him and turned around so that her back faced him. Frowning, Logan waited; not knowing what she wanted him to do. In the dark he watched how she looked for his hand. Touching hers, Jean entwined her hand with his and beckoned him to cuddle up to her from behind. Doing so, he nuzzled her neck gently with his nose and placed a gentle kiss on it. "Night…"_

_Smiling pleasantly while she closed her eyes, Jean pulled his arm even closer and enjoyed the soothing warmth he radiated. "Night," she replied in a whisper and slowly drifted off into oblivion…_

Scott only shook his head and ran a hand over his face. "How could you even look at Logan afterwards?" he asked and was still not able to believe what he's just heard.

"It wasn't him…," Jean sighed and looked away.

"I know, but this guy looked like him," he gave back. "You can't tell me that this knowledge didn't affect you…"

"Can we leave it?!" she snapped and gave him an angry look. "It's over!"

"Sorry…," Scott apologized and was surprised about her unusual reaction. He wasn't used to Jean being that angry and especially not that she snapped. "Can you really do nothing about Logan's eyes?" he asked and hoped to change her mood with that question. The only reaction he got from her was a brief shake of her head. "Damn…"

"But I want to help him somehow…," she mumbled and had her eyes fixed on the stone again. "He's used to his senses for 119 years by now… It'll kill him to live without them."

Watching how she buried her face in her hand and shook her head, he laid a hand onto her shoulder. "Can't you do something with your powers?"

"I don't know…," Jean mumbled and bent forward to wipe the snow from the small tree on her son's grave.

"I always wanted to ask what this thing is…," Scott said and nodded at it.

"A Japanese bonsai. A miniature tree," she explained. "Logan must have planted it after he came back from Japan…" After cleaning the stone, too, she got up. "He needs to eat something," she said more to herself than Scott and turned to walk back to the mansion.

"Can I be of any help?" he asked and joined her side.

* * *

"I know what you mean, Erik," the Professor said and folded his hands.

"Still you do nothing, Charles," his opposite said and began to pace again. "We can't just sit and wait, we have to do something! This is a war and I intend to fight it!"

Sighing, since it was the at least 8th time that they had this discussion, Charles wheeled around the desk to stop the man from running a whole into his carpet. "We can't do anything because we don't know where our enemy is."

"Why can't you strengthen your powers when you use Cerebro?" Magneto asked angrily. "It doesn't matter if you kill them or not."

"It's not that easy!"

"What about your great X-Men then?" he asked next and crossed his arms while he glared at the man in front of him. "Or Phoenix? She's a level 5 mutant and playing housewife here."

"Erik, stop it!" the Professor said sharply and narrowed his eyes. "What do you think did we try in the past months? We tried to find them, we tried to fight them… No one knows where our enemy is hiding. We've groups all around the world and no one has seen Sinister or Apocalypse."

"Which groups?" Erik asked since he had no idea what the man was talking about.

"Logan has contacted old groups he once worked with. They help us and we exchange information we have with them," Charles explained and saw that his opposite began to smirk.

"So…you have finally told him about his past?"

"No, Logan began to remember on his own."

Nodding, Magneto walked over to the window and looked out. "About what he did, too?" he asked after a while and his smile grew when the Professor looked away. "I see… Still afraid to lose your precious X-Man…"

"It wasn't Logan's fault!" the bald man said and ignored his friend's low chuckle. "He didn't know what he was doing! He was used by Stryker!"

"He's an animal, Charles," Magneto replied and his smile was gone. Instead his face masked the hate within him. "An animal that runs on instincts and is not any better than Sabretooth!"

"And still Victor was your ally for quiet some time," Charles gave back. "Logan is not like him! He has changed a lot and suffers greatly from his memories."

Shaking his head, Erik walked over to the door; signaling that he was done with their conversation. "You can turn a man into an animal, but you can't turn an animal into a man," he said while opening the door and closed it behind him. Inside his office, the Professor sighed and ran his hand over his face. He had guessed that living with the Brotherhood under one roof would become problematic, but he'd never imagined how problematic…

"So?" Pyro asked and leant against the wall with his arms crossed, while Cain was right next to him.

"It seems we have to do it on our own," Magneto snarled and lead the way down the corridor. "The X-Men prefer to hide in their precious house and wait for the enemy to knock on their doors…"

"Excuse me…," a male voice suddenly said and they turned around. "We're looking for the Professor."

"Then go on looking," Pyro snarled, which made Juggernaut laugh.

"Please," Magneto said with a glare. "He's where he usually is."

"Which is?" the woman asked.

"In his office down the corridor," the man replied and left with his small group.

"Wasn't that Magneto?" the man asked the green-haired woman, who shrugged and both of them walked down the corridor until they reached a door that read _Professor Charles Xavier_ and knocked.

"Please come in, Alex," Charles said and smiled at the man when he entered the room. "I am so glad to see you again."

"Same here, Professor," the man smiled and took the hand he was offered. "This is my fiancée, Lorna Dane."

"Nice to meet you, sir," the woman smiled and shook the bald man's hand.

"You said something about a problem," Alex said and crossed his arms. "I hope it has nothing to do with my brother…"

"No, it is not about Scott," Charles waved off. "I know the two of you had some…difficulties in the past and haven't talked to each other in quiet a while." Alex nodded. "Why don't you sit down while I tell you why I called you?" the Professor smiled and beckoned them to sit down on the sofas.

* * *

Later the day, the X-Men gathered in the kitchen for the casual dinner. While the Professor led Alex and Lorna to the room, Scott, Mystique and Alex went downstairs, too and the man froze at the door when he noticed who Charles was introducing to the others. "What is he doing here?" he asked with a look at his brother through his visor and began to ask himself if the others had known.

"The Professor has called me," Alex gave back in the same chilly voice and crossed his arms.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Scott asked the bald man and hid his anger and surprise as good as he could.

"What's wrong with him being here?" Mystique asked him and pulled their son up. "Who is he?"

"Alex, Scott's younger brother," Hank explained and patted the man's shoulder happily. "It's been a long time, my friend. How many years?"

"I don't know…," the blonde man shrugged. "At least 20."

"And who is that lady?" Hank smiled and shook Lorna's hand.

"Lorna Dane, my wife."

"Wife?!" Scott asked shocked and looked to and fro between them.

"Yes, wife!" his brother snapped. "Do you have a problem with it?"

"Did I say that?!"

"Guys, please," Ororo sighed and gave an annoyed look. "Is it still the same after all those years? Can you not sit down and talk like normal people?" Getting up, she shook Lorna's hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm…"

"Ororo Munroe, I know," the greenhead smiled. "Alex told me a lot about you guys."

"So…," Alex said and looked around. "A lots of new faces…"

"You will get to know the team very quickly," the Professor said with a smile. "I am sure Ororo and Hank will be so nice to show you to your rooms after dinner."

"Of course," the furry mutant smiled. "We have a lot of catch up to do."

"I believe that," Alex smiled and sat down next to them with Lorna. After he had taken another look around, he turned to his brother. "So…where's Jean?"

"Probably still upstairs to get the children," Scott shrugged and still had his arms crossed to show his disapproval.

"So you have children with her?"

"No…"

"No?" Alex asked and frowned. "But you just said…"

"She's not my girlfriend anymore," Scott sighed and gave the bowl with rice over to Mystique when his brother chuckled. "What's so funny?!"

"I'm impressed, really…," Alex smirked. "The two inseparables are not an item anymore." Shaking his head, he entwined his hand with his wife. "She left you, hm?"

"No, not really," his brother hissed through clenched teeth and wished he could blast him, as Mystique entwined their hands, too and gave him an encouraging smile. "But this is Raven my girlfriend," he went on and watched how Alex's eyes switched to the blue woman next to him. "And our son, Alex Logan," Scott added with pride in his voice, since he could tell that his brother hadn't had children.

"I see…," the blonde man nodded and switched his eyes from the boy back to the others. "So, who's the father of Jean's children then?"

"Logan is," Ororo told him. "But I you'll be able to meet him, he'll…"

"Logan?!" Alex asked surprised and leant forward a bit. "The Wolverine? He's here?!"

"How come you know Logan?" Hank asked him, but both Lorna and Alex laughed.

"Oh, come on, who doesn't?" the woman asked amused. "Logan worked with Alex and me in Mexico for a while. We already wondered where he was."

Scott snorted. "Did he work with every mutant on this planet?!"

"So he's with Jean now?" Alex asked; ignoring his brother's statement and saw a girl he didn't know nodding. "Good choice," he said impressed and smirked when Scott snorted once more.

* * *

"You really need to eat something," Jean sighed and still remained at the door while she looked at the man on the bed. "You haven't eaten anything in three days, Logan."

"What do you care?!" he grunted and rolled onto his other side so that his back was facing her. "Go downstairs or out of the room, but just leave me the hell alone!"

Only shaking her head, she closed the door and left the apartment with Jamie on her arm to meet the rest of her children downstairs.

"Where's daddy?" Rachel asked her mother and gave her a confused look.

"He's sleeping," the redhead replied and began to lead the way to the kitchen.

"But you've talked with daddy, so how can he be sleeping?" Laura asked and waited for a reply, but Jean didn't give one.

"He's not coming again?" Moira asked when the woman entered the room and put Jamie into his highchair. Only receiving a shake of the head, she sighed. "He needs to eat. Tell him he can't do this again!"

"Tell him yourself," Jean snapped and earned surprised looks from everyone. Running a hand over her face, she heaved a deep breath. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to snap…"

"God, is he cute," Lorna purred and stroked over Jamie's cheek with a wide smile, but withdrew her hand quickly when Jack lashed out at her with a growl. "Hey!"

"I don't know you, so stop touching my brother!" the boy grunted and Alex laughed aloud.

"Yeah, definitely Logan's son," he chuckled and smiled at Jean. "Hi, Jean."

"What are you doing here?" the redhead asked surprised and noticed the sour look on Scott's face.

"The Professor gave us a call," the man explained and she nodded. "So….you're Logan's girl, hm? How is the ol' Cunucklehead?"

"Difficult…," Jean mumbled more to herself and frowned when Lily jumped off of her stool with a bottle in her hand and was joined by her twin brother, who carried a plate with food. "We're eating here!"

"But daddy needs food," the girl complained and followed her brother without giving her mother a second glance. This one only rubbed her temples and heaved a deep breath.

"He's still making problems, hm?" Scott asked her.

"He's…difficult…," she mumbled and summoned the bowl with chicken over to her with her powers.

"When is he not?" Alex said with a shrug and gave his wife a smile before he began to eat.

* * *

Upstairs Logan still lay on bed with his back facing the door when he heard a noise and raised his head. "Daddy?" Lily asked carefully and waited for him to sit up.

"What, pumkin?" he asked and ran a hand through his tousled hair.

"We brought you food," Jack said and held the plate up to him.

"Put it on the bedside table, will ya?" Logan said with a nod to the left. "I'll eat it later." He was well aware of the fact that the twins could pick up on the mess he was within and he hoped they wouldn't notice that he couldn't see what they were doing right now. He still had no idea how to tell the, about his state…

"Are you sick, daddy?" Lily asked and touched his arm with a worried look.

"Somethin' like that…," he grunted as a reply and kept his eyes downcast.

"Why are you not playing with us anymore?" his son asked and gave him a disappointed look. "You haven't even gone out with us in the first snow…"

"I know," Logan sighed and ran a hand over his face. "I'm sorry, kid…"

"And mommy is weird, too…," the boy went on.

"Don't you like us anymore?" Lily asked barely audible and had her eyes fixed on the ground. For days she was asking herself this question since their parents behaved odd and their father hardly spoke to them at all.

"'f course we do!" Logan replied and felt how his heart had gained speed. "Pumkin, you're our babies. What makes ya think that?!"

"Because you don't talk to us or play with us anymore?" Jack asked and crossed his arms.

"This has nothin' t'do with ya," his father said and shook his head; knowing that he had to tell them the truth. "I don't play with ya anymore, because…because I can't…"

"Why?" Lily asked and made a step back.

Thinking about what to say, Logan heaved a deep sigh and pulled his legs closer to rest his arms in his knees. "Look… The last mission I went on… Well somethin' went wrong and…I got hurt, okay?"

"So you are sick?!" Jack asked.

"No…"

"Then what?!"

"My eyes got hurt…," Logan tried to explain and heard Lily gasping. "Pretty bad and… Well, I can't see…" Hearing nothing from then, he began to concentrate his senses on his twins. While Lily's heart had begun to race, Jack radiated fear. "I would play with ya…, ya know that, kiddo. But I can't…"

"Never again?" the girl whispered frightened and turned to run away when she received a shake of her father's head.

"You're a liar!" Jack suddenly said and his voice sounded angry and like crying at the same time.

"I ain't lyin', Jack!" Logan replied darkly.

"You and mommy have promised us that you wouldn't go on missions anymore and you still do and get hurt!" the boy sobbed. "You promised us to stay home with us and you lied!"

"I know we said it…," his father sighed and supported his head with one hand. "You're t'small t'understand why we have t'go on missions…"

"We're not and you lied!" Jack yelled crying. "I hate you and mommy!" Turning, the boy slammed the door shut behind him and left Logan staring into nothingness, before he grabbed the first thing he could and threw it against the opposite wall. After he'd let himself fall backwards onto the bed and had covered his eyes with one arm, he felt something wet on his cheeks.

"Ya angry, too?" Logan grunted and reached out to stroke Miloh's fur. "Where's your mate, eh?" He heard how the wolf lay down next to him and rested his head on his stomach. "Fine, then stay here…. I ain't feelin' like lookin' for the door anyway…," he mumbled and continued to stroke absently through the soft, white fur of his wolf, while his thoughts dealt with something else.

* * *

In the kitchen John's head had shot up when his senses picked up on something. "Jean," he said and made the redhead look up. "The twins are crying down the corridor…"

Sighing, Jean got up and made her way down to the foyer where the sobs became louder. Since she was being followed by Ororo, Scott and John, who had all been alarmed since it rarely happened that the twins cried, she knelt down next to them and laid a hand on their shoulder. "Baby, what's wrong?" the redhead asked in a soothing voice.

"Go away!" Jack instantly snapped and pulled away from her touch.

"Honey, what happened?" Ororo tried it next and made Lily look up. The girl instantly wrapped her arms around her waist and began to sob into it. "Baby, what's wrong? Has daddy been mean to you?" the woman asked worriedly but the girl shook her head.

"Leave me alone!" Jack suddenly barked and slashed out at his mother with a growl. "You're a liar, go away!"

"What do you mean, Jack?!" Jean asked in confusion and had begun to frown. "Why am I a liar?"

"Because you keep on promising things and don't keep to it!" her son shot back crying. "You and daddy promised us to not go on mission anymore and you still do and now he's gotten hurt!"

Feeling how her heart clenched painfully, Jean looked up when the Professor came closer with a concerned look on his face. "Baby…," she began and reached out to touch Jack, when this one extracted his claws and growled at her warningly. "Honey, calm down!"

"I fucking hate you!" the boy yelled and began to pant when his eyes blackened in rage.

"Calm down!" Jean said and tried to grab her son when he got caught in a berserker rage she had never witnessed before.

"Let me do it," John said and pulled her aside. "I heal, you don't." About to grab the boy, he withdrew his hand quickly when the bone claws slashed out at him and snarled back when the growl of the boy became louder.

"It's okay, sweety…," Ororo cooed and rocked Lily back and forth. "Calm down and then we talk, okay?" She looked up when Jean called her son's name and saw how the boy stormed down the corridor after fighting against John and leaving a wound in the man's arm. "You alright?" she asked shocked but he waved off since the wound was already healing. "Jeez, he has never been like that!"

"Lily," the Professor asked and the girl looked up with a tearstained face. "What happened? What did your father say that upset you so much?"

"That…that he got hurt and…and can't see," Lily sniffed into Ororo's arms and buried her head again.

"We need to find the boy before he runs off or hurts himself," John suggested. "In that state he doesn't realize what he's doing or where he's going. His instincts probably tell him to run."

"Would you go looking for him, please?" the bald man asked and received a nod. "And Jean," the Professor added after John had run off. "We really need to talk. Follow me, please."

"I told you before, Charles, that I…," the redhead began and returned the look her former mentor gave her. "I have to look for my son," she said and got up.

"No, John will be fine and he has already asked Scott and Hank for help," the Professor said. "Follow me, please!"

"We don't need to talk!" Jean snapped and turned around to walk down the corridor next.

"What is wrong with her?" Ororo asked and still held Lily close. When she saw the look Charles gave her she made the girl look up. "Honey, why don't you go upstairs to daddy and make sure that he eats, hm?" She gave the girl a warm smile and a kiss on the forehead before she watched how Lily obeyed and left them alone. "Since Jean is back she is so distant and weird… It can't be the stress with Logan only…"

"I know what you mean, Ororo," Charles said and wheeled next to the woman back to his office. "I don't know but her brainwaves are different… But I can't tell why. And that she refuses to talk to me is…really not helping."

"What about Logan?" she asked and stopped at his door. "His depressions don't only affect his family and relationship with Jean, he also affects the team by now…"

"You know that if he refuses to talk to others, no one can make him," he replied and shook his head with a concerned look on it. "But I might know someone, who can…"

* * *

"Do you smell him?" Hank asked and was glad that his fur protected him against the cold. "The traced indicate that he had run into the wood…"

"Then we better hope he hasn't fallen into the hole in the ground," Scott mumbled and began to follow John through the thick snow.

Somewhere in the wood, Jack had stopped running and was panting heavily in exhaustion. His eyes were still dark and glaring and his heavy and fast breathing was reflected in the cold air. Thick tears were running down his cheeks in anger when he clenched his fists and bared his teeth and the boy didn't even realize how far away from the mansion he really was. He couldn't hear the voices in the mansion anymore or smell the smoke from the chimney. All he heard was the silence of the wood and the wind that played with the branches that were covered with snow. His sense told him that darkness would follow soon and also that it would start to snow. Jack began to shiver as he realized how cold it really was and felt how his healing factor kicked in to keep him from freezing too much. "Poor boy…," he heard someone saying and turned with a growl.

"Who's there?!" he asked and began to look around when a noise on his right caught his attention. Jack watched how a man, who wasn't as tall as his father but as muscular as him, stepped out of the shadows and smirked at him. "Who are you?"

"A friend…," the man replied and stopped still smirking. "Aren't you a bit far from home?"

"What do you care?!" Jack grunted and gave a stone a good kick, but still paid attention to the man's movements. His eyes scanned the man from head to toe, took notice of the nearly black eyes and messy black hair. Somehow, the boy thought, the man looked familiar. "Do I know you?"

"No, but I know you," the man smiled and lowered himself a bit onto his knees to be on eyelevel with the boy. "You're Jack, right?" he asked and received a weak nod. "I'm Daken."

"What are you doing in the wood?" Jack asked and crossed his arms.

"Taking a walk and you?" Daken asked and received another shrug. "Why are you crying?"

"Because they are mean…," the boy replied and wiped his tears away.

"Daddy's been mean to you?"

"I hate him," Jack mumbled with narrowed eyes. "And mommy, too…"

"Well…,"the older man shrugged with a smirk. "That's how parents are…"

Hearing it, the boy looked up and met his opposite's gaze. "Are your parents the same?"

"I don't have any," Daken replied with a stern face and saw how Jack's eyes grew wide in surprise.

"Why?"

"My father abandoned me, you know," the man replied and got up again while his eyes were fixed at a spot behind Jack.

"And your mommy?" this one replied. "Why don't you have a mommy?"

"My father has killed her," Daken said darkly and made the boy back off.

"Your daddy killed your mommy?" Jack asked with a frown and received a nod. "But why?"

"Because my dad's evil," the man hissed. "My dad's not what everyone thinks he is. He is a selfish bastard, he only thinks about himself and prefers to run away from his problems."

Thinking about what he has heard, Jack looked up again. "I wouldn't like your daddy either…"

Chuckling, Daken nodded. "But you know what's the funny thing about this situation is, Jack?"

"No, what?"

"Jack, come here!" Scott said aloud and stopped right next to a tree while his hand was on his glasses. "Step away from him!"

"Why?" the boy asked in confusion and looked to and fro between the smirking Daken and his angry uncles.

"Come here, boy," Hank snarled and bared his teeth at their adversary as a warning, while John had even popped his claws and growled.

"Do what they say before they start a brawl and get hurt," Daken winked at Jack, who obeyed and stopped next to Hank.

"What do you want this time?!" Scott asked and made another step forward so that the boy was behind him.

Daken buried his hands in his jeans pockets with another chuckle. "What?" he asked arrogantly. "Am I not allowed to talk to my little brother?" he asked with a nod at Jack.

"You have no business here!" John growled and came slowly closer. "Leave the boy alone!"

"Shut up, Uncle!" his opposite snarled and popped his claws, too since he felt threatened. "I can talk to him whenever I want!"

"He has claws, too," Jack said in awe and received a smirk from the man.

"Of course I do," Daken replied. "We're half-brothers. Didn't your daddy or dear Uncle John, tell you?"

"Leave!" Hank growled and got in a position to fight, while Scott had one hand on Jack's shoulder and was pulling him away from the scenery; still the other hand ready and on his glasses.

"What…what does he mean, Uncle Scott?" Jack asked and looked up at the man, who was about to reply.

"Nothing," John said and stopped right in front of Daken. "He meant nothing!"

"What I meant was…," his opposite said instead and looked right into Jack's eyes. "That we have the same father… You should ask your daddy about me. I bet he denies it." Putting as much disgust into the last sentence as he could, he pushed John roughly away. "Tell my father that he should watch his back!" he growled and turned around to leave, but stopped to give the boy another look. "Bye, Jack."

Watching how the man disappeared into the dark wood, Jack was still staring at the spot when Scott pulled him up and began to walk back towards the mansion. He didn't listen to the sermon the men gave him. He was completely occupied with thinking about what the man had told him. Due to his senses he was able to tell that the man hadn't lied, but what the man called Daken has said was too confusing for him to understand it.

"Where has he been?" Jean asked and took her son from Scott.

"In the wood," this one said and sighed. "Talking to Daken…"

"What?!" the redhead asked and her eyes had widened.

"It's true," John nodded after locking the door behind them. "They were talking to each other."

"Did he hurt you?" she asked her son and began to check on him, when Jack pulled away until she had to let go of him. Only giving her an angry look, the boy turned and ran away again. "Did he hurt him?!" she asked the men.

"No," Hank replied and shook his head but with a serious look on his face. "But Daken told him that he and Jack are half brothers…" He watched how Jean narrowed his eyes and would have sworn that they had blackened for less than a second.

"Not only that…," John suddenly said and earned confused glances. "I heard the whole thing. He also told Jack that Logan has killed his mother and had abandoned him. I can sense that the boy is confused now… You should tell Logan to explain the situation to him." With a nod at Scott he turned.

"We go and make a team that will stay up all night and watch over the mansion," Scott informed Jean and received a nod. "Tell Logan about it! Hank, would you inform the Professor?"

"Of course," the man nodded and watched them leaving, before he joined the redhead and walked down the corridor. "Will you be fine with talking to Logan?"

"I think so…," she mumbled and was stopped by him.

"Jean…are you alright?" Hank asked her in a concerned voice. "Since you're back, you're so…distant. We are worried."

"I'm fine," Jean only said and left him in the middle of the corridor.

"I don't think so…," he mumbled and looked down before he turned to make his way to Charles office.

**This chapter was supposed to be even longer, but I already reached 40 pages… More than I wanted to write. Anyway, I am terribly that this chapter took so long. I had typed up to page 16 in the US and all scenes except the introduction of Havok and Lorna, the Daken scene at the end and the conversation with Magneto were pre-written as dialogue scenes long ago, but I had a writer's block when I were back home and couldn't type more than 26 pages. So….I am glad that I finally finished this chapter, even if it turned out to be different than I expected it to be… Please forgive me for not updating sooner and I really wanna know what you guys think about this. Please review!!!! See ya!**


	26. Chapter 25

1**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter: )

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 25**

"What do ya mean Daken talked to him?!" Logan asked furiously and had his head turned into the direction where he assumed Jean was. "What the hell is the kid doin' on the outside without someone watchin' him?!"

"He…ran away," the redhead explained and chose to use her words carefully. As furious as he already was, which only added to his constant bad mood lately, she knew that he was close to snap.

"_Ran_ away?"

"Yes…"

"And why?" Logan demanded to know and crossed his arms.

"Because he thinks we lied to him…," she replied and looked up when he uttered a snort. "He became furious and ran away…"

"And ya didn't stop him?" he asked slowly and beyond his normal anger. "Ya just let him run outside?!"

"I couldn't stop him, Logan…," Jean said and looked up.

"Of course not…," he mocked. "Coz you're not the most powerful mutant of this planet… Of course ya couldn't stop him… Do ya want him t'get killed or what?"

Heaving a deep breath and closing her eyes for a brief moment, she felt how her heart began to pound strongly in her chest. She really didn't know why everything seemed to be going to hell lately. Either he was ignoring her, when she tried to talk to him he snapped and growled and if she offered her help with something she only waited for him to extract his claws and stab her. "Logan…," she sighed and ran a hand through her hair.

"Just go away!" he grunted and turned his back to her, which angered her now.

"What do you want me to do?!" she asked aloud and his head jerked instantly aside. "I can't do everything alone!"

"Oh, I'm sorry that I was hit by fuckin' metal, which is stuck in my brain and can't see because of it!" Logan barked and Jean turned her head to look if their children were close by. "I cared for them alone for a whole fuckin' year because ya decided t'play dead and nothin' like that has happened to them. If you're too lazy or dumb t'watch over them, let someone else do it!" While she stared at him in shock about his harsh words and swallowed hard, he lowered his head to run a hand over his face and felt how she was about to say something. "Don't!" he grunted. "Just go away!" Logan heard how she turned after a moment and silently left the room. As soon as he heard the front door being shut by her, he let himself fall backwards onto the bed and shook his head while his eyes were closed. Just laying there for a while, he finally sat up and called for his son of whom he knew that he was in his room.

"What?" Jack grunted after a few minutes and Logan guessed that he was in the room already.

"Are ya alright?" his father asked concerned and the boy shot him a glare.

"Why shouldn't I?" the boy asked and gave the doorframe a kick.

"Because Daken's dangerous. He could have killed ya," Logan replied and heard the boy snorting.

"He was nice to me…"

Sighing, the man sat up and beckoned Jack to come over to him. Patiently he waited for his son to sit down on the bed next to him. "What did he say?" he demanded to know and knew that the man had probably lied to Jack in order to manipulate him.

"Why?" Jack asked and looked everywhere but at his father. He was still angry, disappointed and confused and it was too easy for Logan to pick up on it.

"Because I know what you're feelin'… So what did he say?"

Shrugging, the boy began to pull on the sheets. "That he's my half-brother…," he said after a moment and heard his father uttering a curse. "Why did you kill his mommy?"

"What?!" Logan asked shocked and furrowed his brows.

"He said you killed his mommy and never cared about him. Why?" Jack asked once more and looked at his father disappointedly.

"I didn't kill her!" the man said and shook his head. "I can't believe he says somethin' like that t'ya…" Clenching his fists in anger and growled and shook his head while his eyes were blazing in fury.

"So he's not my half brother?" Jack asked hopefully that the stranger had just lied to him, even if he didn't know why he would do this. His father remained silent first but finally shook his head. Feeling how anger became stronger within him again, the boy narrowed his eyes. "You lied again!"

"I did not," Logan answered. "Not tellin' someone about somethin' is not lyin'."

"But you never told us!" the boy said angrily and jumped off of the bed. "You never cared for him!"

"I never cared for him because I didn't know that he even existed!" his father replied loudly and angered about the way his son was talking to him. Not saying anything for a while, while he could tell that the boy was crying in anger, he finally forced himself to calm down again. "C'mere," Logan said in a more gentle voice and waited.

"No!" Jack sniffed and wiped his tears angrily away. "I don't like you and mommy…"

"Yeah, coz you're angry," his father grunted and looked away. Only shrugging, Jack glared at the floor. "Look…," Logan sighed and hoped to find the right words. He had no idea how he could possibly explain something complicated like that to a nearly 9 year old boy. "I knew his mother way before I knew yours and was married with her. When she was pregnant with Daken, she was murdered but not by me. And I didn't know that he'd survived…" Waiting for a reply, he waited in vain. "Jack, it's the truth!" he tried to convince him. "If I had known that Daken was still alive, I'd have cared for him. Instead he was raised by bad people who told him who knows what…"

"But…but why don't you care for him now?" Jack sniffed and could tell that his father wasn't lying.

"Because he believes what he's told ya. He thinks I left him alone…," Logan explained in a calm voice and heard how the boy climbed onto the bed. Smiling weakly he pulled him onto his lap and close; stroking through the unruly dark mane of his son while this one sniffed into his chest. "And stop runnin' away when ya get mad. Ya know it's dangerous outside…"

"Hm…," Jack mumbled into his chest and just enjoyed being held by his father. Cuddling with him for a while, he held onto the man's shirt and watched how Miloh came inside. This one jumped onto the bed and nuzzled the boy's side.

"Where's Callie?" Logan asked and stroked through the wolf's fur.

"On the sofa," Jack replied and stopped stroking the wolf when Jamie stumbled into the room. "Jamie's here," he informed his father, who only nodded.

"I know," Logan said and waited for the smaller boy to touch his knew before he pulled him onto his lap next. "Hey, pumkin," he smirked and felt how Jamie grabbed his shirt with a joyful laugh. "Happy camper again, huh?"

"Mio!" the boy cheered and reached out to touch the wolf, which made Logan sigh and shake his head.

"Right," he grunted and heard how his son crawled over to the animal. "The wolf's more important than your old dad, got it…"

"You're not old, daddy," Jack replied and made his father chuckle.

"Yeah, right…"

"Logan?" Ororo suddenly asked from the door and the addressed turned his head a bit into that direction. "TJ asked if Jack and the others could come out to play. Is this okay for you?"

Logan shrugged. "If they want t'go…"

"Can Jamie come with us, too?" Jack asked and jumped off the bed.

Thinking about it for a moment the man furrowed his brows. "How many adults are on the outside?" he asked Ororo and heard how the woman came closer.

"Nearly everyone is. The kids have their casual snow fight," she told him and smiled at Callie when the husky stopped next to her. "If you want I can dress Jamie and take him and the dogs with me, too… We'll watch them don't worry…"

"It's not that…," Logan mumbled inaudible for her and turned his head away. "Fine…," he grunted and heard how they left the room, before he could hear them getting dressed.

"See you later, daddy," his children called and then there was only silence.

Clenching his fists hard in anger, he heaved a very deep breath and wished he could see something that could be thrown against the next wall by him. Never before in his life had he felt so weak, dependable and useless. He hated it. Getting up after a moment, Logan used his hands to find the wardrobe and began to feel his shirts and pants until he thought he had found something that he could wear today. He was thankful that no matter which shirt and jeans he just held in his hands, he knew they would fit anyway. After finding the drawer he pulled out one of his casual wife beaters and turned to the left. He held his hand as far away from his body as he could and made careful steps towards where he assumed the door was. He then turned to the right and used the wall to find the door to the bathroom, where he closed the door and put his clothes onto the toilet. After getting rid of his worn clothes, Logan made a careful step towards the shower and entered it. He knew his stuff was on his right so he was about to take his shower gel after turning on the water, but changed his mind after hot water began to pour onto his skin. Closing his eyes, he just leant forward and rested his lowered head against the cold wall…

* * *

"That was mean!" Isa complained and wiped the snow from her face. Hearing how Jack and Laura only laughed, she began to pout and crossed her arms.

"Hey!" Lily said aloud and turned her head when another snowball hit her. "That's not fair!" she cried and ran over to her brother to hide behind him. "Uncle Bobby's mean to me…," she complained and evaded another snowball. "No powers!"

"It's more fun with powers!" the young man grinned and was suddenly hit by a whole bunch of snow. "Damn… 'Ro, that's not fair!"

"No?" the woman asked and landed next to him. "But it is fair to use your powers against the children?" she mocked and gave him a look.

"Well…yeah," he shrugged and was suddenly hit by a ball right in the face. "Who was this?" he asked aloud and saw that Jack and Rachel were already preparing another ball. "That's two against one!" Bobby complained and ducked quickly.

"You've been mean to my sister!" Jack gave back and smirked since Rachel was trying to use her powers onto the tree right above the man. "Harder, Ray!" he cheered and saw how Kurt winked at them, before a loud _bampf_ could be heard and all of a sudden the whole snow of the tree fell down onto the surprised Bobby.

Laughing aloud, Ororo listened to the words the man used. "No swearing in front of the children, Bobby! You know the rules!" she warned him amused and smiled at her husband when this one reappeared next to her. "No powers!" she winked and giggled when a snowman like Bobby fought his way out of the snow.

"You should change your name to Snowman, Bobby!" Kitty and Jubilee laughed, just to shriek and run next when they were suddenly his aim of revenge.

"No Tommy, you can't eat snow!" TJ said and took the white stuff away from her brother, who instantly began to cry and stumbled over to Jamie, who was more interested in the two dogs next to him anyway and ignored the snow. Nevertheless, he became confused when Tommy suddenly stopped next to him, hugged his arm and cried aloud. The noise was too much for the wolf and his mate and they began to chase each other through the snow; both being happy that it was cold and wet on the outside. Seeing that his friend ran away from him upset Jamie enough to cry aloud next and it even went that far that he threw himself into the snow to let everyone know how sad he was.

"Oh," Moira said and walked over to the two crying babies with Hank next to her. "Miloh will be back, Jamie," she said aloud not only to soothe the boy, but also to let Logan know that everything was alright with the boy. "It's okay." She pulled him further up into her arms and wiped his tears away. "Play with Tommy, okay?" she asked and watched how Jamie turned his head to the boy, who was still sniffing in Hank's arm.

"Go ahead," this one sat and put Tommy back to the ground who was soon joined by Jamie. Just as the man looked up again something cold hit his face.

"Oh…. I'm sorry, Hank," Peter apologized and watched how the diplomat wiped the cold stuff out of his fur with a sour look on his face. "I didn't mean to hit you…"

"Diplomat or not, my boy," Hank snarled with narrowed eyes. "I now declare war!"

"Really?" Bobby asked and grinned. "I rather thought that our two old men would prefer to watch."

"Old?!" Scott, who was building a snowman with his son and Raven, asked and looked up; knowing that the younger man had meant him, too, by saying _two _old men.

"Well….yeah," Bobby shrugged and watched how Hank came slowly closer while Scott stood up.

"My boy," the furry mutant said and gathered some snow in his hands. "We will teach you a lesson about how old we really are."

Swallowing hard, Bobby exchanged a look with Peter, who only shrugged. "I didn't say it," the man only said but was hit with a snowball next.

"No, but you accidentally hit him," Bobby corrected him and quickly began to throw a ball back.

"Your dad is one big child…," Raven sighed, rolled her eyes and, after shaking her head, helped Alex again to work on the snowman.

"What's daddy doing, mommy?" the boy asked since his father was doing something that rather looked like the things his Uncle Logan had taught his children in the gym, than of what he knew an actual snow fight looked like.

"Just ignore him, dear," his mother replied and looked up with narrowed eyes. She watched from afar how Alex Summers and his girlfriend, fiancée or wife took a walk through the snow, while John was still sitting next to the pond with crossed legs and had his eyes close. "Just like Logan…," she said amused and turned back to her son.

"Aw, how cute!" Jubilee suddenly cried and earned a low growl from Jack.

"What?" the blue woman asked and looked at her in complete confusion, since nearly everyone of the adults was laughing aloud. "What happened?"

"Jack's got a girlfriend!" the younger woman laughed and evaded the snowball that was thrown at her by the boy. "Aw, he's blushing!" Jubilee teased him and giggled even louder.

"Uncle John!" Jack cried and ran over to the pond to throw himself at his uncle. "They're mean to me…"

"What happened?" Mystique asked once more and looked to and fro between the others.

"Isa and TJ kissed him," Kitty laughed and that even harder when she noticed the red cheeks of the two girls.

"Well that's not the first time," Raven shrugged and remained completely unimpressed by it.

"On the mouth!" Jubilee told her and gave Jack, who instantly hid his face on his uncle's neck.

"They like you," John chuckled and stroked over the boy's back. "There's nothing bad about getting kissed by a girl." Hearing the boy's complain and feeling how he clung even more to him, his chuckle turned into a full laugh. "You really are a number, Jack!" While he just sat there with his nephew on his lap he watched from afar how his daughter ran after her cousins and was laughing aloud. He smiled happily. To him it appeared to have been an eternity since he had heard laughter the last time.

"I miss, daddy…," Jack suddenly mumbled into his neck and John's smile faded.

Not knowing what else to do he patted the boy's back and pulled him closer. "I know…," he sighed and gave the balcony on the second floor a short glance.

* * *

After a long walk through the garden and mansion, Jean returned back inside and to her apartment. Since it was silent and dark within the children's rooms she assumed that they were already in bed. After closing the door behind her, she gave Miloh, who lay next to Callie on the blanket in front of the heater and was occupied with cleaning his mate's fur, a look before she walked over to the bedroom and inside. A first look made her believe that she was alone ands she was already thinking about where Logan could be, when she startled as she wanted to close the door. "Why are you sitting there?" she asked after spotting him in the corner of the room and lay a hand on her chest to calm her racing heart.

"Why not?" he growled and kept his eyes lowered to the ground. To him it didn't matter he couldn't see anything at all anyway. He heard how she came slowly closer and knelt down next to him; obviously to check if everything was alright with him. He knew he knew better than anything she could probably read in his face.

"Come to bed, Logan…," Jean said after a moment and was about to get up when he suddenly grabbed her wrist before she could pull her hand away from his shoulder.

"Ya owe me a favor…," Logan said in a dark and husky voice that made her frown. To show him that he had her attention she knelt back down next to him, but that didn't make him lose the firm grip on her wrist. Whatever he wanted from her it was important enough for him to not care that he would probably leave a bruise. She began to ask herself what was going on in his head that he took such measures to make sure he had her attention.

"What do you want me to do?" Jean asked in a calm voice and watched how he turned his head a bit into her direction. The look his face wore made her heart skip a beat.

"Kill me…"

His voice had been low and even if she hadn't understood what he'd said her heart that suddenly began to race in her chest and the fear that spread deep within her, was proof enough of what his demand was. "W…what?" she asked in complete shock and could only stare at him with widened eyes.

"I did it for ya, too," Logan growled and had his eyes narrowed in anger. "And that twice!"

"That was different, Logan!" Jean said aloud and pulled her hand out of his grip.

"Was it?!" he asked slowly and in a voice that told her to be careful. "Ya were sufferin' and wanted me t'end it and I did! Now it's your turn to repay me that favor…"

Jean had begun to breathe hard and could still only stare at him in disbelief. The way he spoke to her and demanded something horrible like that as if he'd just asked to go food shopping with her, made her ask herself if she had been too blind to see this coming in the pas days. "No!" she therefore quickly said and got up while shaking her head heavily. "I won't do this!"

"I'm beggin' ya, Jean…," he replied and for the first time sounded desperate and at the end of his strength.

"Logan, I… No!" she said again and watched how he stared at the ground in front of him for a while, before he got slowly up and nodded. Since he ran a hand over his face she guessed that he must have been crying before or had been close to do so. She began to ask herself if he really was that much done that he was ready to take such drastically measures…

"Thanks a lot…," Jean heard him grunting in an emotionless voice that truly scared her now. "Good t'know that ya would do the same for me than I'd do for ya…"

"Logan, this has nothing to do with it," she sighed and shook her head. "You don't know if your eyes…"

"Shut up!" he hissed through clenched teeth and reached out to feel his way towards the bed.

"Let me help you…," the redhead offered and touched his arm but withdrew quickly when he lashed out at her. While crying silently, she watched how he finally found the bed and lay down. Jean looked at the ground and heaved a deep breath when she suddenly heard how something hit the ground next to her. Seeing that it was her pillow and that he threw a blanket next, she frowned and looked up. "What…"

"Piss off!" Logan growled and turned his back to her, while the woman could only stare at him in shock. Knowing that he was completely serious and not wanting to make him even madder, she knelt down and got her things from the ground.

"Fine…," Jean said barely audible and walked over to the door. "I'll sleep on the sofa then…"

"I said piss off!" Logan growled louder and raised his head a bit. "And that means leave my rooms!"

"Fine…," she mumbled and left just to narrow her eyes as soon as she had reached the staircase that lead to the first floor.

"_You're weak…"_

Sighing, Jean closed her eyes and began to rub her temple. "Go away…"

"_Only someone as weak as you would allow a tamed and weak animal like him to do this…"_

"I said go away!" she said louder and began to grit her teeth. "Get out of my head!"

"_I can't go away. We're one. All three of us are…"_

Heaving a deep breath and covering her face with her hand, Jean closed her eyes for a moment and shook her head. For less than a second she could feel how the room began to vibrate. But before she could even pay more attention to it, it had already stopped. The redhead opened her eyes again and gave the door behind her a look. Despite her wish to go back inside she turned and descended the stairs.

After a night on the sofa in the rec-room, she sat in the kitchen and stared at the mug in her hands. The dark liquid was steaming and had a hypnotic function on her. Jean didn't even look up when the others came down; exchanging odd looks since the redhead was once more in her own world. "Jean?" Scott said once more and laid a hand on her shoulder to shake her. "Hey!" he added a bit louder and she finally snapped out of her dream world. "What happened to you? You look like someone that has been rolled over by a truck…"

"Rough night…," she mumbled and looked away.

"Logan?" Hank asked and received a nod. "Do you want me to talk to him?"

Jean shook her head. "He's in a bad mood…"

"He's for days, Jean," he replied and sipped on his coffee. "Something I wanted to ask you, John, but is depression a family problem by you?"

"I think so," the man shrugged and put Jamie to the ground when the boy protested aloud. "But I can't tell for sure. I'm only speaking from my mother's diaries and letters. She was suffering from strong depressions after my brother had been born and never managed to get rid off them. Why are you asking?"

"Because if Logan's depressed then he suffers from very strong depression that I would already call…" Hank stopped and sighed. "Well…in our technical jargon it's called suicidal tendency." Seeing how Jean flinched, he furrowed his brows but looked at John again when the man shook his head.

"Maybe you're right but he can't kill himself," he replied and put down his cup. "It's impossible for us to do this."

"But…," Rogue said and turned her eyes away from Remy, who was feeding their son, "…Logan has told me that he's tried several times in the past to commit suicide. He… I think he said something like…that he can't even show me the scars of all the times he'd tried…"

"Maybe," John nodded. "But the point is, our healing factor won't let us die. I tried to shoot myself, to drown myself, I drank poison, jumped of the highest buildings…" He shook his head. "If there's something I haven't tried…"

"Actually," Hank said and spoke in his typical lecturer tone. "You can kill yourself by beheading yourself. In that way your healing factor is disconnected from the brain and…"

John chuckled. "Yeah… Have you ever tried to behead yourself?!"

"Guys!" Ororo cried and held her bigger stomach. "Please… I'm trying to eat here…"

"Sorry," the man apologized but gave Hank another look. "Don't worry about Logan trying to do it. His skeleton doesn't allow it…" Just as he'd finished his sentence his brother appeared in the doorway and the whole room fell silent. They watched how Logan, looking pissed as ever, searched for the fridge and opened it, just to rummage in it next. He took several bottles into his hand and sniffed until he had found the orange juice he was looking for. Following the scent, after closing the fridge, his hand soon touched a plate with some pancakes on it and he took three of them before he looked for the door again.

"Lost your ability t'speak?" he growled while trying to find the door again.

"No, but Jean said you're not in a good mood," Ororo replied and received a snort from him.

"Oh really?! Maybe my bad mood has t'do with her?" Logan grunted cynically.

"Logan…," Jean sighed when he reached the door.

"Shut up!" he snapped and left.

"Where are you going?!" she asked since he turned to his left instead to the right where the door to their rooms was.

"What do ya care?!" he hissed and turned around the corner.

"Okay…," Moira remarked and looked at Jean from aside. "What happened that he's in such a bad mood again?"

"Nothing," the redhead mumbled, stood up and left the room.

"I'm telling ya," Jubilee said and pointed at the door. "She's weird!"

"We know that," Scott sighed. "Has anyone seen Magneto and his two lapdogs?" he asked after a moment but everyone shook their heads. "Fine. Maybe they're gone for good…"

"Do you really believe that?" Raven asked with a look that spoke volumes.

"No…"

"'Ro, he's doing it again," Bobby said and pointed at Tommy.

Groaning, Ororo rolled her eyes and gave Kurt a pleading look. This one instantly pulled the boy up with his tail and away from Jamie. "You can't kiss him!" she lectured her son and took him from his father.

"Can't he?" a deep voice said from the doorway and Magneto, proud as ever, entered the room; to everyone's surprise alone and without Juggernaut and Pyro flanking him. He stopped in front of Jamie, who held onto a stool and looked at the tall man curiously. "So…," Erik smirked and eyed the boy; knowing instantly who the parents were. "Another offspring of the animal, hm?" Hearing it, John looked up with a growl and narrowed his eyes. Magneto met his gaze with a provocative look. "You don't have to remind me of the fact that your kind is all the same."

"Yeah?" his opposite grunted. "Well, then better hope you don't get accidentally stabbed, old man…"

Still smirking and ignoring the swallowed giggles from the younger girls, Erik held John's cold gaze; giving the man a silent warning with it, before he noticed that the boy in front of him was still staring at him. "An animal among animals, hm?" he mocked since Miloh and Callie flanked Jamie and were baring their fangs angrily while growling aloud. "Like father like son, I assume…"

"Woah!" Scott made as Magneto suddenly crashed through the window and the cold air filled the room. He stared at the unconscious man for a moment, practically as everyone else did, before he and the others turned their head towards Jamie, whose eyes weren't two green pools but two pitch-black orbs. "Kurt…," Scott began and wanted to tell him to go and find Jean, as Miloh nudged Jamie and the boy's eyes instantly changed back to their casual green. Laughing, he hugged the wolf with his tiny arms but Callie bit into his shirt and, followed by her mate, left the room to find her master and bring the boy into safety. Both animals hadn't liked the way the stranger had looked at the cub and their instincts told them to bring the cub to the alpha for protection.

When a loud groan echoed through the kitchen the group turned to find Magneto slowly getting up. John, who could only smirk at the man, got off of his stool and walked towards the door. "I think I don't have to tell you to stay away from my nephew, do I?" he mocked and left with an amused chuckle.

"You're paying for that window," Scott informed Magneto, who rubbed the back of his head with a sour look at the team leader. "I've to talk to the Professor," he announced next and was about to leave the room, too, when Hank joined him. "You've seen the same as I did?" he asked him after they had left the kitchen behind them.

"I think so…," Hank said darkly. "His eyes were black… And I am not talking about how much power the boy has been using…"

"Is there a problem, Scott?"

Both men turned around and watched how the Professor wheeled towards them. "I think so, Charles. Or we think so…," Hank nodded and crossed his arms.

"I can assure you I am well aware of what has happened," the bald man said and moved past them, which made Hank and Scott follow him. "But unlike Phoenix's dark aura, on which I have picked up on at night… Jamie's attack doesn't have anything to do with a negative that we should be worrying about."

"Not worrying about it?!" Scott asked as if Charles was out of his mind. "Professor, the boy sent Magneto crashing through the window, his eyes were black… I am sorry but _I _am worried!"

Sighing, Charles stopped and gave both men a look. "I know, Scott. But right now I am far more concerned about Jean and Logan. You don't want to know what kind of thoughts and emotions I pick up on lately. Remy already came to me and told me how worried he is. You know that he can also feel what other people feel around him and what he's told me deeply concerns me." He heaved a deep breath. "I know that Jamie's powers are already too far developed and I don't want to imagine how powerful he will become later in his life. But we can't train him at that age. I don't know how. And as far as I can tell he was only angry and felt threatened."

"Angry?" Hank asked and exchanged a look with Scott, who could only shake his head in disbelief. "I am sorry, Charles, but…if _that_ was angry…then I don't want to be close to the boy when he gets furious."

"What's wrong with Jean?" Scott asked to change the subject and began to follow the Professor again.

"I don't know, Scott…," the bald man sighed and shook his head; concern clearly written on his face. "She blocks me out most of the time, but the few times I was able to pick up on her thoughts…"Once more he shook his head. "She seems to be so far away… And I don't even want to start talking about Logan."

"Talking about Logan," Hank said. "Have you seen him? He has been in the kitchen for a brief moment, grumpy as ever but hasn't returned to his rooms… I'm just wondering where he is in his condition."

"He's blind but not incapable of doing things," Scott sighed in annoyance and looked away.

"We know that. But for someone who's used to his senses for over one hundred years, Scott," the furry mutant countered when the Professor interrupted him.

"Scott…"

"I know," the addressed nodded. "I haven't forgotten about it."

"Good," the bald man said and smiled weakly. "Please do it better sooner than later," he added and the two men watched how the Professor disappeared into his office.

"Do what?" Hank asked since Scott had turned around and was walking back the way they had just come.

"Something he wants me to do," was all the man said and buried his hands in his pockets.

* * *

After he had spent some time in the rec-room and has listened to the TV and Callie and Miloh had brought Jamie to him, Logan had taken an unintentional nap on the sofa with his son sleeping in his arms. When he woke up again, he heard loud chattering everywhere and guessed that he must have slept for at least a few hours and that it was probably time for dinner already. If he hadn't even missed it. A wet snout had given him a loving nudge from aside and he guessed that the wolf and his mate were still right next to him. To Logan it hadn't been a secret of what had happened in the kitchen. He had not only heard what Magneto has said, he had also heard the loud crash when the man had flown through the window. He didn't deserve better, as he thought, even if Logan was worried about his youngest's powers. After he had asked Marie to take the boy upstairs and put him into his bed, he had looked for the next elevator and, to the great surprise of everyone else, wasn't seen for the next hours.

It was already dark and snowing again when Logan, who sat meditating on the small balcony on the roof where he and Jean had once celebrated their anniversary, heaved a deep breath. "Is everyone in this house incapable of understandin' the words _leave me the fuck alone_?!" he asked in annoyance and opened his eyes out of habit, just to feel a brief rush of rage when everything was still black.

"I was looking for you all day," Scott said and pulled his jacket closer after he gave the dark sky a look. "You're wearing a shirt only?!" he asked after noticing it. "It's freezing cold out here, Logan…"

"Ain't cold enough for my taste," the man grunted and sighed. "Piss off!"

"No, I need to talk to you," Scott disagreed and remained on the same spot next to his teammate as before.

"I don't give a shit," Logan growled.

"I brought beer," the other man countered and smirked since he could see how his opposite began to think.

"Asshole," Logan snapped and took the bottle after Scott had sat down on a blanket next to him. "I ain't gonna talk about Jean if that's what ya came for," he grunted and sipped on the beer. "And I ain't gonna talk about anythin' else that's none of your business either. I know that Chuck sent ya…"

"How much do you know about me?" he heard the man next to him asking after a moment of silence and cocked an eyebrow.

"Ain't into guys, remember?!"

Scott rolled his eyes and shook his head. He could have bet that this would come… "I mean about my past. Before Xavier…," he said and received a shrug that told him Logan didn't care. He knew the man wasn't interested in background stories, especially his. "Well, I came to tell you about it."

"Do I look like a fuckin' psychiatrist to ya?!" Logan snapped and furrowed his brows in anger.

"I had those, too, you know," Scott went on, ignoring the outburst on purpose. He was here to fulfill a mission and he would succeed. Even if he had to fight Logan…. "I know the anger of yours. I've been there, too." Hearing how he sipped on a bottle, Logan rolled his eyes and turned his head away. "You know that I can't control my powers due to an old head injury, right?"

"So?" the man next to him grunted since there had been nearly two minutes of silence. He hated how persistent Scott could be if he wanted to achieve something. Even if it was the briefest answer on the planet.

"Well, after my powers have shown and my foster parents kicked me out since I was mutant scum and they were too afraid of our neighbors to find out…," Scott went on and had his eyes fixed on the bottle in his hands. Even after all those years the memories of how his "parents" had treated him after they, and nearly everyone in the neighborhood had found out about him nearly blasting the school to pieces, still hurt. Nearly as much as losing his real parents had. Remembering how his mother had handed him and his brother the parachutes after the plane was about to crash, he closed his eyes and fought against the memory. He didn't want to think about it now. There were more important things to do. "In fact, everyone in our town knew about me… I was so afraid that they would come and kill me…but not as afraid as I was of opening my eyes…"

"So?" Logan asked again; annoyance and impatience mirrored in his voice. "How many beers did ya have before, eh? Did Raven throw ya out again and now ya feel the need t'talk about it?"

"Would you just listen for once?" Scott asked, also annoyed by now. Seeing how the man next to him looked away again, he heaved a deep breath before he went on. "I was voluntarily blind for months, Logan. I know what it feels like to live in darkness, only being able to hear but being incapable of doing things on your own. I know how hard it is to adjust to a situation like that, how difficult, frustrating and depressing it can be… But you can learn to get along," he told him and received a snort. "I know that having children and feeling incapable of caring for them and protecting them is terrible, but you have all the help you can get if you wouldn't be too proud to ask for it."

"What the hell do ya know, Summers, eh?" Logan snapped and managed a glare into the direction where his teammate sat.

"More than you," the man gave back. "You think you had a hard life? That you suffered and went through terrible things?" he asked Logan provocatively. "Then let me tell you something about your _team_mates with whom you're living for years y now. Ororo was homeless and her family wanted to kill her after she had accidentally set her village on fire. Everyday she had to steal or fight to get food, sometimes she hadn't eaten for days and she was in constant danger if being raped or murdered just because she's a woman. And even worse, a woman who's different than the rest of her country. Hank looked normal before, he was just a boy whose agility and strength was greater than of other boys of his age. But from one day to the next he was covered in fur, was about to lose everything he had worked for so hard in his life. He was too ashamed to even leave his room for days and refused to go on a date once, because he knew he would be rejected."

"So that's actually worse than bein' cut open, experimented on, internally flooded with hot adamantium, burnt alive or shot or poisoned, just because someone got bored?" Logan asked as if the man was brain-dead and Scott sighed.

"All I am trying to say is that every one of us has a back story, Logan," he answered. "That we can understand you…"

"You of all people…," Logan mocked and looked away again.

"Especially me. That's why the Professor sent me," Scott replied. "You don't know what I had to do to survive on the streets…with no money, no home, no one who took care of me. I was just a blind, poor, homeless boy."

"That's my story, but never mind…"

"Keep the sarcasm to yourself, Logan and listen!" he warned and handed the man another beer. "I was nearly 15 back then but looked way younger. I figured out that sitting close to food markets promised the most success. Sometimes an old lady or someone else that felt pity for me brought me some food or something to drink. Sometimes it was even money,…but not from people you would actually take money from…"

"Offers, huh?" Logan asked and sipped on the beer; knowing full well what the man was talking about.

"Yeah…"

"Had them too when I worked in that mine," he grunted, still remembering the looks older men had given him when he'd been a teen.

"Did you do it?" Scott asked with a look to the side but the man shook his head.

"Nope. I sneaked into their houses to steal food if I had run out of it," Logan said and swallowed more of the liquid.

"I didn't do it either," Scott said and watched how the flakes fell from the now black sky. "One day a man talked to me. He'd brought me some food and water and told me I wouldn't survive the winter on the streets. He'd know a place where I could stay. Other boys and girls of my age were living there, too, and I would get food and stuff…"

"Ya believed him?!" Logan asked and cocked an eyebrow; unable to see the sad smile the man next to him had on his lips.

"I didn't care, Logan. I hadn't eaten in three or four days, I was tired and by then it was already freezing cold. I wouldn't even have minded if he had dragged me into an alley and killed me. I only wanted to get away from the streets, from the endless hunger…," Scott went on. "So, yeah…I didn't care… No matter what he would have done with me… I wouldn't have been able to do anything against it anyway. I was weak, blind…just a kid."

"What happened then?"

"He brought me to his place and there were some children around my age, too. I could take a bath, got clean clothes, food, a bed…everything seemed to be perfect…"

"But it wasn't…," Logan knew and Scott nodded.

"Yeah…it was far from being okay," he said and sighed. "He told me, since I had trouble to find any sleep probably because I wasn't used to the surroundings and noises, that I should take a pill, it would help me sleep. I took it…" He paused to close his eyes for a moment. "I don't know what it was but it made me feel so light headed… I only felt that he was doing something to my arm, but… When I woke up, I felt so miserable that I only wanted to die. He told me that he could make me feel better if I would do some things for him. I don't know what he had given me on the day before, but I already felt that I needed it…"

"What did ya do for him?" Logan asked and sipped on the bottle.

"Don't ask me. I was often enough too drugged to even realize what I was doing with those men…," Scott said and shook his head. "The only thing on my mind back then was that if I did what he wanted from me, I could use the money I made to pay him. And he would stop the pain, coldness and the torture when those drugs wore of. When the Professor got me out of that hell I was addicted to most drugs known back then. He told me that the hospital was surprised I even survived the withdrawal, but more that I was healthy…"

"When did Chuck found ya?"

Thinking hard, he watched how a snowflake landed on his shoe. "When I was nearly 18… I remember that I still refused to open my eyes for days after he gave me the glasses. I mean…a life in red isn't that great either…" He looked at Logan. "But better than being blind is everything to me… So you see why control is so important for me…and that I do understand what you are going through like no one else here. And I know that you need help, Logan. Be it from us or from Jean, but you are not able to do everything on your own as before…" He patted the man's shoulder. "And now come back inside or we'll have one giant Popsicle," Scott added and waited for Logan to get up before he led the way back downstairs. When they reached the second floor he noticed how late it already was. "It's already past bedtime. Do you want me to bring you back to your rooms?" he offered and Logan chuckled.

"Do I get a goodnight kiss then?" he teased and Scott rolled his eyes but managed a weak smile.

"I guess that was a no," he assumed and received a nod. "As I thought. Well, then good night…and be nice to Jean. Even if she's not herself lately…"

"Whatever," Logan waved off and had his hand already attached to the wall to look for his way back. Hearing how Scott began to move, he stopped. "Summers!"

"What?"

"Sorry for the shit ya had t'go through," he said and waited a moment to let it sink in; guessing that Scott was surprised to actually receive a nice word from him. He smirked and began to walk again. "Now I know why ya are such a horrible tight-assed bastard… Night!"

"Yeah, I love you too, Logan," Scott mocked and shook his head, but smirked. "Night!"

* * *

When Jean entered the bedroom after leaving the bathroom, Logan was already asleep. She closed the door and walked over to his shirt that lay on the ground next to the bed. While she was kneeling on the ground with the shirt in her hands her eyes were on his face and she reached carefully out to stroke through his hair with a sad look in her eyes. She got up again and put the shirt back into the wardrobe next to the door. When she turned around to walk over to the bed she closed the doors of the wardrobe telekinetically and froze on the spot. Jean furrowed her brows and turned to give the doors a look, then switched back to look at Logan and then back at the doors…

_Dressed in a red skirt and darker red shirt while her hair was wrapped up, she watched how he'd his back turned to her and looked into the wardrobe. He'd asked her before where her room was and she'd replied to it. "Is that your gift?" he asked her amused and turned around with that cheeky look and cocked eyebrow of which she could tell that he used it very often. It just seemed too natural to her. "Putting up with that guy?"_

_She couldn't help but smile; noticing the look he gave her with those intense eyes of his. He paid complete attention to her, she knew that… "Actually I'm telekinetic," she answered and could tell that his interest wasn't faked. "I can move things with my mind."_

"_Really?" he asked and again there was this curious expression on his face. "What kind of things?" When he turned around the door of the wardrobe went shut. It amused her to see that a grown man like him jumped slightly in surprise._

"_All kind of things," she said with an even wider smile. "I've also some telepathic abilities."_

"_Like the Professor?"_

"_No, nothing near that powerful," she said and looked up a bit when she heard him coming closer. "But he's helping me to develop it." Looking into those eyes that seemed to reach her very soul so easily, she felt how her cheeks began to flush and her heart gained speed. He smirked knowingly and stopped right in front of her. Too close as she thought. Not uncomfortable but she found it suddenly very hard to concentrate at all._

"_So read my mind!" he said, again with this smug smile on his lips while his eyes couldn't look more lovingly._

_Feeling how her cheeks flushed even more, she smiled widely before she met his eyes again. "I'd rather not…"_

_He made a step forward and was suddenly even closer, causing her heart to skip a beat. "C'mon," he replied in half a whisper before he bent forward a bit and gave her another smug grin; knowing full well that she was as much flirting with her as she was with him. "Afraid ya might like it?" he asked provocatively and wobbled his head._

"_I doubt it." In fact she had been more than curious to know if what she thought of him was true. She had felt this mutual connection instantly and way too strong for it to be just coincidental, something she had never felt before. There was something in his eyes that appeared to be so familiar to her tat she could spent hours staring into them. She hadn't said anything for a moment, while he still looked at her. Usually she was someone who kept to her decision. But curiosity to know more about him was stronger, so she raised both hands, noticing his sudden insecurity…_

Jean still stood on the same spot in the bedroom and rubbed absently over the back of her hand, as if she could still feel his hands taking hers into a soft and gentle grip after she'd let go of his mind. The sudden rush of single pictures, the violence and hate had overwhelmed her. But the look in his eyes that desperately seemed to hope that she'd seen something useful was enough to make her forget it. It was then that she'd realized that their bodies had touched, that he'd still held her hands in this gentle grip and hers were resting against his chest. The horrible things she'd seen didn't seem to match the way he'd acted just then at all… If she hadn't seen Scott standing in the door all of a sudden, she couldn't have said what might have happened. He'd just seemed too close and one look had been enough to stop her rational thinking at all.

Still frowning she walked over and sat down on the edge of the bed next to his sleeping form; completely lost in thoughts.

"_I can move things with my mind."_

"_Really? What kind of things?"_

"_All kind of things!"_

Jean tilted her head a bit and touched his cheek. Was it possible? Could she do it? She jumped when he sat up in a rush and was obviously alarmed. "It's me!" she said quickly to calm him again.

Trying to catch his breath, he buried his head on his arms again after he'd let himself fall onto the bed again. "What is this shit?!" he growled and was still able to feel his rapid heartbeat against the mattress. "Do ya wanna give me a heart attack next?!"

"I'm sorry…," Jean apologized. "But I just had an idea…"

"Of how t'kill me faster?" Logan grunted more than pissed off.

"No… Remember when you first came here and I showed you your room?" she asked. "When I explained my powers to you?"

"So what?" Logan asked annoyed and mumbled into his arms.

"I don't know if it'll work," the redhead began and looked at her hands. "Maybe I can use my powers on the splinter… I've seen where it is located, so maybe…maybe I can concentrate on it…" Since he'd raised his head she knew that he paid attention. "But I need to look at the scans again… It might take a couple of days before I can work on it…" He sighed and buried his head in his arms again. Ignoring the fact that he was still angry with her for a second, she reached out to stroke over his head. "I'll find a way. I promise…"

"Just let me sleep," Logan grunted and turned his head to the other side, away from her.

"I'm sorry for waking you up," she whispered and got up to walk around the bed before she hesitated for a moment. Since he didn't say anything at all and just turned his head to the opposite side again, she assumed that he didn't mind if she stayed here. Jean pulled the sheets aside and went underneath them before tried to get comfortable. "Night…," she whispered and closed her eyes; still hoping that her plan would work.

* * *

"Jean, this is crazy!" Hank said and, since he had been looking out of the window, turned to give the redhead a look. "Have you even taken the risks into consideration? The damage you can cause?!"

Not looking back at him but keeping her eyes fixed on the chart she nodded. "I've spent the last two days with it, Hank… I know the risks."

The man shook his head and squeezed the back of his nose. "Does he know?" he asked with a nod at Logan, who sat, arms crossed, in a chair opposite of Charles' desk. "Jean, if you injure a blood vessel you will cause a major bleeding. What if it happens in the area the splinter is located and his healing factor can't stop the bleeding?! He can die! Or what if you damage other parts of his brain and cause damages to important bodily functions? Being blind would be nothing compared to what Logan would have to deal with then!"

Sighing, Jean put the chart onto the small table in front of her. "He can't deal with not seeing anything at all, Hank!" she gave back and looked at the man for the first time since the meeting had started.

Nodding, this one came closer and stopped in front of her. "Can he deal with not being able to eat, speak, think or maybe walk and talk on his own anymore? That machines might have to keep him alive if something goes wrong?" he challenged her and shook his head. "Will you be able to deal with the guilt since you caused it?" he added and she looked away. "Jean, we all know how hard it is for him, you and your family… But think about what can happen and the consequences of it."

"He's right, Jean," Moira agreed after taking a look at the chart. "You can't just pull the splinter through his entire brain and expect that nothing's damaged. And you know full well that you can cause serious damage not only to his functions, but also to his memory."

When they heard how Logan heaved a deep breath, all eyes switched to him. "Look…," he began and tried to remain as calm as possible. "I've been shot in the head at least thirty times during World War II thanks to some German fuckers and I'm still sittin' here…"

"That doesn't prove anything, Logan," Hank said and leant back against Charles' desk. "The bullets mustn't necessarily have caused any serious damage and…"

"They killed me, bub. And still I'm sittin' here!"

"But…," Moira began when Logan cut her off with a shake of his head.

"Either ya gonna agree and help her or ya can take a weapon and shoot me, coz I ain't willin' t'live for another hundred years or more without seein' a fuckin' thing!"

"Maybe it's not permanently," Hank disagreed and walked back over to the window again. He wondered why the Professor remained so calm the whole times through and asked himself if the man didn't see the danger he and Moira saw. "We don't know how your mutation works for real…"

"But I do!" Logan grunted. "So ya gonna help her, yes or no?!"

Exchanging a look with his wife, the furry mutant shook his head. "I'm sorry, Logan, but I can't. I would never be able to forgive me if you're either dead or have taken serious damage." He gave his wife a look and saw that she nodded in agreement, while Charles still looked like someone who was very deep in thoughts.

Logan only nodded cynically. "Right… Just let me tell ya one thing, Furball," he growled angrily. "If ya were sufferin' without any chance of recovery and asked me t'help ya end it, I'd do it, even if I'd t'live with the guilt!" he said and heard Hank sighing. "Ya don't have children, so ya don't know what it feels like to not be able to see them!"

"I know…," the other man replied. "But still my answer is no! It's too risky… I'm sorry!"

Only shaking his head, Logan got up and began to look for the way out of the room. He should have known that Hank and Moira would never agree to it. When he found the door and went through it, someone suddenly touched his hand.

"I still want to try," Jean said and sounded determined. "But I need at least one more person to watch over your circulation and aeration… Better two…"

"We don't have anyone else here who's experienced in medical stuff," he grunted and growled when she took his hand to lead him.

"Raven knows a bit but not enough to help me…," she mumbled more to herself and didn't even notice his protests.

"Jean, wait!" the Professor suddenly said and made both mutants stop, or better the redhead stopped and forced Logan to do the same, which earned her another growl. "Do you really think it will work?" he asked with a serious look on his face and received a nod. "What are you planning to do?"

"I'll try to destroy the splinter," she replied and kept her eyes downcast. "Or better to atomize it…"

"What if you can't control your powers like that? You've never tried to focus your stronger powers on a single target…," he warned and gave Logan a concerned look.

"Ya heard what I said, right?" Logan asked and furrowed his brows. "I don't care what happens t'me!"

"You shouldn't be so selfish and also think about your children and their future if you accidentally die, Logan," Charles said in a harsh voice. "They already have seen the two of you die so often…"

"She can bring me back, can't she?" the man snapped. "So what's the fuckin' problem here? If I die, she can still atomize that thing, bring me back and…"

"And what if it doesn't work this time?" the Professor demanded to know. "Or what if it takes too long to do it? Or something else goes wrong? Don't you see the consequences here?!"

Ignoring him, Logan grabbed Jean's hand again. "I want ya t'do it, no matter what he says!"

"I can do it, Charles!" Jean tried to convince the man and gave him a look, which seemed to be odd. "I know I can…"

Holding her gaze for a moment, the bald man leant back in his wheelchair. "I hope you are right…," he said and closed his eyes for a moment. "I see what I can do…," he added and turned back around to wheel into his office again.

"Come on," Jean said and was about to lead Logan towards the elevator when he held her back.

"I need t'do somethin' first," he mumbled and pulled his hand away. "Go ahead," he added and was geared to the wall. She watched how he walked back towards the West Wing and wondered what he was up to, but shook her head and went down the corridor into the opposite direction.

* * *

"You sure?" John asked and gave his younger brother a concerned look. "I mean… Maybe Hank's right…"

"I don't care," Logan disagreed and still held the two envelops into his direction. "If somethin' goes wrong and I won't make it I want ya to give them t'Jean."

"Sure," John shrugged and took them.

"Good," the other man nodded and got up. "And I want ya t'take care of them, too."

Coming closer, the older man stopped in front of his brother. "I'll protect them with my life. You know that," he said and waited a moment before he hugged Logan. "Just make sure I don't have to…"

"I'll try," Logan grunted and squeezed his brother's shoulder. "I've gotta go…"

"Good luck," John mumbled and looked at the two envelops in his hands. "And don't even dare to peg out, you hear me?" Seeing how Logan only nodded and closed the door behind him, John sighed and sat back down on the bed. He stared at the two envelops a while longer before he looked up. "Anna?"

"Yeah?" the girl asked and came into her father's bedroom.

"Do me a favor and go over to your cousins, okay?" he asked and put the two letters into his bedside table. "I have something to do and it will probably take a few hours."

"Okay," Anna shrugged in confusion and left the room together with him.

"Thanks, baby," he smiled and gave her a kiss on the cheek. "If you want to sleep over, it's okay. I'm sure that Ororo or someone else will watch over you guys. See you later." Having said it he jogged down the corridor to the next elevator and pushed the button to the basement.

* * *

"Everything's normal so far," Moira said but kept her eyes closely on the monitors. She still couldn't believe that Hank and she had agreed on this in the end. Sometimes Charles was way too convincing. Hank, who sat behind her and looked at the monitors, too, gave her a brief look from aside. She knew he thought the same. Both of them looked at Jean, who sat at the end of Logan's bed and had her hands placed next to his head. While she concentrated her powers on her work, Charles concentrated his on hers and was ready to intervene if something got out of control. Even if he was well aware of the fact that he couldn't stop her if the use of her powers became too much for the woman to cope with.

Nearly more than an hour later, Jean could finally feel the splinter in her head and began to concentrate it. Sweat was already becoming visible on her forehead and her heart was racing in her chest. She knew she needed to remain calm but something made it difficult for her.

"_You won't make it…"_

Ignoring the voice in her head, she quickly concentrated harder on the splinter again before the feeling in her head had a chance to slip away.

"_You'll kill him…"_

"Shut up!" Jean hissed, which made Moira and Hank look up with furrowed brows. Unaware of it, the redhead began to push her powers and felt how the splinter began to react to it as the voice in her head began to snicker aloud. Interrupted by it and feeling how it became more than hard to concentrate on her work all of a sudden, she gritted her teeth and began to heave very deep breaths.

"Jean?" Moira asked and saw that also Charles had opened his eyes and was looking at the woman next to her alarmed. "What's wrong with her?"

"Jean?!" the Professor asked and tried once more to reach her mind. Again she blocked his advances. "Jean, you should stop!" he warned her but didn't get a single reaction from the woman at all. "What's Logan's status?"

"Normal," Hank confirmed. "The anesthesia is still working…"

In the meanwhile Jean was fighting two battles at once. She desperately tried to ignore the amused voice in her head that kept on putting her down, while she tried hard to keep her concentration fixated on the splinter. Trying as hard as she could under those circumstances, she knew she had to try it now…

Hank sighed and gave the clock next to him a worried look. "It's taking her too long…," he mumbled and received a nod in agreement from his wife. "Charles, you should…," he began as Logan's heart rate suddenly began to fluctuate and soon the loud beeping of the machines echoed through the room.

"What did you do?" Moira asked Jean, who could only stare at them in shock, and jumped up to check on the man in the table. "You must have injured something…"

"No…," the redhead disagreed and shook her head. She knew she had atomized the splinter only.

"Get out of the way," Hank said sharply and, even if he didn't intend to, gave her a rough push. "I told you it was too risky!" he added in anger and heard how the machines began to beep even louder. "Damn it…"

Only watching how the two doctors were beginning to work on Logan, Jean remained at the wall and only stared at the scenery in shock. She didn't notice how the Professor gave her a skeptical look or that the voice on her head was snickering again…

**First of all: I am so sorry for not updating in a month. I had a terrible writer's block and was stuck on page 6. I had pre-written the scene that took place around the flashback to X-Men 1, also the discussion with Hank and Moira but I had to come up with the rest and had no idea how to get where I wanted. LOL Then: Thanks to all of you who have reviewed again. : ) I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter and will review this one here, too. I also hope that my writer's block is gone now. LOL See ya!**


	27. Chapter 26

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter: )

**Attention: **I'm already looking for actors/actresses that I can build the grown up kids on. I found actors to all kids except….Jack. He really gives me a headache.

I knew from the beginning on which actor I would build Jamie on. He was my role model from the beginning and all I need is someone that would fit to Jack from his look. So, here's my task LOL: Please tell me a young actor that you could imagine as Jack. Just one thing: I won't accept Jake Gyllenhaal. I won't tell why now. Wait for the epilogues. ; ) The young actor should have dark hair and should fit as Jean's and Logan's son AND not look like a teen!

Oh and reviewer 200 can of course wish for something again!!

**And something funny: **I talked to a guy, who said that he has seen all X-Men movie. He didn't know any names, didn't know that Xavier was still alive after X3 AND (this was the best thing) thought that Leech was the most powerful mutant. LOL I said "NO, that's Dark Phoenix and Apocalypse". He asked me: "Who is Dark Phoenix? I don't know her. She wasn't even in the movies!" And he has seen ALL X-Men movies??? lmao

**Please read and review my one-shot Logan's hope!!!**

**Chang****es Sequel – II. Covenant Part 26**

When he opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was his skull breaking headache and that his throat and mouth were dry as if he hadn't seen water in weeks. As slowly as he could Logan sat up and ran a hand through his hair. From what it felt like he guessed that he had been out quiet a time. With his hand attached to the bed he got up…

"There weren't any changes the last time I checked on him," Hank said while he walked towards the kitchen with Jean and Ororo. Still feeling angry and guilty at the same time he gave the redhead a brief look, but didn't say what was on his mind. From the way Jean had acted in the past week, he knew that she felt responsible too. And he also knew that, if Logan's healing factor hadn't reacted and repaired the injured parts in his brain and had stopped the bleeding, his friend wouldn't be alive anymore. Still, neither he nor Moira could tell what kind of damage Jean had done on their friend and how long it would take Logan to wake up again. Or in what condition he would be by then…

"Oh my God!" Ororo suddenly cried and Hank stopped dead in the tracks when he saw who was sitting in the kitchen with orange juice in his hand.

"You're awake!" he said shocked and walked over to the man. "How are you feeling, boy?"

"Dizzy…," Logan grunted and cracked his stiff neck when Hank began to check on his pulse and head.

"Headache?"

"Not really…"

Nodding slowly Hank made a step back and noticed that Jean was still standing in the doorframe and stared at her husband in shock. Sighing, since he could tell that his friend was disappointed beyond limits, he patted his shoulder in sympathy. Before he had left Logan's side at night he had checked on his friend's eyes again and there hadn't been any reaction at all. He didn't dare to imagine how bad the man felt just now. "I'm sorry that it didn't work…," he began and looked briefly aside when Jean came slowly closer; obviously feeling as bad as the man in front of him was. "The splinter is gone but… There were complications and you were out cold for a week… I know it doesn't help much right now but you are lucky that your body obviously works as it should. A lot could have happened…"

Looking down sadly, Ororo opened the blinds and blinked against the bright sunlight. "Oh my God!" she heard Jean gasping and turned around with furrowed brows. Not knowing what was wrong all of a sudden or why the redhead was sobbing into Logan's neck and had her arms wrapped around him, she gave Hank, who only stared at the couple, a confused look. Suddenly it dawned her. "You…you can see again?" she stuttered and received a weak nod from Logan, whose eyes had begun to hurt like hell due to the light that shown into them. "Goddess…," the woman gasped and stared at him in shock before she snapped out of it. "Oh, I'm sorry," Ororo quickly said and closed the blinds a bit again. "We thought it didn't work… Better?!" she asked concerned but saw that Logan still stared at the crying redhead that was still attached to his neck. He didn't know what to do or how to react to her. It had been easy to be mad with her since he hadn't been able to see her in the past weeks. But seeing her for the first time after a year again made his heart kick into high gear. Once more he felt this strong, painful pressure in his chest, something he had felt every time he had looked at a picture of her after she had forced him to kill her. Torn between wanting to hate her for this and how beautiful she looked, he couldn't help but admit that he had missed her terribly, that he couldn't live without her anymore.

"Thank God…," Jean sobbed and looked up with a tearstained face to cup his face. The past days had been hell for her, the guilt of nearly killing him and not knowing _how _he would wake up had been too much for her. Unable to hold his intense gaze any longer she closed her eyes and heaved a deep breath to calm her nerves and heart. She didn't care that he was still angry with her, all she cared about right now was that he seemed to be fine and that she had succeeded. When she opened her eyes again he still gave her the same odd look. His brows were furrowed and his gaze so intense that she couldn't tell what he was up to. Gasping, when he suddenly grabbed her neck and forced her into a rough but very deep kiss, she thought her chest would burst since her heart even gained speed.

"Look at that…," Ororo said impressed and exchanged a surprised look with Hank, after Logan had grabbed the redhead's hand and pulled her out of the room. "What has gotten into him just now?"

"Well…speaking from a man's perspective, or better physiologically speaking," Hank began but she raised her hand.

"No,…I got it," she said and sat down on a stool to shake her head, while he could only shrug. "You men are cavemen, honestly!"

"Well, he hadn't been with anyone for a year," Hank said apologetically but doubted his own words.

"He had been angry with her for weeks, Hank," Ororo replied and looked at him as if he was out of his mind. "Women never switch that fast between being mad with someone and jumping that person's bones…" Shaking her head once more she began to sip on her tea. "But okay…it's Logan we are talking about here…" Hearing it, Hank laughed.

In the meanwhile Logan had dragged the still speechless and surprised redhead into the first room he could find and locked the door behind him. The predator like look in his eyes truly scared her, since she couldn't tell what was on his mind. By touching it all she could pick up on was either nothing or primal thoughts, so she began to back off when he came slowly closer; moving like one giant cat that was ready to kill his prey. "What are you up to, Logan?" Jean asked in barely more than a whisper and had to force herself to hold his intense gaze.

"What do ya think?" Logan replied in a dark and husky voice that sent shivers down her spine and caused her heart to beat even faster than it already did.

"I…I don't know," she stuttered and realized that he was pinning her more and more to the corner. If she didn't react soon there would be no way out for her anymore. "You're mad with me, so how am I supposed to know?"

"Hm…," he made, which sounded more like a low growl, and approached her further.

"What are you up to?!" Jean asked once more and startled when her back hit the wall. Using his chance that she was distracted, he grabbed her quickly and pulled her up against him while he pressed against her.

"I'm sick of wakin' up with a hard on because of ya," he growled. She gasped when he once more invaded her mouth with all the anger and tension that had built up within him in the past month. Beginning to breathe heavier and with her scent influencing his senses, his hands disappeared under her skirt and with a quick movement of his hand he cut through her panties, which landed on the floor. Jean had held her breath when she had felt how one cold claw brushed over her thigh. Before she could say or even think something Logan had already pulled his sweatpants down and her up against him. She bit her lip hard, her eyes were shut firmly and her head was thrown back. All she could do after releasing a deep breath was to wrap her arms and legs around his neck and waist and to give in to the strong emotions that soon overwhelmed her…

* * *

"Uncle Hank?"

Hearing the voice and feeling how someone pulled on his pants, the man looked down and smiled at his godchild. "What can I do for you, Ray?" he asked and pulled the little redhead onto his lap.

"Where is mommy?" the girl demanded to know, since she and her siblings had woken up with both parents gone this time. They knew their daddy was sick and needed to rest, but also that their mommy had been fine before.

"She didn't leave, honey," Ororo tried to soothe her after exchanging a look with the blue man.

"But where is she?" Rachel asked and fixed her green eyes on her; fearing that something had happened again. In search for an answer she looked at everyone in the room but figured out that most of them didn't know either. They rather looked confused. "Something happened, right?" the girl said in barely more than a whisper and felt tears coming up.

"No!" Hank quickly said and stroked over her head. "She is fine. Nothing bad has happened, Ray."

"Really?" the girl insecurely and received a warm smile and nod.

"Hey," a deep voice suddenly said and all heads turned towards the door. "Are you done eating?" John asked the children and received a nod. "God, your mom wants you guys to get upstairs and change into warm clothes and meet her in the garden."

"Why?" Laura asked and furrowed her brows.

"You'll see," the man said and beckoned them to move.

"Is it a surprise?" Lily asked and watched how John tilted his head playfully as if he had to think very hard.

"Something like that," he nodded and smirked at Ororo when the children stormed out of the room to get changed.

"What's going on?" Kitty asked and looked at Hank and the woman in confusion; not liking the grins on their faces. "Did something happen?!"

"Nothing bad obviously," Hank mumbled with a smile and sipped on his coffee again. He turned his head a bit to look out of the window. Right in time to see two people walking through the snow.

* * *

Exhaling the smoke of his cigar while he kept his eyes on the ground, Logan still tried to get used to the bright light. The sun already stood high in the crystal blue sky and the light that was reflected by the snow hurt his still sensitive eyes. He felt torn. Torn between wanting to embrace the world and doubting his luck. The fear of waking up one morning and seeing nothing but darkness again was too strong that he could really feel happy now.

"You okay?" Jean asked since she had noticed that he was obviously deep in thoughts. After their brief but intense encounter in Scott's office they hadn't talk much. In fact not at all. Logan had just held her and rested against her for a while and even if he had tried to hide it, she knew he had cried for a brief moment. Nevertheless, they had only straightened their clothes afterwards, had gone upstairs to clean up and now they were here in the garden and took a walk, while they waited for their children.

"Yeah…," he mumbled and sucked on his cigar again before throwing the rest away.

"Sure?" Jean asked insecurely and was unable to hold his gaze when he looked up.

"Why didn't ya tell me?" Logan asked and suddenly stopped walking.

"What?" the redhead asked back and wrapped her arms around herself; not looking up at him at all.

"Ya know what I mean," he replied and crossed his arms. Logan waited for a reaction but realized there was none. Sighing, he shook his head and had to narrow his eyes when he allowed them to look around for a while. Everything was too bright and hurt. "Do ya even know what ya did t'me?" he grunted and now it was she that looked at him, while he avoided her gaze. He felt as if he had to look at as many things as he could. That maybe tomorrow he wouldn't see a thing again. That in that way, he had at least a memory of how things looked in the snow, that he had to memorize exactly where everything was so that he could find his way blindly this time. "Do ya?" he asked and met her gaze; saw the pain in them.

"No… No, I don't know," Jean replied and lowered her head.

Hearing it, Logan had to frown. His senses clearly told him that she was lying but he brushed it off as being tired and probably still healing. "Why didn't ya tell me that ya were back?" he asked once more and heard from afar how Callie barked and was chased through the snow by her mate. He knew both animals had already spotted him.

"I… I thought you were still angry with me," she said and shrugged. "That you probably didn't want to see me…"

"Didn't want to see ya?!" he asked as if she was out of her mind. "I waited a year for ya t'come back, Jean! I felt like bein' captured in hell without ya and ya thought I didn't want t'see ya?!" Only able to give a brief snort in disbelief Logan shook his head. "I wasn't able t'see ya anyway, but it would've been nice t'know that ya were back… Instead ya left me alone when I'd needed ya the most and if I hadn't run into ya, I wouldn't have known that ya were back for two fuckin' weeks already," he growled disappointedly and she could clearly hear the anger in his voice. "Do ya know what seein' ya die in my arms again felt like? How much the kids suffered? How difficult and hard it was on them and me?! Ya don't know a fuckin' thing 'bout the hell we've been through for the past year! Ya took the easy way out."

"I'm sorry…," Jean whispered close to start crying and met his dark but teary gaze, but was unable to hold it.

"Go back inside…," Logan said while turning around and walked away from her. He absolutely didn't know what to feel. He'd missed her terribly but was mad with her for forcing him to kill her, to watch her die, for forcing him and their children to live one year in hell. Then all he wanted to do was holding her and never letting go again, but at the same time he wanted to scream in anger and frustration. About to smoke a new cigar, Logan looked up when he heard a loud shriek from afar and stumbled when Callie and Miloh jumped at him first and fell for good when his children did the same next. Only chuckling, he tried to pull them close all at once and his heart clenched painfully when he heard how his girls began to sob into his chest. "Argh, stop it!" he cursed next since the two animals had begun to lick his face, but of course neither Miloh nor Callie listened to it.

"We missed you, daddy," Laura mumbled into his chest before looking up.

Smiling at her, Logan took his time and looked at each of his children for a while. He knew he was confusing them but he just had to look for changes that he had possibly missed in the past weeks, to memorize their faces, to make sure he couldn't forget what they looked like here and now… "I missed ya, too, baby," he replied and pulled her closer to give her a kiss on the cheek, before he did the same with the rest of his children. "All of ya…"

From afar Jean watched with tears in her eyes how Logan remained on the ground and just held his children for a while, before he gave her a brief look. Knowing that he wanted to be alone with them, she lowered her gaze and began to walk back to the mansion. Ignoring the looks the others gave her and the questions that concerned Logan, she looked at John and nodded at Jamie, who was already throwing a tantrum since he had seen that his best friend was playing on the outside with his daddy and siblings, so he wanted to join them. "Take him to Logan, will you?" she mumbled without looking at the man and left the room.

"Okay…," the man shrugged and pulled the crying boy up.

After he had left, Forge bent a bit forward and gave his ex a look. "What's the matter with her?" he asked and kept on chewing on his pancakes. "She's odd, Logan's finally able to see again and should be happy with her and the kids and what happens? She…"

"I don't know what's wrong with her, Forge!" Ororo sighed and rolled her eyes. "And it's not the first time I say this."

"Is he really fine again?" Rogue asked Hank after watching how Logan goofed around with his children on the outside. "I mean… He won't wake up without seeing anything at all again, right?"

"The splinters gone and he hasn't taken any damage from it," the man said in his casual teacher's voice. "At least he hadn't said anything about not remembering something, feeling dizzy or sick. He just looked tired."

"He always looks tired," Scott mumbled behind his newspaper and turned the page. "And you as his doctor should tell him to eat and sleep normally again. He looks terrible…" Waiting for a reply, which didn't came, he furrowed his brows and lowered the newspaper a bit. "What?!" he asked since everyone was staring at him.

"You always think he looks terrible, but never mind," Mystique said and gave him a look. "And I have to admit…it's good that way, otherwise I'd be concerned…"

"Why?" he asked her.

"Because…," Jubilee began and was quickly silenced by Bobby, who put a hand onto her mouth.

"It's Christmas tomorrow, Jubes, so no dirty mouth of you," he warned, bust still the girl mumbled something into his hand. "I think we better go," he announced jokingly and just pulled his girlfriend with him out of the kitchen.

"Da Wolverine looks happy, non?" Remy whispered into Rogue's ear and received a weak nod from her. "But Remy feels dat dere's something wrong with da belle petit…"

"I know but what?" she asked him and met his gaze, but he could only shrug and wrapped his arms around her from behind to pull her against his chest. "I'm just glad that he can see again…," she said and snuggled deeper into his embrace.

* * *

After having spent the whole day on the outside with the children that had been only interrupted by lunch and dinner and when Jamie had to go to bed for his daily nap around 3 p.m., Logan had brought them to bed. Of course they'd refused to let him go before he had read at least two bedtime stories and had stayed until they had fallen asleep. After this had happened, he had tucked them in and had given each of them a kiss, before he had left the room and sat with the wolf and his mate for a while. He felt tired to the core but something within him stopped him from going into the bedroom. Lost in thoughts Logan forgot about time and just looked at the two sleeping animals, as a hand touched his shoulder.

"You need to sleep," Jean told him in a calm voice and he looked away again first, but got up in the end. In the bedroom he dropped his clothes carelessly to the ground and lay down on his side of the bed; still trying to figure out what bothered him so much. He heard how the redhead closed the door and put his clothes on the stool next to the wardrobe, before she came over to the bed and lay down next to him. "Night…," Jean said in barely more than a whisper and switched off the lights, just to startle when he sat up so suddenly as if he'd been struck by lightning. Confused she switched on the light on her side again and turned. "What's wrong?"

"Leave it burnin'!" Logan grunted and gave her a distraught look.

"Logan," she sighed and ran a hand over her tired face. "Your eyes are fine…"

"I said leave it burnin'!" he now growled and looked at her warningly.

Holding his gaze for a moment and not wanting to annoy him again, she gave in with a nod. "Fine. I'll switch off the light of my side and leave yours on…" Doing it, she lay back down and heard how he did the same. "Night…," Jean said once more and tried to get comfortable again. Even if she tried, she couldn't sleep and knew that it was the same with him. In fact, she couldn't sleep because of Logan rolling from his left side onto his right and back to his left again. After listening to it for nearly two hours, she sighed dramatically and switched on the lights again. "Logan…, would you sleep, please?" she asked and gave him a pleading look.

"Ain't tired…," he grunted and glared at her while he held his pillow tight.

"Of course you are," Jean disagreed and moved so that she could face him. "You are fine… And you need to sleep… I can understand that you are afraid of the dark, but…"

"I ain't afraid," Logan snapped in a low growl and narrowed his eyes.

"Then call it uncomfortable," she said and ignored that his look became even darker. "It doesn't change the fact that you look tired and that your body demands rest. Do you think our children would like to see you being gone for a couple of days again?!"

"Well, at least I was only gone for a week," he grunted and looked away when he noticed her hurt look. He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. In the end he sat up. "I go for a walk," he announced and cocked an eyebrow at her when Jean grabbed his hand. "What?!"

"I know you," she said. "If I let you go now you won't sleep all night."

"So?" he shrugged and tried to pull his hand away. Annoyed he watched how she moved over until she knelt right next to him.

"Lay down," she begged and ignored his angry look. "I promise you'll be fine…" Unwilling to break the eye-contact, Jean held his gaze until Logan rolled his eyes. She moved back to her side again and waited for him to lie back down before she switched off her light. Without intending to she picked up on his emotions and thoughts still one hour later and a look at her watch told her that it was already past 3 a.m.. Only wanting to sleep, she turned around and Logan instantly glared at her. Right now he wanted to be left alone and not starting a discussion again. "I'm sorry," she said, which made him furrow his brows; sensing that she was up to something. His eyes grew wide when her eyes began to glow for a second and it was also the last thing he saw. Satisfied with her work Jean reached out to pull the sheets over his sleeping form, before she switched off both lights and was finally able to drift off to sleep.

* * *

The next day the X-Men didn't celebrate Christmas as big as in the past years. Instead they had dinner together in the large dining room with those students that didn't return home over the holidays and spent the hours afterwards in the rec-room together to watch a Christmas movie. Since Jean didn't feel like joining the others and Logan didn't want to talk her into it, he went downstairs alone, followed by his two dogs and was now sitting on the sofa next to Ororo, Kurt and Scott. The movie didn't interest him that much. In fact he didn't even listen to it and rather stared at the screen without realizing what he saw. His mind was still dealing with the fact that he was able to see again and the fear of a change was too great that he could just relax and act as if nothing had happened before.

"Are you alright?" Rogue, who sat on a blanket next to Remy in front of Logan, asked and looked up at him. Even if he gave her a nod, she doubted that he said the truth. Rogue gave him a weak smile and cuddled up to Remy again, when all of a sudden a loud scream could be heard. Startled by it, all X-Men were alarmed and only relaxed a bit when Laura suddenly jumped over the sofa and directly into Logan's arms.

"Ow," the man made since the girl had landed hard on his belly and was now clinging to him as if her life depended on it.

"Daddy," Laura cried and tried to get as close as possible while hot tears ran down her cheeks, and her body trembled with strong sobs.

"What's wrong?" Logan asked and was too surprised to react adequately. His senses hadn't picked up on any dangers, but since he had been too distracted with his own thoughts, he couldn't be so sure. Looking up, he gave his brother a questioning look, but the man shook his head; telling him with it that he hadn't picked up on anything odd either.

"There's a bad man in my room," Laura sobbed and buried her face on his neck, still feeling scared to death.

Sighing, Logan rolled his eyes and thought "Not again…". In the past months the girl had come too him too often and told him about bad men that wanted to hurt her that he began to feel annoyed by it. "There ain't a bad man in your room, kid," he grunted but pulled the girl close to give her a feeling that she was safe. "I already told ya that…" He noticed the worried looks the others gave him, since the girl refused to stop crying aloud. "C'mon, go back t'bed."

"No!" Laura sobbed and clung even more to him.

"What does the bad man look like, sweety?" Ororo asked and bent over a bit to stroke over the girl's back.

"Mean a…and hairy…," Laura mumbled into Logan's chest, which made him frown.

Ororo, too, had noticed that the man obviously thought about the same as she did and watched how he pulled the blanket, which laid on the backrest, down to tuck the girl into it.

"There ain't no hairy man, okay?" Logan mumbled into Laura's hair and stroked through it. "No one's gonna hurt ya, kid." He pulled her close and rocked her slowly back and forth until her sobs couldn't be heard anymore. It was then that he realized that Laura had fallen asleep but still she held tightly onto him and refused to let go.

"Is it that what I think?" Ororo asked in a hushed voice and he shrugged.

"Maybe…," he said darkly and rested his head on the girl's one. He was silent for a few minutes, holding Laura close to him, before he sighed heavily. "Be right back", he mumbled in the direction of his companions and got up, carefully, so he wouldn't jostle the sleeping girl and cause her to wake up again.  
Then, he made his way through the hallway and up the stairs towards the West Wing. After he had reached his rooms he walked over to Rachel's and Laura's room to put Laura back into her bed, but just as he was about to do so the girl stirred and woke up. "Go back t'sleep," he whispered since he didn't want to wake Rachel next, but the dark haired girl began to sob and clung to him again.

"No, don't go, daddy!" Laura begged and he noticed her pleading and scared look.

Sighing, he sat down on the edge of the bed and pulled her blanket aside. "There ain't no bad man, kiddo. It was a bad dream and you're safe!"

"But, daddy…," she sniffed and reached for his shirt. "I always feel safer with mommy and you…"

Logan could only roll his eyes when she began to pout, look like a little puppy and batted her eyelids at him. By now his girls really knew how to play him. "Fine," he said and got up. "But stay quiet!" He watched how she took her cuddly toy and blanket, and soon afterwards she was attached to his leg again when he walked over to the bedroom. He told her to lie down and that he would be right back, before he went into the bathroom and prepared for bed. When he returned and lay down on his side, Logan tucked Laura in and placed a gentle kiss onto her forehead. "And now sleep, will ya?" he whispered and received a weak nod from her. After heaving a deep breath he tried to get comfortable and pulled the girl closer when she snuggled up to him.

When Logan awoke on the next morning, with Laura sprawled over his back, since he had slept on his belly again, he looked directly into Jean's eyes and began to cock an eyebrow. "What?" he grunted and couldn't move because the girl was still asleep on him.

"What is she doing here?" the redhead asked in a voice that was still thick with sleep.

"She's nightmares," Logan replied and cuddled up to his pillow again.

"Nightmares?!" she asked and gave Laura a worried look. "About what?"

"Weapon X," he said as if the woman was brain dead. "Her memories are suppressed but she dreams about what those fuckers did t'her…" Logan opened his eyes again when he heard her moving and watched how Jean moved a bit closer to stroke over Laura's dark hair. He watched her for a while before their eyes met and he looked away.

The redhead lowered her eyes sadly and sighed softly. "Logan…," she whispered but he cut her off.

"I need t'pee…," he mumbled and moved so that Laura landed softly on the mattress.

"It's Christmas. How long do you want to stay mad at me? Think about how the kids are feeling, with all that stupid tension between us," Jean begged and made him stop at the door; a smirk visible on his lips.

"Probably as long as ya didn't think it necessary t'tell me that you're back from the dead!" Logan growled and narrowed his eyes.

Jean rubbed her eyes tiredly and muttered sarcastically, "Right, so I just imagined that we had make-up sex."  
Logan just snorted and vanished into the bathroom. A moment later, she could hear the toilet flushing, before he emerged again. "That wasn't make-up sex, darlin'", he smirked, "That was just a manly need."

Now it was the redhead's turn to narrow her eyes. They flashed black for a second and a hiss escaped her throat, before she won her control back after realizing that Laura was still with them in the room. "You're an asshole, you know that?"

"Sorry, but that part's already taken," he snapped arrogantly and took his clothes before he disappeared in the bathroom again. But he hadn't reckoned with Jean following him. "What?!" Logan hissed and turned after dropping his clothes to the ground. "Get out!"

"No, I won't!" she gave back and locked the door. "I said I was sorry, over and over again! I made the wrong choice, I know that and you of all people should understand what making a wrong decision means. So stop treating me like…"

"Like ya deserve it?"

"Deserve it?!" Jean asked with furrowed brows and stared at him in disbelief. "So are we back playing you hurt me, so I hurt you? Very mature, Logan!"

Only shrugging he turned and got out of his sweatpants. About to enter the shower he was suddenly pulled back against the cold tiles and began to growl. Nevertheless, he stopped when he noticed the odd, dark look in her eyes. "What do ya think you're doin'?" Logan grunted and tried to free himself from the invisible grip.

"Teaching the tamed animal a lesson…," Phoenix hissed and came slowly closer. An evil smile was visible on her lips, which even widened when she heard his growl. Like a cat she walked slowly over to him in smooth and lascivious moves, watching in satisfaction how his growl stopped and his eyes followed every movement her fingers made. Slowly, she began to unbutton her pajama top and stopped right in front of him. "You're not stronger than me, Logan," Phoenix purred and he hissed when her hand cupped his family jewels hard. "You seemed to have forgotten that I can do everything I want while you're at my mercy…"

About to reply something, Logan heard some noises in the living room and knew the children were awake. "Daddy?" Rachel called and knocked on the door, which made Jean snap out of her trance.

"Go downstairs for breakfast, pumkin," he said and held Jean's shocked gaze. "We gonna be there in a second.

"Okay," the girl replied and he heard how she and her siblings left together with the two animals, while Jamie was still asleep.

"I…I'm sorry," Jean whispered ashamed and held the loose ends of her unbuttoned shirt close while she had her eyes fixed on the ground. Her heart had begun to pound strongly in her chest and she could tell, even without looking at him, that he was angry.

"At your mercy, huh?" Logan asked slowly and in a very deep voice that made her shudder. Before she even had the chance to realize it her clothes had joined his on the ground and he held her in a strong grip. "Ya shouldn't play with fire if ya can't handle it, darlin'," he growled and pushed her into the shower. "What now, hm?" he purred with dark eyes and pressed himself against her nude form. "Ya gonna finish what ya started?"

* * *

"A bike!" TJ and Isa cheered at the same time and ran to their parents to wrap their arms around them.

"But only on the outside!" Bobby warned his daughter and smiled when the girl ran back to her present. He couldn't help but chuckle and pulled Jubilee close with one arm to kiss her. "Thanks for the game, Jubes," he mumbled into her hair and laughed when Alex began to scream, since he didn't manage to open his package.

"Where's my gift?" the woman next to him asked and began to pout when he shook his head. "You didn't get anything for me?!" she asked and let go of him, but Bobby smirked and pulled her close again.

"I did, but…you will get it on New Years Eve," he smiled and her jaw dropped.

"What?!"

"You'll see," he shrugged and pulled her close again.

"'Ro," Scott said and stopped next to his friend, who had been occupied with opening her gift. He pulled her a bit aside and made sure that no one paid attention. "Don't tell me neither Logan nor Jean got their children something for Christmas…," he whispered and, after receiving a questioning look, nodded into the direction of the four sad looking children, who stood next to the tree and watched how everyone else opened their gifts.

"Oh no…," the woman gasped and exchanged a look with him.

"Now what?" he asked her and pulled a face when he saw that Rachel had tears in her eyes. "I don't believe this… Logan couldn't buy something, fine, but Jean could have at least…"

"Hey," a gruff voice echoed through the room and everyone turned his head. They saw how Logan stood in the door, hair as damp as Jean's, with Jamie on his arm and gave his children a look. "Ya don't wanna have your gifts or what?"

The siblings exchanged a confused look and turned back to their parents. "Upstairs!" Jean smiled and in an instant her children had run past her.

"That happens when ya don't open your eyes, pumkin," Logan lectured Jamie, who was occupied with the new toy her got and wore new clothes. "Well, just ignore your daddy… I ain't important." He put him to the ground and was surprised that the boy had still interest in the toy and didn't stumble of to Miloh and Callie as usual.

"You gave us a heart attack!" Scott said and hugged Jean before he patted Logan's shoulder. "We first thought you didn't buy anything for them."

"Thanks t'Chuck, we did," Logan replied and smirked when he heard Jack cheering upstairs. "He found the bat," he told Jean, who nodded.

"What did you get for them?" Ororo asked and hugged both of them.

"Jack kept on beggin' me t'buy him an own baseball bat and he wanted me t'go and see a game with him," Logan explained. "Ray and Laura wanted this new game for their DS and Lily this Collector's Edition of her favorite Disney movies…"

"Well, and Jamie is already occupied with his gifts," Jean added and smiled when the boy looked at the toy curiously.

Ororo turned her head a bit to have a better look at the redhead's neck and smiled. "So… I assume the two of you unwrapped your gift in the shower?"

"W…what?" Jean asked and looked to and fro between her. When she saw that her friend only pointed at a spot on her neck, she blushed.

"Everything's fine then?" Scott asked and Logan crossed his arms with a look at Jean.

"Well, I warned her that…"

"I'm not hiding something, Logan!" the redhead cut him off and held his gaze.

"I hope so," he replied and began to walk. "Coz ya know what's gonna happen if ya lie t'me again."

"What does he mean with it?" Ororo asked Jean, who had her head lowered.

Before the redhead could reply, Hank asked for everyone's attention. "Since we missed a birthday a few weeks ago…," he began and Logan, who had knelt down next to Jamie and was playing with him, began to cock an eyebrow. "Yes, I mean you, my boy!" Hank smiled and laughed when his opposite rolled his eyes. "Well, 119 and still looking like mid-thirty. I'm really getting jealous by now."

"And we made a cake, Wolvie!" Jubilee announced and heard his groan. "And….," she added with a wide smile and got a bigger yellow package from underneath the Christmas tree. "…we also got a gift!" Smiling widely at him, while Logan only glared, she waited for him to open it.

"Trojans?" he asked with a knowing look but she shook her head. "Anythin' else that goes into that direction?"

"No!" Kitty said beckoned him to hurry up. "Besides, Trojans wouldn't be that heavy, Logan!"

"Well, who knows which ones that crazy kid would buy," he grunted with a nod at Jubilee and began to open his late birthday gift. He really hoped it wasn't another box of Trojans as Jubilee had given him to his last birthday but something else. Expecting something completely useless, Logan began to smirk first and he grinned next. "Where did ya get that?" he asked and looked up.

"They made me fly them to the Canadian border," Scott complained and crossed his arms. "Don't drink all at once, Logan," he warned but smirked and joined Mystique again who was occupied with their son.

"Thanks," Logan said and got up with the package full of his favorite Canadian beer, when suddenly Jean stood in front of him and gave him an insecure look.

"I got this for you…," she said and handed him a smaller package. "Or better said… I tried to repair it…"

Frowning, he opened it and was surprised to find his favorite keychain. As far as he could remember he had it always with him, but he had accidentally broken it a couple of months ago. His thumb ran over the smooth surface as if to caress the head of the wolf. There wasn't a single sign that the keychain had been broken at all… Logan looked up and met her gaze. It was too easy for him to read that she felt uncomfortable, scared and insecure at once. And he also knew that all eyes were on him when he pulled her into a brief kiss. "I don't have anythin' for ya…," he admitted after they parted but Jean shook her head and, after hesitating first, leant into him and wrapped her arms around his waist.

"I only want us to get along again, Logan," she said almost pleadingly and looked up. "I hate the way we act around each other… And the children notice it too…"

Nodding, he looked at the keychain for a moment before he pulled her into another brief kiss. "I need time…," was all he said and let go of her again.

A bit later Magneto sat in the kitchen and was reading through some old newspapers when something of interest caught his eye. He watched how the boy immediately froze on the spot, insecurity mirrored on his face and unsure if he shouldn't better turn around again. "My boy…," the man smirked and put the papers away. "Why are you so afraid?"

"They say you're evil… That you've hurt mommy and daddy…," Jack replied and eyed the man suspiciously.

"Is that what they say?" Erik still smirked. "So, I suppose dear daddy has told you not to talk to me, hm?" he asked knowingly and the boy nodded still looking at him. The man watched how Jack walked over to the fridge and tried to reach the syrup for chocolate milk. Getting up, Magneto got a cup from the cupboard and took the syrup out of the fridge. "You know…there are quiet a few things you don't know about your father," he smirked at Jack, who still eyed him suspiciously. Before the boy was able to react Magneto had pulled him up and placed him on the counter, where he looked at him from all sides. "Genes are really marvelous, don't you think? You really look like a small copy of the Wolverine…," he said but the latter more to himself and the boy began to feel uncomfortable when the man's eyes sparkled. "I wonder what kind of powers you have…"

"None….," Jack lied as his parents have taught him and tried to get away, but the man held him captured.

"Is that what they've told you?" Magneto asked provocatively and the boy cocked an eyebrow at him.

"What do you mean?"

"With parents as powerful as yours…, I doubt that you and your twin sister will take as long as normal mutants to develop powers," Erik said and suddenly smiled. "Do you have any idea how powerful you are, son?"

"Daddy told me not to listen to you," Jack gave back and tried to pull his hand out of his opposite's grip.

"Oh, do you always do as daddy says?" the man asked. "Wolverine probably told you this because he knows that you'll become a threat if your powers go out of control."

"I'm not a threat!" Jack growled and narrowed his eyes, but was surprised that the man wasn't scared at all. His classmates usually made room if he looked like that.

Instead Magneto only laughed. "Yes, you are as much not a threat as your daddy isn't an animal. Must be family tradition that your kind always denies what you really are…," he said darkly and turned around to take the hot milk from the stove, which he had began to cook before. He put some syrup into it, stirred the liquid until it changed the color and handed it to the boy; smirking when Jack backed off and gave him a skeptical look.

"What?" the man asked. "It's what you wanted…" He watched how the boy took the cup from him very slowly and smiled. "As distrustful as your father, hm?"

"Jack, put the cup down and c'mere," Logan suddenly growled. Seeing that his father stood in the doorway, Jack obeyed, jumped quickly off of the counter to hide behind Logan's legs. This one had his fists clenched and glared daggers at the smirking man in the room.

"And there's the adult version of the copy," Magneto mocked and crossed his arms. "I already wondered when you'd show up."

Growling at him first, Logan looked at his son next. "Go back upstairs…"

"But I'm thirsty…," the boy pouted and still held onto his father's legs.

"I'll get somethin'. Now go!" Logan said without taking his eyes off Magneto and waited for his son to do as he was told before he had pushed Magneto against the fridge in a quick movement. "I told ya t'stay away from my family, ya son of a bitch!" he hissed darkly and his eyes blackened for a moment in rage. In his mind a pissed-off Wolverine kept on demanding to protect the cub and kill the threat, but he knew he couldn't do so, even if he wanted.

Magneto, unimpressed by the attack, only laughed. "What?" he asked provocatively. "Do you really think I would hurt the boy? He's far too valuable to be hurt, Wolverine. Even you should know that!"

Logan extracted his claws and glared at him warningly, while his became darker again. "Stay away from them or I'll kill ya!" he said in a slow but very dark voice that usually had the desired effect on people.

But Erik only smirked at him. "I would like to see you trying it…," he gave back and opened one hand, which made his opposite crash against the counter. Nevertheless, Logan only chuckled.

"Jeannie can turn ya t'dust with a blink of her eye. Don't forget that old man," he grunted. "And I'll get ya sooner or later, bet on that!"

He pushed Magneto roughly out of the way so that he had access on the stove and glared at the man briefly, before he began to prepare a hot chocolate on his own. The older man watched him, smirking arrogantly. "I didn't put any poison into it, you know…"

"But ya didn't do it the way he likes it," Logan muttered away to himself and began to heat new milk.

"I see…," the other man mocked and crossed his arms while he watched his nemesis. He couldn't help but feel amused and thought it was ridiculous that a mutant like Logan was cooking. "So…," Magneto said and didn't bother to hide what he thought. He smirked at Logan when this one shot a brief glare at him. "The animal was tamed, hm? Or do you only make them believe it? Because I doubt that an animal like you was tamed enough to be handled all of a sudden."

"I don't give a shit on what ya believe, old man," Logan replied and grabbed six cups from the cupboard, before he gave hot chocolate and one marshmallow into each of them.

"I never expected someone like you to have a family at all, you know…," Erik continued and still smirked. "By knowing what they did to you… You can't always protect them and you know that! One day someone will get to know about their existence and finish what they started with you. Especially with a goddess like Jean as their mother." He looked at Logan from aside and knew that even if the man acted as if he didn't pay attention that he did. "Do you have any idea or even realize what you've created?!"

"I haven't _created _anythin'!" Logan snapped and put the cups onto a tray. He began to prepare something to eat for Jamie next and rolled his eyes when he noticed that Magneto was still looking at him. "They are human beings and no things!"

"Nevertheless…they are your offspring! Reason enough for others to haunt them…"

Narrowing his eyes, Logan began to growl at him. "If they wanna die, let'em come!" he grunted, took the tray into his hands and walked over to the door. "Stay away from my family! That's my last warnin'!"

"As if you could stop me…," Magneto hissed and returned to his newspapers.

Upstairs Logan closed the front door behind him and balanced the tray in his hand. He smirked when he saw that Jamie had fallen asleep while cuddling with Miloh, who was also dozing and snuggled up to his mate. At least Callie was still half awake and watched how her master carried the tray over to the table and sat back down on the sofa. The Disney movie was still running and the twins shared one armchair with each other, whereas Rachel and Laura had snuggled up to Jean, who stroked absently through the girls' hair. All of them were covered with blankets and the whole scenery looked rather cozy. Logan distributed the cups to the others and leant back against the back rest. His eyes looked at the screen on which Simba was just running away from Shenzy, Banzai and Ed and he sighed. It was at least the 20th time that he had to watch the movie with his kids. Only shaking his head, Logan sipped on the chocolate and began to ask himself why he had made himself a cup too, since he hated chocolate. A look aside and he noticed that Rachel and Laura had moved to the other side of the sofa and leant against each other. He knew they would probably fall asleep soon. As tired as they looked they wouldn't watch the whole movie.

Without intending to Logan's eyes fell on Jean, who looked away when their eyes met. He still didn't know how to act around her. It felt strange that she was back and nearly, after a whole year without her, he wasn't used to her presence anymore. After emptying the cup he put it back onto the table at the same time she did and unintentionally their eyes met again. He managed a weak smile and leant back again, offering her to come closer. Doing it, the redhead wrapped the blanket around both of them and leant her head against his shoulder, while he pulled her close with one arm. Logan could tell that she seemed to be as tensed as he was, but to him she seemed to be it nearly for 24/7 lately. "You okay?" he asked, received a weak nod but wasn't convinced at all. Too often have the others told him that Jean behaved weird since she was back and he knew it was true. He felt how her hand moved a bit until it rested on his stomach. A gesture that seemed too shyly to him…

Before Logan even realized it the movie was over and his children had, as he had guessed, fallen asleep. After lying Jamie down into his bed and putting the bottle for him next to the boy, he helped Jean to bring the rest of their children to bed, too, before he sat back down on the sofa next to her. Jean smiled weakly at him but turned her attention back to the TV. "Why are ya so odd?" Logan asked after a moment and looked at her from aside. The question had surprised her, since she stared at him with widened eyes. He began to frown and was about to ask her something else, when she seemed to have regained her composure again.

"It's weird…," she said in her casual calm voice and looked at her hands. "Being back I mean…"

"And that's all?" he asked her skeptically, which made her look up at him.

"Yeah…"

Nodding, Logan sighed and rubbed his tired eyes. Suddenly a thought came to his mind. "Those are yours," he said and held a necklace to her.

After frowning first, since she didn't know what kind of necklace it was, Jean's eyes grew wide after realizing what it was and she pulled her engagement and wedding ring off it. After they were back on her left ring finger, she turned them absently and bit her lip hard. "I'm so sorry for not telling you…," she said in an almost sob and turned her head to look at him. Without hesitation and needing to be close to Logan, Jean moved over until she sat astride on his lap, kissed and hugged him, while she leant into him. To her surprise he cupped her neck and pulled her into another kiss that soon deepened. When her hands disappeared under his shirt, encouraged by his change of mood, she heard how the TV was switched off by him. Logan took her by surprise when he suddenly got up, still with her attached to his waist and carried her over to the bedroom. Before he dropped her on the bed, he kicked the door shut with one foot…

* * *

At night, while Jean was asleep, Logan lay awake and stared at the ceiling. Even if he wanted to his mind still refused to rest. When his ears picked up on a noise he got up and pulled his sweatpants back on. With a last look on the redhead he left the room and went over to the one next to the bathroom, where he could see his youngest sitting in his bed and talking to his plush-wolf. Jamie looked up when he saw his father approaching and reached out to him with both arms and a smile. "Da-da!"

"Hey…," Logan said, pulled him out of the bed and placed a kiss onto the boy's cheek. "Can't sleep again, eh?" he asked and his son made a sound, which caused Logan to nod. "Yeah, me neither… Ya in for a tour through the mansion?"

After strolling through the dormitories and making sure that the kids were sleeping, Logan descended the stairs again. "Hungry?" he asked Jamie and looked at the boy, who looked back at him. "'f course your hungry. Ya always are, ain't ya?" Having said it, he walked to the kitchen where he prepared a bottle and fed the boy while he kept on strolling around. What others might have considered as scary, Logan liked. The mansion's hallways where only illuminated by the moon and shadows were all over the place. It somehow reminded him of the wood at night and how much he missed to allow himself to run free in them. Since everything was quiet in the house, he stopped here and there to make sure that no danger was close by. "Ya know, kiddo… It's night now," Logan said after he had begun to walk again and looked at Jamie, who looked back at him. "And at night…people sleep, understood? Especially lil' cubs like ya." He pulled the empty bottle away after reaching the kitchen again, kissed him and began to pat his back. "So, will ya do your old man a favor and sleep now?" he asked after the boy had burped and gave him a pleading look.

"Dada!" Jamie cheered instead and Logan sighed.

"I guess that's a 'no', right?" He walked down the corridor until he reached the rec-room, where he went inside and grabbed the remote control, while the boy sat on his lap. "Think anythin' useful's on telly, kiddo?" he asked and began to switch through the channels, but all he caught was a porn. "Apparently not…," Logan mumbled and began to cock an eyebrow when Jamie turned his head from the screen towards him with a smile. Smirking at him, Logan switched off the TV. "Don't let mommy see that, pumkin!" he said, but couldn't help to shake his head with a grin before he pulled the boy up into the air. "Daddy's boy, eh?"

Finally, he got up and walked around the sofa to put Jamie down on the carpet. "Since we both can't sleep how 'bout some trainin' then?" he asked and took the boy's hands to practice walking with him. After a moment he let go of Jamie's hands and beckoned him to walk over to him. "Think ya ca do that?" Looking at his father, the boy began to stumble over to him but fell onto his butt before he reached him. Chuckling, Logan pulled him back up.

After nearly two hours he went back upstairs and put the sleeping boy back into his bed, before he entered the bedroom again. Logan got rid of his sweatpants and went back under the sheets carefully, since Jean had cuddled up to his pillow in her sleep. "Where have you been?" she mumbled and made room for him.

"Jamie was awake and has just fallen asleep," he yawned and cuddled up to her nude form. "The kid has way too much energy…or I'm just getting' too old for this…"

"Mhm…," the redhead made and was already back in oblivion.

* * *

"Where's Logan?" Jean asked after entering the kitchen and was surprised that only two Bobby and Peter were in the room and seemed to be rather in a hurry.

"In the gym," Bobby said and grabbed a new soda out of the fridge before he left the room again.

"You should come and see this, too!" Peter added and followed his friend.

Frowning, Jean walked over to the gym and soon heard loud noises. She began to ask herself what was going and entered the room just to stop dead on the tracks. The whole gym was crowded with students, X-Men and even the children and all of them had their eyes fixed on the middle of the room. Not knowing what was going on all of a sudden, she came slowly closer and stopped next to Scott and Hank. Next to them stood Ororo, Kurt and Mystique, while she saw Bobby, Jubilee, Peter and Kitty on the opposite site of the room. "What's going on?" she asked Scott, who gave her a brief look only.

"Don't ask me," he shrugged. "We were having breakfast when Jubilee suddenly stormed into the room and told us to come here. Don't ask me what the two of them are doing…"

"But it's interesting," Hank said and crossed his arms.

Looking back to the middle of the room, Jean was just in time to see John jumping at Logan from aside. She recognized the Japanese wooden swords they were fighting with. Logan had taught her once that it was called _bokken_ in the Western world, while it's real name was bokutō in Japan. It just confused her that the two brothers were fighting with each other… She watched how Logan blocked the attack and made a quick, but smooth move to the side. He grabbed John's arm, twisted it and threw the man over his shoulder, but didn't reckon with the taller man to use his feet to bring him off balance. Jumping over the man and rolling off, Logan was as fast on his own two feet again as John and both started the next attack.

"For how long are they already doing this?" the redhead asked without turning her eyes away from the fight.

"Three hours… At least from what I know," Scott replied and hissed when Logan landed a hard hit into his brother's stomach. But since the taller man was only smirking, he guessed that it wasn't as bad as it had looked like. "They really go for the maximum…"

"Well, better say…," Ororo said with a smile. "You guys are here to watch them fighting and the girls enjoy the view."

"Of course," Hank replied and rolled his eyes playfully. "What else would you enjoy than seeing them with their shirts off."

"Don't forget all sweaty!" Scott added ironically. "And both of them in a real need of a shower…"

"Yes, very sexy indeed…," Hank joked.

"Idiot!" Ororo said and shook her head. "Ouch!" she made next and covered her eyes, but had to look anyway. "Neither of them is willing to give an inch, huh?" she asked and watched how Logan did a roundhouse kick, but John ducked and landed a hit, which caused Logan to lose his balance.

Grabbing his brother, while falling backwards, he sent him flying over his head and got quickly up again to pin his brother to the ground. "No way!" John hissed and turned to grab his attacker's arms. While Logan tried to push him down, John tried the opposite and managed to push himself up and into a kneeling position. Nevertheless, he knew that Logan had the upper hand as long as he didn't manage to get up. Gritting his teeth, he pushed harder and had to notice that both of them were fighting with equal strength. Neither did John have a chance to push Logan backwards, nor did Logan have one to push his brother back and onto the ground.

"No, Jamie!" Rachel said when her little brother crawled over to the two fighting men, who were still caught up in their fight. Not listening to her, the boy moved further towards them and stopped next to John to give him a look from aside.

"Hey!" this one said in surprise and lost balance, which caused him not only to fall backwards, but Logan to drop on top of him. "That was unfair!" John protested with a glare at his brother.

"What?" Logan asked in confusion and cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Your son hit me," his opposite replied and nodded at the boy, who sat, like the innocence in person, next to them and looked at his father.

Smirking, Logan shrugged. "Well…ain't changin' the fact that ya lost!"

"I did NOT!" John protested and took the hand his brother offered him to get up. "If your kid hadn't hit me…"

"…then ya would've still lost. Ya were tremblin'!"

"I wasn't!"

"Ya were!"

"I want a re-match!" John demanded and crossed his arms. "And that in a neutral area where you don't have any home field advantage!"

Chuckling, Logan gave him a pat onto his back and cracked his neck before stretching his sore muscles. "I need a shower."

"Yeah, same here," John agreed and gave Jamie a playful glare. "Little rat!"

"Daddy's boy that is," his brother smirked and grabbed his shirt from the ground to wipe the sweat from his face. Followed by the taller man Logan walked over to the changing stall and into the shower. In the meanwhile the students and teachers left the gym and were still talking about the fight and things that were on their mind.

"Lily, put it down," Moira said when the girl grabbed one bokken and her brother the other one.

"But daddy taught us how to use them!" the girl pouted and looked at her mother for help.

"It's okay," Jean assured Moira but gave her children a look. "But be careful!"

Watching the adults leave, Jack smirked and hit his sister on the arm. "Hey!" Lily protested and hit him back, but he ducked before she could even touch him. Chuckling the boy began to ran away while his twin sister chased him through the room.

"Are they always like this?" asked Anna, who stood next to Rachel and Laura, and watched the twins for a while, until she heard how a door was opened. Smiling, she ran over to her father, who pulled her up and into a hug.

"You in for a hot chocolate?" John asked smiling and placed a kiss on her cheek before he left the gym.

"Unfair!" Lily cried and stopped running, since her brother was faster. From afar she saw how Rachel exchanged a look with Laura and the latter began to smirk. "Jack!" Lily said to distract her brother, but this one had picked up on the two approaching girls.

"Not gonna happen!" he said and ran as soon over to his father as he stepped out of the room.

"Daddy, he's mean to me!" Lily pouted and returned the gesture when Jack stuck out his tongue and thought he was safe on his father's arms.

"Mean, huh?" Logan asked and cocked an eyebrow at the boy, knowing what has happened before due to his enhanced senses.

"I was nice!" Jack protested and didn't like the sly grin his father gave him. "Really! She asked for it!"

"Mhm…," Logan made and grabbed the boy so that he was immobile. "Rule number one, kiddo… Never mess with women, they always bite ya in the ass anyway!"

"Daddy!" Rachel said with widened eyes.

"Don't even dare to tell mommy!" he warned her playfully and began to tickle his son, who soon began to beg him to stop. "And now it's your sister's turn, pal!"

"No!" Jack protested and tried to free himself, still trying to fill his lungs with fresh air, but Lily had already leapt at him.

* * *

It was not until dinner before Jack managed to escape and stormed into the kitchen, crying for his mother. "What's wrong?" Jean asked and looked down on the boy, who clung to her for dear life.

"They want to kill me!" he said aloud and hoped to get everyone's attention when his sisters already entered the room.

"That's your own fault!" his twin sister lectured him. "You should have listened to what daddy has said."

"He said you'd bite me in the ass!"

"What?!" Scott asked and leant forwards a bit, while Jean sighed.

"Logan…" Shaking her head, the redhead gave her husband a glare when he entered the room.

"What?" this one asked innocently and placed Jamie into his high chair.

"Your son just repeated something you've said," Ororo replied and saw hoe Logan shrugged.

"Logan…," Jean said and heaved a deep breath.

"Yeah, yeah," he waved off and sat down to eat.

* * *

The X-Men still sat together in the kitchen after dinner was long over and the children were already in bed. "Jean's already sleeping?" Scott asked Logan, who sipped on his beer and only gave a shrug. "You don't know?"

"Well, she didn't leave a message, right?"

"You seemed to be better actually…," Ororo wondered and smiled at Kurt when he placed a cup of tea in front of her.

"She's weird," was all Logan said and raised the bottle again.

"Weird as in just weird or as in dangerous?" Hank asked him and received a cocked eyebrow.

"Weird as in hidin' somethin'…," Logan mumbled to himself and looked up when he heard a noise on the outside. Frowning, he gave Kurt a nod to open the back door.

"What's wrong?" Hank asked and looked from Logan to the back door, where a dripping wet man stood.

"What's wrong?" Logan asked and had gotten up but remained on the same spot. "Did somethin' happen?"

Pulling the red mask off of his face, Peter Parker gave him a serious look. "You can say that. I followed an enemy to your doorstep. Now he's gone."

"Enemy?" Ororo asked and was pulled closer by Kurt.

"His name is Venom. The Devil, Cap and I found out that he's one of Sinsiter's man," Spiderman explained and looked back into the garden as if he was sensing something. "He's dangerous!"

"And where is Venom now?" Scott asked, fully alarmed.

Turning back to the group, Peter's eyes grew wide. "Logan…," he said in a monotonous and scared voice when he saw how a thick, black mass dropped onto the man's shoulder all of a sudden…

**Wow! First of all: Thank you sooooo much for all the review. : ) I'm so glad you liked the last chapter. : ) This chapter turned out to be completely different from what I had planned. I had two different cliffies to chose from, but I picked this one. You'll get the nastier one in the next chapter. Sorry for the delay, but I had a major's writer's block. : ( I hope you'll review this one here, too, and don't forget: Number 200 can wish for something!! See ya!**


	28. Chapter 27

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter: )

Thanks to the suggestions for actors I found someone who fits for Jack. At least I couldn't find anyone better. As soon as the grown up kids play a role I will post the pictures on a separate website. Along with pictures that gave me the idea for some scenes, also for Miloh and Callie and things that are still going to happen. I think I will post it on my LJ or MySpace account or both. I'll let you know. LOL

**I also wrote a PM to number 200. She wished for a scene for the Epilogue. So…it will still take a while. But I won't forget about it. ; )**

Thanks a lot to all the reviewers!!! I was so happy to get so many reviews for the last chapters and also for the Return to Weapon X Sequel. : )

**I also hope that all of you had a great Christmas and will have a very happy New Year!!!**

Oh and this chapter will answer the question one of you had asked: Why did Daredevil say "As I thought!" when he saw Jean for the first time? (Sequel 2 Chapter 12!)

_January 25: I really can't believe that Heath Ledger's dead. : ( I wrote a bit about it at the end of this chapter. I was so looking forward to see him in The Dark Knight. Seeing him now will be so weird... I'm really still shocked and sad about it..._

**Chang****es Sequel – II. Covenant Part 27**

In the next few seconds everything happened so fast that it was hard for the X-Men to cope with it. As soon as he had seen how the black mass had fallen onto his friend's shoulder, Spiderman had used threads to throw Logan through the window and out into the garden, where the man landed head first in the snow and still tried to get the black stuff off of him. But the oil like mass spread so rapidly that soon his whole body was covered with it and Logan began to feel that he was losing himself quickly.

"What did you do?" Scott asked and stared at the broken window that had just been repaired after Magneto had been thrown through it.

"Damn…," Parker only mumbled and reached into a pocket to pull out a communicator. "Cap, we have a problem," he said and shuddered when an angry howl echoed through the night. "Venom chose Wolverine as his new host… No, I'm not kidding! Do I sound like someone who's in for jokes?! Fine!" Cursing under his breath, he put the communicator away again and put on his mask.

"Vat did you mean vith tat?" Kurt asked and looked at the man. "Vat happened to Logan?!"

Sighing and keeping an eye on the window and door, Spiderman turned to give the group a brief look. "Venom needs a host. He takes over a person's body and after a while also its mind. He's very dangerous!"

"But… If he has taken over Logan," Scott began and looked out of the broken window when another angry howl could be heard. "…how do we beat Venom then?!"

"That's the problem…," Spiderman shrugged. "We don't know how to beat him at all…"

Ororo gave a short laugh. "So….what now?!" she asked rather cynically and looked aside when another angry roar could be heard.

"Whatever we do we have to do it fast," Scott said and pushed her over to the door. "You'll stay here, you're pregnant. Tell Kurt we'll probably need him. Everyone, we don't have time to get our suits. I want those ready to fight on the outside with me. The Professor's already alarmed and will take care of things here."

"The Cap and his team should be here soon, too," Spiderman added and followed the man to the outside. It was dark, too dark for his liking. "He'll be hard to locate…"

"Keep your eyes open," Scott warned his team and turned around when Bobby, Peter, Jubilee and Gambit joined his and Hank's side. It also didn't take long for Kurt to appear next to him.

"Gambit 'eard da Wolverine's in trouble?" the Cajun asked and grabbed his stick and two cards at once.

"Vere is he?" Kurt asked and looked at his team leader from aside.

"Close by," a voice suddenly said next to them and a man in a weird looking golden-red suit landed next to them.

"You found him, Tony?" Spiderman asked and Iron Man nodded. "So where's he?"

"Up there," he said and looked at the Cap, who finally left the shadows and joined the other mutants.

"Suggestions would be helpful," Scott said and crossed his arms. "He said you don't know how to beat Venom and we want Logan back."

"Same here," his opposite said and took hold of his shield. "We should split our teams ad attack Venom from two sides…"

"But we're gonna hurt Wolvie," Jubilee protested and looked at Scott for help.

"I doubt there's a way around that," this one replied with a heavy sigh. "Okay. My team will attack him from…"

"Watch out!" Spiderwoman suddenly barked and, together with Spiderman, quickly pulled the Cap aside. The group jumped aside when a huge black fist, to which three long black claws were attached, came out of nowhere. "He's on the wall!"

"Not for very long!" Thor barked and used his powers to summon a lightning bolt, which crashed against an empty wall in the next second. "Where's he now?"

"We need light!" Hank said and, even if he could see better than a normal mutant in the dark, couldn't see enough to locate their enemy. He looked up when a lightning storm came up of nowhere and saw that Thor was hovering above them in the air, his hammer proudly in his hand and tried his best to illuminate the dark garden.

"There!" Hawkeye and Luke Cage said almost instantly and the first didn't wait long before he began to shoot his arrows at the huge shadow.

"Be careful!" Scott told his team and shot his beams at Venom, who used the walls to move around them. Next to him Gambit loaded one card after the next and threw them at their adversary, but paid attention to not hit any windows. "We need to lure him away from the mansion."

"Wolvie!" Jubilee shouted and got Venom's attention when she ran into the middle of the garden and waved her arms. "You really need a diet!"

"Jubes!" Bobby yelled when the girl screamed, since she hadn't reckoned with her enemy reacting that fast. Before she had even heard his growl, he had already leapt at her and was now pressing her into the cold ground.

"Maybe I should eat ya…," Venom growled and licked his lips with his snake like tongue while the young woman whimpered. "What do ya taste like, hm?"

"I…I don't know…," Jubilee replied and added a brief _Sorry _before she hit him with her powers. While the huge shadow above her howled in pain and pressed his large, black hands on his eyes, Bobby waited for Kurt to get his girlfriend before he attacked Venom with his strongest ice blast.

"Would be nice to get some help!" he said angrily and only felt wind stroking over his cheek as the Cap threw his shield into their adversary's side.

"Ya gonna regret this!" Venom hissed and bared his sharp, demonic teeth, his tongue far out of his mouth and extracted both set of claws on his hands.

"Doubt that!" Spiderman said and flew, accompanied by Spiderwoman, above his head. As fast as he could both mutants used their power to cover Venom's eyes with their cobwebs, blinding him from other attacks. While the mutant was occupied with wiping the stuff away, he was hit once more by Scott's beam, the Cap's shield and an arrow and went down for a moment; his growl immediately becoming more angry and threatening.

"This is useless!" Hank intervened. "The only thing we do is hurting Logan."

"Any other ideas?" Hawkeye asked and smirked when Daredevil became visible on the roof. "The Devil's here, Cap!"

"Good," this one nodded and threw his shield again, but this time Venom attacked them on his own. "Watch out!" the Cap barked, hit his adversary once more with his shield and jumped aside to catch his weapon again, before he attacked Venom once more. But this time the shadow caught it and used it to hit Bobby, Peter and Jubilee with it. With a groan the three of them fell to the ground.

"That's fun," Venom smirked and gave the impression he was the Devil himself. Chuckling, he evaded the next attacks and his grin widened when he saw who came out of the mansion.

"Jean told you need help?" John asked panting and stopped next to Scott, who was occupied with his optic blasts.

"Yeah, we need to get Logan away from that thing!"

Frowning, John turned his head and saw a grinning Venom waving at him. "That's…?"

"Oui," Gambit nodded and threw another card, which exploded after Venom was long gone. "Gambit doesn't like 'im," the Cajun cursed and was already loading another card with energy.

"What is he doing here?" the Cap asked after Daredevil had landed next to him. "That guy is one of them!"

"He's not!" Hank replied. "John is one of us!"

"One of you? So you're allies of the Horsemen now?" Daredevil asked and made a step back.

"I'm not a Horseman, you idiot!" John snapped with a low growl. "Attacking my brother like that is useless. Venom can only be affected by sounds!"

"You know how to beat him?" Scott asked and looked at the man, who nodded. "How?"

"By sounds. The higher the better. And fire," John told him.

"Hold on…," the Cap said and raised a hand, while Scott gave Kurt the order to get Pyro, Banshee and Syren. "_Brother_?!"

"Yeah, you got a problem with it?!" John asked and glared at him.

"Yes, definitely his brother," Daredevil nodded and watched how Venom roared loudly as Spiderman began to throw his cobwebs again.

Before the Cap could reply something a loud _bamf _echoed through the night and Kurt reappeared with two men and a younger woman. "Here," the blue mutant said and jumped aside when Pyro wanted to hit him.

"Stop it!" Scott hissed and grabbed the young man's arm.

"He forced me to come with him," Pyro snapped and tried to get free. "Take your hands off me!"

"What's wrong?" Banshee asked and tried to get an overview on the situation.

"The two of you need to attack Venom with your sonic beams," John told them quickly. "And he," he said with a nod at Spiderman, "has to react quickly and pull Logan out of it."

"How come you know all of that?!" Daredevil asked sceptically and crossed his arms.

"Because I know him," his opposite replied with a nod at the still roaring shadow. "And you," he added with a glare at Pyro, who still fought against Scott's grip. "You will throw your fire at Venom as soon as Logan's free."

"The hell I do!" Pyro snapped and glared back. "I don't give a shit about…" He stopped when three bone claws nearly cut into his throat. A look over his opposite's shoulder told him that the Avengers were as surprised as he was.

"You will, you hear me?" John growled darkly and let go of him again.

"Okay, everyone," Scott said and raised one arm to get the necessary attention. "Banshee and Siryn will attack first. Be ready!" He nodded at his two comrades that had practically just arrived at the mansion on the day before. "Cover your ears!" he warned quickly before the two mutants began to scream aloud. Even with his hands on his ears it still hurt like hell and Scott could only watch through half-closed eyes how Venom began to scream aloud. To him it appeared as if the creature suddenly had two heads, one desperately trying to get away, while the other seemed to be Logan's, who was screaming as loud as the shadow itself, and Scott could only guess how painful the sonic beams were for his friend's sensitive ears.

"Pete!" the Cap screamed and hoped he could drown out the loud voices around him.

Concentrating as hard as he could under those circumstances, Spiderman aimed at Logan and caught the man with his cobwebs. He waited for Spiderwoman to do the same before they began to pull and tried to free Logan from the black mass that stack to his body like glue. "I could need some help!"

Not wasting any time, Peter, Hank and Scott ran over to help Spiderman, while Iron Man, who'd been knocked out before, the Cap and Thor helped Spiderwoman. Together they managed to pull the man, who desperately tried to cover his sensitive ears, out of the black mass, which tried to attach itself back to the body. "Now," John growled and pushed John forward. "I swear I'll stab you, kid!" Turning around, he ran back into the mansion after hearing an odd noise within.

Huffing, Pyro turned but not before glaring at the man and went reluctantly over to the others. Not caring about them, he threw a huge fireball at the fighting Venom until only a small puddle was left of him, which was frozen by Bobby and destroyed by Iceman. "Sure," Pyro said and buried his hands in his pockets. "Let me do all the work, main thing you look cool." Spitting on the ground he walked back inside.

"Logan?" Scott asked carefully and was about to kneel down next to the panting man, when all of a sudden a bright light came out of nowhere and hit his comrade. "Where came that from?" he asked after the light was gone again and turned towards the woods where he was convinced the light had come from. Before he could say anything else Iron Man, Hawkeye and Thor already moved towards the tree and soon disappeared in the wood.

"What the…?" The Cap asked and pulled up what lay on the ground in front of him. He looked down on the crying baby in his arms and pulled off his mask when rain mixed with snow set it. "Did anyone see who caught Wolverine?" he asked his team but they shook their heads.

"It was too bright," Spiderman shrugged and stared down at the clothes that were still left from his friend.

"Anyway," Daredevil said and looked up when he heard someone coming closer. "What now?"

"First," Scott said and nodded at the crying boy. "We have to get the baby inside. He'll freeze to death out here."

"What if he's dangerous?" the Cap asked with another look at the boy. "It must have a reason why they left him here."

"Maybe they want us to believe it's Logan," Spiderman joked and watched how the X-Men came slowly closer.

"I'm serious here," the Cap scolded him with a glare. "Why would they leave a baby and take Logan instead. The baby must be dangerous…" He held the crying and naked boy at arm length and studied him critically. He was sure there was something dangerous about him, something that no one of them saw. The enemy probably wanted them to think it was just an innocent and helpless little boy, but he was convinced it was a dangerous and deadly trap.

"What are you doing?!" Ororo asked angrily, coming from within the mansion and took the boy from him. "Jeez, he's freezing cold!" she gasped and tried to wrap him into her jacket a bit, before she gave the Cap and the others an angry look. "Do you want him to die?! How can you stay here in the cold with a baby and just stare at him while he freezes?"

"He might be dangerous, 'Ro!" Bobby said and some others nodded in agreement. Noticing that Jubilee began to freeze, he pulled her close.

"Yeah, sure," she mocked pissed off and watched how John came closer. "Are the children all right?"

"Yeah, everything's fine," he nodded and began to frown.

"They took Logan, John," Scott said with sympathy in his voice and shook his head. "There was nothing we could have done. It happened too fast…"

"Took him?" the man asked while he still stared at the baby with furrowed brows.

"Yeah," Spiderman nodded and crossed his arms. "There was a bright light and _poof_, he was gone. They had probably enough of this siren there." He nodded at the baby. "Thank God my boy doesn't cry that much…"

"Are you sure?" Spiderwoman teased him.

Thinking about it, he scratched the back of his head. If he thought about it he was hardly at home because of all the missions lately... "Well…I think I should…"

"…ask MJ about it?" she finished and nodded. "You bet!"

"Give me the boy!" John suddenly said and took him from a surprised Ororo.

"Why, what's…?" she asked and watched how he sniffed and his frown widened. "John?!"

"Where's the Professor?" the man asked urgently and was already walking backwards.

"In his office I guess," Scott shrugged and exchanged a look with Ororo. "Why? What's wrong?!"

"Hey!" the Cap said and watched how John ran back to the door. "What if the baby is dangerous? He carries it right into the school!"

"Damn!" Scott cursed and began to ran, followed by everyone that was in the garden. Panting they stopped at the door to Xavier's office, where they could hear John arguing with the Professor.

"How can something like that happen?!" the man asked the bald one in front of him when the mutants entered the room.

"I don't know, John!" Xavier said in his usual calm voice and shot a deadly look aside when Erik snickered once more.

"How can we reverse this?" the mutant in front of the desk asked and looked at the still crying boy.

"I don't…know!" Xavier said once more and sighed. "There are mutants with magic powers. Peter's sister for example. But I have never heard about something similar to this case here…"

"Well," Magneto smirked and crossed his arms. "I like this case!"

"Would you shut up?!" John snapped and growled at him.

"What's going on here?" Spiderman asked and dared to come closer with the others.

"What's wrong, John?" Ororo asked concerned and put a hand onto his arm.

"Oh, you will laugh, my dear!" Erik mocked and couldn't hide his grin even if John's growl became louder and he bared his teeth. "Stop acting like the animal you are!" he warned and moved his hand a bit, which made the baby rise into the air.

"Erik, stop it!" Charles warned when Magneto chuckled in amusement. Growling again, John extracted his claws and leapt at the man with an angry roar. "Hank, would you please!" Xavier asked and watched how Kurt caught the baby, while Peter and Hank tried to get John away from Erik. "I want everyone to calm down!"

"What's wrong?" Scott asked and was as confused as the others.

"Sir, we need to be careful about that boy!" the Cap warned with an uncomfortable look at the baby in Kurt's arms. "He's probably dangerous."

"I can assure you that he's not," the Professor replied and glared at Magneto when this one chuckled. "At least he's not in his current state…," he added with a heavy sigh and looked at the boy.

"So he will become dangerous?" the Cap asked confused since nothing seemed to make sense at the moment. "And what is so funny about it?" he asked with a look at Erik.

Still smirking, Magneto turned and walked over towards the door. "The Wolverine in diapers," he answered and gave a full hearted laugh while closing the door, which made John snap.

"Easy!" Hank said and pulled him back when the man was about to follow the master of magnetism. "What did Magneto mean with that?!" he asked with a look at Charles, who had leant back in his wheelchair and stared at the baby.

"What he meant…," he said and his mind was looking for a way out.

"I still don't get it," Spiderman said and looked to and fro between them. "Why would Logan need a diaper?!"

"Coz that's him," John growled in an almost Wolverine-like manner and glared at him with black and murderous looking eyes. With another growl he freed himself out of the strong grip Peter and Hank had held him in. "Giv'im t'me," he demanded and waited for Kurt to hand the baby over to him, before he cradled him protectively into his arms.

Scott, as all others except the Professor, still stared at the boy and had to swallow hard. "You want us to believe that…" He nodded at the baby when John went into a deep crouch and retreated growling into a corner to protect the baby. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"I'm afraid not, Scott," Xavier sighed and ran a hand over his face. "John recognized Logan's scent. A scent is unique as he told me and also Logan had said before that no two people smell alike…"

"But how is that even possible?!" the Cap asked and watched how the man in the corner had begun to rock back and forth in an attempt to calm the still crying boy.

"As I've told John before," the Professor said and gave the man a worried look. "It must have been a mutant or more than one with magical powers…"

"Like my sister?" Peter asked and received a nod. "But why? Why would they be interested in getting Logan out of the picture?!"

"Good question!" Scott nodded and crossed his arms. "They know we have the new suits and that they can't block our powers anymore. So there's no way for them to kidnap Jamie again… We could be able to protect him and the others. So why Logan?!"

"Maybe as a warning?" the Cap asked.

"Out of fun?" Spiderman asked and shrugged when he received odd looks.

"What about those clones?" Daredevil suddenly said after a moment of silence. "The ones that are like the Wolverine…"

"The Devils?" the Cap asked and received a nod. "What about them?"

"Maybe Logan is the only one who knows how to kill them?" the Devil shrugged and turned his head since he heard someone approaching. "Maybe Sinister plans an attack and wanted to get rid of Logan… Because all I know is that he can't be killed for long…"

"Actually you can kill them by beheading them," Hank said but the Cap shook his head.

"Sinister probably knows that and has programmed the Devils to react on it," he said and received questioning looks. He sighed. "When we served in World War II…or to be more precisely on D-Day… We landed in the Normandy and a bomb exploded right in front of us. He was hit and had nearly his whole right arm torn off," he explained and ignored the shocked and disgusted looks around him. Instead he kept his eyes fixed on the baby. "Logan held the part that had been torn off onto the part it actually belonged to and it grew back on. So if Sinister knows about it, and I am sure he does, then he has programmed the Devils that they will react on it. This means if they see that we behead one of them, they will probably try to put the head back on. You know that they react on instinct only and the primary instinct is to keep the pack together and survive, as Logan would say…"

Thinking about it Hank looked at the boy and back at the others. "Maybe… Maybe it's something that Logan knows…and hasn't told us so far…"

"Wouldn't be the first time…," Daredevil grunted and received a hard nudge into the side from Elektra. "I'm only saying the truth, okay?" He turned when the door opened and saw by using his senses that it was Jean.

"What happened?" she asked and held the door open for her children and the two dogs; Jamie rested against her sleepily and gave the strangers only a disinterested look.

"You might want to sit down…," Scott said and she gave him an odd look.

"Why?" she asked and put Jamie to the ground. The boy instantly protested since he was tired and only wanted to sleep. While she walked closer to her teammates the Cap watched Laura with interest and exchanged a knowing look with Daredevil, who only nodded. But his interested lay upon the children. Those gave the strangers odd looks and stuck together, Jack even pulled Jamie closer to them. "What's going on?" Jean asked again and ran a hand over her face.

"There was an accident, Jean," Charles explained and received a look from the redhead. "A mutant or more than one attacked Logan and…"

"And what?" she hissed when anger surfaced quickly.

"We don't know how it happened, but…"

"How _what _happened. Charles?!"

"Calm down," Scott begged and put a hand onto her shoulder but she slapped it away and glared at him. "What's wrong with you?!" he asked since the look in her eyes was odd.

"First, I'm told that we are attacked and that I have to protect my children. Then no one tells me that the fight is over and now you tell me that something happened to Logan and you keep on talking around the bush!" Jean exploded and earned surprised looks from her children.

In the meanwhile, Laura had walked over to John and stared at the baby in his arms, which had finally calmed down and was sleeping. "Mommy…," she said and turned around to look at the woman, who was still arguing with Scott. "Mommy!"

"Not now!" the woman replied and gave the child a stressed out look. "What is it?!"

"The baby here smells like daddy, mommy," the girl said and looked from the baby back to her mother, whose face had suddenly paled.

"What did you just say?!" Jean asked and came slowly closer.

"Logan was hit by something and was turned into…_this_," Spiderman explained, not knowing what else he could say.

"It's her isn't it?" the Cap whispered and Daredevil nodded.

"Could be…"

"What the hell is she doing here?" he asked and looked at Laura again, who looked back at him since she had heard it.

"Maybe you're wrong and she just happens to look like her," Daredevil replied and concentrated on what was going on again.

"You want to tell me that this baby here is…," Jean began after kneeling down in front of John, who had calmed down enough again to nod.

"It's him…," he confirmed and looked into her shocked eyes.

"Jean…," the Professor dared to ask after the redhead had taken the boy into her arms and was still staring at him in disbelief. "We were discussing before if Logan knows anything of importance that would explain the attack of our enemies. Did Logan tell you anything?"

"Like a way to kill him or his clones for sure?" Captain America said rather coolly and was still eyeing Laura suspiciously.

Jean gently traced the features of the small being in her arms and had completely forgotten where she was. She could neither believe what she saw or that what happened was even possible. "Logan?" she asked mentally and hoped to get any answer but there was none. Even by touching his mind she couldn't find anything that would answer her questions, or even calm her down.

"Jean?" Charles asked and waited for a reply.

"_You're pathetic!"_ a voice hissed in her head.

"_She's always been,"_ a second one snickered in her mind and the laugh became even louder when the redhead answered with an insult. _"Oh, I start crying now…,"_ the voice mocked and the laugh died. _"Finally the tamed animal looks like his character. Weak and helpless…"_

"Get out of my head!" Jean hissed mentally and startled when someone touched her hands.

"You alright?" John asked, concern in his voice since the woman hadn't reacted at all.

"Yeah…," she tried to cover it up and also that the voices kept on bickering in her head. "I just… I can't believe this…"

"We neither, Jean, but we need your help," Charles said in his casual calm voice. "Did Logan tell you what could kill him?"

The redhead took her time to look at everyone, thinking about what to reply but nodded in the end. "He did tell me. But also not to tell anyone…"

"We need to know!" Daredevil said and crossed his arms with a heavy sigh.

"I don't care about what you need," she replied coolly. "He told me and asked me to keep the secret to myself and I'm going to respect that. And even if I'd tell you. I don't know where to find it."

"_It_?!" the Cap asked and looked at his team. "So it's some kind of weapon?"

"As I said," Jean replied in the same cool voice that surprised her team. "I'm not going to tell you!" She turned her attention back to Logan and thought hard about what to do. Hesitant to use her powers, she finally touched his forehead. If what Charles had told her over and over again was true and she could do anything she wanted… Concentrating on him and picturing in her mind how he would grow, her eyes began to glow like fire. But as soon as she had a good hold on the picture the windows began to vibrate and her eyes switched from fiery to black, to glowing white and back to black. Gasping, she let go of him and panted.

"What was that?" Scott asked her but received an odd look only. Nevertheless, before he could ask Jamie began to whine and begged for the attention he needed to be able to go back to bed.

The boy let himself fall onto his butt and cried, hoping that anyone would free him out of his misery. He looked briefly up when a wet nose nudged him lovingly and leant against Miloh for support when the wolf sat down next to him. "Dada," Jamie begged and buried his face in the white fur.

"I know you're tired, baby," Jean said in a gentle voice and gave John a look. "Would you…?"

"Sure," he nodded, got up and went over to the devastated boy to pull him up. "Bedtime, come on," he said and waited for the other children to follow him before he left the room.

"Is something wrong with daddy?" Jack asked and John exchanged a brief look with Jean.

"Tomorrow, okay?" the man replied and closed the door behind him.

"Can we reverse this?" Jean asked Charles, who could only shake his head.

"I don't know…," he sighed. "I really don't know…" He looked at the woman for a while longer.

"_He wants you to talk,"_ the voice in her head said and began to snarl. _"I don't want to talk to him!"_

"_Same here!"_ the second one agreed and made the redhead sigh.

"Don't even try, Charles!" was all she said and turned around.

"Jean!" the Professor began but received a glare from the woman.

"I said no! I know what you want. You can't fool me!" With a last look at him she left the room and made her way to the West Wing.

The Professor heaved a deep breath and shook his head. "Sir,…isn't she the mutant who caused hell on Alcatraz?" Captain America asked and the looks he received were answer enough.

"I told you she's the kind he would chose," Daredevil said.

"That means what?" Spiderman asked and crossed his arms. "Just because she reacted snappy, doesn't mean she's a bad person. I would react the same way if MJ was suddenly turned into a baby or something else."

"That not what I meant," the Devil replied. "She's the typical kind of woman he'd pick. Strong-willed, self-assured, good-looking… Tell me a girl of his that has been different!"

"The difference is," Ororo began angrily and had her arms crossed over her noticeable belly. "…that he's married to her for almost 8 years and has a family with her."

"And?" he challenged. "He's been married before and all I know is that his former wives are dead."

"Matt," the Cap said in a hushed voice and put a hand onto his friend's shoulder. "Not now!" He gave his team a nod and waited for them to leave the room, before he turned back to the X-Men. "We keep you informed. I'm sorry about Logan." Nodding at them he left, too.

Sighing, Charles ran a hand over his tired face. "We should go to bed and get some rest," he said before he turned to Banshee and his daughter. "You really came to the right time as it seems."

"Well, I told you we would come if you need help," Banshee smiled and stretched. "Good night then." Followed by the others, he left the office to retreat to his own room.

* * *

Upstairs Jean had put Logan down on their bed and thought about what to do. She still couldn't believe what had happened or how it had happened. But she knew who was behind it. "Is that warm enough?" John asked and returned with two woolen blankets. "I couldn't find anything in his size on the attic."

"Thanks," she said and began to wrap the boy into the blankets to keep him warm. "What…," she began and wiped a tear away. "What if it stays this way?" she asked and gave the man a look.

"Let's hope not," he replied and gave his brother a look. "I'll stay here in case they really plan anything. Anna's with 'Ro and Kurt."

"Okay," Jean nodded and ran both hands over her face, just to look up when he touched her arm.

"You should try and get some rest. You really look beat…"

"Try is the right word," she sighed and used the duvet to cover the sleeping Logan. "I don't think I can sleep…" She reached out to stroke over the boy's cheek and sighed. "If you need more blankets, they are in the wardrobe in the living room next to the window."

"Okay," John nodded with a last look on his brother and walked back over to the door. "Good night."

Not knowing what else to do the redhead lay down on her side of the bed but didn't switch off the light immediately. Instead, she supported her head with one arm and looked at the sleeping boy next to her that was supposed to be her husband. Her hand stroked carefully through the unruly dark hair, surprised about how much like their son's it was.

"_All helpless…,"_ the voice snickered in amusement and Jean closed her eyes.

"Shut up!" she hissed and tucked Logan in before she switched off the lights mentally. "Better try to find out how to reverse this."

"_Why? I like him like that!"_

"_But I don't!" _the second voice said and the redhead heard the first one snarling.

"_No one asks you!"_

"_Who are you to tell me…"_

"Shut up! Both of you!" Jean snapped in pure annoyance and clutched her head when it began to hurt. "Leave me alone!" Waiting for their reply, she felt relieved when it didn't come and closed her eyes; hoping that tomorrow they'd find a solution to this mess.

* * *

When Rogue, Remy, Jubilee and the others came downstairs for breakfast rather early on the next morning, they were surprised to find the in a thoughtful mood. Unaware of what had happened, they sat down on their casual stools, Jubilee showing Bobby the new pictures she'd taken on the evening before, when a pretty sleep drunken Jean entered the room, followed by an equally tired looking John. Rogue, who had first thought that Jamie looked rather small on the redhead's arm today, began to frown when she noticed that the boy was carried by the man and exchanged a look with Kitty.

"Rough night?" Hank asked concerned since Jean looked like someone, who would drop dead to the ground in the next minute.

"Don't even ask!" John grunted and put Jamie in his highchair, before he began to make him breakfast. "Is Anna still sleeping?" he asked Ororo, who gave a nod and nodded in return. "Good, the kids, too."

"So they still don't know?" Scott asked and Jean shook her head.

"Know what?" Kitty asked and began to look to and fro between them. "Did something happen?"

"Besides that we had to get up about 7 times at night since Logan was hungry?" Jean asked cynically and ran a hand over her small eyes. "No."

"Can't Wolvie get his own food?" Jubilee said and frowned when she received odd looks only. "Who's that by the way?" she asked with a nod at the baby. "Did you hide it somewhere?"

"You wouldn't believe it anyway!" Mystique said without looking up from her breakfast. Just to glare at the man, who suddenly appeared in the door next.

"Oh," Magneto smirked with a look at Logan. "I knew seeing the Wolverine would make my day."

"Shut up, Erik!" Jean hissed and her eyes blackened for a moment.

"Why this hostility?" the man chuckled and poured himself a coffee. "I guess as tired as you look my dear the Wolverine had kept you up all night."

"Isn't that what he always does?" Jubilee murmured, her interest focused on her camera. "Where is he anyway? Sleeping in?" When she heard how Magneto laughed she looked up in confusion.

"My dear," Erik said and nodded at the baby in Jean's arms, ignoring that the woman was fuming with anger, on which Jamie picked up and snarled angrily. "You haven't heard the news?"

"News?" Kitty asked and looked at her teammates for help. She began to wonder why everyone glared at Magneto warningly. "What news?!"

"The Wolverine got hit yesterday and was turned into…," Erik explained, not hiding the amusement and satisfaction he felt by doing so. "…_this_!" His smirk widened when the younger X-Men's eyes fell onto the baby in Jean's arm. For about 10 seconds the whole room was silent, except for Jamie's snarl, until Rogue finally realized what the man meant and gasped aloud.

"You mean…," she stuttered and pointed at the boy. "You mean that this…"

"Is the Wolverine?" Magneto asked on his way out. "Oh yes…"

"Wolvie?!" Jubilee asked and got up to look at the boy, followed by Kitty and Rogue. Their eyes stared at the unruly hair before they fixed on the hazel eyes, noticing the piercing gaze the baby gave them, as if it knew what was going on. "Oh my God!" the woman cried and instantly took three pictures, cursing herself for not following the others to the Professor's office on the evening before.

"What are you doing?!" Jean asked angrily and pulled Logan away from her.

"This has to be documented!"

"_Documented_?!" John repeated darkly. "This is serious, kid!"

Rolling her eyes, Jubilee returned to her stool. "I know that!" she sulked. "But he doesn't have any pictures from his childhood, right? So maybe…the gang wants to know what their daddy looked like as a kiddo someday and he can show them the pics _I've _taken!"

"God!" Jean groaned and buried her face in one hand with a shake of her head. When she looked up again, Jubilee swallowed hard. The woman was clearly about to become pissed off and pissed off in term of Jean Grey wasn't good. "If _this_," the woman hissed with a nod at the boy. "…doesn't change on its own, they can watch their father grow up themselves!"

For minutes no one dared to say anything at all until John left to check on his daughter and Scott cleared his throat. "Just one thing," he said towards Jean. "…just let me change the diapers once, okay?" He quickly raised both hands when the redhead gave him a deadly look. "Just _once_! Please!"

"Scott, this isn't funny!" Mystique scolded him.

"I know!" he said towards her and looked back at Jean. "Then let me feed him just once, okay? Please!"

About to snap at him, Jean closed her eyes with a sigh when Logan began to cry at the same time as Jamie did. "You can't be hungry again, Logan…," she sighed and pulled him up a bit.

"Well," Hank shrugged. "He actually can… His healing factor might need so much energy. Even…in his current state."

"That's right," Moira nodded. "Maybe his healing factor still works on adult level. You know how much Logan needs to eat to keep it working properly."

"Well, that's why a Wolverine is a glutton, right?" Bobby said before he could stop himself and quickly ducked behind Peter when Jean's head jerked aside and into his direction.

"Dada!" Jamie cried even louder and begged for attention, which made his mother sigh in frustration.

"I know you'll hate me for this…," she murmured towards Logan and handed him to a happy looking Scott, before she walked around the table and pulled Jamie up. "Don't even dare, Scott!" Jean warned before she left to change her son's diaper.

"Dare what?" he asked innocently and sat down on his stool after he'd prepared a bottle.

"You are…," Mystique began but stopped herself from saying it out loud. Instead she rolled her eyes and shook her head. "If he can remember that you asked Jean to change his diapers…"

"Oh, he will so kill him," Ororo sang.

"But it vill not be permanent, nein?" Kurt asked with a worried look at his friend, who sucked on the bottle that the grinning man with the glasses gave him.

"Remy 'opes not," Remy said sadly. "Remy likes to pit 'is strength against da Carnuckle'ead."

"You know… I finally finished his suit," Forge complained. "And a really nice one, I might add! And he shrinks…"

"Well, then do some dressmaking," Ororo mumbled and ignored the look she was given when Logan suddenly had a coughing fit. "What did you do?!"

"It's not my fault if he's so greedy," Scott defended himself but Hank had already gotten up and joined his side. "He just choked on the milk."

"No, it's not that," the furry mutant next to him said with a slightly worried undertone. "It rather sounds like…," he began when Logan sneezed right into Scott's face.

"You pig!" this one said and was about to reach out for a tissue when his eyes widened.

"Diapers?!" a now about two to three year old Logan snarled and closed his eyes when the flash of Jubilee's camera blinded him for a moment.

"Wow…," Mystique said impressed and pulled on the dark hair out of interest. "He really looks like Jack and Jamie… And look at this cute snub nose." Smiling widely and showing her white teeth that were a complete contrast to her blue skin, she couldn't stop herself from touching it. "Oh, stop growling Logan!"

"Still hungry?" Scott asked and held the bottle towards the boy on his lap, who extracted his claws in a fit of fury and lashed out at him. "Hey, it was just a question, okay? It was you who threw a tantrum before!"

Scott furrowed his brows when Hank pulled Logan up all of a sudden and studied him with a critical, but interested look. "This is really amazing…," the furry man said and turned the boy to be able to look at him from all sides. "I'd really like to know how this works…"

"I don't think that Logan appreciates it, honey…," Moira said worriedly, since Logan's eyes were pitch-black and his angry growl filled the room. "And stop turning him so quickly or he'll…" Before she was even able to finish her sentence white milk landed on her husband's fur. "I told you so…," she sighed and got up to take Logan, who'd gotten only madder, from him. "Men… You can't do this to a child that has just eaten…"

"I don't think Logan likes it to be called a child," Mystique commented and got up with a shake of her head to hand a sour looking Hank a towel. "And I also think that he doesn't like it at all to be carried around naked!"

Nodding in agreement, Moira pulled Logan, who clearly weighted too much for a two year old, higher and began to walk over to the door. "I'll try to find, Jean…."

"So…," Scott sighed and gave Hank, who was still occupied with cleaning his fur, a look. "How long do you think it will take him to grow up?"

"Hard to say…," the other man shrugged. "We don't know the whole circumstances… I can't tell if his healing factor is working against…" He startled when Moira suddenly shrieked aloud. After exchanging a look with Scott, both men and Mystique stormed out of the room and towards the door of the West Wing. "What happened?" he asked concerned and knelt down next to his wife, who lay on the ground and rubbed her back.

"He suddenly grew and became too heavy for me…," she hissed and got up with his help.

"So where is Logan now?" Scott asked since his teammate was nowhere to be seen.

"He ran upstairs," Moira replied with a pained expression on her face and gave her husband a weak smile when he stroked over her cheek. "I'm fine," she soothed him and took his hand. "It was just a surprise and I didn't reckon with it."

"How old is Logan now?" Mystique asked and crossed her arms when Jean appeared. "Never mind, she looks pissed…"

"You'd be pissed off too if you'd to listen to his complaints…," the woman muttered and walked past them.

"Where are you going?" Scott asked.

"Trying to find some clothes for him…," she snapped and closed the door behind her.

"No matter how old, he's difficult…," he mumbled and sighed, not noticing the small shadow that quickly made his way down the stairs. "Anyway, if our enemies really plan an attack, we need to be… Ow!" Crying out, he quickly turned around and glared. "Logan!"

"Wanna change my diapers, bub?!" this one growled and hit him against the leg once more, which made Scott jump backwards. "Wanna give me a bottle?!"

"Stop hitting me!" the man complained and made another step backwards.

"I'll give ya babyin' me!" Logan grunted and was about to leap at the man's leg when the small blanket was in danger to fall down, so he had to pull it up again. "Why's no one tryin' t'help me?!"

"By what? Pulling a towel back up?" Scott mumbled and earned another slap. "Stop it!"

"Then shut the fuck up, Scooter'n help me!" Logan snapped and pulled the towel closer, just to growl next when Moira and Mystique snickered. "What's so funny?!"

"You," the blue woman giggled. "I'm sorry, Logan, but…I just can't take you serious."

"You're just too cute," Moira added grinning.

"Cute my ass!" he growled darkly and bared his teeth.

As the diplomat he was Hank felt the need to say something and calm his friend down. "I'm sorry, Logan, but we don't know how to help you. As it seems your healing factor is taking care of it on its own. See it like that, just two hours ago you've still been a baby and now you're about…" He scanned him from head to toe. "I don't know… About…" Before he could finish the sentence Logan coughed at the same time as Jean returned with clothes in her hand.

"You've got to be kidding me, Logan…," the redhead groaned and gave the teen a look, while this one glared back at her and used the towel to cover his privates. "Do you know how hard it was to find something for a six year old boy to wear?!"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" he snapped and glared at her. "Ya could've just given me Ray's skirt!" he added cynically and rolled his eyes.

"It's hard to say…," Hank shrugged. "Twelve to fifteen, I'd guess. At least you won't have any problems to find clothes for him now, Jean."

"Yeah, great!" she hissed and turned around again to get some for them.

"What's the hell's wrong with ya?!" Logan snapped and made her stop. "This ain't my fuckin' fault!"

"I hardly slept an hour at night, Logan. My head hurts like hell and I'm tired!" the redhead gave back. "How can a baby drink seven bottles in one night?!"

"Then let me starve next time!" he growled and turned to head back upstairs.

"You can't go upstairs like that, Logan!" she stopped him and made him roll his eyes. "How do you want to explain this situation to our children?"

"What am I supposed t'do then?" he asked in complete annoyance. "Lock myself up in the basement?!"

"No," Jean sighed and ran a hand over her tired face. "Stay with John until…"

"They can sniff me out, Red! They'll find me no matter where I'm hidin'!"

"He has a point here," Scott nodded and crossed his arms. "At least Jack, Laura and Lily will be able to sniff Logan out. Ray can find him with her telepathy and I'd bet that also Jamie would find him. And if the process doesn't slow down, he should be his old self by tomorrow."

"I'm freezin'," Logan interrupted to get their attention and Jean noticed the goose bumps on his skin.

"Then go upstairs and lock yourself into the bathroom until I come back," she sighed and left to find fitting clothes for him.

"Would ya stop starin' at my butt?" he snapped after ascending half of the stairs.

"Why? It's what we always do, Logan," Mystique joked with a grin and showed her teeth when he growled.

"Wolvie!" Jubilee suddenly called from the door and took a picture as soon as the teen had turned around. "Thanks!" she winked and ran away before he could say something.

"Tell her she's so dead!" Logan growled darkly and disappeared behind the door to his rooms.

"He's cute," Moira grinned and entwined her hand with Hank's to leave the room.

"What did he say again?" Scott mocked and buried his hands in his pockets. "Cute my ass?"

"I think he's cute," Mystique disagreed and could tell that he rolled his eyes behind his glasses. Ignoring it, she linked arms with him and followed the other couple.

* * *

"So it was a diversion…" Charles nodded and leant back in his wheelchair with a grim look on his face.

"Yeah, when we got to know about it, it was already too late," Spiderman nodded and crossed his arms. "Those Devils made a massacre…"

"Any survivors?" Scott asked and sighed when the man shook his head. "And I don't have to guess who they'll blame this on…"

"We have a whole different problem," the Cap corrected him. "The Devils must have been seen by someone. If this person recognizes Logan…"

"…the authorities will be most likely go after him," Charles finished and received a dark nod. "Well, we deal with that later. Thank you for letting us know."

"Of course," the Cap shrugged. "What about Logan? Is he still…"

"Mid-twenties and is sulking in the kitchen," Scott said and leant back against the wall. "And sulking is actually an understatement. He's moody as ever…"

"When's that not the case?" the Cap commented and received a nod from the man with the glasses. "Anyway. In the kitchen you said?"

"Yes, I can show you," Scott replied and walked over to the door, waiting for the two men to say goodbye and led them to the kitchen where some of the others sat and still ate their lunch. "Logan, you've visitors," he announced after entering the kitchen and was immediately greeted by a low growl.

"Wow!" Spiderman said and couldn't hide his grin. "If that isn't our little diaper-pooper!"

"I'll give ya diaper-pooper, cobwebs!" Logan snapped and narrowed his eyes, which made Peter Parker only laugh until his friend got of his stool. He reacted quickly and jumped up until he was glued to the ceiling, laughing his head off. "You are so tiny!" the man laughed, which angered Logan only the more.

"Come down here, Parker!" he barked and glared daggers at the ceiling while he tried to find a way up there.

"Well, he's right…," the Cap said and scanned the Wolverine from head to toe. "You look the same as back then in WWI and II… Why are you so small?!"

"Because he didn't eat his spinach as a kid, right Popeye?" Spiderman joked and laughed again when Logan jumped at him, his claws far away from even touching him.

"Better hope that I won't get my hands on ya, Parker!"

"Pete, please!" the Cap sighed and looked at the man above him.

"I'm right, Steve!" Peter defended himself. "Logan's not above what? 5'2''?"

"Actually it's 5'3''," Hank corrected him when he came into the room, dressed in his lap coat. "But hopefully he will be 6'2'' soon and stop being so grouchy."

"Ain't grouchy," Logan snapped and rolled his eyes when Hank gave him a look. "It's your own fault if ya didn't let me smoke or drink a beer!"

"You were 15, Logan! Or 16," the furry mutant corrected himself after receiving another grunt and poured himself a coffee. "You can't do that when you're so young."

"Yeah, sure!" his teammate mocked.

"Listen to daddy, Logan!" Spiderman teased him and caught the glass that was thrown at him. "Oh come on! Stop being a sourpuss,…diaper-pooper."

"Guys, would you stop, please?" the Cap asked annoyed and turned back to Logan with his arms crossed. "You heard the news, I guess?"

"Yeah, so?" Logan asked and sat back down on his stool. "Did ya catch one of them?"

"No. They disappeared as fast as they'd appeared."

"Great… What does Nicky say? Any plans?"

The Cap shook his head. "Besides keeping our eyes open, no. We only came to tell you that," he said and beckoned Peter to come down, which the man did and landed beside him. "Besides,… You don't happen to know how to kill them, do you?" he asked and received a self-assured nod. "So? How? Your wife mentioned a weapon but refused to tell us which one."

"And I won't tell ya either coz I'd still like t'live a bit longer," Logan grunted and narrowed his eyes. "And besides, there's only one weapon of it, which is well hidden…"

"Logan, we need to know how to kill them!" the Cap insisted.

"Behead them and make sure their heads are far away enough from their bodies," the addressed replied and crossed his arms. "Ya can't re-produce that weapon. It ain't as impossible as killin' them with one weapon only. So forget it!"

"Great," the Cap cursed under his breath and turned around to leave. "Don't bother, we'll find the way out by ourselves."

"Good," Logan shrugged and sipped on his bee again. "What?!"

"You could have been a bit nicer, boy," Hank scolded him and shook his head, before he put his dirty cup into the sink. "It's not our fault that you're going through this growth-thing."

"Did I say that?!"

"No, but you act this way. You snap, growl and grunt at anyone that crossed your way so far," Hank went on. "You should have your old size back within the next three days. If I were you, I'd be happy to look that young again and have women drooling behind my back."

"I don't give a shit if they're droolin' or not," Logan snapped and got up to throw his empty bottle away. "They're dooin' that anyway, so who fuckin' cares?!"

"Impossible…," Hank sighed and watched his friend leaving before he retreated to his lab again, where Moira was already waiting for him.

Logan on the other hand went upstairs. He knew his children were occupied by the others in hope they wouldn't notice about their father's condition and up to it had worked well. He silently slit into the living room and closed the door behind him, smirked when he noticed that Miloh was once more sleeping with his head in his mate and shook his head. "Like Lord Muck…," he mumbled and went over to the bedroom but stopped when he heard Jean talking to someone. Frowning because of what he heard, he leant back against the wall right next to the door and listened in. Remaining there for a while, his face darkened with every word the redhead spoke to Phoenix, as he guessed, and he began to clench his fists in anger. Thinking that she would probably notice him soon, he knocked and went inside the room, gave his wife a brief look and crossed his arms. "So… What are ya doin'?" he asked and leant back against the wardrobe, still with the same tensed and dark look on his face.

"Thinking…," Jean said and tried to give him a convincing smile but looked away while brushing a strand behind her ear. "You're taller than in the morning…"

"Whatever…," Logan shrugged and still glared at her. "I'm askin' ya for the last time, Jean. Do ya have t'tell me somethin'?"

Looking up in surprise she tried to read in his eyes what he meant but shook her head in the end. "No… What do you mean?" she asked and tried to hold his gaze. "I told you before that I told you everything…"

"Really?" he asked and cocked a skeptical eyebrow.

"Yeah…"

"Hm…," Logan made and nodded. She watched how he walked over to the window, his arms crossed and looked outside. While watching him, she began to ask herself what might have caused this sudden change in his mood. But before she could ask he already turned around. "Do ya even still love me?" he asked and, while she looked shock, he'd never looked more serious.

"W…what?!" the redhead asked and got up, not liking the fact that she was towering above him.

"Yes or no?" Logan insisted and never took his eyes from her.

"Of course! What kind of question is that?!" Jean asked him, still not believing his words. While she had her brows furrowed and felt her heart beating strongly against her ribcage, she watched how he lowered his head, twitched his eyebrows briefly and walked back over to the door. "Logan, what…?!"

"Nothin'," he grunted and left the room and a confused looking woman behind him.

* * *

Everyone was gathered in the kitchen when Logan entered with his duffle bag that was thrown over his shoulder. While most of the X-Men just frowned, Jean's eyes stared at him in confusion. "Where are you going?" Ororo asked and looked to and fro between the couple. She could clearly feel how the temperature in the room began to drop more than quickly.

"To Canada," he grunted, still with his eyes on the redhead. "I need some time t'think."

"The time to take a holiday isn't really fitting, Logan." Scott asked. "When will you be back?"

"Dunno," the addressed shrugged and pulled his bag higher.

"It's New Year's Eve in less than three days," Hank said. "Be back until then, boy!"

"Actually…," Logan replied and looked at his brother for a moment, who could only shake his head. "…I ain't so sure that I'm comin' back at all." He looked up when everyone in the room fell silent and noticed how Jean's eyes had widened in shock.

"What…what do you mean with that?!" she asked and didn't know what else to say.

"That I might stay there," he replied coolly.

"Why?!" she asked and got off her stool, trying to touch his mind in hope to find an answer.

Snorting and giving a grin in disbelief, Logan quickly regained his composure and glared at her. "You're really askin'?" he snapped and crossed his arms. "I asked ya somethin' earlier today and all I wanted was an honest answer. I'm sick of your lies, Jean."

"I'm not lying, Logan," she gave back, ignoring the looks of the others. "I never did!"

"Just now you're doin' it again," Logan grunted and looked at his brother once more.

"No!" Jean shook her head and went over to him until she stood right in front of him; still thinking how weird it was to have to look down and not up in order to talk to him . "You can't just leave! What about our children?!"

"I already talked t'them and explained it, Red!" he growled. "If they weren't attendin' school here, mark my words, I'd take them with me! They can call me anytime they want and if they say that they want t'live with me, they will!"

Staring at him in complete disbelief and shock, Jean ran a hand through her face and shook her head. "I don't believe this…," she gasped and met his eyes again. "Logan,…you're just about to end our marriage, do you realize that?!" she asked as calmly as possible, but he shook his head and gave her the same look he'd given her in the bedroom earlier before leaving.

"I can't end somethin' ya already did," he replied and received a questioning look. "I asked ya if ya still love me. Your reply was answer enough…"

"I said I do love you!" the redhead defended herself and crossed her arms when he shook his head.

"No, ya don't."

"Yes, I do!" she hissed. "If you want to get out of this marriage, just say it!"

"Guys, calm down!" Scott intervened but raised his hands when both mutants glared daggers at him.

"I'm not taking the blame, Logan!" Jean went on. "If you want to end this, fine…"

"Again, ya made your point clear before." Logan shook his head and shifted his position. "Ya know I can tell if someone's lyin'…and ya did. Not only once. No matter what ya say lately, most of it ain't true."

"Right….," Jean nodded and wiped a tear angrily away. "So that I love you is a lie too, hm?" she asked cynically and tried to hide her hurt when he nodded.

"Ask him," he said and nodded towards his brother, who looked briefly down before he gave her a weak nod. About to protest against it, she had to look at Remy when he spoke up.

"Remy's sorry, petite," the Cajun said with a sad look in his eyes. "Remy's an empath and da Wolverine's right… Da petite doesn't love 'im…"

"No!" the redhead said and shook her head while looking at Logan. "No, Logan, this isn't true!"

"Right…," he chuckled. "It ain't as much true as ya keep on tellin' me that ya haven't been back for the whole year, right?" he asked. "I heard ya talkin' t'Phoenix. Ya have been back," he said and shook his head, determined not to show how much this hurt him. "Ya have been back for a fuckin' year, Jean!"

"Is that true?" Scott asked her but knew he wouldn't get an answer now.

"You don't understand…," Jean sniffed and held her head with one hand. "I…"

"I don't care," Logan shrugged and made a step backwards when she reached out to touch him. "I was messed around with too often, Jean. I ain't gonna let ya do the same." He turned and stopped at the door. "I give ya a call. And remember but what ya promised me!"

"Sure! Be careful!" John said in barely more than a whisper and looked away; not wanting to watch the brother he'd just found leave.

"Bye!" Logan said to the others who still just stared at him in complete disbelief. Without bothering to look at the redhead, he walked out of the room and towards the garages.

"What are you waiting for?" Scott asked Jean. "Go after him and settle this!"

Knowing that she was following, Logan just kept on walking and pulled his bike to the outside; not bothering to get a helmet, too. "Wait!" the redhead called and came to a halt next to him. Her heavy breath was visible in the cool air and she needed a moment to catch it again.

"Leave it, Jean," Logan grunted and sat down on the bike, still refusing to look at her.

"You…you can't just throw away everything we have!" she protested and grabbed his arm, which finally made him look at her wet eyes.

"Right, I can't," he nodded and pulled his arm away. "Coz ya already have…"

When he started the engine and finality began to dawn upon her, Jean suppressed a sob and grabbed his leather jacket once more. "Please, don't do this, Logan!" she cried devastated and felt fear spreading in her chest. "I can… I can explain everything! I…"

"Too late! Ya had your chance often enough…," Logan replied and put something into her hands before he made sure that his duffle bag was secured on his back. "Ya ain't the woman I married anymore, Jean… I don't even seem t'know ya lately." Holding her pleading look for a moment, he finally tore his eyes away. "I'm sorry," he added in hardly more than a whisper.

As she watched how Logan drove away, Jean walked backwards as if she was in trance until her back hit the mansion's wall. While the voice in her head began to snicker, the redhead glided down and began to sob aloud.

"He really did it?" Ororo asked next to her and looked at the picture of misery on the ground. "Hey…," she said in sympathy and knelt down next to her friend. "He'll come back…"

"No, he won't…," Jean cried and opened her right hand into which he had put his engagement and wedding ring.

"That…doesn't mean anything," the weather goddess tried to convince her.

"I've seen it in his eyes…" Shaking her head, the redhead buried her hands in her hair, getting angrier the longer the snickering in her head went on.

"He…must have gotten it wrong," Ororo tried to explain the situation. "Maybe he had misunderstood whatever you said to Phoenix… It's ridiculous that you're supposed to…"

"He's right…," Jean said in barely more than a whisper, tears pouring from her eyes and looked at her friend with an odd look in her eyes. "I came back the day after I forced him to kill me. I have been back for the whole year…"

Not knowing what to say or think, Ororo only stared at her in shock…

**Jeez, finally. I know it's been over a month since I updated Changes the lat time. But I had such a major writer's block for weeks, it's been terrible. : ( I couldn't write the beginning of this story, so I started with the baby scene and suddenly, I was stuck there too. I also had trouble to write any other story I'm currently working on.**

**Then my mom told me Wednesday (yeah, the news here isn't that fast sometimes) right after I got up that Heath Ledger died and I was so shocked, devastated, surprised and sad about it that tadaa, my muse came back and I did not only finish a Metal Gear Solid story I was working on for weeks (yeah, I was stuck there too), I also suddenly knew how to write Changes and came up with new scenes for the next chapter. The ending here with Logan and Jean splitting up was planned! Loooong ago, so don't complain!! It will make sense in the end. At night (while sleeping LOL) I must have had an idea, since when I woke up, I suddenly knew how to change the last scene (the split-up scene was changed a lot!) and what to do in the next chapter. It's really creepy…**

**The Venom scene turned out completely different than I had planned... I'm not really satisfied with this chapter anyway. : (**

**Anyway, I'm watching the re-run of X-Men right now and it's already 2 a.m. at night. So…35 pages (12 alone today) is a lot more than I had expected. Thanks to all reviewers and I'm really sorry for keeping you waiting!! I'll soon have exams at college and won't have a lot of time to write, but I'll do my very best. ; )**

**See ya and please review!!!**


	29. Chapter 28

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter: )

**No one ever wondered about THE DOT in some chapters, huh? **

**Just for the record: The year is 2017. ; )**

**And I'm sorry for the delay but I had to change the whole first scene. I had it pre-written a year ago and since so many things were added until now that I didn't plan in, I had to change the scene and dialogue to make it fit again. Sorry for that!**

**Oh and: Since some of you wanted a second chapter to **_Logan's Secret_** : Give me an idea for a second chapter or another funny story and I'll do my best. ; )**

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 28**

"What?!" Ororo asked, convinced that she had misunderstood her friend, and made a step backwards. Even if she tried to convince herself her eyes were still widened in shock and her jaw slightly dropped. The fact that Jean was still sobbing into her hands didn't make it easier at all. "You…have been back for the whole year?!" she asked after realization dawned upon her and received a weak nod.

The redhead could feel how electricity began to sparkle around her best friend. Startled, Jean looked up when a thunderbolt illuminated the sky and a storm came up faster than she could count to three. A look at her opposite's face clearly showed that Storm was pissed off, her eyes glowing white while her short white hair moved with the wind around her.

"_How _dare you?!" Ororo roared and clenched her fists. "How _dare _you doing this to him? To us?! Did Phoenix mess with you that much that you don't even care anymore about your family and friends? About your children?!" she barked and her face was a pure mask of anger. "Do you even know what you did to Logan? How much he suffered while you were gone?! How much your children suffered?!"

"Yes, I do!" Jean gave back and glared back at her. "And I wasn't _back_!"

"You just said it yourself!" her best friend shot back and crossed her arms over her belly. "And now, all of a sudden, you say the opposite again." Shaking her head, Ororo turned briefly around and heaved a deep breath. "You know… It's no wonder that Logan's sick of you," she added and gave her friend a cold stare. "Since you're back, you're not only behaving oddly and completely not like your old self, you say things and then in the next second you mean the opposite. And then you're surprise that Logan has enough of your lies?!"

"No, you don't understand, Ororo," the redhead replied and wiped her tears angrily away. "I wasn't _back _as he and everyone else thinks!"

"What the hell are you talking about, Jean?" the weather goddess asked, still glaring at her friend and her brows furrowed angrily. "Either you were back or you weren't. There's no such thing as a middle course!"

Sighing in annoyance, Jean ran a hand over her face and through her hair. Desperately trying to calm down and ignoring Phoenix's bitching, she closed her eyes for a moment and breathed in and out as slowly as possible. "You don't understand!" she began in another attempt to explain herself. "And you wouldn't believe me anyway…"

"Try me!" Ororo challenged and stood proud in front of her like the goddess she was, her arms crossed and her eyes looking rather cold in anger.

Pulling her legs close, Jean buried her hands in her hair and lowered her heads. "I woke up the day after I forced Logan to kill me. It was night…," she began without looking up, her voice not as thick with tears as before. "After I realized where I was I saw Logan coming out of the mansion. I thought that he must have sensed me. I felt so happy but… When he came closer…I figured that something was terribly wrong…"

"Wrong?" Ororo asked and tilted her head. "And what? What is wrong about seeing your husband walking towards you?" she asked, just to add coolly, "Except of course that you made a wreck out of him…"

"Because he didn't seem to notice me and went right through me!" the redhead snapped angered and looked up.

"_Through _you?!" her opposite asked in disbelief and sighed. "Jean…"

"It is the truth!" Jean said aloud and got up. "Logan walked right through me as if I was some kind of ghost! Believe it or not!"

"Sure," Ororo nodded playfully and thought it sounded as ridiculous as the fact that Jubilee still had to run through NYC naked, since she had made the bet that Logan and Jean would never split up. "And the next thing you'll tell me is that you floated in the air and wore a white costume…"

Hearing it, the redhead narrowed her eyes. "No…but I could tell you all the things you said to Logan while you slept in_ our _bed!" she hissed coolly and her eyes blackened briefly. Seeing the shocked and surprised look on her friend's face, Jean blinked to gain control again. "I'm sorry…"

"How…how come you know?" Ororo demanded to know and lowered her arms slowly. A look into her opposite's face was answer enough. "You really…saw everything?"

"I've been here the whole year through, trying to find a way to let someone know I was back," Jean nodded and the tears were back in her eyes when the memories returned. "I didn't know what was wrong, why no one seemed to be able to see me except Jamie…"

"What do you mean?"

"The day Hank sat on the terrace [Sequel 2 Chapter 18 and watched over Jamie," the redhead began. "Jamie saw me, he somehow always did and I can't understand why… I know that Logan sat next to my grave every night. I first though he could see me before Scott had shown up [Sequel 2 Chapter 20, but I figured that he couldn't. So all I could do was following him and trying to reach him or Charles in hope that someone could help me…" She slumped back down onto the ground. "And then, shortly afterwards, I stayed with the children to see what they were doing. But suddenly…" Jean shook her head and buried her hands in her hair. "Well, Rachel suddenly started to scream [Sequel 2 Chapter 20 and pointed at me… I thought it was over and that I was visible again, but when Logan stormed into the room…." She shook her head crying and bit her lip hard. "I watched how he tried to soothe them and… I became scared when he made the decision that they would leave. I've been right next to him when he went downstairs again and told Charles that he would leave."

"Yes, I remember…," Ororo nodded and hugged herself. "Charles begged him to do this final mission for us…"

"I think…," Jean replied and looked up with red and wet eyes. "I think Charles picked up on me."

"What makes you think that?"

"Because he wanted Logan to do it," she said. "I begged Charles not to let him go even if he couldn't see me and he wanted to Logan to do this mission. It didn't make any sense back then. But it does make sense now…"

Thinking about what she'd heard so far, Ororo moved closer and sat down next to her. "But… How come we were able to see you when you saved Logan?"

Shaking her head, Jean sighed. "I don't know… I went with you onto that mission because I had a feeling that something would happen. After Logan spotted the bomb and held Scott through the door, he was trapped. I knew just l as he did that there was no way out. The bomb went off just as Logan had begun to cut through the door. Everything happened so fast. The wave of the explosion sent him face first against the door and before he was able to get up there was another explosion and he was engulfed in fire," Jean explained sobbing. "He was injured so badly…," she added in a whisper and shook her head. "I heard how the building began to collapse and did my best. I tried to activate my powers and save him but nothing happened… But then… Logan suddenly said my name," she went on and was well aware of Ororo looking at her. "I thought he said it because he knew that he was dying, but when I turned around…" The redhead looked up at her friend. "He looked at me. Not just through me, he really looked at me…"

"So you used your powers afterwards to break free… That's when we saw you emerging from the ruins of the buildings with him," Ororo concluded and received a nod. "But… But why didn't you tell him that you were back?! You knew how much he's suffered and mourned your death."

"You don't know what it felt like, 'Ro!" Jean said after wiping away her tears. "Seeing him but not being able to talk to him or touch him. If Logan had known that I'd been back he would have wanted to see me… And I did talk to him when he woke up from that coma. I thought that he was angry with me and ignored me before Hank told me that he was practically deaf and blind… And talking mentally to him was useless. He blocked me out…"

"Still you could have tried harder," her friend replied but received a glare from her. "It was you who chose not to tell him that you were back. But fine,…" She raised both hands a bit. "You misjudged the situation… You suffered the consequences… Doesn't change the fact that Logan just left because you never told him the truth!"

"Because he wouldn't listen to me!" Jean snapped.

"And why?" her friend asked her angrily and held her belly. "Because you screwed up big time! How often has he asked you if you had to tell him something?! And you never did! Not once! Charles wanted to talk to you and we asked you often enough why you act so strangely… Did you ever try to talk to someone? No! So either live with the consequences or get off of that ground and try to talk to him!" Ororo said, her voice becoming steadily louder.

"It's useless…," Jean mumbled and stared at the ground with empty eyes. "I screwed up…"

Sighing, the weather goddess shook her head. She really didn't understand how the redhead's mood could change so fast from angry, to depressed, to sad, to snappy, to devastated… But something else was on her mind right now… "Jean,…Logan and I, we have never…"

"I know," Jean sighed and looked up at her. "And I'm not mad at you for sleeping next to him… I know that you were scared and I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" Ororo asked in confusion.

"What Sabretooth did to you," her friend replied and made her look down. "I was there… I tried to help you when he attacked you. But I couldn't do anything at all… I'm sorry…"

"It's not your fault," her opposite said and looked at her hand that rested on her pregnant belly. "Someone must be behind all this…," Ororo added and looked up again but saw that Jean's demeanor had changed again and that the woman just got up and turned to enter the mansion again. "Jean?"

"I'm getting cold," was all the redhead said and left a confused looking Ororo behind her.

* * *

After sleeping one night in a hotel and another one in a wood Logan sat on the ground at a river, far beyond the Canadian border, and smoked a cigar while staring at the moon above him. He still had some way to go before he would reach his destination and hoped that by tomorrow night he would reach it. Logan watched how the smoke of his cigar rose into the air after leaving his mouth and soon his breath mixed with the cool air and became visible. He leant back further against the tree and pulled his jacket closer. The nights were even too cold for his taste. Not always but sometimes. He wondered what his children were doing now. He guessed that they were already lying in bed and were fast asleep. He lowered his eyes to the ground when he remembered how much they had actually cried on the phone, when he had called them on New Years Eve the day before. Determined not to think about it now, he pushed the memory as far back into his head as possible and threw the rest of his cigar into the river. Just as he was about to get up and continue his journey, since it was way too cold by now to sleep in the wood as he had planned, Logan remained frozen on the spot when he heard how a car stopped not far away from him and that two people were coming closer. With narrowed eyes and hidden in the dark, he watched how one of them carried a small bag-like object towards the river. From the way the man and woman were talking to each other, he assumed that whatever was in this bag was obviously of importance to them… 

"I'm telling you for the last time to shut the fuck up, Kim!" the man roared and kept on walking towards the river with the bag in his arms.

"But… What if…," the woman said and Logan could clearly tell that she was nervous and scared. She kept on looking around, checking if someone was close by and would see them.

"No one will know!" he snapped and stopped next to the river. "Now shut up! We're doing everyone a favor by getting rid of this thing." Without hesitation he threw the bag into the river, grabbed the woman's wrist, ignoring that she was crying and pulled her back over to the car.

Still in the shadows, Logan watched how they quickly drove away. While one part in him told him to just drive away and head to his destination, the other one became curious and suspicious. Getting up, he jogged down the river and managed to pull the bag out of the ice cold water. With it in his hands he walked back to his bike and sat back down on the snowy ground. The bag was heavy in his hands, not only because it was soaked with water but also because of whatever was inside of it. Curious he began to open it just to stop and furrow his brows. "The hell…"

* * *

"L…Logan…," Heather said in surprise, the door still in her hand and stared at the man in front of it as if he was some kind of ghost. "What are you doing here?" 

"Can I move in?" he asked, cleaned his jacket and boots from the snow and entered the foyer of the HQ.

"Move….?!" she asked while closing the door and now her brows were furrowed in confusion. "But… What happened?!" Heather demanded to know and watched how he pulled the gray hood from his shirt off of his head. "Don't tell me you left your family?!" she asked when the news had some time to sink in. When he nodded and pulled his duffle back back up, her eyes widened. "What?! But you were so happy with each other the last time we met. Why did you leave them?!"

"I didn't leave'em. I left her. Now,…can I move back in, yes or no?" Logan grunted since he became impatient. "I drove the whole night and I'm pretty done… It'd be great if I could stay at least for tonight…"

Still staring at him and wondering why he suddenly had a pretty bump for a belly, Heather only shook her head and beckoned him to follow her. "You can have the guest room. It's not occupied… And of course you can move back in even if I still don't understand what could have happened that made you leave your home…," she told him why she led him to the second floor and down the corridor. "And how come you gained so much weight?!"

"Weight?!" Logan asked and looked down on him. "I gained muscles!"

"So it's called muscles lately, hm?" she asked and smiled when he growled. "Here," she said and opened a door for him before she went inside and switched on the lights. "You should get changed while I change the sheets. You're soaked to the bone."

"Thanks," Logan said and dropped his duffle bag on the ground before he carefully began to open his jacket. "Go on sleepin'…"

"Hm?" Heather asked and thought he was completely out of his mind when she noticed what he held in his arm. "Logan…," she cried and ignored his _hush_. "Don't tell me you cheated on Jean and she kicked you out!"

"What?!" he grunted and cocked and eyebrow at her.

"The baby," she said with crossed arms and nodded at the sleeping child.

"It ain't my kid, Heath," he told her and dropped his soaked leather jacket on a chair. "I fished him outta a river after his so called parents threw him into it." Noticing her look, he sighed tiredly. "Look, I planned t'sleep in a wood, it was too cold so I decided t'take a smoke and when I wanted t'hit the road again, they came and threw a bag into the river. I pulled it outta it and he was in it," he explained with a nod at the cat-like baby. "They wanted t'drown him t'do the world a favor as they called it," he added with disgust in his voice and smiled when the baby curled up in his arms to seek the warmth he was radiating.

"How can people be so cruel and murder their own children?" Heather asked and, after coming closer, looked at the boy. "I'll get a blanket for him. We don't have any baby clothing here… But we can go and buy some things for him tomorrow. We need to go food shopping anyway." While she began to change the sheets, Logan changed into dry clothes and used one shirt to wrap the baby into it after being inventive and using a towel for a diaper. "Logan…," Heather said when he tucked the baby into the blanket and covered it with the duvet. "What happened between you and Jean?" she asked since she still remembered too well how happy he'd been with the redhead. The look he gave her was unreadable. "I mean… You seemed to love her so much and…"

"Later, okay?" he grunted and walked around the bed to sit down. "I'm pretty tired."

"Okay," she nodded and walked over to the door. "You know where everything is. Just make yourself at home." After receiving a nod and _thanks _from him she closed the door behind her and went over to the room she shared with James.

"Where've you been?" her husband asked sleepily and cuddled up to her again after she'd lain down.

"You wouldn't believe it anyway," she replied. "We have a guest."

"Guest?" James yawned and rested his head against her back while his arms were wrapped around her stomach. "Someone I know?"

"Mhm. It's Logan."

"What?" he asked and sat up as if a bee had stung him. "Logan?! What's he doing here?"

"Don't ask me. He said he was too tired to talk about it now," Heather said and pulled him back down. "And we have to go shopping for baby clothing tomorrow too. He brought a little…"

"Don't tell me he cheated on Jean!" he cut her off and was about to give his friend a sermon when she pulled him back again.

"No! He didn't!" she said. "James, just go to sleep now and let's find out later, okay?"

"Fine," he gave in and cuddled up to her again but with a sour look on his face. "But I swear to God if he cheated on her and that baby is his I'm going to…"

"Yeah, yeah, good night!" Heather said and closed her eyes.

In his room Logan rested his head on one arm and was looking at the little boy next to him. He hoped the baby wouldn't get sick due to the ice cold water and long ride. He'd done his best to change him into one of his shirts and keep him warm under his jacket. Reaching out, he stroked through the boy's brown fur and touched the pointed, but soft ears. If he didn't know better, Logan would have guessed that the child was in fact Beast's son. Smirking weakly, he lay down and tried to get comfortable in the unfamiliar bed. It didn't take long and he fell asleep.

* * *

"So…," James said while he leant against the fridge with a mug of coffee in his hand and watched how Logan fed the furry mutant baby, "just let me get this straight… Apocalypse killed you and Jean, you survived, she didn't, but then she was suddenly back and forced you to kill her, you were injured much later and blind and you bumped into her after a year, just to get to know how she talks with her negative about having been back for a whole year without telling anyone?" Without looking up Logan nodded. "And then…she says she loves you and your senses tell you it's a lie, but you were backed up by a friend and your brother, of whom I didn't even know that he's all of a sudden a good guy?" Again, James received a nod and this was reason enough for him to look at his teammates. "Is it only me or does it sound like one bad soap opera?!" 

"Logan…," Narya began and dropped the spoon with which she had stirred her coffee. "Think about it. Why would Jean do this?"

"Coz she's selfish," he growled and still looked at the sucking baby.

"Logan…," Heather sighed and shook her head. "You love her and she loves you!"

"Yeah?" he asked and glared daggers at her. "If ya _love _someone ya don't keep on lying t'that person, ya don't force that one to kill ya and cause even more pain. I forgave her that just t'get t'know that she'd been back for a damn fuckin' year without tellin' me and the tip of the iceberg was that she dares t'look me in the face and tells me that she love me and in fact she doesn't!" He fumed and put the empty bottle away to pat the baby's back. "This ain't _love_! I don't treat people I _love _like that!"

"Fine," she said and looked at the furry mutant baby. "Apart from your hurt pride… What about your children?"

"If it was up t'me, they'd be here," Logan grunted and cradled the boy in his arms.

"_That's_ selfish!" Narya said and received some nods from her friends. "Both of you should think about what's best for your children. They love the two of you and have been through too much in their life already."

"Well, they can thank their so-called mother for it," she heard him growling and sighed.

"Stop acting as if you hated her," she scolded him. "It's only your hurt pride that's speaking here. We have seen how devastated you have been after she'd died due to Apocalypse's attack. You've hardly spoken a word to us or Jean's father or reacted to anything at all. So you can't tell me that all of a sudden you hate her. You're hurt that's all!" Seeing his glare and how he got up, Narya looked at Heather for help.

"Have you listened to her? There must be a reason behind all this…," the redhead tried but Logan shook his head.

"She had lots of chances to explain herself," he growled and walked over to the door. "I ain't waistin' any more time on her!"

"Well,…," James sighed and emptied his mug. "Remember what I said back then? Seven years itch! It's true in the end…"

"I don't know…," Heather disagreed. "I think someone's messing with them… Jean loves Logan and he loves her. You've seen how happy they were with each other… Feelings like that just don't stop…"

"Yes, but you also know him, don't you?" he said and put the mug into the dishwasher. Hurt him and he's all reserved and mistrustful again."

"Do you think they even know where he is?" Narya asked but the look she received was answer enough.

When Logan walked back to his room and eyed the cat-like eyes of the boy curiously he looked up when he heard footsteps and saw an unfamiliar woman approaching him. "A new face," she smiled and pushed her long blonde hair back before she stopped in front of him. "You must be Logan," the woman went on. "I'm Jennifer."

"Good for ya," he grunted and walked past her, feeling neither like talking to anyone now nor to someone like her.

"Jerk!" Jennifer said aloud and stomped off to the kitchen where she began to complain about him.

"Well, he's like that when he's in a bad mood," Heather shrugged. "Logan's a good guy. He's just…."

"…his old grumpy self," James finished with a look that spoke volumes and left the room.

"I think he's rude," Jennifer said and got one of her low-fat snacks out of the fridge.

"He doesn't know you that's all," Narya replied and left the kitchen next.

"For how long's he gonna stay here anyway?"

"I don't know…," Heather shrugged. "Did he go to his room? We need to go shopping." Waiting for a reply, she only received a shrug and rolled her eyes. "Thanks anyway." After leaving the kitchen behind, she made her way to Logan's room and knocked carefully. "Hey, we wanted to go shopping now, you coming?"

"Nope."

"Why not?" she asked and closed the door behind her. "I thought the boy needs clothes and stuff?"

"He does, but what do ya want me t'do?" Logan asked and tucked the sleeping baby into the blanket. "I can't take him with me without people tryin' t'kill him coz he screams mutant."

"Well…," she said and crossed her arms. "I don't know what a baby needs… Narya can care for him while we go shopping."

"Did she ever care for a baby?" he asked in a knowing undertone and nodded after reading the look on his friend's face. "As I thought." Getting up he took a pen and paper from the drawer nearby and began to write down what a baby needed, before he handed it to her with some money.

"He needs that much?!" she asked shocked and looked up.

"Well, what do ya think?" Logan grunted and cocked an eyebrow at her.

"How can a baby need that much?!" Heather asked and shook her head while she went over the list. "You sure he needs so many diapers?"

"Darlin', I've five kids…," he said as if he thought she was dumb. "So, yeah…he needs that much."

Watching how he went over to check on the newborn's breathing, she folded the paper and looked at it for a while. "Why are you taking care of him, Logan?" she asked him and received another glare and cocked eyebrow. "I mean…if you miss your children then why are you here?"

"Are ya sayin' I should have left him in the river?!" he growled angered.

"No!" she instantly said. "But…, I don't know… He's not your child and… I mean you don't have to care for him, you know? We could look for foster parents or something like that."

"Foster parents?" he asked slowly and received a nod. "I could tell ya some stories about students of Xavier's who have been with foster parents and what they did t'them just because the kids are mutants. The lil' mites stayin' with me."

"Okay…," Heather shrugged and turned to leave. "Anything else you need?"

"Just the casual stuff," he grunted without looking at her.

* * *

"I don't know…," Isa shrugged and looked at her feet while they hit the stony border of the pond with a constant _clong clong clong_. "I think he will come tomorrow…" 

"It's your birthday and daddies have to be there on a birthday," TJ added with a nod. "I'm sure Uncle Logan will come tomorrow."

"And what if daddy doesn't come to my birthday?" Rachel asked depressed and hugged her legs while she looked at the half frozen water in the pond. "He said that he wouldn't come back because he doesn't like mommy at the moment…"

"But he also said that he loves us and would come to see us," Laura disagreed and began to glare when two older boys approached them with whom she and Jack had a fight just the day before.

"As if he would care about you," one of them, called Mike said and grinned at his friend. "It's no wonder that he left them. Everyone knows that they are weirdos."

"They are not!" Isa said and crossed her arms but hid behind TJ when the boy's eyes narrowed and he came closer.

"You've gotta say something?!" Chris asked and pushed the two girls roughly.

"Leave them alone!" Laura growled and jumped off the pond, while also Rachel began to hide behind Isa and TJ.

"Or what?" Mike asked her provocatively. "I told you before that I don't like your big mouth!"

"And I don't like you!" she gave back unimpressed and bared her teeth at him.

Laughing when he saw that, Chris gave his friend a look. "She's such an animal," he mocked. "She thinks she's a dog or something."

"Yeah, as I said….weirdos!" Mike agreed. "And now get out of my way, dog!" he added with a hiss and shoved her aside. "Move!"

"Leave my sister alone!" Jack growled and approached the group followed by his twin sister.

"Stay out of it!" Chris warned him and raised his hand to be ready for an attack if necessary.

"Why? Let him come." Mike said and smirked at the smaller boy. "If he thinks that a weakling like him can win against us." He crossed his arms and smirked, knowing that a nearly 9 year old boy could never do something against a 15 and 16 year old teen.

"I'm not a weakling!" Jack growled and clenched his fists.

"No, of course not," his opposite laughed. "I haven't seen a ten year old that's as tiny as you. Dwarf!"

"Jack's not tiny!" Isa snapped and narrowed her eyes. "You're mean!"

"Uh, the runt has a girlfriend," Chris grinned, which made Jack only madder. "I think we should call for help or the baby's girl will slap us." Joining his friend's laughter he suddenly cried out and stared right into the black eyes of a growling Laura, who was baring her teeth with a snarl and had buried her two claws into his right thigh. "You little…," he hissed and used his powers to attack her, but didn't reckon with the girl to duck that fast. Instead of her the beam hit Jack, who flew against the stony pond and hit the ground next.

"Jack!" TJ and Isa shrieked at the same time, while Rachel had begun to cry and Lily watched with widened eyes how her brother's blood ran down his cheek and dropped onto the ground. Beginning to pant, while Laura attacked the two boys with her claws again, the girl watched in horror how her twin brother raised his head and glared at the two boys full of hatred. But what shocked her even more was that his eyes were pitch-black and the wound on his forehead began to heal. Before she could say something Jack extracted both pairs of claws on his hands and leapt at Mike with an angry roar.

"Make them stop!" Rachel cried and buried her hands in her red hair while she watched how the two boys began to use their powers on her two siblings, as those tried to hit them with their claws and drowned in their berserker rage. When another beam hit Lily instead of Laura, she hardly noticed how the girl joined the fight next due to her tears. "Stop!" she begged once more, when next to her a loud _bamf_ could be heard, indicating that TJ had teleported away to get help.

Standing next to the fighting mutants, Isa watched how the brawl went on and flinched every time someone landed a hit, which was accompanied by a cry out in pain. Panting heavily and crying in fear, she looked aside just to widen her eyes when she noticed that Rachel was covered in flames. Before she was even able to blink her friend screamed once more for the others to stop the fight, as she already flew backwards and hit the ground meters away from the pond. Only feeling how pain rushed through her arm the girl remained sobbing on the ground.

When her eyes returned back to normal, Rachel took a look around in confusion and noticed that her siblings and the two boys lay meters away from her on the ground, and were either slowly getting up or groaning in pain. Not knowing what had happened but feeling that it was her fault, she began to cry and ran quickly away in fear of an adult finding out.

"What happened here?" Scott asked and knelt down next to the still sobbing Isa, who tried to protect her arm from him. Shocked and confused at the same time, the man looked around. "Isa, what happened?!" he asked again but figured that the girl wouldn't reply so soon. From afar he watched how Remy, Hank and Peter tried to separate Jack and Laura from the two teens, while Bobby and Rogue were running towards him.

"Baby, what happened?!" the woman asked panicky and knelt down next to her daughter at the same time as Bobby.

"Mommy!" the girl cried and clung to her mother, sobbing even heavier.

"Take her to Moira," Scott said and got up to jog over to his teammates, who tried to calm down the three children that were still caught in a berserker rage and only wanted to hurt the two teenage boys. "Damn it, snap out of it!" he shouted and grabbed Jack's collar roughly, while Remy tried to keep his arms wrapped around Lily, Peter doing the same with Laura and Hank helping Mike and Chris up, who both looked like someone that had been hit by a car. "After the two of you have been to the infirmary I want both of you in the Professor's office. Understood?" Scott asked them angrily and received weak nods. "And you calm down!" he added towards Jack, who was still growling and panting heavily. While he held him close to his chest and could tell that the boy was slowly changing back to normal, he dared to take a closer look around. The pond clearly looked like close to break, at least he was able to see that water was leaking through the stones. The next thing he noticed was that the grass underneath him looked like being burned by fire. Only able to shake his head, Scott looked up when Remy, Hank and Peter came closer. "This…is getting out of control!" he said and got up with a still slightly snarling Jack in his arms. "And where is Rachel?"

"Here," a gruff and cold voice suddenly said behind them, which made all of them turn at once. Surprised to see James, Heather and Narya standing in the garden Scott's eyes switched instantly to a more than pissed-off looking Logan, who held his crying daughter on his arm and was glaring at them. "_Where_…is Jean?!" Logan growled and, if it was even possible, narrowed his eyes even more.

* * *

"It's worse than I thought…," Heather said to her husband in a hushed voice while they sat with some of the others in the rec-room and waited for Logan to stop shouting. "I haven't seen him being that mad in years…" 

"Well, I can't remember that I've heard him shouting like that before at all…," Narya mumbled and exchanged a look with James.

"Then you should stick around more often," a voice from the door said and Hank entered. Smiling at them, he shook their hands. "But I have to admit I haven't seen him that angry for a while either…"

"What happened between Jean and him?" Heather asked after he'd sat down on another sofa. "I mean they were so happy with each other and since Logan lives with us again…"

"We didn't even know that he was living with you," he replied and leant back with a sigh. "I mean it was obvious that he would come back for Rachel's birthday tomorrow, but I don't think anyone else besides John knew where he really was. For how long is he already staying with you?"

Tearing his eyes away from the door where he had clearly heard how a door was slammed shut somewhere on the corridor, James turned back to Hank. "Actually he arrived…two or three days after New Year," he said and looked at Heather for confirmation. "Right?"

"Yes," she nodded. "He asked if he could move back in but never really said what happened between them."

"And he can't tell me that he hates her. He's in a constant bad mood since he lives with us," James added when he heard Logan coming closer but still arguing with Jean as if there was no tomorrow.

"I don't fuckin' care, 'kay?" they heard their friend shouting and watched how he stopped at the door when the redhead moved so that she was in front of him.

"I can't be everywhere at the same time, Logan!" she gave back, which made him only madder.

"If ya have children ya have t'be _everywhere at the same time_!" he snapped and glared at her. "And when I took care of'em all by myself somethin' like that _never _happened. Not once!"

Heaving a deep breath, Jean ran both hands over her face and shook her head. "You can't just decide to take them with you!"

"Wrong," he hissed and moved past her but she blocked the door. "I told ya if they wanted t'live with me, they'd live with me and since ya made perfectly clear that ya can't handle'em by yourself…"

"I _can _handle them but since you left they've become more than difficult!"

"Well _who_'s the reason I left!" Logan asked cynically and shoved her out of his way. "Get out of my sight before I say somethin' I regret!"

"Logan…," she said and tried to get a hold on him but he turned with a warning growl.

"Get…out of my sight!" he shouted and watched her retreating before he ran a hand through his hair. "Where're my kids?" he asked Hank sourly.

"Don't you want to sit down and calm down first?" his friend asked but the glare he received was answer enough. "Well, I think Scott brought them upstairs and Jamie should be with…"

"He's here," a voice next to him said all of a sudden and Hank was glad to see Logan's mood lighten up at least a bit when he saw his youngest, but he also noticed the looks James, Heather and Narya exchanged with each other after they'd recognized the man, who was now standing next to Logan.

"Hey," this one smiled and pulled his son closer while nuzzling the neck and placing a kiss on Jamie's head.

"He's sleeping for at least two hours already," John informed him and received a nod. "And the Professor wants to talk to you…"

Shaking his head, Logan began to walk towards the West Wing's door. "He can wait until tomorrow. I wanna see my kids now."

"'kay, I'll tell him," his brother nodded and buried his hands in his jeans pockets.

"_I heard him, John, but thank you!"_

"God, it's creepy when you do that," the man shuddered and took notice of the odd looks he was given.

Since Hank was still aware of them, too, he cleared his throat. "Well,…you might not remember them, John, but you actually fought against their group," he said before he turned to Heather, Narya and James. "This is John, Logan's older brother," he introduced the man, who entered the room to offer the strangers his hand.

"I'm sorry for that. But I can't remember that part, you know," John apologized and tried hard to remember their faces but it didn't help.

"He's actually a very nice guy," Hank teased him and received a look. "What? It's true! You're not as moody as Logan." Patting the man's shoulder with a smile, he looked up when Logan suddenly reappeared and beckoned him to follow him. "Excuse me."

"Well…," John began and scratched the back of his head, hating the feeling that the strangers knew him but he was unable to remember them or what he'd done. "Anyway, the Professor wanted me to show you to your rooms."

"How old are you, John?" James asked out of interest and grabbed his and Heather's bag.

"Let me do that," John offered and took Narya's bag. "I was born January 15 1885."

"Really?" Narya asked and eyed him curiously. "That means you're…132 years old. Wow." She blushed when he gave her a brief smile. Something that James commented with a grin.

"For how long are you already staying with them?" Heather asked and followed him upstairs and down the corridor.

"Uhm…," he made and tried to remember it. "About a year I think…"

"Must be tough to know that you have a brother but not knowing where he lives, while he thinks you're dead," Narya said to herself since she had heard about it.

"Well, I found him, right? Not on the way I'd planned…but in the end it worked out," he said with a smile at her and stopped in front of a door. "Okay, here you go." He handed James the keys and beckoned Narya to follow him. He led her further down the corridor before he checked the number on the second key. "That's your room," he said and opened the door before he placed her bag onto the bed.

"Thank you," she smiled and pushed her blonde hair back a bit. "Where's your room?"

"Six doors to your right," he smirked and walked back to the door. "Anyway, if you need anything, just ask." Returning her smile, he left the room and nearly bumped into Scott, who was obviously looking for someone.

"Hey, do you know where Logan is?"

"He went to his rooms, why?"

Scott began to walk backwards while he kept eye contact with him. "I need to talk with him about some stuff," he said. "Hank said that Logan wants to have the children?" He gave a nod back after receiving one. "Well, we both know the answer to that, right?" With that he turned and headed for the West Wing, where Logan was occupied with cleaning his children.

Laura and Rachel were already cleaned up and sat, wrapped in towels on the sofa, while the twins still sat in the bathtub and enjoyed being taken care of. Their father was done with shampooing their hair and reached for the shower head to wash the stuff out of it. He noticed that all of his children were awfully quiet the whole time through. "I ain't mad with ya, 'kay?" he said and held up a towel for Jack to wrap the boy into it, before he did the same with Lily and pulled both of them out of the tub.

"But grandpa was," Lily sniffed and rubbed her eye while her father wrapped her hair into another towel. "They attacked us first, daddy. They keep on bullying Laura and Jack." Following him into the living room, she sat down on the sofa next to her brother and waited for Logan to return with clothes for them to wear.

"They keep on saying that he's a baby and dwarf," Laura told him and noticed how her father's look darkened when Jack began to sob.

After handing each of them something new to wear, Logan knelt down in front of his son and began to towel him off, smiling weakly when Jack's hair looked messy as ever. "Ya ain't a dwarf, 'kay?" he told him and remembered too well how he'd been bullied first when he'd worked in that mine decades ago, since he'd been short of statue for years. Especially that Smutje guy had loved to beat him up because of it…

"But…I'm smaller than other children of my age," his son sobbed and turned away from him. "Even Isa's taller than me…"

"Look," Logan began but the boy avoided his touch. "Jack, look at me," he said a bit more forcefully and made him look up. "I've been smaller than others for years too. It'll change, trust me. And then they won't laugh about ya anymore and besides…," Logan said and tipped Jack's forehead with his index finger. "I taught ya t'fight back if someone bullies ya."

"We did and we got detention for it," Laura sulked. "And grandpa said that we could have seriously injured them, but it was them who attacked us first…"

Sighing, Logan shook his head and wiped his son's tears away before he helped him to get dressed. "Anyway, ya were right t'fight back. I don't care what grandpa says but I don't want ya t'give in when someone treats ya badly, understood?" he asked and received a weak nod.

"Will you stay, daddy?" Rachel asked him sadly and looked down when he shook his head.

"I'll stay for a week, pumkin'," he replied and took their towels to bring them back into the bathroom, as it knocked on the door and Scott entered.

"Hey, can we talk?" he asked and received a shrug. Since he noticed that the children were watching them, he nodded at the balcony. "On the outside?"

"About what?" Logan sighed and closed the door behind him just to cross his arms when the cool breeze hit him.

"Hank said that you want to have the children," Scott said in a hushed voice, trying to prevent that the children picked up on it.

"So? I ain't gonna leave'em with Jean. That's for sure!" his teammate grunted and lit a cigar. While he waited for the smoke to calm his nerves he took a look around the garden and noticed the burned grass at the pond.

"I know…," Scott said and wrapped his arms around himself when he began to shiver. "What I was going to say is… Everyone of us, I'd bet even Charles, would agree that the children would be better of with you, no doubt in that," he went on and noticed the cocked eyebrow Logan gave him. "Jean is just… She's difficult since you left. She refuses to talk with anyone and the Professor thinks that Phoenix is fighting against her."

"But…," Logan asked and leant back against the banister, sensing a _but _coming up.

"But think about it… In case of an attack we can protect them way better than you," he heard Scott saying and narrowed his eyes. "We can shut down the school, can get to you within a few minutes if necessary and have more mutants here to defend and protect them than Alpha Flight has…"

"I promised them that they could live with me if they want t' and Jack said he doesn't want t'stay here anymore," Logan disagreed. "So he doesn't have t'stay here and that's final."

"Logan…," Scott sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Think about it. How often have we been attacked and taken by surprise. What if they attack you and Alpha Flight and you can't contact us that fast? James said often enough that our technology was better. Forget about promises and your stubbornness and think about the situation we are in now… The best thing would still be if you moved back in…"

"Nope! Ain't gonna happen," Logan replied and shook his head. "Coz I can't guarantee what I'm gonna do if she's around me."

Nodding, his opposite looked around the dark garden. "Any idea how you're going to do it tomorrow? Is Jean celebrating with Rachel in the first 12 hours and you in the last 12 hours?"

"Funny!" Logan growled. "Dunno… I planned to take'em out. See a movie or somethin' like that."

"And Jean?"

"Don't care what she's gonna do as long as she stays away from me."

"Fine…," Scott shrugged and walked back to the door. "But think about what I said. Everyone understands that the children would be better off with you, but from what things look like at the moment they are safer here…"

"Where's my wolf and dog?" Logan asked but saw both animals coming out of the wood and towards the mansion. "Who lets them'em stroll around without bein' watched?" he demanded to know angrily and put the rest of his cigar into the ashtray. Cursing under his breath, he went back inside.

Since it was soon time for dinner, he led his children downstairs with Jamie on his arm and followed by Miloh and Callie. In the kitchen Logan was greeted by Rogue, Kitty and Jubilee, receiving strong hugs from them before he was allowed to sit down. "Jesus, has he grown!" Heather said when she noticed Jamie for real for the first time. "How old is he now?" she asked and stroked over the boy's cheek, smiling even wider when he grinned and hid his face in his father's chest.

"1 ½ years," Logan grunted and pulled Jamie further up. "Right, pumkin?" he asked and chuckled as his son cheered when he was raised into the air. Cradling him into his arms, he placed him into the high chair that was next to his stool and sat down on his next to his children. Smirking, he exchanged a grin with James since Narya and John were still talking and laughing with each other. Wobbling his eyebrows at James, he turned his head aside when Lily pocked into his side. "Hm?"

"Do you sleep with us, daddy?" she asked hopefully and just as he was about to answer Jean entered the room.

"You can use our rooms for your stay. I sleep in my old room," she said and sat down opposite of him without looking up.

Snorting, he sipped on his beer and looked aside when Jubilee begged for his attention. "Can we talk to you later, Wolvie?" she asked and made clear that she meant herself and Rogue with it.

"Sure," he shrugged.

After dinner he sent his children upstairs and went outside with Rogue and Jubilee. "So…what do ya wanna talk to me about?" he asked and began to smoke another cigar.

"Well…," Rogue began and exchanged a look with Jubilee. "We just wanted…, you know…"

Chuckling, Logan crossed his arms in front of his chest and cocked an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"We just… Well, Bobby proposed to me on New Year's Eve…," Jubilee said and played with her jacket nervously.

"And Remy to me…," Rogue added.

"So? Congrats!" Logan shrugged, still not understanding what they wanted from him.

"We didn't say yes so far," she told him and he coked both eyebrows.

"Why not?" he asked surprised since, as far as he remembered, both were happy with their partners.

"Because we wanted to ask if you give your consent first …," Rogue said and Jubilee nodded, which surprised him even more.

"My consent?" he asked and they nodded. "Why?!"

"Kitty asked you too if you were fine with Peter," Jubilee said and Logan sighed.

"Yeah, and I told her that it's her decision," he replied and watched how the smoke disappeared into the night. "Look…, I'm honored, really. But why?"

"You are like a father to us, Wolvie," she said and looked down in embarrassment. "And girls need the okay of their father, right?" Biting her lip hard, she began to rock back and forth while she looked at her feet.

Trying to figure out what he should say or think, Logan looked to and fro between the two girls and couldn't help but feel touched. Years ago it had already surprised him when Kitty had asked him if he was fine with her marrying Peter and had even wanted him to give her away… Clearing his throat, he looked at his cigar and put the rest of it back into his pocket. What was the best to say in such a moment? He scratched the back of his head and looked at the two girls while thinking hard. "Look,…I ain't your father, I'm your friend," he began but instantly Jubilee shook her head. "I'm honored that ya see me as one, really… But I can only give ya the same advice I gave Kitty," he corrected himself and knew he had their fullest attention. "If ya think they are the right guys for ya, then go ahead. Just make sure it's what ya really want."

"So you agree?" Rogue asked hopefully and went over to hug him after he shrugged, accompanied by Jubilee. "Thanks, Logan!"

"So that's the reason why the Cajun and Popsicle gave me impatient looks, huh?" Logan asked and let go of them again. "Ya could have just asked John for my number and called me, instead ya make your men wait for an answer for almost two months."

"No, we had to ask you personally," Rogue smiled and could tell that Jubilee was close to bursting with joy. When Logan said he had to go back inside they followed him, when the girl behind her suddenly grabbed her by her arms.

"We are now officially fiancées!" Jubilee shouted and hugged her laughing, which made Logan shake his head.

"I really feel sorry for him…," he mumbled and went back upstairs.

* * *

"So, what do you think?" Hank asked after telling his wife what Logan had told him. He watched how she sat on their bed and looked down. 

"Honestly?" she asked and he nodded. "I can't believe that parents just throw their baby away and try to drown it just because it is a mutant," she spat and cradled the boy in her arms. "How can humans be so cruel and call us animals? I haven't heard about mutants murdering their children so far."

"Yes, Logan said the same," he nodded and sat down next to her to look at the boy, who was peacefully sleeping in his baby-blue blanket. "So,…what do you think?" he asked once more.

"I don't know… It will change a lot and…we would have to change our routine," Moira said while she was still looking at the boy. "What about you?" she asked and looked up, watching how Hank reached out to stroke over the baby's cheek.

"I don't know," he replied. "But he needs parents and a home. And I doubt that Charles would send him away either. I mean with his looks…," he trailed off and thought that he knew best what it meant to look like a furry lion and live with normal looking people. He knew why Logan had asked him if he could care for the boy… "I wouldn't mind though… But I leave the decision to you."

"Well…," Moira sighed and handed the baby over to him, which he interpreted as a "no". "They already said we would make great parents, didn't they?"

"Is that a yes?" he asked and looked up at her, which she answered with a kiss and a smile. "I knew I picked the right woman as my wife."

Giggling, she noticed something. "What's his name by the way?"

"Logan said Heather named him Nicholas since he kept on calling him boy."

"Yes, that's how I pictured it," she nodded and began to look around the room they shared. "It will get quiet crowded in here, I think…"

"_Don't worry about that, Moira. There are still enough rooms left,"_ Charles voice echoed in their heads and made both mutants smile.

"Well, if that's the case…we have to move into another room tomorrow," she said and sat back down next to her husband, just to hear a knock at the door.

"Hallo," Kurt greeted them.

"I knew it was you," Hank smiled since he was sure that there had been a distant _bamf _on the corridor.

"The Professor said you could use this," the man said and handed Moira some diapers, clothes and a bed.

"Is it from 'Ro and you?" Hank asked and watched how the things were brought inside, but Kurt shook his head.

"Logan brought the thing vith him," the man explained and helped Moira to push the bed over to the bigger one.

"Thank you," she smiled and he nodded.

"Bitteschön!" With that he disappeared again.

"First problem solved, I guess," Hank said and got up to put the boy into the bed. "I think we should go to sleep too, what do you think?" He watched how his wife walked over to the bedroom with a mysterious smile on her face.

"I think….that I know who will get up first when he starts crying," she laughed and closed the door behind her quickly when he snarled playfully at her.

* * *

In his rooms Logan was still awake the day afterwards. While he lay in bed, his head propped up on one arm, he watched over his sleeping children next to him and gave Callie and Miloh, who lay both at the end of the bed and were soundly asleep, a look from time to time. The day had been difficult and he felt more than bad for Rachel's birthday to have turned out like this. 

As he'd planned he had taken his children and Anna, Isa and TJ to the movies, then to Pizza Hut and had returned home in the evening to spend more time with them. Since Jean and he had been forced to do everything together, he had ended up sitting on one side in the theatre and Jean on the other, but Rachel had insisted to sit between them, so what other chance did he have than to sit closer to Jean than he'd liked to?

Before they had to go to bed Jack had stated his wish once more that he didn't want to stay here but wanted to come with him back to Canada. And this had been the hardest part. Logan knew that Scott was right and that the children's safety was more important than anything else. So the fight had begun right after he had told them that it wasn't possible. Before he had any chance to explain they whys Jack had begun to throw a tantrum, which had started by _you promised_, went over to _you lied to us_ and had ended with _I hate you_. In the end he had managed to calm the boy down enough for him to explain why it wasn't possible and that they had to stay here for their own safety and that if it was up to him, they would come with him to Canada and…wherever else the long discussion had led to.

In the end the children had wanted to sleep with him again and had finally fallen asleep somewhere around 2 a.m. And since then…he lay awake, unable to sleep and tried to find a solution to the mess. He wouldn't stay that was for sure. So if he wanted to keep them sane he had to travel down more often than he'd intended to…, had to comeback next month and stay for at least two weeks and travel back up again… In April he had to do the same, but knew that he wanted to have his children in May for the twins' birthday. No, he hadn't thought that it would become that difficult at all…

Heaving a deep breath, Logan pulled the pillow closer after tucking Jack back in and made sure that Jamie wasn't in danger to be rolled over, before he closed his eyes and hoped to find some sleep. Even if it was already past 5 a.m. in the morning…

**Didn't think that I would finish it today since it's already 4 a.m. here and I wrote the rest while listening, yep, listening!, to X-Men 2, since I can't watch and write at the same time. LOL Nicholas is a real character btw., called Wolf Cub and I hope I satisfied the wish from one of you by showing the children's powers. Anyway, thanks to all reviewers, I hope I replied to all of you and didn't forget one. I also hope you liked this chapter and will leave a review. I'll try to update my other stories soon too. See ya!!**


	30. Timeline

**Author's note: **This one one bitch to write... But since I needed a timeline to stop getting confused and mixing things up and then going ack to look for the correct chapters...I did it. And it just took me 4 hours. LOL So, maybe it helps some of you with the story and sammygirl should be happy now too (since she kept on telling me "You need a timeline! You need a timeline! Did you write a timeline already?!" LOL). If not, just ignore it.

The timeline includes my version of Logan's past. That means: Also things that haven't been mentioned before.

It also includes the birthday of ProfX, Magneto, Scott, Jean, Ororo und Angel. The similarities between Scott's and Jean's birthdate and Logan's background was unintentional. I just noticed it myself.

Comments would be nice. I will update the timeline randomly. I deleted the spoiler at the end for the moment and yes, I'm currently typing on the new chapter. ; )

So, what do you think? Helpful or not?

* * *

_**Timeline**_

**Before:**

**John Howlett: **January 15 1885

**Dog Logan aka Sabretooth born: **1895

**Logan: **born December 2 1897

**Logan's father is murdered and his powers show: **December 1909

**Logan escapes to Alberta with Rose: **December 1909

**Logan grows up as a mine worker in Alberta: December **1909 – 1914

**Logan lives in the woods with wolves after Rose died: **1914-1916

**Logan joins the Canadian Army during First WW: **1916-1918

**Logan trains under Ogun: **1923-1930

**Erik Lensherr/Magneto: **born 1937

**Logan takes part in the Second WW: **1939-1945

**Logan rescues Erik Lensherr with the help of Captain America: **1944

**Erik Lensherr is brought to the US: **1945

**Charles Xavier: **born 1949

**Logan works as a mercenary after the war**

**Logan goes to Japan and meets Mariko: **1959

**Logan becomes a Canadian agent: **1960

**He does their dirty work**

**Logan takes part in the Cold War: **1962-1963

**Logan takes part in the Vietnam War: **1963-1967

**Logan goes back to Japan: **1967

**Logan marries Mariko: **1967

**They adopt Amiko: **1968

**Mariko is poisoned by her family: **1969

**Scott Summers: **born 1969

**Logan arrived at Jasmine Falls: **1970

**Logan marries Itsu: **1974

**Jean Grey: **born 1974

**Itsu was murdered and Daken stolen: **1975

**Ororo Munroe: **born 1976

**Logan lives with Silverfox: **1978

**Silverfox is murdered by Sabretooth: **1979

**Logan seeks revenge and is badly wounded by Sabretooth: **1979

**Logan is forced into the Weapon X project: **1980

**Logan works for Weapon X in Team X and is controlled by them: **1980-1987

**Warren/Angel: **born 1983

**Adamantium bonding: **November 15 1983

**Wolverine brakes out of Weapon X: **1987

**Wolverine lives in the woods in Canada: **1987-1989

**The Hudsons find Wolverine and take him home with them: **1989

**Rehab: **1989-1990

**Logan works for the Canadian government again/Department H: **1990-1994

**Logan leaves Alpha Flight and is contacted by the CIA: **1994-1996

**Logan works for S.H.I.E.L.D.: **1996-1998

**Logan disappears in Canada**

**The X-Men rescue Rogue and Logan: **2003** (since the Prof says "It's been 15 years" to Logan and refers to him living without a memory, 1989 15 years)**

**Logan joins the X-Men: **2004

**Logan leaves for Canada: **2004

**Logan returns to the mansion: **2005

**Jean dies at Alkali Lake: **2005

**Dark Phoenix rises: **2006

**Logan kills Jean: **2006

**Logan leaves the mansion and returns to Canada, he meets the barman from X1: **2006

**Logan stays with Alpha Flight, but leaves again: **2006

**After two weeks of driving around in the States, he returns to the mansion: **2006

* * *

**Changes**

**Begin: **2006, 4 months after X-Men 3

**The Professor returns: **2006, 4 months after X3

**Jean returns: **2006, 4 months after X3

**Logan and Jean get together: **8 months after her return

**Scott returns: **end of 2007

**Jack/Lily born: **May 10 2008

**Isa: **born August 31 2008

**Wedding: **May 10 2009

**TJ: **born June 6 2010

* * *

**In-between: **

**Ray: **born February 15 2010

**Ororo/Kurt wedding: **June 20 2010

**Kitty/Peter wedding: **March 28 2013

* * *

**Changes 2:**

**Begin: **May 11 2013

**Logan goes to Japan for 10 months: **October 2013

**Jake: **born February 15 2014

**Logan comes back: **June 2014

**Cable visits Jean and warns her: **January 1 2015

**Logan regains his memory: **February 8 2015

**Alex Logan: **born February 8 2015

**Tommy: **born May 2015

**Jamie: **born August 17 2015

**Laura: **found at the end of August

**Logan tells Jean about his past: **late October 2015

**Jean-Luc: **born 22 December 2015

* * *

**Changes 3:**

**Begin: **2015

**Jean captured and exchanged, Madelyn Prior takes her place: **December 31 2015

**Jean dies: **beginning of January 2016

**Jean comes back: **January 2016

**Hank/Moira wedding: **August 25 2016

**The X-Men rescue Magneto, Juggernaut and Pyro: **September 2016

**Sabretooth attacks Ororo: **September 2016

**Logan wants to go back to Canada: **October 2016

**Logan gets wounded on a mission: **October 2016

**Logan wakes up and is blind: **November 2016

**Logan leaves and goes back to Canada: **end of December 2016

**Logan stays with Alpha Flight: **January 2017-???


	31. Chapter 29

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!! : )

Things written in **BOLD** and _ITALICS_ are taken from **Changes Chapter 37**, things with _ITALICS _only mean flashback.

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 29**

When Mystique woke up she was once more alone in bed. She sat up a bit and looked towards the bathroom door but the lights were out and she could only hear her son breathing in his sleep. She pulled the duvet aside and stood up, checked on Alex briefly and tucked him back in before she left the room. Freezing, she wrapped her arms around herself and walked down the corridor. She knew where she'd find him, she somehow always did. And she was right…

"Scott…," the woman sighed and leant tiredly against the doorframe while she looked at the man in the kitchen, who was starring at the coffee in his mug. He didn't seem to be too happy that she was here either. "Is it possible that you stay in bed two nights in a row?"

"Can't sleep…," he mumbled and swallowed a bit of the liquid that was cold by now. "Go back to bed, Raven."

"Why?" she asked and sat down opposite of him. "You'll wake me up anyway when you finally decide to come back to bed…" He shrugged and watched his coffee again. "Scott… I'm sick of this, okay?"

"Of us?" he asked and looked up, his eyes unreadable behind the glasses.

"No, of you not sleeping well for weeks by now. Every second or third night I wake up and you are gone," she said accusingly. "What the hell is wrong with you? Do you feel the need to take Logan's place now that he's gone?

"Funny!" Scott snapped and got up to put the cup into the sink.

"What's wrong with you lately?" Mystique asked concerned and grabbed his hand when he was about to walk past her. "You really look terrible…"

"Thanks," he mumbled and wanted to leave the room, but saw how worried she was. "It's nothing…"

"It's something!" she replied and beckoned him to sit down next to her. "Don't you trust me?"

"Of course!" Scott sighed and finally sat down to bury his hands in his hair.

"Obviously not. You keep on pushing me away…" Knowing that she sounded accusingly again, she briefly lowered her eyes. In the end she covered his hand with hers and entwined their fingers. "What's wrong?"

Heaving a deep breath, Scott's shoulders slumped and he wished he was elsewhere. "When Logan was blind…," he began but broke off. "Well, the Professor wanted me to talk to him and tell him what being blind was like for me when I was a teen."

Nodding, Mystique began to frown. "And…that's why you can't sleep?"

"Yes… I mean… No."

"Yes or no?" she asked puzzled.

"Raven, I really don't want to talk about this," Scott said and was about to get up when she pushed him back down.

"Whatever it is, it obviously bothers you so much that you can't sleep well for weeks," Mystique disagreed and tilted her head a bit to meet his eyes behind his glasses. He looked at her in surprise when she changed into her human form, her eyes showing more emotions that way. "Did you…make bad experiences and…" She shrugged. "I don't know… Talking to Logan triggered memories somehow?" she asked but he remained silent. "Scott… What is it?"

He held her gaze for a moment and sighed. He knew her well enough by now to know that she would keep on bothering him about it. "Yes, I made bad experiences, okay? I just don't like talking about it."

"But it's bothering you," Mystique disagreed. "You're tired throughout the day because you don't get enough sleep at night, you're snappy and grumpy and I already heard your students talking about it. And I'm not mentioning your son now…"

"God, what do you want to hear?!" Scott snapped in annoyance.

"See?" she said coolly and crossed her arms, her icy blue eyes glaring at him. "That's exactly what I mean!" She was able to tell that he was rolling his eyes behind his glasses and tried to calm down. "It was you who wanted us to be honest with each other!"

His face hardened and he got up, both hands buried in the hair on the back of his head, his heart racing in anger and fear. What was he supposed to tell her anyway? Scott stopped at the window and looked out into the dark garden, saw in the window how her worried eyes were still upon him. So…he had two opportunities: telling her the truth and risking losing her or keeping the truth to himself and risking that she would bother him about it every day… He supported himself with both arms against the frame and sighed.

Mystique, who hadn't reckoned with it, looked up when he began to tell her about his past. How his parents had died during a plane crash and he and his brother had been separated, how he had grown up with foster parents and then, on a prom, his powers had manifested and he'd blown a hole into the wall of the men's toilet, how he had refused to open his eyes from then on, since the blast wouldn't stop and he was kicked out of his home, landed on the street and had often not eaten anything in days. She tried to imagine what it must have been like for him, what it felt like to live on the streets, not being able to see anything, begging for food or money and not knowing if you were probably watched by some pervert, who only waited for a chance to kidnap and kill you… The woman listened further, asked herself why he stopped talking abruptly. "So he gave you a place to stay? That's good, isn't it?"

"_Good_?!" Scott asked and laughed bitterly. "Yeah, sure…" He sighed and turned to look at her. "Is that enough?"

"I doubt that this is the reason why you're suffering from insomnia," Mystique said. "So this man took you home and gave you a place to stay for the winter. What happened then?"

"Raven…," he said in annoyance and began to massage his forehead with one hand.

"No! What happened then?" Mystique demanded to know.

"I'd to work for him to pay for what I needed, okay?" Scott said, implying that he was done with it. He began to walk towards the door when she shook her head while being in thoughts.

"But… This is not bad," she said and looked at him. "Why are you lying to me, Scott? Do you really believe I buy that story?"

"Do whatever you want," he snapped and felt how his blood began to boil when she followed him through the corridors, kept on asking him and complaining and calling him names and… He closed his eyes to prevent himself from snapping, but he was close, too close. The weeks of lack of sleep were finally showing and he turned around. "I was a junkie because of him, Raven! Because of him I was a heavy drug addict, because of him I was a boy toy, someone who only lived for making money to get his daily fix," he shouted at her. "Because of that bastard I slept with more men than I can even remember or count for years!" Breathing heavily, he glared at her but only until he noticed the shocked look on her face. It was then that he realized what he'd just done and the anger was gone, only to be replaced by shame. Without saying anything else he turned around and left her standing in the middle of the dark corridor…

In his room, Charles Xavier sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. The dark and self-destructive thoughts he picked up on worried him. Of course he knew about the state the man, who was like a son to him, was in and not being able to help him worried him even the more. "Scott?" he said mentally but had to close his eyes when thought and emotions washed like a giant wave over him. The mind of his former student was too much a chaos to find a beginning he could work with. "Raven?" he tried instead and hit a wall that consisted of shock, fear, worry…too much. "Raven?" Charles tried once more and, after receiving a reply, tried to soothe the confused woman. "Raven, don't blame Scott for keeping it a secret. Next to me Logan is the only one who knows. Scott is ashamed of his past and still believes that he could have prevented it from happening. But in the end…he was just a little, blind boy, who was taken advantage of in the most cruel way possible." He waited for her reply before he checked on Scott again. He knew he had to talk to him about it and was also aware of the fact that he would spend the rest of the night thinking about the _how_.

Mystique, after hesitating first, walked slowly towards her room and remained in front of it for a moment, her hand on the handle. What was she supposed to do or think? She didn't know. After heaving a deep breath she slowly slipped into the dark room and walked back over to the bed, where she knelt down. The light was weak but she could clearly see him sitting on the edge of the bed, the head lowered and one hand buried in his hair. Unsure of what to do she moved silently closer and reached out, hesitated first but wrapped her arms around him from behind before she leant into him.

"You're disgusted of me now…," she heard him saying weakly after a moment.

"No, I'm shocked," Mystique replied and began to pull him down. His exhaustion became evident when she was able to do it without the slightest resistance. "You should sleep. We can talk about it later," she offered but he shook his head.

"I can't sleep," Scott mumbled into the curve on her neck.

"_But you should, Scott,"_ he heard the Professor saying. _"I'll block all memories for tonight and we will talk about everything tomorrow. But for now, you need to sleep."_

He felt a tickle on the far back of his mind before his eyes suddenly became too heavy to keep them open anymore. Only seconds later Mystique heard him breathing peacefully.

* * *

As promised Charles had insisted on meeting Scott after breakfast and was now sitting behind his desk. He looked at the picture of misery in front of him and felt sorry. Part of it was his fault. He had wanted Scott to talk to Logan and show the man that he knew what he was going through. And now Scott looked miserable as ever. "Scott…," Charles began, the fingers entwined in front of his face and his elbows resting on the armrest of his wheelchairs. "What is bothering you so much?" he asked and the man looked up a bit, his face half buried in one hand. "What is it you see in your dreams?"

"Them," Scott replied in a voice that made the bald man think there was in fact a small boy sitting in front of him, who was apologizing for stealing a cookie out of the jar.

"Them?" Charles asked and received a nod. "Who do you mean?"

Scott sighed and ran a hand over his hand while he leant forward and stared at the ground. "Those men…," he said and closed his eyes with a shake of the head. "The Johns, their touches and what they said to me…" He waited for the Professor to say something but since he didn't say anything, he knew that the man wanted him to go on. "I don't know why I suddenly begin to remember those things… Sometimes…" He sighed. "Sometimes I can even feel the drugs when they wore off or if one of them was rough and hurt me… I also imagine that I feel the withdrawal… I mean, why is this happening all of a sudden? Why now?"

"Well," the Professor began and rested his lips against his finger while thinking about it. "You never really talked about it or assimilated what you've been through. By suppressing the trauma you just pushed it back but never got over it. I shouldn't have sent you to talk to Logan. It was my fault…"

"No, it's not," Scott said and shook his head. "Someone had to beat some sense into him…"

"Yes, but it was wrong of me to send you knowing that you never got over your past," Charles disagreed. "How did Raven react to it?"

"I don't know… She didn't say anything so far." Scott sighed. "And to be honest… I don't even want to know what she thinks about me now."

"I doubt she will leave you because of it, Scott," the older man tried to soothe him and received a shrug for it. "Did you ever think about…a therapy?"

"I'm not crazy, Charles!" his opposite said shocked. "I don't need a psychologist." Angrily he got up and walked over to the window, his hands were buried in his jeans pockets.

"Of course," the Professor nodded to soothe him. "But you need to talk about it with someone. Get it out of your head and stop suppressing your feelings about it. What you've been through wasn't easy, especially for a young boy like you've been. You can't just forget about those things, about what you've been through during it and afterwards…" He leant forward a bit, his eyes still on the man at the window. "If you want we can meet after classes and talk about it. You know you can trust me… Logan does it too, you know?

"Logan does a therapy with you?!" Scott asked surprised.

"He did after regaining parts of his memory," Charles nodded. "He talked with me about the things he didn't want Jean to have to deal with. And it helped him…" He looked at his old student for a while. "Maybe talking about your past will help you too…"

"But _he_ knows too," Scott mumbled and raised his arm to put his hand onto the frame and support himself against it. "And you know him. As soon as he finds out about the sessions and what they are about, he'll start making comments whenever he has the chance to. And in the end…everyone will know."

"Erik has helped me rescuing you, Scott. I can assure you he won't do such things," Charles said. He looked up when there was a knock on the door and it was opened a few seconds later. Seeing who it was, Scott's eyes darkened.

"I'm sorry for the interruption," Alex excused and gave his brother a brief look. "I need to talk to him." He nodded at Scott, who in turn looked at the Professor.

"It's okay, Scott. If you agree to what I said you can come back at 7:30 p.m.," Charles said.

Nodding, the man left the room before his brother and turned around as soon as the door was closed, his arms folded. "What do you want?" he asked coolly.

"Well, Ororo told me I had to speak to you," Alex replied.

"About what?"

"The team," he said as if his older brother was dumb. "The Professor called us since you needed help. But since we arrived here we haven't taken part in any training session and there are still no suits for Lorna and me."

"So?" Scott shrugged.

"So, either you begin to include us or we leave again," Alex replied and folded his arms too.

Scott snorted and shook his head. "I don't have any training session planned in the next days. And if you want a suit, go to Forge. He's always in the basement and working on things," he told his opposite. "Anything else?" Since there was no reply he turned and began to walk down the corridor.

"If you don't want me here, Scott, just say it!" Alex said loudly and his brother froze on the spot. "Are you still mad because of Lorna?!" he asked and snorted. "That's what? 20 years ago?" He waited for a reply but there was none. "God,… Hey, it's not my problem if Lorna fell in love with me even if she was your girlfriend, okay?"

"As far as I remember you kept on hitting on her," Scott snarled.

"So?" his brother shrugged. "You were happy with Jean afterwards anyway. You should thank me."

"It's not the reason, Alex," Scott said coolly. "As far as I remember you accused me of the most terrible things possible."

"God…," Alex groaned. "I was angry, Scott. You were a stranger due to my amnesia. How would you react if someone comes up to you and tells you that you parents are dead and your brother was in a coma and no one could tell if he would ever wake up again?!"

"You accused me of being the reason your life was hell!" Scott shouted. "You always thought about yourself and never of what I've been through. What did you expect me to do anyway, Alex? I was 19 the last time we met. I was working on getting a hang of my life again, to catch up on all the missed learning from 8 years… How was I supposed to take care of you?"

"By bringing me here?" Alex asked coolly. "Instead you left me in that orphanage…"

"I didn't even know where you were, for God's sake!" Scott gave back when the door opened and the Professor came out.

"He could have found me," Alex said with a nod at the bald man. "You were always the best at everything, the darling of the school, the good boy with the top grades that everyone looked up to. When I came here the only things I heard were _Scott here, Scott there, Oh, why can't you be as smart as your brother _or _Your brother did it way better than you_! Do you know what that felt like? To live in your shadow for all those years?!"

Snorting, Scott shook his head and looked away. "So you think you had a hard time, huh?" he asked cynically. "You have no idea of what I've been through before I came here!" he hissed and stomped off, ignoring everything around him.

"Asshole!" Alex huffed.

"Alex, Scott is right," Charles said. "He hadn't had an easy life before I found him and brought him here. He's still dealing with the trauma of it," he explained and added when he noticed that the man in front of him was about to say something, "I know you had a hard childhood, too. But you can't blame Scott for everything that you've been through, Alex. I suggest the two of you sit down and try to talk like grown-ups with each other for a chance. Now excuse me, please." With that he wheeled down the corridor.

"Well I can't talk to him if he refuses to talk to me, right?" the man mumbled and was about to turn around when he nearly bumped into Mystique. Curiously he looked from her to the boy on her arm and back. "Hi…"

"Hi…," she replied and motioned to walk past him when he began to talk.

"How old is he?" Alex asked with a nod at his namesake.

"He turned 2 last month," she said and stroked over her son's head when he leant into her.

The man in front of her nodded and looked at his nephew curiously. "He's Scott's eyes…," he said more to himself but the woman began to frown.

"What?"

"Oh…," Alex said after noticing that he must have said it aloud. "He has Scott's eyes. Exactly the same blue…" He saw her nodding and rubbed his short blond hair. "Well,… Scott said this Forge guy is in the basement?" he asked and waited for a nod before he left.

"A pop!" Alex suddenly said and Raven looked down.

"What's the magic word, hm?" she asked and began to walk towards the kitchen.

"Please?" her son added and looked at her with his big eyes.

"Hey," Hank greeted her and she smiled at him. "Your son is the same ice-addict as the others, you know that?" he joked when the woman handed Alex his desired pop.

"I know…," she said and sat down next to him, watched how he fed Nicholas, who sucked eagerly on his bottle. "He's too cute."

"Well, we are happy that he had gained some weight," Hank said and had his eyes fixed on the cat-like ones of his adopted son. "Logan has said that he had a hard time making Nick keep anything inside. Who knows what his parents did to him before they chose to throw him away." He put the empty bottle aside and began to pat the boy's back. "Something wrong?" he asked after noticing Mystique's sad look.

"No,….no, it's nothing," she waved off, earning another strange look from him. "Uhm, I have to talk to Scott," she said to avoid another question and left the room.

"Everyone's strange today…," Hank said more to himself and smiled lovingly after receiving a burp and a long purr next from Nicholas. "I think someone is satisfied for now, hm?" While stroking his son's fur, he retreated back to his rooms.

* * *

When Scott retreated to his rooms after his first session with the Professor he found Raven at the window and joined her side. "What's wrong?" he asked, watching how she quickly wiped her tears away and gave him a faked smile.

"Nothing…"

He turned his head and saw how Hank and Moira took a walk in the garden with Nicholas, radiating happiness. "Why were you crying? Did something happen?" he asked concerned but she shook her head and sat down on the bed, where he joined her. "Raven? You wanted me to be honest with you, remember? And I can tell that something's wrong."

"I can't tell you…," she said, pulled her legs close and looked away.

"Right… As Logan would say _I heard that before_," Scott mocked and shook his head. "It can't be worse than my past, can it?" He watched how she turned her head and looked at him, once more with tears in her eyes. Since she hardly ever cried or was upset he began to feel worried. "Hey…," he said gently and moved closer. "What's wrong?"

"I did something horrible…," she sniffed and bit her lip while looking away again.

"Horrible?" he asked. "Well every one of us did once in our lives…"

She gave a short, bitter laugh and shook her head. "Not anything similar to what I did… What I did can't be excused…"

"Tell me about it," Scott said and bent forward a bit to have a better look on her from aside.

"I'm…older than you think," Mystique began and noticed his surprised look. "Not quiet as old as Logan… But I remember meeting him back in the 1920's…

"Really?"

She nodded. "I worked like him as an agent from time to time. Mostly to hide who I really was. Then one day I took the identity of a deceased German agent named Leni Zauber and was assigned to a mission. I met Victor Creed there for the first time. He was my partner…"

"Sabretooth?" Scott asked and received a nod.

"He wasn't as fucked up as he is today… Well…" Raven sighed. "We had to hide after that mission and became lovers." Even if she saw his look, she tried to ignore it. "I faked my death to leave him again, but…"

"He found you and hurt you?" he assumed.

"No. I was pregnant," she admitted in barely more than a whisper.

"You had his child?!"

Raven nodded and heaved a deep breath. "His name is Graydon Creed. I don't know if Victor knew about him…" She waited for Scott to say something but he remained silent. In shock, as she guessed. "I gave him up for adoption. I kept track on him and was shocked to find out that he wasn't a mutant."

"Wow… How is that even possible?"

"I don't know. But I did the worst thing possible and abandoned him," she went on and shook her head. "He became a mutant hater and was later assassinated…"

"Hold on!" he said as he noticed something. "Graydon… Wasn't he the leader of this Friends of Humanity group?" She nodded. "Well he did some pretty nasty things…"

"It's my fault… If I hadn't pushed him away…"

"Don't say that…" He reached out to stroke over her hair but she back off.

"You should listen to the rest first," Raven said and added sadly, "Because I doubt you want to touch me afterwards ever again…" She looked away after seeing his frown. "I was once married to a Baron decades ago. They expected me to bear him a son but it just didn't happen. Since I figured that it was his fault, I used my powers and slept with other men in hope to become pregnant. Back then woman were either abandoned or murdered if they didn't give birth to a child soon after the wedding…" Again he said nothing. "In the end I met another mutant, who was also a shapeshifter and teleporter. His name was Azazel. When I became pregnant my husband and his father became suspicious and his father wanted proof that it really was his grandchild."

"And?" Scott asked since she stopped.

"I murdered him… I was too afraid that they would find out that I was a mutant…," she replied calmly and he shook his head.

"What about your child?"

"It was a boy, but…"

"But what?" he asked.

"He looked like a demon…," Raven said and wiped her tears away. "When my husband saw it… The whole village was suddenly hunting me and considered me and my child as demons, as allies of Satan. So when they came to slay us I ran away. But I left my son behind…"

"You left your child for them to kill?" Scott asked shocked and backed off a little. "How can you leave your own son?!"

"I was afraid!" Raven cried and looked at him with horror in her eyes. "I…I didn't know what to do…"

Shaking his head he got up to look out of the window. "You're selfish!" he accused her angrily. "The only thing you thought about was your own life! Your baby didn't mean shit to you."

"You don't know what it was like for me, Scott!" Raven shot back and got up to face him. "I was born this way. My family left me because of my looks, they tried to kill me! I never had a chance to look like me, I always had to hide and use someone else's look. With Erik and you I was able to look like nature made me, I didn't have to hide anymore. But it wasn't like this back then."

"Still no excuse for abandoning your own son!" he hissed and pulled Alex out of his bed when the boy was rudely awakened. "Shh…it's okay."

"I'm sorry," Raven cried and looked at him pleadingly.

"That's not enough," Scott said and left the room, hiding his disappointment behind anger.

Downstairs he ran into Hank, who was on his way to the kitchen for his daily need of coffee between work. "Hey!"

"You don't look so happy either," Hank commented while pouring himself a cup and gave a satisfied sigh after tasting the liquid. "Is there a problem between you and Raven? She seemed so absent minded before."

"Oh, besides the fact that she just told me that she our son is in fact her third," Scott said ironically and handed Alex his sippy cup. "No, I don't think so…"

"She already has children?" his friend asked in surprise, his coffee forgotten.

"Two sons, yes," Scott replied. "Of which one is dead and the other one either dead or still where she abandoned him just to save her own ass."

Hank didn't need his PhD to figure that Scott was angry. "That's a surprise…"

"You can say that again…"

Nodding, Hank emptied his cup and put it into the sink. "Well, I have to go back to my work." Receiving a nod from his friend, who was watching his son, he left the room and made his way to his lab in the basement. After he'd sat down on his stool and began to read through a science magazine, a thought crossed his mind and he walked over to the drawer where they kept all the medical files. Hank rummaged in it and finally returned to his stool with two files in his hand, a frown clearly visible on his face. Surprised he leant back and put his glasses aside. "Well that's a surprise…," he said more to himself and began to read again.

* * *

March was over soon and after Logan had stayed for 2 weeks at the beginning of the month, but couldn't visit in April, May arrived and the twins' birthday came closer with each day. The adults held their classes and took turns in watching over the youngest children, before they met for lunch and later the day for dinner in the kitchen. Scott was just discussing the schedule with Hank and the Professor as the phone rang. He looked up when Storm disappeared and reappeared a few minutes later with the receiver in her hand. "Jean?" she asked and waited for the redhead to look up. "It's Logan."

"Is he coming back?" Jubilee asked hopefully.

"Ehm, actually he said he wants the children for the next week and wants me to bring them to Canada in two days…," Ororo said, receiving looks form everyone.

"It's the twins' birthday in two days," Hank said and received a shrug and a look that spoke volumes.

"That's why he wants them…"

"Let me talk to him," Jean said and got up from her stool.

"What?" Ororo asked into the receiver and sighed. "He said he doesn't want to talk to you…"

"Fine, whatever," her opposite said and turned around. "Tell him I'll pack their things but I'm not going to pay for any tickets."

"Logan…," Ororo sighed again. "Fine, yes, I'll tell her," she groaned and rolled her eyes. "He says he already paid for them and doesn't depend on your money."

"Nice…," Hank said and watched how Ororo ended the call.

"He wants you to come, too," the woman said.

"Why?" John asked.

"Don't know…," she sighed and sat back down. "Is it okay for you if I stay in Canada for the week?" she asked Kurt, who nodded.

"He's great, really…," Scott said.

"He told me last month that he wanted them for their birthday, Scott," Jean said and rubbed her temples. "So it's okay. Jack keeps on bugging me about it anyway." After heaving a deep breath and trying to ignore the bickering in her head, she got up again. "I go and pack their things…"

"Why?" Lily asked after entering the room, since she and her brother had eaten at Pizza Hut with Rogue and her family. "Where are we going?" she asked and looked at Ororo for help, since the redhead had already left.

"You, your siblings, Uncle John and I are flying to Canada on Friday."

"Why?"

"It's our birthday on Friday…," her brother protested. "So why are we going away?"

"Because…," the woman smiled and bent down a bit. "Your daddy called and wants you to stay with him for a week. So we fly to Canada and visit him."

"Daddy called?!" Jack asked excitedly, his bad mood forgotten and exchanged a look with his sister.

"We're going to see daddy?" that one asked hopefully and waited for a nod.

"We've to tell Ray," he said and grabbed her arm to pull her with him.

"He really didn't want to talk to her?" Hank asked.

"No," Ororo said.

"Well, no surprise there," Scott said. "They didn't even visit Jake's grave together on Ray's birthday…" Still, he can't just call and order you to bring them."

"He's the father, Scott, so yes, he can. He has a right to see them," she replied and got up.

"'Ro, I'm not fine with you going," Hank told her with a concerned look. "We just…"

"I'm fine, Hank," she groaned and gave him a look. "And John's with me and Logan's with me, too, and both know, okay?"

Defeated he raised both hands. "Fine!" he replied. "But don't say I didn't warn you afterwards if something happens to you!"

* * *

After the plane had landed at the airport, Ororo and John had trouble to get all suitcases together since the children kept on bugging them about being too slow. "Stay here with us, okay?" she said after finally managing to get everything together and walked through the huge door to the exit with many other passengers. "Jack, I said…!" Ororo called after the boy when he began to run and disappeared in the crowd. "Damn it…"

"Daddy!" Lily shouted suddenly and was gone in the next second, followed by Ray and Laura.

"Those, kids…," Ororo cursed and shook her head, while John only chuckled and pulled Jamie further up. It didn't take long and Logan, who knelt on the ground with his children clinging to him, came into view. "Hi, Logan," she greeted him with a smile, her look saddening a bit when he got up and his children still cried into and held onto his legs. "You look good."

"I look the same as always, 'Ro," Logan grunted after hugging her and John briefly, before his eyes softened. "Hey…," he said softly and took Jamie from John to kiss him and pull him close, which earned him a happy laugh.

"Da-da," Jamie said with a smile and touched his father's face.

"You've grown, pumkin," Logan said and gave him another kiss. "That's him?" he asked Ororo and nodded at the car seat she was carrying. "Weren't ya due this month?"

"Yes," she nodded with a brief look at the sleeping baby. "Hank and Moira got him two months earlier, after your visit actually, since it became too risky."

Logan nodded and looked at his nephew, or better half-nephew more closely. The boy had her skin but the hair gave away who the father was. A brief snarl escaped him. "Ya okay?" he asked her instead and received a nod.

"Hank was bellyaching that she left without taking a while medical unit with her, but… Well, he gave us the order to watch her," John told him and chuckled when she rolled her eyes in annoyance.

Logan cocked a brief eyebrow at her but she waved off. Shaking his head, he nodded toward the exit. "C'mon, Heath and the others are waitin' with a big birthday cake."

"And presents?" Jack asked excitedly, which made his father chuckle.

"Maybe."

He led the group to two black cars and turned to John while pointing at the second one. "You…drive in this one," he said and smirked when his brother gave him a questioning look. "Not enough room in one car. Sorry for that."

"Can you take him with you?" Ororo asked and handed him the car seat. "Will it fit?" she asked Logan, who opened the trunk, skeptically.

He only nodded. "Get inside with the kids. I'll do the rest," he said and began to put the suitcases into the car, while John did the same with the other car. He watched how his brother opened the door, saw the surprised look and grinned at him when John turned to cock an eyebrow at him. "Get inside!" he said a bit louder and his grin widened.

Only shaking his head John did it after making sure Ororo's baby was safe in the back. "Hi…"

"Hi," Narya smiled shyly. "If you want to hurt Logan later, count me in."

"He's one sneaky old bastard," John snarled and buckled up.

"Yes, he is," she agreed and smiled at the baby briefly. "He didn't tell me you were coming too."

"Well and he told 'Ro to tell me that I had to come," he replied and shook his head. "You're right… Let's hurt him later."

When Ororo opened the door to the second car she frowned immediately. "Hi. You must be Ororo."

"Ehm…,yeah. And you are?" she asked mistrustful when the blonde reached out to shake her hand.

"I'm Jennifer. Logan's girlfriend," the woman smiled sweetly.

"Gir…," Ororo began but the word didn't want to come out. All she could so was stare at the woman. "Ehm…," she made and placed Jamie with his car seat on one seat, as the children began to climb into the car. "Excuse me for a second…" She left the car again and joined Logan, who had just finished putting all suitcases into the car. "Girlfriend?!" she asked him in a hushed voice but he only shrugged. "What about Jean?!"

"What about her?" he asked and cocked an eyebrow at her.

"You're still married to her, Logan! You love her!"

"_Till death do us part_, ain't that the sayin'?" he grunted and walked towards the driver's seat. "So that means…," he went on and stopped next to the door to give her a look, "I was't married t'her anymore after she'd died right? Which makes me a single for a bit more than a year."

"No, you're not!" Ororo gave back and folded her arms angrily. "Logan, she hopes that you'll come back. She's miserable… The team misses you, your children misses you and Jean…"

"Ain't my problem. Get into the car," he said and slammed the door shut after climbing into it. "Took a bit longer, sorry!"

"They're really as cute as on the pictures," Jennifer smiled after Ororo had closed the door and Logan started the engine.

"Well, they're my kids," he grunted and made sure that Narya was following them, but turned his head away when the blonde tried to kiss him.

"Daddy?" Jack asked and Logan met his gaze through the rear mirror. "Who is that woman?"

"Later, kiddo, okay?"

After a longer drive and several turns to make sure that no one was following, Narya and Logan parked the cars in the way smaller garage of Alpha Flight Headquarters that wouldn't even be able to take half the amount of Xavier's cars. John, who decided to glare at his brother, and Logan, who returned it with a smirk, took care of the suitcases, while Narya and Jennifer led the way to the kitchen. "I'm going to kill you, brother or not," John growled.

"Why?" Logan asked innocently.

"This here is as _accidentally _as the call last time where you _accidentally _had her and me connected."

Logan chuckled. "Well…ya had a nice long talk, right? So ya should rather thank me." He looked aside. "C'mon! She likes ya, ya like her, both of ya are single…" He smirked when his brother snorted and gave him a sign to halt. "'Ro stays in here." He dropped the suitcase in the room and moved further down the corridor. "Here's your room," Logan said and opened the door.

"What else did you plan, hm?" John asked after taking a look around.

"Oh not much," his opposite shrugged smirking.

"You remember that I've claws too, right?"

Grinning, Logan walked back over to the door. "Gotta go. Kids're waitin'. The kitchen's up the corridor." He got quickly rid of the other two suitcases before he joined his children, who were already waiting. Smiling, he pulled Jack up and sat down on the ground where a cake stood on a small table that had the perfect high for the kids.

"He has grown," Heather said and pointed at Jamie, who held onto Logan's shoulder.

"They all have since the last time we saw them," James corrected her and pulled her closer. "Have fun, we show Ororo and John around." With a last smile they left.

"C'mere," Logan said and pulled Jamie onto his other leg, while Jack sat on the other one. "So,…how are you guys doin'?" he asked to break the awkward silence.

"Why didn't you visit us last month?" Lily asked him without beating around the bush.

"It didn't work out as I'd planned t', kiddo," he apologized. "So how's school?"

"Lil' and I got an A," Jack reported proudly.

"Yeah?" Logan asked and received nods.

"In French and Math," Lily said.

"And History and Science," Jack added, which made Logan chuckle. He knew why. Due to his age and experiences he could tell them nearly everything about history, French was his second mother tongue and he was good in Math too. Science was Jean's field.

"And we got an A in Arts while they had B's," Laura mocked the twins while smiling proudly at her father.

"Right. And we were better in the projects too," Ray added.

"Yeah, because we didn't have any," Jack mocked and stuck out his tongue at her when she did it.

"Oh and mommy said Miloh's going to be a daddy!" Lily reported next, which didn't surprise Logan either.

"Really?" he asked and his children nodded. "Did she say when the cubs will be born?"

"End of June, I think," Ray said and watched how Logan put a piece of the cake onto each plate, before he cut Jamie's into smaller pieces. This one instantly began to put as much into his mouth as possible.

"Ya gonna choke," Logan scolded him and took the rest away. "Swallow first, then ya can have the rest." Ignoring his son's protest, he waited for him to obey and handed him another piece. "Ya eat like a pig, kid."

"He always does," Jack commented while eating the cake.

"Mhm…," his father made and gave him a look. "As far as I remember ya swallow first and talk then."

"Sorry…," the boy said calmly and growled when Logan ruffled his messy hair.

After finishing the cake and watching Lily and Jack unpacking their presents, which consisted of a new game Jack wanted to have and another game Lily wanted to have, not to mention that both had kept on bugging him about it for a while, they made plans for the day and, after putting Jamie to bed, went outside to play.

In the meanwhile, Ororo, John, Heather, James and Narya were sitting in the living room after the tour and talking about different things. "So any news on your side?" James asked after filling the glasses again.

"Not really…," Ororo shrugged. "The usual stuff actually…" She looked at John for help who only nodded. "What about Logan and this…" She made a disgusted wave of her hand.

"Oh, Jennifer?" Heather asked, receiving a nod. "Don't ask me what's going on between them…"

"If they're not doing things I don't want to know about they keep on arguing and shouting at each other," James added.

"So…she's _not_ his girlfriend as she told me?" Ororo asked hopefully.

"As I said…don't ask me," the redhead shrugged.

"How's Jean?" James asked. "Logan never really wanted to tell us what happened between them."

"She's… I don't know…"

"Not really in a good mood since he's left," John said and Ororo nodded. "What about him?"

"Not really in a good mood since he arrived here," Narya replied and sighed. "He's mostly strolling around the woods or goes to cage fights."

"Is he doing them again?!" the weather goddess asked and rolled her eyes when the others nodded.

"What?" John asked, not understanding what was going on.

"Logan makes money with cage fighting," James explained. "He did it, or better said does it again, quiet often."

"He's pretty popular in the cage fighting scene her and unbeaten," Heather added.

"Well that's not hard with his mutation and skeleton," John said.

"And I can't believe he does it again," Ororo said rather angrily. "He lapses back into old habits just because his ego was hurt." She shook her head. "And let me guess… He drinks more and smokes again, right?"

"How can you tell?" Heather asked with a look that spoke volumes.

"Oh, I just had a feeling…," the weather goddess waved off ironically. "He always lapses back into old habits when Jean's not around." She sipped on her glass when John suddenly got up and disappeared, just to reappear with Jamie on his arms, who looked at them sniffing and with a tearstained face. She reached out to stroke over his cheek and wiped the tears away. "Can't sleep, hm?"

"No sleep," Jamie said and hit his head in John's chest.

"You hungry?" Ororo asked.

"No!"

"Just tired, hm?" John asked and stroked over his nephews hair.

"Anyway…," Ororo smiled. "I found out the big secret!"

"You did?" Heather asked, knowing what the woman was talking about.

"Uhu… And I've another story about scared man!"

"Scared man?" James asked questioningly and exchanged a look with John, who could only shrug.

"Better say….terrified men!" Ororo laughed. "Which one do you want to hear first?"

"The secret of course," Heather laughed and leant back while Ororo began to speak…

"_Jean?" Ororo called while entering the lab. She looked around in search of the redhead, needing to ask her what Heather and Narya had asked her before._

"_Yeah?" Jean suddenly asked and made her startle._

"_There you are…," Ororo said after turning around and watched how Jean walked past her and over to the desk._

"_Is something wrong?"_

"_No, but I came to ask you something…"_

_Frowning, the redhead put the file aside and folded her arms. "And what?" The smile she received scared her. She knew the woman was up to something._

"_I want to know…," Ororo began and came slowly closer, stopped in front of her and grinned. "The last big secret!"_

"_Which is?"_

"_Logan's proposal!" she said and Jean groaned, added a roll of her eyes. "No, no, no! No escape routes this time! Jubilee and Kitty have a bet going on what he said and how he did it, on!"_

"_It wasn't anything spectacular, 'Ro," her friend replied and went on with her work._

"_Not spectacular?!" Ororo asked aloud. "Logan asked you to marry him and you call it NOT spectacular?! We were shocked back then!" Not willing to give up, she followed the redhead through the room. "So, come on now. Details! I'm willing to tell you a secret about him too."_

"'_Ro, I know everything about him that…"_

"_No, not that! Believe me," Ororo said and nudged her. "Shoot!"_

_Groaning in frustration, Jean beckoned her to sit down and did the same on the desk. "Where do you want me to start?" she asked playfully bored._

"_Right at the beginning, where else?" her opposite smiled._

"_It wasn't anything special, 'Ro. Really!" the redhead tried it once more. "I went upstairs after I woke up from the come, saw you in Logan's room, we talked, I went downstairs to him and we talked, he showed me the twins upstairs, then we went downstairs again and went to sleep."_

"_Ah, ah, ah! I'd bet something happened between we went downstairs again and the we went to sleep part," Ororo protested. "Come on, Jean! Logan and you were separated for 5 weeks and he was missing you so much…"_

"_Fine! We did it!" Jean said before Ororo could go ob with her rant._

"_And then?"_

_She sighed. "Well,… Why do you want to know anyway?"_

_Shrugging, the weather goddess smiled at her. "It's the last big and most kept secret inside these walls. So, what happened after the happy-sappy-probably very hot-reunion?" she asked curiously and wobbled her eyebrows._

Sighing again, Jean shifted her position on the desk and fixed her eyes on the ground, while her thoughts drifted off to what happened years ago…

_**Heavily breathing, he buried his head on her neck, while she threw it back against the mattress shaking allover. Desperately trying to calm their racing hearts, they began to shiver as the aftershocks set in. "Softie," Jean teased him and pulled him closer with her arms and legs as she noticed that he was crying, realizing that she did the same.  
**  
_**_Logan looked up and stroked over her face gently. She saw his pain and relief within his hazel pools. "I missed you so much," he admitted barely audible and made her smile sadly. Pulling him down for another loving kiss, she buried his head in her shoulder again and he pulled her slim body closer.  
"I love you…" Jean only said, stroking his back gently._**

Having heard the words from him, she stared at him in complete shock. All of a sudden there were only the two of them and her racing hearts. She's completely forgotten about where or when she was. She noticed how he began to cock an eyebrow at her, waited nervously for any reaction of her. Jean didn't know what to say. She was too shocked about this shocking and more than surprising demand of him…

**_Realizing that they were still joined, Logan closed his eyes and his thoughts immediately drifted off to the small black box Scott had given to him earlier. His heart began to race again and he realized that he wanted it… Even if he'd never imagined it before, he wanted it. He realized that it was the only thing he still wished for. After all those years alone out there, without a home, going from place to place without any memory, he'd finally found a home. A home he loved. After using woman for one night only, he'd found a partner who loved him, who accepted and understood both sides of him…and who'd given him the greatest honor possible…his children. He was convinced that he really wanted it. He wanted her to be his and wanted to be hers in return…  
Slowly, Logan raised his head and met her eyes. Noticing the change within his, Jean began to feel worried. "What's wrong?" she asked concerned and touched his cheek gently._**

**_Logan looked down for a brief moment, thinking about his thoughts again, while his heart nearly broke his chest by now. Swallowing hard, he met her eyes briefly. "Be my wife," was all he said, before he looked into her shocked face again._**

Breaking eye contact, she felt how he let out a sigh and pulled out of her just to turn around and lay down on his back next to her. She could tell that her silence was killing him. But if she was honest with herself, she didn't know what to reply. Jean knew how difficult this step was for him. And also knew what he would have to give up for it…

"_Would ya just say somethin'?" she heard him asking and practically felt how his stare went right through her. "If it's a 'no', just say it, damn it!"_

_Pulling her legs close, Jean sat up and wrapped her arms around them, her eyes were still fixed on some point in the room. Thinking about it very carefully, while she felt how he lost his temper slowly, she finally turned her head towards him to meet his eyes. "I can't…," she managed to whisper and almost felt sorry when she saw the hurt in his eyes._

_Nodding, while his eyes switched to the blanker, Logan began to fume. "Right…," he growled and sat up, too. "So ya can say yes t'One Eye, fuck with me, but I ain't good enough t'be a husband, eh?"_

"_That's not what I meant!" Jean quickly said and shook her head. "Logan,…I just don't want to be the bars on your cage…"_

"_What?!" he asked her with anger in his voice and furrowed his brows. "What's that shit supposed t'mean?!"_

_Running a hand through her hair, she let out a sigh. "You are not someone who settles down. You need to be free, to know that you can leave whenever you want," she explained calmly. "Logan, this need is inside of you. It will always be and I don't want to take this away from you. I don't want you to commit yourself to me and realize after a while that you're unhappy. I don't want you to give up everything that makes you to the person you are and put yourself into a cage, just to make me happy…" Looking away when she felt tears gathering in her eyes, she heaved a deep breath. "It would kill me to know that you sacrificed your freedom and way of life just to please me… I don't want this…," she added and met his gaze with a shake of her head. "So my answer is np…" _

_Looking at her for a while, he twitched both eyebrows briefly and got up to get his things from the ground. When she realized what he was doing, Jean felt fear beginning to spread within her chest. "Logan…," she therefore said pleadingly and watched how he opened the door. "Please wait!" But the door went shut behind him. Staring at it, Jean couldn't help but begin to sob. She knew that she's probably just destroyed everything they had for the past two years. At the same time she knew that she was right. It would kill him to be bound to her and not being able anymore to leave whenever he felt like it. He couldn't be tamed, not even by her and she needed to make the mistake he was about to do clear to him._

_Sobbing into his pillow, after she'd lain down again, she startled when a hand touched her shoulder. Sniffing, Jean had to blink a few times before she was able to see properly again. When she realized that it was Logan, who stood next to the bed with both hands behind his back and looked at her with a determination and finality in his eyes, which she had never seen before, she began to feel scared. Her mind told her instantly that she'd screwed up and that he was about to tell her now that he'd leave and never come back. "Sit down on the edge," he demanded darkly and her confusion grew stronger._

"_What?"_

"_Sit down on the edge of the bed," Logan repeated with a frustrated sigh and waited for her to do so. Wiping her tears away with the back of her right hand, her eyes grew wide when he began to glare at her. "Ya really want me t'go through this, don't ya?" he growled and she already prepared herself for a slap around the face, since his look really was dark enough for it, when he suddenly knelt down and took her hands into his. Surprised about his actions, Jean swallowed hard as their eyes met his._

_Not saying anything at all first, Logan suddenly sighed. "The things ya said are bullshit, Jeannie. What makes ya even think I'd voluntarily leave ya and the cubs" he asked her, being completely serious, and shook his head in disbelief. "Just if ya still haven't gotten it, but I love ya, Red! And I never settled down with someone 'coz I never found a woman that was worthy or strong enough for both parts of me. I marked ya as my mate and I told ya that wolves mate for life and not t'have some fun and disappear forever afterwards."_

_Hearing that he was clearing hurt by her words before, Jean bit her lip when he reached into his back pocket and pulled a small black box out of it. Gasping, she looked at the two golden rings and bit her lip even harder when her tears began to fall freely. _

"_Jean, I love ya. More than anythin' else and I wanna have a real family with ya," Logan went on and almost sounded desperate by now. "Will ya marry me?" Hearing another sob, he nearly lost balance when she wrapped her arms around his neck firmly and sobbed loudly into his neck. "Is that a yes or still a no?" he asked but she crushed her lips onto his._

"_Of course it's a yes," Jean smiled still sobbing and received the happiest grin from him that he was capable of. Kissing him passionately again, she felt how he lifted her up and back onto the bed before he pulled away. With tears blurring her vision, she watched how he took the smaller ring and put it onto her left ring finger. Smiling at him, she took the second one and took his left hand next. Unknown to her Logan prayed to every higher power that Scott's ring would fit on his finger and stopped breathing for a moment when the redhead slipped the ring onto it. He let out a relieved sigh and looked at the unfamiliar object on his finger with a cocked eyebrow for a moment, before he met her eyes again. Returning the loving, warm smile she gave him, he put the box to the ground and reached out to wipe her tears away. He straddled her carefully and began to caress her lips tenderly, when she suddenly began to giggle. "What?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow and she pointed at his shirt._

"_It's unfair," Jean laughed and confused him even more. "I never imagined you'd propose to me fully clothed while I'm completely naked…"_

_Smirking, Logan wobbled his head. "Well, I could change that…," he suggested and his clothes soon landed on the floor next to hers. When he bent forward to kiss her again, she stopped him by putting a hand to his chest. "What is it now?!"_

"_Now you have to say it again," Jean purred with a giggle, since he growled in annoyance._

"_Ya do realize that I propose for the third time to ya then?"_

"_Yes, actually I do," she smiled and stroked down his chest. "I just like to hear it…"_

_Sighing, Logan shook his head and stopped only inches from her face, while he supported himself with his arms next to her body to not crush her with his weight. "Marry me?" he asked again and was pulled down into another passionate kiss by her…_

"_Hoe could you say no to him?!" Ororo asked in disbelief and shook her head. "Jeez, you have nerves, girl…"_

"_Are you happy now?" Jean asked instead and saw the smirk on Ororo's face._

"_Jubilee just lost 50 dollars to Kitty," she laughed and made Jean frown._

"_Why?"_

"_She's bet that Logan hadn't asked you at all but instead practically ordered you to marry him. She also didn't believe that he would kneel down." A thought crossed her mind. "Did he lit a candle or gave you a flower?"_

"_No candle, but a rose," Jean remembered and asked herself if now maybe Rogue had to pay 100 dollars to Kitty…_

"_Okay. I'll just tell Jubilee that there was a candle so that Kitty gets her money… Hold on a second!" the weather goddess said and suddenly furrowed her brows. "Did you say a rose?!"_

"_Yes…," the redhead repeated with another frown. _

"_Was it a red one?" Ororo demanded to know and received a questioning look and a nod. "Oh, this sneaky bastard!" she cried and got up. "And I wondered why the rose was gone from my room…" Giggling, Jean shoved her out of the room. "Your husband's a mean thief!"_

"_Enough stories for now, 'Ro," the redhead smiled. "I've got work to do."_

"_But I still need to tell you the secret about him!" Ororo pouted playfully and hoped her friend would give in, but Jean shook her head._

"_Tell me later, okay? I really need to finish the papers. I need to be upstairs in less than twenty minutes, since Logan's classes will start by then and he's watching Jamie now."_

"_Okay, but it will be later. Promise?"_

_Nodding with a smile, Jean turned around. "Promise."_

"Aw, he went down to his knees," Heather purred and James rolled his eyes.

"Woman…," he huffed.

"He didn't do it, you know?" she told Ororo with a nod at her husband. "He put the box in front of me and said _So, what do you think?_." Shaking her head while she held James' gaze, she heard Ororo and Narya laughing.

"What is his secret?" Narya the woman next to John after a moment and wiped her tears away.

"Something manly that will shatter your picture of him!" the weather goddess smiled and James chuckled.

"He's a softie, everyone knows that." He put his glass back on the table and watched how Jamie shifted his position on his uncle's chest in his sleep. "So…what is the story about him?" he asked and looked at Ororo.

_On her way to the kitchen for her daily-night-tea Ororo stopped next to the rec room and entered it with a surprised look on her face. On the couch with one empty and a half full bottle of vodka sat Logan, who looked like a picture of misery and stared at something that only he could see. "Hey…," she greeted him and stopped next to the couch._

_He looked up, the bottle close to his mouth. "Hey yourself…," he grunted darkly and sipped on the vodka._

"_Why are you sitting here and drink so much?!" she asked concerned and sat down next to him._

"_Why not?"_

"_Did you have a fight with Jean?"_

"_No…," Logan growled and sipped in it again._

"_Then what?" Ororo asked. "You haven't drunk that much in months…"_

"_I can drink whenever I want, okay?!" Logan growled and glared at her._

_She returned it. "Don't you go all snappy on me now, mister!" she said warningly. "What's wrong, Logan? You know you can tell me."_

"_It's nothin'!" he said a bit louder and rolled his eyes when he saw the look he was given._

"_Of course it's nothing! That's why you try to get drunk, even if you can't, and all because it's nothing…" He just kept on glaring at her. "Logan, something is wrong… Why are you drinking so much right now and sit here in the dark?"_

"_Well, what do ya think is wrong?!" Logan snapped and took another look gulp._

"_I don't know. That's why I'm asking, right?" she asked ironically. "So?" She looked at him from aside, saw that he looked worried, maybe even scared, but tried hard to not show it._

"_Jeannie's pregnant, that's wrong!" he finally said and swallowed even more of the liquid._

"_Well… Something like this can happen if you sleep with someone, Logan," Ororo teased him and raised both hands when he growled at her. "Logan,…it's not as if she's told you an hour ago or something…," she said in a serious tone. "You're aware of it for weeks…"_

"_Nope! I got to know about it weeks ago, but I'm aware of it since today!" he corrected her._

"_I see…" She nodded and had both eyebrows raised. "So it's the typical 'male chicken out syndrome'…"_

"_The what?!" he asked and furrowed his brows._

"_You know…the…'oh my God, my girl's a preggy'-shock." He cocked an eyebrow at her and Ororo sighed. "Put that away!" she said and took the nearly empty vodka bottle away from him to put it onto the table. "And now talk! Why is the big bad Wolverine shitting his pants now?"_

"_I ain't shittin' no pants!" Logan said warningly but everything she gave him was a skeptical nod._

"_You're scared! I can see that!" She pointed at his hazel eyes. "Because even if you're seizing me up for a coffin now I've still seen THAT look before. So…I know that you're scared. Am I right?" she asked but there was no reply from his side. "No denial, so I take that as a yes. Any why? Do you want to leave her now because something happened that wasn't planned?!"_

"_Are you outta your mind or somethin'?" he snapped and turned more towards her._

"_Then what?! It's obviously not the pregnancy itself. So what is it?" Ororo asked. "That she'll gain weight? That she'll have cravings, might be snappy because of the hormones or that you won't have sex as often as you probably had before?"_

_Logan stared at her as if she had just grown a second head. "No, no and no!" he grunted before he furrowed his brows. "And what's that supposed t'mean?!"_

"_Well, it's not that I need enhanced hearing to hear the two of you sometimes…," Ororo said innocently._

_He snorted. "Ever heard about privacy?!"_

_She sighed and shook her head. "So as I said it's not the pregnancy itself…," she changed the topic before he would start telling her what he picked up on with his hearing. "What is it then?"_

"_She's gonna have babies!" Logan cried and ran a hand through his messy hair before he threw his head back over the back rest and groaned._

"_Well, yes, Logan… That's actually what's going to happen at the end of a pregnancy…"_

"_Funny, Storm!" he growled and was back to glaring at her._

_While she held his gaze she tried to read anything in it. Suddenly it hit her and she sat up straight. "You're really afraid of the babies?!" she asked almost in amusement. "Oh my God! I mean… Come on! You'll be a daddy!"_

"_That's it!" he grunted and grabbed the bottle again to take a long gulp._

"_What?" she asked._

"I'll _be a father!"_

"_So? What's the problem with it?" Ororo asked and pulled the bottle away from him again, which he commented with a warning glare._

"_Me and kids, Storm!" Logan said with a look that spoke volumes. "C'mon! Use your brain cells if there are some."_

_For that he received a warning look from her. "I don't see a problem here, Logan."_

_Groaning, he got up and began to pace. "I can't handle kids. I don't know what bein' a kid's like. I took care of them once and what happened? They were taken by soldiers and now Jean's gonna have not one, but two and I've t'take care of them and I know I'll suck in it!" While sitting on the couch, Ororo had watched and listened to him and was now staring at him in shock. "I ain't good at bein' responsible for somethin' and those two kids will depend on me and Jeannie, and I know that I can't do this!"_

"_I don't believe this…," she said more to herself after he had stopped taking. "You're really scared…"_

"_So what?!" Logan snapped. "Sue me!"_

"_Logan,…it's only two babies! Others managed it too," she tried to soothe him with a smile when he let himself fall back onto the sofa._

"_Yeah? But those _others _didn't live alone for over 15 years without a home or someone t'talk t'and take care of, they ain't no killers, they know what fathers and families are like, they've a grip on their lives and have a past…," he listed. "I mean what am I supposed t'tell my kids when they ask me what my favorite toy was back then or what my parents were like? Sorry, I don't remember? Or what the hell is it t'ya?!" he asked her angrily and ran a hand over his face. "I smoke, I drink, I fight in cages t'make money, I don't have a decent job or a memory of who I am, so what kind of father am I, if I can't offer my kids the simplest things?!"_

_Still staring at him, Ororo shook her head. "Logan…"_

"_What?!" he grunted and was about to grab the bottle again, when she caught his hand._

"_I can assure you that you'll make a great father!"_

"_Yeah?" Logan asked cynically. "I doubt that!" Being stronger, he got the bottle anyway._

"_I mean it! It would be worse if you wouldn't care at all, but since you're terrified, and sorry, you are, it shows that you really think about it. And just because you can't remember your family or past doesn't mean you'll be a bad father," she said calmly. "You always do things instinctively and if you're not all snappy and grumpy, you really are a nice, adorable guy with more than a big heart."_

"_I'll have t'kill ya if ya don't cut out the word with 'a' at the end!" he growled and she sighed._

"_Logan, I know that you'll be a great father and that these children will love you and can call themselves lucky to have you as their father," Ororo went on and hoped to convince him somehow. She nudged him. "And hey… You'll have the first X-babies ever! Never before have babies been born here. So you can be proud of yourself!"_

_Thinking about it, Logan looked at his hands. "And what if they're like me?" he asked her after a while, expressing his worst fear with it._

"_Then they'll be great people later in their life!" she replied and earned a 'funny'-look from him. Groaning in complete frustration, Ororo gave him a slap on the arm. "You're selling yourself way too short!" she scolded him. "You're a great man, Logan. If you stopped hiding your soft side behind this tough-guy-image of yours… You'll be a great father and your children will love you. I can guarantee you that," she said. "And now stop making that face!"_

"_Which face?" Logan grunted._

"_This 'Damn, my girlfriend's pregnant'-face! It's your own fault!"_

"_Oh really?" he mocked her. "Blame this damn so called birth control thing for this mess…"_

"_Mess?!" she asked. "Logan, you'll have children! That's a great thing, so how can you call it a mess? Do you really want to have no children at all?!" she asked him and looked at him from aside._

"_No!" he replied but sighed. "Maybe… Dunno…"_

"_It's either yes or no!" Ororo said. "What is greater than knowing that a part of you is growing in Jean? Or on your case even two! And then watch them grow. What's better than that? And besides…" Reaching quickly out, she pulled something out of his back pocket, which earned her a growl. "If you really don't want the twins, then why are you always carrying the pictures around, hm?" she teased him and pulled her hand away when he tried to snatch them from her with a growl. "Is that the latest one?" she asked and looked at the 3D ultrasound picture._

_Logan only rolled his eyes. "Yeah…"_

"_So cute… But you can't see what gender they are…," she said disappointedly. "Do you know it?"_

"_No, we don't wanna know."_

_Ororo handed the picture back to him and laid a hand on his shoulder. "Cheer up, Logan, and be happy! Because Jean really is," she said but saw that he began to pull a face. "Jesus… You love her, don't you?"_

"'_f course. What kinda stupid question is that?!" he asked her._

"_Logan, the woman you love is expecting your children and you sit here, trying to get drunk and are trying to convince yourself that you don't want these children, but you carry the scans around wherever you go and in fact, you're only scared that you'll fail as a father!" she listed. "You'll be a great father and I'd bet you want more kids as soon as you got used to it!" Once more he gave her a look. "And now come on! I ran into Jean on my way downstairs to the kitchen and she was looking for you."_

"_Is somethin' wrong?!" Logan asked worriedly while jumping up at the same time and wondered why Ororo gave him a smile._

"_See?" she asked and stood up too. "That's exactly what I mean!"_

"Well it's terrifying for us," John said.

"Oh, so not for the woman?" Ororo challenged him.

"Of course it is," he replied. "But for us it's not as natural as it is for you. You don't wanna know how many sleepless nights I had. It's terrifying for us."

"It's really hard to picture Logan like this," Heather joked.

"He deserves a good kick into his butt," James said and earned looks. "He belongs to Jean and his family. Not here."

"He'd only have to talk to her and listen to what she's been through," Ororo mumbled. "He'd understand… I think."

"Guys,…I have a plan!" Narya announced cheerfully.

"What plan?" Logan suddenly asked from the corridor and the woman froze.

"We're planning dinner," John said quickly and earned a skeptical look from his brother. "Where are the kids?"

"Getting' cleaned up," Logan grunted and folded his arms while cocking an eyebrow. "Plannin' dinner?"

"Yeah," Heather nodded innocently. "With them and your children we're a few more people. So…we have to plan what to cook."

"He's a man, he doesn't understand such things," Narya said and smiled at Logan when he growled. "Don't you have anything to do?" she asked him.

"No," Logan gave back and leant against the doorframe, sensing that they were up to something. "But I go out later…"

"You go out?" Jennifer suddenly asked and entered the room through another door. "Where are you going to?"

He shrugged. "Haven't decided yet."

"Can I come with you?" she asked so sweetly that Ororo felt the urge to puke.

"Nope," Logan said shortly without moving an inch.

"Why not?" the blonde asked and folded her arms.

"Coz I'm takin' the kids somewhere," he grunted and gave her a warning look not to start any discussion.

"So? I can join you!" Jennifer shrugged and he rolled his eyes.

"No, ya can't!"

"Why not?!"

"Coz ya ain't family. So ya ain't comin'," he growled and was about to turn around when she grabbed his arm. Growling, he pulled it away and glared daggers at her.

"If you go, Logan, I go into town and have fun with someone else!" Jennifer called after him after he had turned around to leave.

"So? Have fun!" they heard him calling back and watched how the blonde sprinted over to the door.

"I WILL go out with someone else!" she threatened him. "With your brother maybe!"

"I don't fuckin' care!" Logan shouted back.

"No, you won't!" Narya quickly said and got up just to sit down next to John and glare at the woman.

"Logan!" Jennifer yelled and left the room in search for him.

"See?" Heather asked. "That's what I mean about them."

"What's your plan?" Ororo quickly asked before Logan could come back.

"Well…," Narya began and smiled devilishly. "How about…"

* * *

Two days later Logan walked down the corridor after a short trip to the town and got rid of the bag in the kitchen, before he made his way to his room. All he wanted, since it was still early and the children were asleep, was to get changed, work out a bit, shower, maybe eat and spent the rest of the day with his children. But when he reached his room and opened the door, he stopped dead in the tracks and stared at his bed in shock…

**Okay, we have past 4 a.m. my time now and I was typing on this chapter for about….well, over 12 hours. Never thought I would finish it before tomorrow. LOL Thanks to all reviewers. I didn't manage to reply to all reviews since I was busy with college. : ( Which will start again in two weeks… : ( Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter, which is, with 38 pages, quiet long. Please don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you think!! See ya! Oh, and the two flashback scenes have been pre-written about over a year ago. I wanted to use them since the first sequel and I'm glad that I could finally type them up. Hope you liked them. See ya!**


	32. Chapter 30

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!! : )

**One sentence was stolen from X-Files, Arcadia Season 6. Fans will know which one. (Hint: Sandwich)**

I typed this chapter within two days. 24 pages on the first day, the rest on the next one. LOL Enjoy!

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 30**

"What are ya doin' here?" Logan growled and slammed the door shut behind him, his eyes were fixed on the bed and a low growl replaced the shock he'd been in before.

"I… They told me to wait here," Jean replied, the shock on her face still visible.

"For what?" he demanded to know and looked at her like a predator. "What the hell are ya doin' here?!"

"They called me and said Ray was sick and wanted to see me, so Scott flew me up here," she explained and heard him snorting.

"She's fine!" he snapped angrily, feeling betrayed by his friends. Determined to ignore her, Logan walked over to the wardrobe and pulled off his jacket, which he threw onto a stool.

Watching him, Jean looked down and bit her lip hard. "I'm…I'm sorry, I didn't mean…," she began when the door suddenly opened and a blonde woman looked into the room.

"Sugar, did I…," Jennifer began when she noticed Jean and returned the look she was given. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No, what do ya want?" Logan asked her, acting as if he didn't notice how the redhead looked to and fro between them.

"My shirt. Did I leave it here?" Jennifer asked and entered the room. "The blue one." She watched how he opened the drawer and threw it towards her in the next second. "Thanks!" she smiled and startled when the door suddenly slammed shut. When she turned around she noticed that Jean had left. "Isn't she your ex? What's she doing here?"

"Don't care!" Logan grunted while he had his back towards her and glared at the wall.

In the meanwhile, Jean walked down the corridor, not knowing where she was heading but being completely aware of her emotions running wild. While Phoenix demanded to smash both, the Wolverine and the woman, to pieces, the second voice in her head shared Jean's feeling and was devastated. When she past the kitchen she could hear Ororo talking in it and made a detour. "Why did you call me?!" she asked her aloud, the cupboards and windows beginning to vibrate. "To show me that he doesn't care for me anymore?! That he has someone else?" she went on, releasing her anger on her friend, who only stared at her in shock and gave the room a scared look from time to time.

"No, I…," Ororo began but was cut off by the furious redhead.

"Thanks for hurting me, Storm!" Jean shouted and the cup in front of the weather goddess exploded, before the redhead stormed out of the room.

"Wow…," Heather said and helped Ororo to get rid of the mess. "I thought Jennifer wasn't here today…"

"Obviously she is!" Narya said and reached over to wipe the rest of the coffee away. "Damn…"

"Why did ya call her?!" Logan suddenly growled from the door and the women turned around.

"Logan, we just…," Ororo began but swallowed hard when she noticed his dark, angry look.

"Ya just what?!" he shouted.

"We want you to talk to her!" Heather said determined and tried hard to not look intimidated by him.

"But I don't wanna talk t'her, damn it! I'm done with her!" he shot back. "Ain't that getting' into your fuckin' heads?" he asked and slammed his fist against the frame in anger.

"Logan…," Ororo tried to soothe him but he pointed a finger at her growling.

"Make sure she's gone soon!" he growled and turned around but she was suddenly next to him and grabbed his arm.

"No, wait!"

"Get…off me!" he said warningly, his muscles tensing in anger.

"Just listen!" she begged. "The whole fight between the two of you is one big misunderstanding!"

"_Misunderstandin'_?" he grunted sarcastically and cocked an eyebrow at her. "Yeah, sure. I just imagined it, eh?"

"It is! I know the truth, Logan!" Ororo went on, her eyes begging him to just listen. "Please, just… I only want you to listen to her. Please!" She watched how he looked at her for a moment, thought that she had convinced him when his face came closer with a smile.

"No!" he grunted and pulled his arm away, not caring that she fell forward a bit.

"Logan, please!" she pleaded once more when he turned around again.

"I said no! I've nothin' t'do with her anymore. If she can't move on, it ain't my fuckin'problem!"

"What do you have to lose if you listen to her?" Narya asked and got off of her stool.

He shrugged ironically and acted as if he was thinking hard. "Five wasted minutes of my life!" Leaving the room quickly, Logan began to growl when his ears picked up on footsteps.

"You don't love that blonde bitch! You still love Jean, Logan!" Ororo said, angered.

"Which part of bein' done with her didn't ya understand, Storm?!" he shouted and turned around to face her, causing her to nearly bump into him.

"Just listen to her! Please!" she begged again and he rolled his eyes in complete annoyance. His hands on his hips and his eyes narrowed he glared at her. "For your children's sake, Logan! They miss you so terribly!"

"Well, then pack their things and send them up here!" he shrugged arrogantly, not willing to give in and not caring about what she had to say anyway.

"And then what?!" Ororo asked louder and felt how the weather on the outside began to match her anger. "Is that bitch going to be her new mother?!"

"Shut up, Storm!" Logan barked.

"I won't!" she yelled at him, now completely furious, and saw from the corner of her eyes how Narya and Heather came out of the kitchen to be able to intervene if necessary. "Think about one thing, Logan! Just one thing! Think about what you've done in your past and what your life was like before you came to the mansion! You asked for forgiveness for everything you've done after regaining your memory," she went on and held his glaring gaze. "How can you ask for it and not give it yourself?! You have to hear what she has told me, I'm begging you! Please! Just give her these five minutes!" She looked at him pleadingly again, not noticing that Jean had, due to the shouting, opened her room door and was looking at them. Frowning, she turned around after noticing that he wasn't glaring at her anymore and saw her. Ororo watched the redhead for a moment and looked back at Logan, saw that he looked from Jean back to her too.

"No!" he said with finality in his voice and proceeded to walk down the corridor and away from them.

Groaning, Ororo buried both hands in her hair and gave Heather and Narya a defeated look. "He's impossible… How can one and the same person be such a jerk?" she asked them, put her hands to her hips and shook her head. When she looked back at the door Jean was gone again. "I don't understand him, really!"

"He did listen to you," Heather said while leaning against the doorframe. "Believe me, he did. He's a man! They are too proud to admit they made a mistake, are the last ones to apologize and oh!" She made a dramatically gesture. "They are the real woman when it comes to accepting an apology. Damn it if you hurt a man! They are such drama queens and of course, everything is our fault. Men never make mistakes!"

"How true," Narya nodded.

"Really?" James suddenly asked from another door and gave each of them a look that spoke volumes. "Well then why do you keep on hitting on us if we're so bad?" he demanded to know and folded his arms, looking especially at his wife.

"We on you?" this one asked and laughed. "As far as I remember men follow each skirt they see, but never mind!" She received a snort for it. "Logan behaves like a real jerk!"

"Mhm, he behaves like that and all men are evil," he nodded sourly.

"Would you stop that?" Heather asked him angrily.

"Hey, hey!" Narya quickly said. "Don't let Logan's and Jean's fight affect you now, okay?"

"Anyway, where are the children? Are they still sleeping?" Ororo asked.

"So it seems," James replied, still looking offended.

"Excuse me, but I have to go," Narya suddenly announced and walked towards her room.

"Why?! I thought we're having breakfast together!" Heather said on confusion.

"She's going out with one of those evil men," James mocked her and received a glare from her. "John and she have a date!"

"We don't have a date!" Narya sighed and rolled her eyes. "I just want to show him the city…"

"Mhm," he teased her. "That's what it called today, eh? Show him the city…."

"Go back outside and do what you did before!" she said and shook her head with another roll of her eyes.

"Have fun with one of those evil jerks!" he called after her jokingly and received an annoyed look from Narya.

"Anyway…," Ororo sighed. "I go and talk to Jean."

"Okay, I prepare breakfast in the meanwhile," Heather nodded before she gave her husband a look. "And you, mister, will help me!"

"I thought I'm evil?" he asked her. "And evil men don't help. You should know that!" Smirking at her, he walked past her and sat down at the table. "Woman! Come back in here and make me a sandwich!"

"Right…," she smiled sweetly and hit him with one of her beams.

"Jean?" Ororo asked carefully after knocking on the door and opening it. She closed the door behind her and slowly approached the redhead, who lay on the bed, curled up and stared at the floor with a tearstained face. "I'm sorry… It wasn't supposed to happen like this…"

Snorting, Jean shook her head. "What did you expect?" she asked and looked at her coldly. "That he's happy to see me?!"

"No, but… We thought, since he's all grumpy and behaves like an ass, that maybe…," Ororo began but sighed. "Logan misses you too. He's just too proud and too much a dickhead to admit it…"

"I don't care…," the redhead said and looked away again. "He doesn't care about me anymore. I'm just one more tick on his list…"

"Oh, now you're being stupid!" her friend said. "I don't understand you anyway! You have all the powers to just pin him to the wall and force him to listen to you!"

"So?" Jean asked and looked back at her. "Forcing Logan to do anything will backfire anyway. If he doesn't want to do something, he doesn't want to do it and there's nothing that can change it!"

"As Kurt would say there's always a way. You just have to believe in it."

Sighing, the redhead got up and walked over to the window where she watched how John helped Narya into a car. "Logan doesn't believe in religion, 'Ro." She shook her head sadly. "I just have to accept that it is over…"

"No!" Ororo replied and stopped next to her. "What you have to do is fight! He doesn't like weak woman, you know that. You want him back, so fight for him."

Holding her gaze, Jean shook her head after a moment. "What for?" she asked her. "He made his point clear. He doesn't want me anymore, he has someone else and if it wasn't for the children, he wouldn't have come back to the mansion in the past months. If it was up to him, the children would live with him. He's done with me, he said it." Ororo watched only able to shake her head how Jean walked back over to the door and opened it. "And I don't have the nerves or the strength anymore to wait for him and hope that he will give me another chance. It's over," she went on and shook her head. "I just have to accept it."

Watching her leave, the weather goddess only shook her head and looked out of the window. She frowned when she saw how Logan put Jamie into the car and saw how the rest of his children entered it too. Confused, she opened the window. "Where are you going?" she called and mad him turn around

Glaring at her, Logan held the door to the driver's side open. "Somewhere where no one's botherin' me!"

"When will you be back?" she asked concerned.

"When the front door opens!" he grunted and shut the door behind him, which made Ororo groan in frustration.

"Jerk!" she cursed and closed the window again. Turning around, she walked towards the kitchen. "It's only the three of us, maybe that bitch and Jean too."

"Why?" James asked and stopped putting pancakes onto the already huge pile next to him.

"Logan just left with the children. God knows when he'll be back," she told him.

"I made breakfast for everyone!" he cried and pointed at the pile.

"He'll eat them cold too," she waved off. "Where are Puck, Sasquatch and Shaman anyway?"

"On a mission to Asia," Heather replied and began to put cups and dishes away again. "Too bad the children are with him…"

"Why?" Ororo asked and met her gaze.

"Otherwise I'd asked you to hit him with a lightning bolt. Because _I _would love to do it now!" the woman said and sat back down.

* * *

After spending also the next days on the outside and visiting some places, Logan had brought his children to bed and read a bedtime story before he'd retreated to his room and showered. Now he lay in bed and stared at the ceiling, his arms folded behind his head and his mind brooding. "What's wrong, Suga?" Jennifer smiled and moved on top of him, which earned her a dismissive look. Still smiling lasciviously, she began to strip off her top and rubbed against hip like a cat, before she leant down and sucked on his lower lip. "Hm?"

"Nothin'," he grunted and turned his head away from her, tensed his muscles when she cupped and squeezed him.

"Maybe I can help to heal the depression?"

"Don't feel like it!" Logan growled and grabbed her hips hard to make her stop.

Pouting, Jennifer stroked down his chest. "Come on, hon… I'm sure I can be of help."

"Get off me!" Logan snapped and pushed her roughly off him before he rolled onto his side and glared at the wall.

Unseen of him, she had her eyes narrowed and got up angrily, got he things from the ground and had her eyes fixed on him while getting dressed again. "Fine!" she snapped and stomped over to the door. "Then go and ask that redheaded bitch! I bet you're already dying to get your hands on that slut again!"

"Piss off!" he barked and had faster turned around than a lightning bolt could hit something.

"Gladly!" she shouted and slammed the door shut behind her. When she neared the kitchen her eyes narrowed and she began to walk faster. "Hey slut!" she called and didn't wait for Jean to turn around before she pushed her against the wall, spilling the tea the redhead had carried on the ground. "Go back where you came from and take those brats with you! He's mine now and even if you're obviously itching for a good screw again, you won't get it from him, bitch! He doesn't need a fugly haggard foe like you!" she shouted and glared at the shocked looking redhead. "So piss off and go back to the chicken ranch he got you from!" With a last push she turned and stomped down the corridor, leaving Jean staring at the ground in shock, her mind and emotions racing.

"_Kill her!"_ Phoenix demanded. _"Kill her or I'll do it!"_

"_Show her what we're made of!" _the second voice demanded and the redhead's eyes switched from black to fiery to green again.

"No!" she hissed and walked back to her room instead.

* * *

"Sweetheart…," Logan sighed and pulled Rachel closer while the girl was crying her eyes out. He'd already forgotten about what had happened before after he'd been awoken by his youngest daughter, who'd stood crying in front of his bed and had begged him to come with them. "Darlin', I've explained it to you… I can't…"

"W…why?" the girl sobbed into his chest and clung to his arms as if her life depended on it.

"I told ya that mommy and I don't get along anymore…," he said calmly and stroked over her hair and back soothingly.

"W…why?" she asked again and he heaved a deep breath.

Looking for an answer, he rested his chin on her head. "It happens, ya know?" he said and rocked her slowly back and forth. "Sometimes it's better for parents not t'be t'gether anymore… Or would ya prefer if we fought the whole time through?" he asked her and stroked over her long hair when she shook her head. "See?"

"But I want you to live with us, daddy," Rachel sobbed and looked up to meet his eyes.

Feeling a sharp stitch in his heart, Logan placed a kiss on her forehead. "I know munchkin…I wanna live with ya guys too, but right now things are better off the way they are," he mumbled into her hair. "C'mon, ya need t'sleep. Your plane leaves early tomorrow."

"I wanna stay here," she mumbled into his chest and was soon placed next to him and tucked in by her father. "I'm thirsty…"

"Wanna have a hot chocolate?" Logan asked while wiping her tears away and received a nod. "'kay. Be right back," he said and got out of bed and left the room. "What are ya guys doin' here?"

"We wanna stay with you too," Lily said and Logan gave each of them a playful scolding look, since all of them stood in their doorway.

"And hot chocolates!" Jack demanded.

"Fine, then go but after drinkin' it you'll sleep, understood?" Logan asked with folded arms and shook his head when his children stormed into his room. Before he went into the kitchen, he got Jamie, who was miraculously awake too, out of his bed and brought him to his room. "Be careful with him!" he warned his children and finally made his way to the kitchen. "Is everyone awake in this place?!" he asked, since his brother was sitting at the table and eating cereals.

"So it seems," the man replied. "I'll stay a bit longer…"

"I wonder why," Logan smirked and began to heat some milk. While he waited for it to start boiling, he turned around to have a better look at his older brother, his smirk still visible in his face while he crossed his arms and leant back against the fridge. "Taken with her, eh?" he teased him but John rolled his eyes. "C'mon! I saw her coming outta your bedroom yesterday."

"We slept with each other," John sighed. "Not _with _each other."

"Uhu…"

"It's true! She fell asleep in my bed."

"Mhm…"

"Logan!" John growled and received a chuckle for it. "She's…"

"Sexy, beautiful, smart, strong?" Logan listed knowingly and received a questioning look.

"Made some experiences with her, I assume?"

"That's long ago…," he replied and waved off.

"Mhm…," John made now and chuckled when his brother growled. "Scott warned me to ask every woman I meet if she had a thing with you before."

"Did he?" Logan grunted and his brother nodded smirking. "Well, better than tellin' someone _Hey, I'm 48 and had two women in my life so far_."

"Three!" John corrected chuckling.

"Three?" his brother asked and cocked an eyebrow. "Ah, let me guess!" Logan smirked. "Lorna is the reason why Cyke and his brother don't get along, huh?" he asked and received a look that spoke volumes. "As I thought… Did anything else happen?"

"Yeah, Scott and Raven split up," John said and now it was for Logan to stare.

"Because of his past?!"

"No one knows… Raven must have told him something, Scott refused to talk to her and…" John shrugged. "He also refuses to let her close to Alex."

"What the hell?" Logan asked, his brows furrowed. While he looked at his opposite he tried to figure out what could have happened. "How's Nick?" he finally asked and made sure the milk wasn't boiling over.

"He's doing well. Hank and Moira are one happy couple," John said, noticed Logan's smirk and became serious again. Of course he had heard about the fights in the past days, they weren't a secret, but he's also heard Rachel sobbing and was determined to achieve what the others had failed to do. "Oh, and…there's a new mutant at the school," he suddenly said, made sure that he had Logan's attention before he went on. "Kinda sad story…"

"What mutant?" Logan asked, eyes narrowed.

"A woman, she was kicked out of her home because her so called husband doesn't believe her," his brother told him while looking at his cup. "She was the victim of an attack, her husband doesn't know and is angry because she suddenly disappeared on him and their children. He thinks she's abandoned them while he had to struggle with life. But in fact she'd been there, unseen of him. The attack has turned her into some kind of ghost and she had tried everything to tell him that she was on his side, but…" He shook his head. "When she came back after a couple of months, he was so angry with her, didn't give her any chance to explain the situation, didn't want to hear that it wasn't her fault but the one of whoever was behind that attack… He kicked her out, told her he hated her and never wanted to see her again. So…she came to us… Told us that she had been wither husband the whole time through, that she slept next to him, never left his side because she loved him. But he doesn't give her any chance."

"What a jerk," Logan said and put the milk from the range.

"You think so?" John asked and noticed the cocked eyebrow and _are-you-kidding_-look he was given.

"'f course. It wasn't her fault, was it? And she was with him if what she said was true…," the other man grunted and began to prepare the hot chocolate. "So…he's a jerk."

"Hm…," John said and got up to put the dirty dishes into the sink. He leant against the fridge, his arms folded and watched his brother from aside. "Then you actually said it… You're a jerk!"

"What?!" Logan asked, stopped what he was doing and cocked an angry eyebrow at him. "What the fuck's that supposed t'mean?!"

"That you're a jerk!" his opposite said and tensed his muscles when the man dropped the spoon with a loud _clong_ and looked like being ready to beat him up. "It was Jean's story by the way. After you left she told Ororo the truth and she told me in return, since she doesn't know anymore what else she can do to make you listen to her."

Smirking suddenly, Logan nodded and turned back around. "'f course… Jean's story…"

"It is!" John said and grabbed him by the arm to prevent him from going away again. "She's been with you the whole time through! She was able to tell us about things she can't know and also that Jamie was able to see her," he told him and the shake of his brother's head told him that the man didn't believe him. "Ask Ray! She saw Jean while you were downstairs. That's the reason why your children were so devastated before you decided to leave."

"Jean's a fuckin' telepath! She can make ya believe everythin' she wants!" Logan shot back at him and threw the spoon into the sink.

"She said the truth! Your not the only one that can tell if people are lying!" his brother said, sounding as angrily as his opposite. "She's miserable since you left, your children are suffering because you're not with them… For God's sake, how do you think was Jean able to save your life at that facility?! How do you explain it that she knew you were there if she hadn't followed you around the whole time though, Logan? She even knew that Ororo was raped by Sabretooth, she knew that she had stayed with you for a while, she knows everything that you've done in the past year," he listed and held the glare he was given. "How can she possibly know…if she had lied about being invisible?!"

Glaring at him for a while longer, Logan took the tray in his hands and walked over to the door. "I don't give a shit!" he snapped and left the room, hearing how his brother slammed his fist against a solid surface with a growl, and returned to his room where he sighed loudly. Of course his children had fallen asleep and it was up to him to drink the hot chocolate. Doing it reluctantly, he moved Jamie and Jack a bit more to the middle if the bed and lay down next to them. But his mind was racing too much for him to find any sleep…

* * *

On the next morning Ororo and the others were already having breakfast very early, since they soon had to leave for the airport. "Honey, you need to eat something before we leave," the weather goddess said since Rachel was only staring at her cereals.

"I don't wanna go!" Jack said glaring at her.

"I know, but we have to," she replied and got up when Heather suddenly entered and looked at her.

"Is Jean not going back with you?"

"She's already at the airport," Ororo said and gave her a look that spoke volumes.

"Why?" Narya asked.

"I don't know. But I found a letter in my room, which said that she was already at the airport and is waiting for us there."

"Strange…," Narya said and frowned when she saw how John shook his head. "But well… Logan and Jen obviously had a fight. James found her in the gym this morning and she was punching the life out of a punching back."

"What a pity!" Ororo said sarcastically and gave her baby a bottle to drink. "Speaking of which… Where's Logan?"

"He told James to drive you to the airport," Heather said sourly and pulled a sympathetic face after noticing the look of the children.

"Why?" Jack asked.

"It's probably my fault…," John said. "I told him off at night and he was pretty pissed off afterwards."

"He left with his bike and bag and said he'd go to his cabin," James said after swallowing some pancakes.

"WHAT?!" Ororo asked him. "He leaves without saying good-bye to his children?!"

"Daddy did say good-bye," Laura growled.

"Not to me," Ororo sulked. "But…what does he want at the cabin anyway?"

"Probably cooling off," John shrugged.

"Anyway, we need to get ready. It's an hour's drive to the airport," Heather said and looked at the children. "Do you have anything?"

"I don't wanna go!" Jack cried again and looked at his Uncle for help.

"You have to go back home, Jack," John told him but the boy shook his head.

"I wanna stay here with daddy!" he protested. "You're staying here too!"

"Yes, but only for a couple of days. And you have school!" his uncle told him. "Your dad will be mad if you miss school, you know that."

"Come on," Ororo said and waited for them to get off of their stools. "Jack, behave!" she warned him, since the boy remained where he was. She pulled Jamie up and needed to give him another warning look, before Jack finally obeyed, even if it was reluctantly.

"We're coming too!" Narya said and got up, followed by John.

While the children went with Narya and John, the latter still trying to soothe Jack, who was crying into his wolf, Ororo, her baby and Jamie went with James and Heather. "I'm sorry that we can't fly you back home. But we only have this jet," James apologized.

"It's okay. Jean's there to help me with the children," Ororo waved off and handed Jamie a cookie.

"Are you…sure about the baby?" Heather asked her and turned around in her seat to meet the woman's eyes. "You know…if you chance your mind…"

"I know, but…," Ororo said and sighed while looking at her baby. "Look, I'm happy that the two of you made the offer to care for him. Otherwise I'd have given him up and some strangers would have raised him…"

"But he's your baby," James said and gave her a look through the mirror.

"He is, but…" Ororo shook her head. "I told Logan from the beginning that I wouldn't be a good mother to him. I can't forget what his father did to me and why the baby exists. So by knowing that he's with you, I know that he's with people who will be good to him, with people who can give him the love I can't." She looked up at Heather. "And I know that I can see him whenever I want to."

"Of course!" the redhead replied. "You can also have him back if you change your mind. It's your baby."

The weather goddess smiled at her. "I won't change my mind… It's final…"

Nodding, Heather looked at the boy, who was sleeping peacefully in his seat. "Does he have a name by the way?"

"No," his mother said and shook her head. "You know, I only brought him with me because I wanted to give him away here. In that way, I thought, his father might not find him… I left the papers and everything at your home."

"Okay…"

At the airport the group finally met up with Jean, who took Jamie from Ororo and remained silent most of the time. "Call us as soon as you're home!" Narya said and hugged them.

"And you guys behave on the flight, okay?" John told the children with a stern look and hugged Jean and Ororo briefly. "Have a save flight, okay?"

"And you…," Ororo said while she still had her arms around him. "Behave!" While he growled playfully at her, she giggled. But her smile faded when she looked at her son, who was now on Heather's arm.

"Ororo, you…," the woman began but she waved off.

"No! It's better this way," she said and stroked over her son's head before she placed a kiss on it. "He's better off with you…"

"Are you sure?" James asked after she'd hugged his wife and then him and received a nod. "If you change your mind…"

"I know…," she smiled and wiped a tear away.

"We thought about Taylor," Heather told her. "It fits TJ and Tommy. Are you fine with it?"

While Ororo nodded her approval, Rachel pulled on her mother's jacket.

"I need to pee," the girl cried.

"Excuse me," Jean said and beckoned her children to follow her. "It was nice seeing you again," she added before disappearing in the crowd.

"I've to go too," Ororo said after checking her watch.

"Have a safe trip and don't forget to call!" Heather reminded her.

"Sure! Bye!" the weather goddess said and turned around to follow Jean and the children.

"How can Logan just leave to the cabin and not say goodbye to them?" the redhead asked angrily and shook her head, while pulling the baby close.

"I don't know but he's in for the sermon of his life as soon as he's back!" Narya said sourly. "Have you seen Jean's face and how sad the children were?"

"I'd so hoped that our plan would work…," Heather sighed.

"Not only you…"

"He's stubborn as a brick wall," John shrugged and followed them back to the exit.

"Anyway…," Narya said and stopped at their car with a smile. "Congrats!"

"For what?" James asked and furrowed his brows, while his wife put Taylor back into his car seat.

"You're parents now!"

"I don't know…" He shook his head. "I'm sure that she'll regret it."

"I talked with her for hours about it, James," Heather said and closed the door. "It was her plan from the beginning. She felt him growing within her, so she must have thought about it very carefully. She just wanted the best for her child and this is proof enough that she loves him." She sighed and forced herself to smile. "Well then, let's head home. We still need to buy things for Taylor."

"And I need to prepare by sermon!" Narya added sourly.

* * *

It was not before late evening when Scott parked the car in Xavier's garage and helped to unpack the suitcases. "The Professor just said that dinner's ready," he informed them and watched how the suitcases began to float in the air.

"I'm not hungry," Jean said and turned towards the door. "Could you take the children with you?"

"But Jean… You haven't eaten anything at all till 6 a.m.," Ororo said concerned, since it was already past 9 p.m. and they had arrived late due to a long delay.

"It's okay," the redhead waved off. "Just make sure they eat something…"

Watching her leaving and shaking his head when the kids ran off to the kitchen, Scott closed the door to the garage and locked it behind him. "So, what happened?"

"Well, where do you want me to start?" Ororo sighed.

"Just give me a brief summary that explains why I had to fly Jean up to Canada for nothing…"

"We tricked her into Logan's room in hope they would talk to each other," she explained while he had his hands buried in his jeans pockets. "And there…she bumped into this blonde bitch…"

"Bitch?!" he asked confused.

"Logan's girlfriend," Ororo said and gave him a look that told him everything.

Shocked, Scott froze on the spot. "Girlfriend?" he asked. "That bastard is in Canada for what?! Less than 5 months and he already has someone else?!"

Pulling him with her again, she shook her head. "He can tell me what he wants, Scott, but he has her only to convince himself that he's done with Jean. And from his reaction he's far from it!"

"Sure?" he asked skeptically.

"Definitely! Jean had barely arrived and he and that bitch were fighting the whole day through and in the end Logan took of to his cabin," she replied.

Nodding, he still couldn't believe it. In the end he made her stop. "So…Heather and James adopted your son you said?"

"Taylor…,yes," she said and looked down. "They found out after all these years why she never got pregnant and after I told them that I wanted to give him up, they asked if I was fine with them taking care of him."

"And you are okay with it?" he asked and gave her a concerned look.

"Yes," she said and looked up at him with a sad smile. "In that way I know that he's with people who will love him."

"That's not what I meant, 'Ro…," Scott said and followed her again.

"I know, Scott," Ororo replied after reaching the kitchen and gave him a sign to just drop her suitcase. "But it's my answer to you."

* * *

While the rest had their late dinner in the kitchen, Jean had reached her rooms and dropped the two suitcases next to the door without really looking at them, before she leant against it and closed her eyes for a moment. The past two days during her stay at Alpha Flight HQ she had acted on automatic, had tried to push her feelings aside and had refused to show him how hurt she really was. To learn that he had someone else while she had never given up hope had practically split her heart into two. Only able to heave a deep breath and not willing to break down, she walked over to the window. Since he was gone she hadn't changed anything in the rooms. The pictures were still there, the things he'd left were still at their old places,…even the few clothes he'd left still hang in the wardrobe. Like in trance she took the picture of their wedding into her hand and looked at it, asked herself how what they had could have been destroyed so easily, that she'd never believed something strong like their love for each other was so fragile at the same time. Lost in thoughts Jean stroked over his face and bit her lip hard, not noticing that her tears finally began to fall freely…

"Why didn't ya tell me?"

Startled, she dropped the frame and the glass shattered on the ground into dozen pieces. Her heart was racing when she turned and her eyes widened in shock.

On the white sofa sat Logan, one arm resting on the backrest, while the other lay on the armrest, his duffle bag next to him, right next to the door and had watched her the whole time through with attentive eyes. He watched how Jean put one hand to her chest and began to walk backwards, not blinking once, until her back hit the wall. Sighing, he got up and walked the few meters over to her before he went down to his knees and began to tidy up. "Jamie will hurt himself…," he muttered and put the picture and frame onto the desktop. When he got up again he noticed that she was still staring at him. "Why didn't ya tell me the truth?" he asked again and folded is arms, his eyes never leaving her.

Jean only shook her head and turned around, too surprised and shocked to say anything. Her eyes were fixed on the dark garden before she looked back at him. "How…? Why…?" she stuttered.

"John told me what you told 'Ro," he grunted, still looking pissed. "Why didn't ya tell me?! Instead, ya made me believe you were back for a whole fuckin' year without sayin' one fuckin' word t'me!" he roared and began to pace. "Ya destroyed everythin' with it, Jean! My trust in ya, our family….just everythin'!" he went on, grabbed her arms roughly next. "Why didn't ya tell me?!"

"I…I didn't know how! You were so mad with me," she sobbed and lowered her head. "And the whole situation sounded so ridiculous that I thought no one would believe me anyway…"

"Ya could have told me!" Logan said so loud that she winced.

"And how?" Jean asked after he let go of her.

"By fuckin' talkin' t'me!"

"You never gave me the chance to do it, Logan!" she said, angered and watched how he briefly squeezed his eyes with one hand, just to heave a deep breath next. "Why are you here?" she asked barely audible after a moment and received a glare from him.

"What do ya think?!" Logan snapped.

"How am I supposed to know?" Jean shrugged, hurt. "You have someone else to keep you happy. You said you don't need me…"

"She ain't my girlfriend, damn it!" he growled. "She just liked t'tell everyone she was, but I never saw her as one."

"But you slept with her…," she said before she could stop herself.

Chuckling darkly, Logan shook his head and raised one hand. "Don't ya dare t'accuse me of cheatin' on ya now, darlin'," he warned her. "We split up, so I could do whatever I wanted and with whomever I wanted!"

"_We _didn't do anything!" Jean hissed and her eyes darkened briefly. "You left me!"

"Want me t'go again?!" Logan growled and moved closer so that he was only inches away from her face. "If ya hadn't chosen t'not tell the truth, I wouldn't have left, darlin', so face the truth that it was your own fuckin' fault and not mine!"

Sighing, she ran both hand over her face and heaved a deep breath. "Can we just stop it?" she begged. "I don't have the nerves for this anymore, Logan…" He shrugged and chose to look away, while Jean wiped her tears away. "What now?" she asked him after a while.

"I'll stay here but in my old room. It's better for the kids," Logan said, still not looking at her. "They've suffered enough already."

Nodding, she used her powers to put the glass of the frame back together. It didn't take long and the picture was back in it and hung on the wall again. Jean reached out to make sure it hung straight and her eyes saddened. "What about us…?" she asked in barely more than a whisper and saw in the reflection that he was looking at her.

"Dunno…," Logan shrugged and buried his hands in his pockets when she turned to look at him. "It's too much destroyed already in my opinion…"

"Then let us start all over again," she begged. "Or at least try…"

Holding her gaze for a moment, he shook his head in the end. "Too much has happened, Jean… I can't say what things will look like in a couple of months or maybe a year, but goin' back now…" He shook his head.

Nodding weakly, she sighed and wrapped her arms around herself. "We should go downstairs. The children hardly ate anything at all today and I'm sure they refuse to do it again…" Waiting for his nod, she began to lead the way.

"Lily said Callie's pregnant?" he asked while they descended the stairs.

"Yeah," Jean replied. "I had her tested after she was acting sick for a week. The cubs should be born at the beginning of June."

"So soon? Took him a while…," Logan mumbled and smirked when he picked up on the noises in the kitchen. From what he could hear Miloh and Callie were freaking out, he knew they had heard and smelled him, and Scott, Hank and Ororo took rounds in asking them what was wrong. By now they already believed they were going to be attacked.

"Daddy!" Laura shouted before he had even entered the kitchen and Logan had barely time to react before the girl jumped over the counter and threw herself at him. Soon he had to kneel down, since there were suddenly a wolf, a dog and four children on top of him; the dogs occupied with licking every spot they could catch of him and the children trying to grab as much of him as possible while crying.

"What are you doing here?!" Ororo asked stunned and looked over the counter. "How did you get here so fast?!"

"Sellin' ice-crème and by flyin'," Logan grunted somewhere through fur and clothes.

"Funny, Logan!" she replied and folded her arms. "How did you get here?!"

Freeing himself from underneath his children and dogs, he cleared his throat. "Puck and the others were on their way back home and must have seen me. So…they did me the favor and flew me over here." Only shaking her head, Ororo left the room after she heard the phone ringing.

"When do you go away again, daddy?" Rachel sobbed and looked at him.

"I won't," he replied and stroked the hair out of her face and behind her shoulder. "I won't go away again. I'm stayin'…"

"But…," Lily said and looked from him to Jean, who was still standing next to him and watching them, and back. "…mommy and you will start fighting again."

"We won't, sweety," the redhead said before Logan could answer.

"So daddy and you like each other again?" Laura asked hopefully but could read their faces too well.

"Mommy and I have t'work things out, 'kay?" her father said and stroked over her cheek gently. "Important thing is that I'll be stayin'..."

"Have they eaten?" Jean asked Scott and received a nod. "Then go upstairs and prepare for bed, okay? It's been a long day for you."

"C'mon," Logan added and got slowly up. "And take Miloh and Callie with ya."

"It's for you," Ororo said and handed him the receiver with a satisfied smile, which he didn't like.

"Yeah?" he asked and quickly pulled the receiver as far away from his ear as possible. "Damn it, Narya, I was deaf before, I don't wanna be it again!" he growled and looked up when Jean took the sleeping Jamie from Hank.

"You don't deserve better, Logan!" Ororo said and sat back down. "She was already dying to get her hands on you before we left."

"Narya…," Logan sighed and rolled his eyes when the woman on the other side continued shouting at him and calling him names. He nodded when the redhead gave him a sign that she would return to her rooms and closed his eyes while Narya went on with her sermon, which mostly included _How dare you_'s, _I'd love to kill you_'s and _Wait until we meet again_'s. "Yeah, I know… Look…," he tried once more after she had to breath in. "Yeah, call me any name ya want, darlin', and yeah, ya can try t'beat the crap outta me the next time. In fact, I really wanna see ya tryin' it!" he growled and glared at the still smiling Ororo. "Yeah, whatever! You're right, I'm wrong, got it," he said and quickly added, "Yes, I'm an ass, you're so right. I'll retreat into a corner and cry... Now, look, my kids have t'go t'bed, 'kay? Tell John t'keep ya busy, greet the others and bye!" Before she had the chance to say anything else he put the receiver down and heaved a deep breath. "Women…"

"No, you deserved it!" Ororo scolded him and ignored his warning _don't-piss-me-off_ growl. "You said you'd go to the cabin!"

"I was on my way and changed my mind, 'kay?" he asked and raised both hands in defeat. Turning to Charles, he put his hands to his hips. "Can I have my old room back?"

"I thought you'd move back in?" Scott asked surprised.

"Yeah, back in, not back _in_," Logan grunted. "And the two of us have a nice talk later!"

"What about?" Scott asked and folded his arms.

"Ya know what about! So, what about my old room?"

"I'm sorry, Logan, but your room is currently taken," the Professor apologized and Logan sighed. "We don't have any empty rooms available at the moment."

"What's the problem in moving back in with Jean?" Ororo asked.

"That I don't wanna move back in with her," Logan growled. "Fine, then I'll sleep on the couch in the rec-room or somethin'."

"Don't be ridiculous, my boy!" Hank said. "It's way too small for you."

"Whatever, night!" Logan grunted and turned back around to get his duffle bag. When he entered his old rooms Jack threw himself at him and was pulled up by his father. "Ready for bed?"

"No! You have to read a bedtime story first!" his son said and wrapped his arms around Logan's neck.

"I'll be right there, 'kay?" he replied and watched how Jack stormed off into his room. Turning to his left, Logan entered Jamie's room and watched him sleeping for a moment, before he placed a soft kiss onto his youngest forehead and tucked him back in. He then walked over to the twins' room, where also Laura and Rachel were waiting, and picked a book from the shelf, which he began to read. After finishing it, he was ordered to carry Laura and Rachel over to their bedroom. "Carry ya, huh?" Logan asked and cocked an eyebrow at them.

"Yes, we're too tired to walk, daddy!" the little redhead said and waited for him to kiss and hug Jack and Lily.

"Mhm…," he said and pulled both of them up after closing the door to the twins' room. "And I'm too tired t'carry ya." While they held onto him, he carried them the few meters over to their bedroom and placed each of them on the correct bed. "Satisfied, myladies?" he asked teasingly.

"No, you have to tuck us in, give us a hug and say good night!" Laura demanded and received a cocked eyebrow from him.

"Somethin' else?" Logan asked after doing it and handing each of them their favorite cuddly toy. "I ain't gonna make any hot chocolate that ya won't drink anyway, coz ya have fallen asleep, kiddo!"

"Now you can go!" Rachel mumbled sleepily into her wolf and giggled when her father leapt at her for a tickle attack.

"Can go, ya said?" he growled playfully and only stopped when she clung to him, laughing and breathing hard. Kissing her forehead and pulling her close for a moment, he smiled at her. "Now c'mon, go t'sleep."

"You won't leave, daddy?" she mumbled into the wolf and he stroked over her hair.

"No, I won't," he promised.

"Then you can make chocolate pancakes for us first thing in the morning!" Laura demanded and hid under her blanket giggling when he growled.

"Night," Logan said and closed the door behind him. He smirked when his eyes fell on Miloh and Callie, who lay on their blanket next to the heater and were half asleep. Taking his time, he sat down next to them and stroked through their fur. For him it was a good sign that Miloh allowed it. He knew from experience how protective a male wolf could become from his pregnant partner. While looking at the husky, Logan concentrated his senses on her and touched her belly. After a moment he smiled at her, stroked both his dog's head once more and got up again at the same time when Jean came out of the bathroom.

"Charles said you want to sleep in the rec-room?" she asked him and wrapped her arms around herself when he nodded. "Logan, you can sleep here. The sofas downstairs are way too small for you…"

"Jean…," he sighed and narrowed his eyes when she came closer.

"Take the bed. I'll sleep on the couch," she said calmly.

"So that ya can complain about back pain tomorrow?" he asked and folded his arms with a skeptical look. "I'm fine with the couch."

"No, you've never been fine with the couch," she replied and took his duffle bag from him. "What's the problem in sleeping in the same bed? It's big enough and we're grown-ups," she added and said before he could protest, "I won't take 'no' as an answer! I don't want you to stay up all night because you can't sleep on the sofa again." Not waiting for another word of him, she took his duffle bag with her to the bedroom.

Sighing and scratching the back of his head, Logan gave the sofa a disgusted look. She was right. He never found any sleep when he had to sleep on those things. It was one of her ways to trick him into an apology… Finally, he entered the bathroom and took a quick shower before he brushed his teeth. He'd noticed before that everything he'd left was still there on its old places. After he'd used a towel to dry his face and hands, he looked at himself in the mirror and tried to figure out what to do. Sleeping next to her was dangerous, something he'd wanted to prevent until some time had passed… After leaving the room he gave the two sleeping dogs a brief look and remained in front of the bedroom door for a moment, before he entered it and closed the door behind him. He noticed Jean's blush when she looked up and saw that he was only dressed in a towel, which hung low around his hips. Acting as if he hadn't noticed it, he went over to the drawer and pulled one of his briefs out of it. He knew she was watching him intently when the towel fell to the ground and he pulled the briefs up.

"You should wear one your sweatpants too," she told him while hugging her pillow. "It's getting cold at night…" Jean watched how he gave her a look first before he opened another drawer and took one of his pants out of it.

"Callie needs a box in a warm room where she's not disturbed by others," he told her to ignore the visible tension in the room and put on the pants.

"We could put her into Jamie's room until the cubs are born and Jamie into Ray's and Laura's room," she suggested, her eyes following him towards the bed. She knew he could clearly hear her heartbeat with his sensitive hearing…

"Maybe…," Logan replied and propped his head up on one arm while he looked at her from aside.

"What?" Jean asked in a whisper, feeling insecure due to his intense stare.

"My pillow…," he said and she first began to frown. "Pillow!" Logan said once more and pointed at the one she held in a deadly grip.

"Oh…" Blushing, she handed it over to him. "I'm sorry…"

"Mhm…," Logan made and tried to get comfortable. He closed his eyes after she'd switched off the light and said _Night _after she'd said it and while his mind tried to come to rest, he heard how she turned around and… "Hey!"

"Sorry, I'm not used to it anymore…," Jean apologized and let go of the duvet so that he had enough again. Hearing him growling while he pulled on it, it was now for her to protest. "Logan!"

"What?!" he snapped.

"I need a bit of it too," she said and pulled on it to cover herself again. In the end, she switched on the lamp again and sighed. "When you prefer to sleep on the edge of the bed, it's no wonder that the comforter is not enough!"

"Says the woman, who sleeps on the opposite edge, eh?" he mocked and cocked an eyebrow at her. Rolling his eyes, he moved closer to the middle and beckoned for her to do the same. He was too tired to have a long discussion about some comforter now and wanted to sleep. In the end both fell asleep with their backs touching each other.

When Logan awoke on the next morning, he raised his head a bit just to let it fall backwards in the next moment. Not only had Jean wrapped her arms and legs around him like a snake, his body had betrayed him by doing the same and it weren't the only things that made him feel uncomfortable. Since he didn't want to wake her he tried to free himself from her grip, but after uttering a protesting sound Jean tightened it and cuddled up again. Shaking his head, Logan began to count sheep in hope the pressure in his lower body parts would vanish and that quickly… He used his free hand to scratch his belly and froze… While his eyebrow wandered further up in slow motion, accompanied by his head that raised slowly, his hand wandered further down and disappeared under the blanket. His fingers touched skin, and hair and… As if hit by lightning, Logan sat up and shouted "Damn!"

Startled by it, Jean sat up after falling off him and looked at him through the fog of sleep that was still present in her head. "W…what happened?" she asked drowsily and had to shake her head.

"What happened?!" he roared and jumped out of bed, using a pillow to cover his very lively manhood. "What the fuck were ya thinkin'? I told ya I didn't wanna get back t'gether and ya used me!"

"W…what?!" Jean asked and sat further up, the blanket falling down. Shocked she noticed that she was naked. "What the hell?!"

"That's it, Jean!" Logan went on with his tantrum and began to gather his things. "I'll move out, we're done!"

"I didn't do anything!" she said angered and used the blanket to cover herself. "And where is your proof that it wasn't in fact your Wolverine who used me?!" she gave back after stopping in front of him. "Because I can neither remember undressing you or me or that anything else has happened"

"Oh, right! So now it's my fuckin' fault again, eh?!" he roared. "Don't ya dare givin' me that shit now!"

"_Oh, I gave him enough…"_

"What?!" Jean asked and furrowed her brows in anger.

"What what?!" Logan snapped and still looked for his briefs.

"It wasn't my fault, Logan!"

Snorting, he fished out his brief from under the bed and got up to face her. "Well, it wasn't my fuckin' fault e…," he began and, for the first time, noticed the satisfied purr in the back of his head. Groaning, he closed his eyes and buried his face in one hand. "I hate him…"

Biting her lip, she began to shift uncomfortably. "I don't want to know what they did with each other…," she mumbled, since now her body really began to hurt.

"Hello?" Scott's voice asked and a knock could be heard on their bedroom door. Since both of them just stared at it, the man on the other side didn't hesitate to open it. "Woah!" Scott made in shock and looked from Logan, who still pressed a pillow to his groin, to Jean, who tried to cover herself with a blanket, back to Logan, before he turned around. "Am I interrupting something?!" he asked.

"What do ya want?!" Logan grunted.

"Looking if you're still alive," the man replied and didn't saw how Jean blushed and exchanged a brief look with Logan. "Or better said…," Scott said and turned back around, "your children wonder if you intend to get up at all today."

"Why shouldn't we?!" Logan growled.

"Because it's past 5 p.m. That's why! Ororo had to come upstairs to get Jamie." Scott watched how the redhead gave the clock a shocked look and laughed. "You are the craziest couple ever. Really! Dinner's ready in thirty minutes by the way." He closed the door briefly, opened it again to shake his head with a laugh and finally left.

While Jean sat down on the bed, her face nearly as red as her hair and buried it in her hands, Logan slammed the door shut angrily. "Fuck!" he roared and glared at her for a while. She stank of fear and her heart was clearly racing in her chest.

"I'm sorry…," she apologized and looked at him like a picture of misery. "I don't remember doing anything…"

"Well me neither…," he snapped and sat down on the opposite side of the bed. When she didn't reply anything he turned around to give her a look. "Are ya hurt?"

"Not much…," she replied but didn't dare to look at him. "Just feeling sore…"

"Not only ya…," he grunted and ran both hands through his messy hair. "I hope your stupid Phoenix was smart enough t'block any sounds we might have made!"

"She said yes and wants me to tell you that she hasn't been the only loud one…"

"Tell her t'shut the fuck up!" he growled and looked down on him, sighing in annoyance. When it came to _it _he hated being a man… Reaching out, he grabbed his pants and put them on, but it didn't help either. "Fuck!" he cursed and noticed the look she gave him, it really spoke volumes. "Okay, okay, okay!" Logan said and raised both arms in complete frustration. "I haven't banged anyone since I left ya and now he's hyperactive again because of ya, 'kay?!" he asked her annoyed.

"I haven't said anything…," she shrugged but still watched him.

"You're lookin'! That reason enough!" he grunted and Jean sighed. "If your evil nymphomaniac hadn't jumped my bones at night, I wouldn't have a boner because of her now!"

"My…?" the redhead asked and turned around. "Don't act as if she had pinned you to the bed and abused you, Logan! My bones still hurt!"

"Yeah?" he snapped. "Well that hurts too!" He pointed at his crotch.

"Then take a cold shower," she shrugged and lay back down. While she rubbed her face with a sigh a thought crossed her mind. "Did you say you weren't with anyone since you left me?!" she asked him incredulously. "I thought you…"

"Do we have t'discuss that now?!" Logan groaned and closed his eyes briefly. "God, I need a shower…," he mumbled and got up to get fresh clothes out of the drawer and wardrobe.

"Are you going to hurry up?" Jean asked him carefully.

"Why?" he grunted and threw a shirt over his shoulder.

"Well, our children are waiting and dinner's ready in….ten minutes," she replied after looking at her watch and while sitting up. "And I'd like to shower too before that." When she heard him sighing, she already thought he would start packing his things again and this time for good.

"Then get your legs movin' and c'mon," Logan growled and opened the door, waiting for her. "What? Hurry up!"

Not knowing what to think about it, Jean got up and picked some clothes before she followed him to the bathroom. "What are you up to?" she asked after he just dropped his things on the ground and switched on the water in the shower.

"I'm up t'takin' a shower," he grunted and entered it. "Ya comin', or what?" He held the door open for her, waited but she hesitated. "Either ya jump in now or I'll shower alone…"

Unsure of what to do Jean finally moved in between him and the wall and tried to read in his eyes what he wanted. He looked angered or better pissed, he'd told her that he didn't want to be a couple anymore, he'd thrown two tantrums already because of her being close by… And now he even didn't mind to shower with her. She really had no clue what to think about it… "Why didn't you sleep with someone else?" she asked before she could stop herself and watched how he stopped shampooing his hair. Wrong question, she knew that…

"Ya want me to?" Logan asked back provocatively and rinsed his hair before he took his shower gel and used it on his body. "I can change that, ya know?"

"Obviously you can't," she said and began to work on her hair. "Otherwise you would have done it…"

"Convinced, hm?"

"Well, if you could…," Jean replied in a dark and seductive voice, turned around with eyes that were more black than green. "You'd have already done it."

"Hm…," Logan made and twitched his eyebrows briefly. He ignored her surprised gasp when he grabbed both of her hands roughly. "So ya think I wouldn't like t'fuck someone else, darlin'?" he asked her darkly. "Because I won't have a problem t'find someone else, ya know?"

Snarling, Phoenix used her powers to pin him to the wall, earning a growl from the Wolverine as he took over and glared back at her with dark eyes. "Your way to speak has really become dirty," she hissed. "I think the animal needs a lesson..."

* * *

"Where are mommy and daddy?" Lily asked for the at least 10th time and looked at the adults.

"Probably drowning each other in the shower…," Scott said after he gave the clock another look. "Can we start eating? It's already 6:30 and I'm starving."

"I don't want to wait any longer too," Jubilee agreed.

"Then let's begin without them," Ororo sighed and handed Scott the bowl with the potatoes.

"Wow!" this one suddenly said as a very grumpy looking Logan entered the room, followed by Jean. "Back from the living dead?"

"Shut up!" Logan growled and gave each of his children a hug and kiss before he sat down on his casual stool, surprised that no matter how often he left the stool remained his and no one dared to sit on it.

"What has taken you so long?" Jack asked and looked at him. "We were waiting." Pouting, he folded his arms and looked up at his father with narrowed eyes.

"We overslept, kiddo. I'm sorry," Logan grunted and felt like starving. He didn't even want to know what Wolverine and Phoenix had done while he and Jean had been sleeping. The situation in the bathroom had been awkward enough after they had regained control again, just to realize that their negatives had taken advantage of their anger once more. "Thanks," he said after Jean handed him the plate with meat and he began to pile a lot onto his own, before passing it on.

"So…it's official now that you're staying?" Hank asked him and received a silent nod. "I'm just asking because you seem to be pretty…"

"Pissed off?" Scott finished.

"Ah!" Logan made and stood up after remembering something. While Scott uttered a loud protest, he pulled him off of his stool and dragged him out of the kitchen.

"What was that about?" Ororo asked and handed Jean the bowl with vegetables, watched how the redhead gave her children and Logan a bit before she put some onto her plate.

"I don't know," she shrugged and passed on the bowl to Rogue. "Talking to him maybe?"

"Aww," Moira suddenly made and didn't even notice how all heads turned to her and Hank. She was too occupied to smile at Nick, who had just yawned and was cradled in his father's arms.

"Don't forget to eat!" Jubilee teased her as it knocked on the window.

Alarmed, the X-Men turned their heads and a relieved sigh echoed through the room when they saw that it was only Spider-Man. "Hey!" he greeted them quickly after Kurt had opened the door. "We need your help!"

"Why? What's wrong?" Ororo asked concerned.

"Sinister and his men are attacking humans close by. We're already trying to fight them with four groups but we could need some help," he told her.

"The Professor just confirmed it," Hank said darkly and handed Nick over to his wife. "Get ready!"

"Mommy?" Rachel asked, fear echoing in her voice and she began to clung to Jean.

"It's alright, sweety," she replied and beckoned the children to follow her. "Go upstairs to your rooms and wait there, okay? And take Jamie with you." Waiting for them to do it, she finally followed the others to the basement, where they could hear Logan complaining aloud.

"I can't move in this thing!" he said and tried to turn his upper body but the new uniform was stiff.

"Well, it's your own fault!" Forge said angrily. "First you turn into a baby and then you disappear. That uniform is a masterpiece and…"

"Masterpiece my ass! It feels like one big coffin."

Sighing, Scott, who was already wearing his uniform gave his team a sign to get dressed and finally threw John's uniform at Logan. "Try this on. John has worn it often enough. It shouldn't be so stiff anymore."

"You'll stay here!" Logan said to Jean and began to get dressed in the corridor. "I want ya t'protect the kids."

"You shouldn't go either…," Jean replied and folded her arms. "You just came back and the children are scared…"

"We need him, Jean," Scott said and shook his head. "I wouldn't take Logan with me if it wasn't necessary, but we need him." He noticed how worried she looked and thought it was better to leave them alone. Grabbing Forge by the arm, he pulled him down the corridor and disappeared in the hangar.

"Stay here…," the redhead begged and watched how Logan tried his movements in the suit, which adjusted to them way better than his own.

"I can't…," he replied. "I know how I work and hunt, so I'm the only one who can give advises on how t'kill or beat my clones." Before she could reply he added, "No one of the team has ever fought against the real feral me. They don't know what they're gonna witness in the city, Jean. And it'll be more than ugly, I can promise ya that."

"Still I don't have a good feeling…," she said and watched how he moved closer a bit. "You just came back. If something happens to you, it'll be for the children to suffer again and you said that this has to stop!"

"I know," he sighed and looked at the new suit, wondered why Forge had changed the design again. The leather pants were a simple black, tight fitting, the belt was yellow on his uniform and the crucial difference to his old uniform was the upper part. It wasn't the same tight fitting leather anymore, which covered everything, even the arms. His uniform was a thin, tight fitting leather, which accentuated his muscles perfectly. It reached up to his shoulders and covered them, while long yellow lines, which looked like huge claw marks, reached from his back to his chest New Ultimate Wolverine look. He actually liked the new look, but hated the black gloves and that his arms were not covered. The uniform of his brother that he wore now was exactly the same, except that John's claw marks were not yellow but a dark orange. "Look…," Logan said and looked up at her again. "When I come back we sit down and talk about everythin', 'kay? Especially about what's wrong with ya lately. Because I ain't willin' t'wake up naked for the rest of my life without knowin' what had happened and I'm tired of arguin' with ya…"

"Same here…," Jean shrugged and looked up at him. "But still I've a bad feeling about this…"

"Just make sure the kids are safe, 'kay?" he asked and received a weak not. Looking at her, he was about to turn and head for the hangar, when he sighed. "T'hell with that!" he said and pulled her into a kiss.

"Look at that!" Jubilee purred after she and the other girls came out of the changing room. "That means…," she added and gave Kitty her victory sign, "I don't have to run through New York City naked!"

"Don't halloo till you're out of the wood!" her friend warned her and pulled the woman with her to the hangar.

"Smoochy, smoochy!" Jubilee teased Logan, who looked up, glaring, and growled at her.

"Gotta go," he said and let go of the redhead, who grabbed his arm. "Jean…"

"Take them with you," she said and put something into his hand. "And please be careful!" she begged him. Nodding, he turned and sprinted to the hangar, where Scott waited with the jet.

"Hurry up!" the man said and closed the hatch after Logan had entered, gave him a sign to take the co-pilot's seat. "You've become slow, Logan… If you keep on living such an unhealthy live, sleep until evenings and keep your teammates waiting," he listed while Logan buckled up, "then I think I have to kick your ass more often!"

"Shut up, Cyke, and get goin'!" Logan grunted.

"What's that?" the man next to him asked and started the engines.

"For luck," Logan growled and pulled his two rings back onto his ring finger.

"Well, we can use it…"

"Hey, guys…," Spider-Man asked scared and had his eyes closed while the jet shook during the ascension. "That…thing is safe, right?"

"Well if not…," Logan grunted and gave him a look over his shoulder, "you'll have a nice free fall t'the ground."

"Great!" the man behind him said and slumped deeper into his seat…

**Actually this chapter was supposed to end with a cliffhanger, a mean one, but since the chapter already has 36 pages and it's nearly 4 a.m., I'll end it here and write an extended fight sequence for the next chapter. This one will be shorter then, but will include more action. Thanks to all the reviewers by the way. I had to change some pre-written scenes. Logan and Jean actually talked after Logan returned to the mansion and got back together instantly, but since the pre-written stuff is old by now and too much additional things have happened in between, I had to change it. And originally, I didn't intend to get them back together so soon…. As Logan would say: T'hell with that! LOL The picture to Logan's new suit can be found here: ****fikkoro./art/Wolverine-53946696**** (I hope the link works!) If not you have to change the thing into a correct URL:**

**http:(slashslash)fikkoro(dot)deviantart(dot)com(slash)art(slash)Wolverine-53946696**

**Please let me know what you think and leave a review!! Jeez, soon number 250 can wish for something again… And the sequel was supposed to have 30 chapters only by the way. LOL See ya!!**


	33. Chapter 31

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!! : )

_**Warning!! This chapter is rated M for a reason!!**_

**Reviewer #250 got a message from me. Please, let me know what your wish is. ; )**

**And thanks to all readers for still liking Changes after almost 2 years!! : )**

**I changed Cyber's history a bit so that it fits into the context here. Sorry to all possible Cyber fans!! Same goes for Captain America's background!!**

**The flashback scene was taken from the movie "**_**Casualties of War**_**" (1989) including a similar dialogue!**

**The idea of the scene with the Devils in the alley was taken from the **_Metal Gear Solid 4 Guns of the Patriots – The Beauty and the Beast _**trailer!!**

* * *

deathtones: Did you get my PM?? Please reply soon!!

* * *

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 31**

Logan and Scott took turns in looking out of the jet's window. They had already spotted Iron Man and Thor in the sky and assumed that the fight was close by. "Land the jet over there," Logan suddenly said and pointed at a roof of a building not far away from them. He held onto the armrest when his teammate brought the jet safely to the ground and opened the hatch. "Where's the Cap?"

"He should be close by," Spider-Man shrugged and followed the X-Men out of the jet, as an explosion shook the ground all of a sudden. "Jeez, it's like a war scene…"

"You've no idea what real battle looks like, kid!" Logan grunted and used his senses. "The Cap is over there," he suddenly said and pointed at something far away from them.

"Where?!" Cyclops asked and narrowed his eyes in hope to see anything.

"There!" Logan said once more and rolled his eyes in the next moment. "Just follow me, One Eye. I need t'get this new uniform t'work." Beginning to run, Logan jumped off the building and onto another one, waited for the group to follow him. His senses were on full alert the whole time through, the smoke of the fires all around them burned in his sensitive eyes and nose and he often had to wipe tears away or keep from sneezing.

"There you are," the Cap said after the X-Men had joined.

"What's the situation?" Logan asked and knelt down next to him to have a better overview. He could see the Fantastic Four on one roof on his right, even Ghost Rider was kneeling on another one, while Spider-Man joined Daredevil and Elektra on his far left again. He could also see the rest of the Avengers close by. "Family reunion, eh?"

"We got everyone we could," the Cap whispered. "Fury and his men are evacuating the area." He looked briefly up as the X-Men knelt down next to Logan. "Who's the leader of your group?"

"Logan is," Cyclops replied without looking up, earning a questioning look and a cocked eyebrow from his teammate. "What? They wanted you as our leader, remember? I'm just your sub!"

"Whatever…," Logan grunted and moved closer to the edge when he picked up on noises. "How many of them did ya already see? I pick up on at least 70 people, 55 animals, Sabretooth is 5 blocks away with Sinister…"

"Anything else?" the Cap asked him knowingly.

"Yeah…," his old comrade mocked. "I can pick up on at least 35 me's…"

Nodding his approval, the Cap tapped his headset. "Good, because we were unable to count them," he said and gave all teams the information. "We use frequency 140.85," he informed the X-Men afterwards and waited for them to change theirs. Just as he was about to say something again, Logan raised his hand, his eyes fixed on something underneath them.

"Ya use the old military signs?" the mutant whispered and received a nod. Nodding back, he tapped his headset twice, begged for the others attention and raised his fist, then pointed two fingers at his eyes, before he pointed one at the street.

"What's wrong?" Cyclops asked in a hushed voice and, as the others, moved closer to the edge to have a better look at the alley. "Who are those soldiers?"

"S.H.I.E.L.D. agents," the Cap whispered with a frown. "What are they doing down there?"

"Shut up!" Logan snapped and told everyone via headset to stay where they are and keep quiet. Ignoring the pissed look the Cap gave him for his harshness, he watched how the soldiers walked through the dark street, riffles ready, as all of a sudden a huge bird appeared out of nowhere. Looking up, Logan could tell that the mutant couldn't see them, I was too dark on the roofs, but he knew that Beak was perfectly able to see the soldiers. Hovering above them, he had to cover his ears as the mutant uttered a loud and shrill cry that, as he knew, could still be heard miles away. Logan used a tapping sign to tell everyone not to interfere, no matter what was going to happen, he then waved his arm weakly, told his group to stay downwind no matter what, before his eyes returned to the alley. Once more Beak uttered a loud cry and the groups could clearly hear a crying noise from somewhere in the alley. They watched how the soldiers came to a halt, looked around and gave each others signs to keep their eyes open or to check on different things. But the crying noise, as if a person was shedding tears, could clearly be heard…

Without any warning, the cry suddenly turned into a loud, lion like roar and all hell broke loose when the soldiers began to fire their weapons all of a sudden. For Logan it was like watching a movie, watching dozen feral copies of himself appearing from out of nowhere and attacking the soldiers mercilessly. Upon them Beak took a turn and made a nose dive to grab a soldier, crying _Rage_ aloud while doing it. When he rose into the air again, he used his talons to grab the legs and head of the screaming man and hovered above them. Grinning, Beak looked into the eyes of the terrified soldier. "Show me your rage!" he screamed in the same shrill cry and did another nose dive as he tore the man apart, spilling his blood and intestines everywhere.

"My God…," Cyclops mumbled and wiped the blood, which had hit nearly every one of them, away with a trembling hand.

In the meanwhile, Beak kept on doing nose dive after nose dive, laughing aloud like a maniac and alternating between tearing bodies apart or just biting heads off. In the meanwhile, the Devils in the street were occupied with attacking the still shooting soldiers at the same time, who by now even used grenades to stop the deadly machines. Two of the men had just thrown three grenades, watched how they exploded right in the middle of five clones, tore flesh and body parts off, spilled blood and organs everywhere, but the more shocked they look when the five animals healed quicker than they could blink and leapt at them with angry roars. Their claws stabbed right through the soldiers, left a cut from throat to crotch and, while blood shot out of the bodies like a fountain, causing the immediate death of the men. Still the clones weren't satisfied with it and kept on slashing, biting and ripping until everything that was left of the two men were pieces of meat that lay scattered on the floor like one big jigsaw.

Disgusted by it, most of the mutants had to look away to keep from vomiting, but Logan couldn't. He watched like in trance how his clones ripped through the men as if they were made of paper, how intestines and blood flew through the air, how limbs and heads followed, while the men desperately tried to escape. Their cries and his clones' screams tore through his body like a big, cold knife, clenched his heart in horror. He knew that he was the same, that he would have been like that if he hadn't escaped… And the realization sent shivers down his spine. Too absorbed by watching the slaughter, he didn't feel how the Cap laid a hand on his arms, waited for him to tell him what to do. He knew that the mutants didn't have a change against the Devils, that no weapon could stop them. You destroyed them, they healed like a Terminator. He raised his head when Beak's cry for rage could be heard again and had barely jumped aside, as first the upper part, then the lower part of a body landed right in front of him; the blood and organs of the man following shortly afterwards. The Cap fought to keep the contents of his stomach inside. About to say something, he heard how the cries of the men became less and weaker, and knew that the slaughter would soon come to an end. As he dared to take another look at the alley, he saw how two clones were just occupied with breaking every bone of a soldier, whose cries set his teeth on edge. He couldn't help but think that watching comrades die in a war was nothing compared to this brutal slaughter. And he, as Logan, had already seen a lot... A loud crack announced that the clones had finally reached their aim and they immediately began to pursuit another soldier, who tried to save himself and had begun to climb up the fire escape in fear. They watched how the clones roared in anger first, but finally used their claws to climb up the wall in the same speed Spider-Man usually did. On their way they grabbed the helpless man and dragged him towards the roof with them, his cries for help echoed through the streets, as one Devil announced the end of the hunt underneath them with a loud, terrifying howl.

Logan and the others watched how the two clones began to bite and pull at the soldier, who screamed aloud in pain, how they ripped on his body with their claws and finally tried to drag him into opposite directions, which resulted in the body being torn into half in the end. Both clones continued their slaughter, until one of them jumped of the roof to join the pack again, the second one intending to do the same until he suddenly froze and sniffed. The Cap watched how the beast's eyes switched into their direction, heard how Shadowcat whispered _Oh no…_ at the same time the clone began to growl in anger, but didn't reckon with Logan suddenly jumping over the alley and directly at his clone. He watched how both began to leap at each other with their claws, knew that his friend should have the upper hand due to his experience. He was right when Logan beheaded his clone with one swift move of his claws and threw the head as far away as possible, just to cut through his doppelganger's spine next. About to use his headset, the Cap saw Logan's sign to wait…and he did. They didn't dare to move before the Devils disappeared after another loud cry of Beak.

"Dear Lord…," Beast gasped and stared at the alley in horror, while he heard how Shadowcat finally gave in to her urge and vomited. He had never seen that much blood, limbs, organs, intestines or skin in his whole life and knew that a butcher's shop was nothing compared to what the clones had left over in their hunt…

"I told you…," the Cap said and got up, gave the other teams a sign to move. "Now you finally know why we call them the Devils…"

"That was….horrible…," Cyclops managed to say and looked at the younger members of his team, who were all pale like ghosts. "Are you alright?" he asked concerned, since Colossus had to help Shadowcat to get back to her feet and didn't look good either.

"No…," Iceman replied and still held his stomach. "My innocence is gone for sure now…"

"Don't even think about it, Logan," the Cap said as his old friend landed back on their side, but received a glare only. "You're not like them."

"I'd be if I hadn't escaped! They are what I'm inside," Logan grunted and led the way away from the horrible scene to meet up with Spider-Man and the others. "Hey, Reed," he nodded briefly. "Johnny…"

"Woah!" Iceman made after seeing that the man called Johnny only was a burning skeleton dressed in leather.

"What?!" the skull asked him in a deep and demonic voice.

"Nothing…everything's cool!" the X-Man replied, but carefully made a few steps back until he stood behind Colossus. "That guy's scary…"

"What the hell was that?" Spider-Man asked the Cap.

"Why didn't you give us a sign to attack and save those people?!" Daredevil asked instead and looked at the man.

"Coz they'd done the same t'ya as t'those _people_!" Logan growled and showed his dislike for the situation. Ignoring them, he walked over to the edge of the roof and his eyes traveled around the scenery. He knew that Sabretooth and Sinister were still close by…

"So what's the situation?" Cyclops asked. "Those Devils are gone and…"

"Sinister is over there," Logan cut in and pointed at three figures only he could see from afar. "Sabretooth's with him…"

"Someone else?" Reed asked, since he couldn't see a thing.

"Yeah…," Logan nodded…

* * *

"I'm tired of you!" Apocalypse snarled and still held Logan in an iron grip with his large hand, while the mutant had buried his claws of his left arm into his enemy's neck.

"Same here, bub!" the X-Man growled and held the glare of his adversary.

After he had told the others about Apocalypse being the third man, they had split the groups. While the Fantastic Four, Elektra, Ghost Rider and few members of the Avengers helped Fury with the cleaning and to make sure that no one else got to know about the slaughter, since they were all well aware of what would happen if it became public that mutants did it, the X-Men and others split up to encircle their enemies. But of course, as Logan had known, Sabretooth had warned his masters. In the end Angel, who had tried to help Colossus, had been injured badly, and the other X-Man had been about to be smashed by Apocalypse, when Logan came along. Not thinking about it the mutant had went through the fire, which now covered the whole area and really gave the impression of a war zone. But he had failed to help his friend in the end. Instead, Logan had to watch how Apocalypse grabbed Colossus and soon afterwards him, began to grow drastically until he was at least 5 times Logan's own height, just to throw his teammate far away and turn his attention to Logan, who began to wonder why his body was glowing and his wounds didn't heal…

"Well, then it's time we do something about it," Apocalypse said and jerked his head quickly aside, which was accompanied by an agonizing long howl of Logan. "I think our ways will never cross again," he said and threw the X-Men as far away as possible. He watched how the clones and Sabretooth still fought against their enemies and seemed to be satisfied with the result. Nevertheless, the time hadn't come yet. "We retreat!"

"What?!" Sabretooth growled and also Sinister was looking at him.

"Our time will come soon," Apocalypse said and gave them a warning glare.

"What are they doing?" the Cap asked and had to cover his eyes when a blinding light appeared out of nowhere. As soon as it had appeared it was gone again. "Someone hurt and in need of medical attention?" he shouted and looked around, saw how some mutants freedifrom wreckages that had fallen onto them, watched how groups gathered and tried to figure out of they had lost someone…

"Our group's fine," Daredevil informed him and seconds later Spider-Man landed next to him.

"Only some scratches and minor flesh wounds," he reported and received a nod from their leader.

"Everything alright?" a voice asked from above them and they looked up. It was Mr. Fantastic, who had stretched his body around the apartment and was looking at them.

"Yeah, what about you?" the Cap asked.

"Nothing serious. Johnny might have a concussion but that's it."

"Good," the Cap nodded. "What about Elektra and the X-Men? Has anyone seen them?"

"I go and look for them!" Spider-Man announced and was gone in the next second.

"We have to think about something…," Daredevil grunted and looked aside when he heard someone approaching.

"We definitely have to," Elektra agreed.

"We need to find out where they are hiding," the Cap said and his eyes looked around attentively. "And then we'll have to do a surprise attack. Something big… Something they are not reckoning with…"

"Hey!" Spider-Man suddenly said and was glued to the wall next to them.

"Something wrong?" the Cap asked concerned.

"You can say that," his opposite replied.

* * *

"Are you sure?" Cyclops asked but received a nod from Iron-Man.

"My team's fine. Only minor injuries," he said and turned around when the Fantastic Four, Avengers and the Ghost Rider came closer. "Is every one of you alright?"

"Yes, why?" the Cap asked. "Peter said something was wrong?"

"You can say that," Cyclops nodded darkly and nodded to something on the ground.

"That's…disgusting," Elektra commented it.

"Come on people, is someone missing?" the Cap asked aloud and looked around.

"My team is not complete," Cyclops said darkly. "Angel and Colossus are missing. Beast and Nightcrawler are currently looking for them."

"You can add Logan." Nightcrawler suddenly said and he looked aside. "Ve can't find him anyvhere…"

"Maybe he had picked up on something. You know him," Daredevil said, "he always does his own thing."

"No, he never disappears without saying something during a mission," Cyclops disagreed, deeply in thoughts.

"That's news to me," Daredevil mumbled.

"Kurt, is there a blood trail somewhere?" the X-Man asked his teammate. "Whoever got injured lost a lot of blood and is probably still losing it. We have to find that one."

"Maybe it's from one of our enemies?" Spider-Man suggested and landed on the ground to have a better look at the object everyone was gathered around. "And, yeah…it's disgusting…"

"No, it doesn't look like it," Cyclops said and knelt down and pulled a face when he began to pull on the glove that covered the hand of the arm.

"Dis….gusting!" Spider-Man said once more and held his stomach, when all color seemed to fade from the X-Man's face all of a sudden.

"What?" the Cap asked and pulled off his mask.

Instead of answering him Cyclops touched his headset. "Everyone listen up. I want Shadowcat, Gambit and Iceman to go on looking for Angel and Colossus. Everyone else, stop doing whatever you're doing and look for Logan. You need to find him rather sooner than later!"

"Why?" Elektra asked in confusion and watched how the man pointed at two objects on one finger.

"Oh damn…," Spider-Man said when he recognized what Cyclops meant. "I'm off looking for him!" he announced and was gone in the next second, followed by Daredevil and Elektra.

"Are you sure?" the Cap asked and nodded at the ground, but Cyclops nodded darkly and began to look around. "Okay, I'll let my team know. We'll be in touch," he added and disappeared in an alley, his hand pushing the "talk" button on his headset.

"Damn it…," Cyclops cursed and stared at the mess on the ground. He only hoped that it wasn't too late…

In the meanwhile Nightcrawler was teleporting through the dark alleys, Beast following him and jumping from wall to wall and from roof to roof. They both were unaware of what had happened in another alley before, but could tell that Scott's voice had sounded urgent and it only did if something terrible or of importance had happened. "Can you see something?" Beast shouted and made a huge leap to another roof, never slowing down or leaving Nightcrawler out of his sight.

"Nein, I can't see anything," this one replied and teleported to a higher spot on a roof, Beast coming to a halt next to him. From afar they saw how Spider-Man used his threads to fly over the roofs or through the alleys, closely followed by Daredevil and Elektra. "I vonder vhat happened…"

"I don't know," Beast said and shook his furry head. "But it must be of importance if they help us looking…"

"I don't have a good feeling, mein Freund," the darker mutant said and looked at the man next to him with fear in his eyes.

"Do you have anything yet?" Cyclops suddenly asked over the headset and Beast quickly replied, before he and Nightcrawler began their search again.

Not far away from them Gambit and Iceman were running through the streets, closely followed by Shadowcat, who phased through walls from time to time. "Gambit doesn't like it, mon amies…"

"Neither do we!" Iceman panted and came to an abrupt halt. "Did you hear that?!" he asked and his friends jogged the few meters back to him.

"Hear what?" Shadowcat asked and tried to catch her breath again.

"Oui, Gambit can 'ear it too!" the Cajun said and turned his head in different directions and angles.

"It's coming from there!" Iceman said and pointed at a huge pile of garbage and remnants of a building, which consisted mostly of bricks and steel. Carefully, the small group approached the pile, Gambit holding a card ready in his hand and Iceman turning into his ice-form in case that it was a trap.

"It sounds like…," Shadowcat said and stopped in front of the pile. "Groaning…"

"Groaning in pain that is…," Iceman corrected her. "Be careful! It can still be an enemy! Watch our backs!" he told Gambit before he and Shadowcat began to free whoever lay under the remnants. It didn't take long and the young woman uttered a cry.

"Pete!"

"It's Pete?!" Iceman asked, but his friend didn't hear it and was too occupied with trying to reach her husband's hand. "Remy!"

"Remy's 'ere, mon ami!" the Cajun said and, as quickly as he could, pushed the bricks and steel aside. "'e's too 'eavy!" he added after trying to pull the unconscious man out of it.

"Hey!" Iceman shouted all of a sudden and waved. "We need help here!" He watched how Iron Man landed next to them. "One of our team is buried underneath it. We can't pull him out of it alone," he told the man.

"Let's get to work then!" the man in the armor replied and grabbed Colossus' arm, while Gambit and Iceman grabbed the other one. "On three!" Iron Man said and looked at the two X-Men. "One…two…"

Pulling as hard as they could, while Kitty tried to help them and touched her husband, so that he could phase through the remnants, they slowly freed the X-Men. "Pete?" Shadowcat asked as soon as he lay in the open and touched his cheek. "Peter?!"

"I'll take him to your group leader if you want," Iron Man offered and received a nod from Iceman.

"Okay, tell Cyclops we go on looking for Warren," the X-Man replied. "And you," he said to Kitty, who looked up at him with fear in her eyes. "Do you think you can help us, or do you want to return to Scott and stay with Pete?"

"No, I…," the young woman stuttered and was clearly torn between her heart and duty. "I…I'll help you."

"Okay, then let's go!"

"Mercy, mon ami!" Gambit said as Iron Man pulled the still unconscious Colossus up and rose into the air. He then followed his group through the alley again.

On the roofs Nightcrawler and Beast were still moving forward, there eyes constantly on the dark streets. "He must be somewhere!" Beast snarled and saw that Spider-Man and his group hadn't found their friend yet either. "Kurt, can you teleport into the air with me, so that we have a better overview?" he asked after he stopped running.

"I can try. But you have to be quick, mein Freund," Nightcrawler nodded, wrapped his arms around his teammate and with a loud _bamf_ they disappeared, just to reappear in the air.

"Again!" Beast said after they had teleported back to the ground. They did it again, and again, and again, tried different locations and angles, teleported to the highest building and back, until…"There!" Beast shouted and pointed at something Nightcrawler couldn't see.

"Vhere?!" this one asked after they had landed safely on the ground again.

"Third street ahead of us. I think I saw something!" Beast replied and they began to run again. Since Kurt was quicker with his teleporting, he had already reached the street as Beast landed next to him. "I can't see anything…," he told his fellow X-Man.

"I could be wrong, but…" the furry mutant shook his head. "I'm sure I saw something…"

"Ve should be careful…," Nightcrawler whispered, not liking the darkness of the alley.

"Stay behind me," Beast replied and led the way. He carefully walked through the darkness of the street, which was barely illuminated by two lights. Due to the stank that reached his sensitive nose, he felt the strong urge to puke, guessed that it was long forgotten remnants of fish or even a dead cat that lay somewhere on the ground for months. The smell was horrible.

"Te ground…," Nightcrawler whispered after a moment and Hank knew what he meant.

"I know… It's kind of….sticky…," the mutant said and cursed when he walked into something wet.

"Vhat?" the man behind him asked, since the mutant was somehow frozen on the spot. Curious as he was, Nightcrawler stepped around a bit and looked at the ground that was illuminated by the small lamp. But what he saw he didn't like at all. In fact it made chills run down his spine. "Mein Gott… Tis is…"

"Blood," Beast nodded darkly. "Lots of blood…" He looked at the huge puddle in front of him, knew that such a large amount was only possible if a person was bleeding to death or an animal bled dry… His heart had begun to beat rapidly in fear, he knew he didn't want to walk further, didn't want to see what the alley was hiding…

"Maybe it is van of tem?" Nightcrawler whispered terrified and began to look around, feared that one of their enemies was close by. Still, he followed Beast slowly until the mutant came to an abrupt halt, causing the smaller man to bump into his back. "Vhat?" he asked in barely more than a whisper.

"Oh God…," was all Beast could say while he stared at something in a corner, which was the source of the large amount of blood…

* * *

While they waited in the corridor for one of the doctors to come back out and tell them about their friends' condition, Scott stood next to the Cap and looked at him from aside for a while. He knew, from what he had heard, that Logan and he had a long history together, but he'd never gotten to know where the men had met. "For how long do you know him?" he asked after a moment.

"Logan?" the Cap asked and received a nod. "For decades… We met for the first time when he still called himself James Howlett during World War II. He was a member of the Devil's Brigade back then and we were assigned to several missions, which took mostly place in Europe."

"Devil's Brigade?" Ororo asked and frowned. "That was a Canadian-US military unit, right?"

"Yes, it was," the Cap replied. "Back then a man called Silas Burr, also known as Cyber lead the unit."

"Cyber?" Scott mumbled. "Weren't that one of the mutants, who helped Magneto to attack us years ago? The one that poisoned and killed Logan?"

"Again?" the Cap asked surprised.

"What do you mean with _again_?" Ororo asked and looked at the blonde from aside.

"Cyber hates Logan, always had… He's a sadist. Back in the army he gave him a hell of a time and never passed an opportunity to torture him," he told them and noticed that know more of the mutants were looking at him. Nodding, since he knew those looks too well by now, he smiled weakly. "Story telling time, hm?" he asked and leant back against the wall. "Fine, I'll give you one that I experienced first hand. It was back then during the Vietnam War. Logan and I were assigned to a group of eight men and sent into the jungle to fight the Vietcong and protect the inhabitants of the smaller villages. Cyber was the leader of the unit and I figured quickly out that he and Logan shared a past together. The tension and hate between them was too visible," he told them and stared off into nowhere, began to remember the long forgotten days and what they had gone through during that specific mission. "Anyway, we had the order to find a group of Vietcong that terrorized and killed innocent people. At least so we'd been told. But like in every war the stress and terror soon begins to show. It's something you can't escape… So Cyber had the idea of kidnapping a young girl, who was a farmer in a small village and not older than probably 15, to entertain us. He dragged her through the jungle with him. No one said a word against it, mostly because we were either terrified of him, or afraid to be branded as deserters and would be executed because of it, or because we had the same sadistic ambitions. Either way, we let him have his way, we knew what Cyber was really capable of and he wasn't someone to mess around with."

"Vith entertaining you, you mean tat you raped the girl?" Kurt asked and stared at him with hard eyes.

"Not I or Logan," the blonde replied and shook his head. "Cyber and his men. Logan always refused to obey orders he's given. He has his own head and is one stubborn, reckless bastard. He always had a problem with authority, people in power, orders, governments….whatever. You told him one thing, he did the other. I actually always admired that about him… Even if it has gotten him into trouble mostly…" He remained silent for a while and just stared at the ground. "One night, after we reached a deserted house, Cyber decided to finally do it. Since he hated Logan so much, he gave him the order to take the girl inside and rape her, that he wanted him to do it as brutally as he could and he even demanded that her cries could be heard by us on the outside... He said the girl was only a Vietcong whore and that was the way to deal with them… Of course he knew that Logan would refuse to obey his orders… Cyber only waited for an opportunity to beat him up."

"_What?" Cyber asked and leant forward a bit, tilted his head in a mocking gesture that made his men grin. "What was that, Howlett?"_

"_I said no!" the smaller man growled and glared at his opposite._

"_No, what?" Cyber hissed. "Ya forgot somethin', Howlett!"_

_Growling now, Logan gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. "No,…sir!" he spat and saw his boss grinning arrogantly. If the man knew how the smaller one picture what spilling Cyber's intestines would look like, he knew the man wouldn't be smirking. Gasping, Logan was suddenly grabbed by three of his comrades and had hardly noticed how they kept him immobile, when Cyber started his beating. It didn't take long and he heard his jaw making an ugly cracking sound, knew it was at least broken, and felt how blood began to run down his cheek, nose and throat._

"_Yer a fag, Howlett?" Cyber mocked and buried his fist into the soldier's stomach, watched in satisfaction how this one coughed up blood. "Are ya a fuckin' queer, I asked?" he barked after grabbing Logan's hair and pulling his head back so that they were looking at each other. Grinning, Cyber looked at his men briefly before his eyes were fixed on Logan again. "Guess what, Howlett? After I'm done bangin' that slut, I'll do ya. What do ya think 'bout it, eh? Ya'd love that, hm?" He laughed loudly, joined by his men at took a good swing that sent Logan howling to the ground, while he grimaced in pain and tried to cover his aching crotch. "Fuckin' bastard!" Cyber hissed and gave the man on the ground another kick with his boots. "Yo, Rogers!"_

"_Sir?" Steven Rogers asked, his breath slightly faster than usual after watching the brutal encounter._

"_Go and do that bitch!" Cyber ordered and waited for the man to reply. When there was none and he saw how the blonde gave the coughing Logan behind him a worried look, he smiled sadistically and walked over to the man. "I see…," he said darkly, his voice not more than a low growl and he stopped in front of Rogers. Before he said something he gave his men a mocking grin. "He's his fuck buddy, guys," he announced and the man laughed, while Logan and Steven fumed. "Yer a queer too, Rogers, hm?"_

"_No, I'm not, sir!" _

"_Oh really?" Cyber mocked. "Then do…as I told ya!"_

_Looking from the man to the terrified girl and then at Logan, who only shook his head, Steven looked back at the taller man in front of him. "No, sir! I won't do this!" he said in a steady voice and had once more the impression how much like a gorilla Cyber really was. He'd hardly seen anyone that tall and muscular in his life before._

_Snorting, Cyber grabbed the blonde and threw him to the ground next to Logan. "Tie the ladies up, gentlemen," he ordered and waited for his men to do so, before he knelt down next to Logan. "Yer gonna watch, ya fuckin' queer!" he growled and spat at him before he took his riffle. "That's not a weapon, Howlett! It's just a toy!" Cyber said, holding the riffle up while walking backwards, and grinned when Logan glared at him hated. Provocatively, he cupped his crotch. "That's…a weapon!" Laughing at them, he threw the riffle aside and turned towards the crying girl…_

While the whole group was silent and just stared at him in shock and disgust, the Cap went on telling the story without looking up once. "Cyber had practically forced us to watch them abusing the poor girl by tying us up. After they were finally done with her it was already dark and he came back over to us with a knife. He gave us the order to kill her, but we refused again, knowing full well that we would be his target by saying it. He was about to release his anger on us when there'd been gunshots close by, so he and the others were forced to go and look what had caused them. He left us tied up to that tree with the sobbing girl, who lay covered with bruises and blood in the mud," he said. "Logan swore that he would kill that bastard and his men, but I told him that he couldn't do it and he knew it. So he suddenly freed himself and went over to the girl to check on her. I was surprised to hear him speaking Vietnamese with her…"

"What happened then?" Rogue asked while leaning against Remy. The whole time through she had stared at him, fascinated of learning about the past he shared with Logan.

"He'd freed her from the bonds and sat back down next to me. I had no clue what he was telling her, but I understood that he was repeating the same words over and over. The girl came carefully closer and tied him up again, looked at us in confusion and…" The Cap shook his head with a sad look. "I will never forget what they've done to her… The bruises and wounds, the blood… Logan told her something, but she hesitated. So he said it more forcefully and she suddenly turned and ran away. I didn't understand what this was about until Cyber returned with the rest of the unit and threw a tantrum. He was suspicious, but the others told him that there was no way we could have freed her…"

"Did he…," Scott began and the Cap looked up. "Did he do to Logan what he threatened him to do?"

"You mean raping him?" the blonde asked and received a weak nod. "No, he didn't," he said and heard some of the X-Men sighing in relief. "Instead he raped and murdered Logan's girlfriend Janet after we'd reached our camp again. He did it just to set off Logan and force him into an attack. Cyber knew he would win a fight against him anyway."

"He killed him?" Kitty asked but the Cap shook his head.

"No, he couldn't do this in the army without being brought to justice," the blonde replied. "But Cyber gouged out Logan's left eye and left him wounded on the ground." He looked up just to find everyone staring at him in shock.

"But…," Kitty said and shook her head with a frown. "Why did Logan never fight back for real? He could have easily beaten him! He has no problem at all to start a brawl with a whole bunch of people."

"You have to understand," the Cap said, "that mutants weren't exposed to the world as they are today. They already figured out during World War One that Logan was gifted, but they didn't understand what it was until much later. If Logan had used his claws on Cyber…" He shook his head. "I don't want to know what they would have done to him. And besides that, Logan was hardly 5'3'' or 5'5'' back then and Cyber was a giant of a man. I still don't understand when Logan had grown that much… I was shocked when I saw him and he was that huge all of a sudden. Back then he was regarded as a weakling by everyone because he was so small. And he looked pretty young for his age." Pausing, he smiled and laughed weakly. "Well, he still does…"

He had just stopped talking when the door to the surgery and ICU finally opened. Everyone looked up when Hank left the room, his clothes bloodstained, watched how he walked past them with an unreadable look on his face and beckoned Scott to follow him. "And?" this one asked after they had walked a bit.

"Moira, Jean and I did everything we could… We reattached the arm, but… Logan lost way too much blood already," Hank replied and kept his voice low. He knew that all heads were turned into their direction.

"But he's healing, right?" Scott asked concerned and folded his arms. He didn't like the look and sigh his opposite gave him at all.

"No… Apocalypse must have absorbed Logan's mutation completely," Hank said darkly. "He's just an ordinary human being now, who has life threatening injures. Internal as external…"

Frowning and after he'd picked up on the strange undertone in his friend's voice, Scott made a step forward. "That means?" he asked, but the furry mutant shook his head and heaved a deep breath. "Hank?"

"He won't make it if the adamantium poisoning kicks in, Scott…," the man finally replied and looked back up, right into his opposite's shocked and blank face.

"He's…going to die?" Scott asked him in disbelief and at a loss of words.

"He already is…," Hank said in deep regret. "Peter should be fine in a week, maybe less. Warren isn't looking so well either, but he should pull through…" He exchanged a last look with his friend and patted his shoulder, before he returned to the ICU. He didn't look at the others for once.

"But…Jean!" he heard Scott saying aloud all of a sudden and froze on the spot. "Her powers!" the man said and stopped in front of the blue mutant after following him. "She did it before!"

Knowing what he meant, Hank pulled him aside again. "She tried, Scott! You know that her powers are out of control lately and that she can hardly focus on anything!" he said in a hushed voice. "He's too weak!"

"But there must be something we can do!" his opposite protested and slapped his hand away in anger.

"_If _there was something, Scott, don't you think we'd already done it?!" Hank replied with tears in his eyes. He didn't care that the man saw them, waited for Scott to lower his head in defeat before he finally returned to the ICU.

"What did he say?" Ororo asked and Scott started since he hadn't heard her coming. Not knowing what to tell her, he just shook his head and walked towards the elevator, just wanting to get away from everything and that quickly.

* * *

"Let's think about it again!" Scott said and turned away from the window to face the group in Charles' office. "There must be something we don't see!"

"Scott…," Hank sighed and shook his head. "I'm telling you again…"

"NO!" the team leader said with finality and determination in his voice. "No more _I'm telling you_'s or _Don't you see_'s! You heard what Jean said!"

"She is in shock!" the furry mutant replied, angered. "She doesn't know what she's saying or doing! Or how do you want to call it if she keeps on saying things like _He looks like Cable_ or _Logan told me everything was fine_?!" he asked him aloud. "Who is that Cable, Scott?"

"How am I supposed to know?" the man asked back in the same snappy voice. It was too obvious that nerves were fried by now.

"See? Mystique did a background check on every mutant in our files. There's no man called Cable!" Hank replied, showing his dislike for this discussion openly. "Jean doesn't know what she's talking about!"

"Maybe…maybe she does…," Ororo replied and all eyes were now on her. "Remember the thing before Jamie was even born? Before she knew that she was pregnant with him?" she asked but received frowns and blank stares only as a reply. "The dream she had, the one she and Logan fought about so often?"

"You mean that Jamie would be taken away and this would cause a chain reaction and plunge the world into evil?" Hank asked in a monotone voice, indicating that he still thought the dream was ridiculous.

"She mentioned the name Cable there…," the woman said and tried to ignore the mocking gesture.

"The Logan from the future?" Charles suddenly said and the eyes switched to him. Up to now the man had sat motionlessly and silently behind his desk. "Yes, she has told me about him…"

"Logan from the future?!" Bobby asked as if it was some kind of bad joke.

"Jean told me that she had dreamed about going to the kitchen, there she met Cable, who told her that Jamie, a son that would still have to be born, would be taken away from them and that she had to prevent it from happening, or the world as we know would end," the Professor told them without looking up for once. "She described him as the following…," he added and folded his hands in front of his face. "Three long scars in his face that looked like Logan's claw marks, the left arm had been torn off and been replaced by an artificial, adamantium one, his healing factor, since Cable claimed to be the future Logan, who had been turned into this by Apocalypse, gone, so he was ageing and already grey, and the left eye was gone too and had been replaced by an artificial, glowing one…" When he ended he noticed the silence in the room and looked up sharply. "And let's see what we have now… Logan has three long gashes in his face that must have been caused by his own claws, one eye, his left one has taken too much damage and is beyond any repair, his left arm had been brutally torn off and, as you said yourself Hank, his healing factor is non existent anymore…"

"Charles…," the furry mutant said after a moment, still skeptically. "Are you saying that Logan is now Cable?"

"No, I'm saying that Jean noticed the similarity and she told me and I told you, about the visit of Logan, who had told her that everything was back to normal in his time, after Jamie had been saved," the bald man said coolly. "So, as I can assume this has changed again and the future with it too. Jean is right by saying that this wasn't supposed to happen! And remember what Jamie had told us when we had exchanged him for our Jamie. He has told us that something had gone wrong, that the future was changed and that we have most likely done wrong choices… So everything that is happening now is further changing the future. That's why Jean keeps on saying that this _wasn't supposed to happen_!"

"But…if you're right," Kitty said and looked at him. "What did we do wrong?"

"Where did we change it?" Bobby added.

"We saved Jamie…," Ororo said.

"As far as we know it wasn't supposed to happen that Apocalypse killed Jean and Logan in his last attack," the Professor said and leant back with a sigh. He shook his head. "I don't know… Maybe Logan was right and going to Japan was the wrong choice…"

"He said we shouldn't go…," Hank nodded. "He was against it…"

"Maybe it was my fault," Ororo shrugged. "It was me who let Jean go food shopping for Jamie by herself. And she was taken by Sinister and exchanged by that clone… Maybe this changed everything…"

"We can't tell, Ororo," Charles said. "We can't change it anymore either…"

"But…let's think about it!" Scott cut in again and ignored Hank's sigh. "I have a feeling that we forgot to think about something…"

"And what?" Hank asked him, arms folded. "Scott we did everything we could. There's nothing more we can…"

"That's not what I meant!" the other man snapped. "Jamie came to save Jean and Logan, he said that he arrived too late and couldn't do it anymore. But he saved us instead… What else did he do?" He looked into the round, waited for ideas and suggestions. "Come on, guys! We're missing something here!"

"He beat Apocalypse…," Mystique shrugged. "Or at least his astral form…"

"He… Well Sinister and his men were scared and fled," Bobby shrugged.

Thinking hard, Ororo tried to remember that night. With closed eyes she allowed the movie to play in her head, saw again how Logan was hit by Apocalypse's attack, how Jean was thrown against a tree, how the man had suddenly appeared in the garden…" He…he threw John against the pond and destroyed his Horseman uniform…," she mumbled.

"Of course!" Hank said and jumped out of his stool, all eyes immediately were on him.

"Of course what?" she asked him.

"Right!" Scott nodded, obviously knowing what the mutant meant.

"Right, what?" Ororo asked again.

"Maybe John is the key!" Scott told her. "Maybe it wasn't supposed to happen that he became an ally and joined our team."

"I was actually thinking, Scott," Hank said and sighed after rubbing his eyes, "that John could donate his blood to save his brother's life…"

Looking at his teammate, the man with the glasses shrugged nonchalantly and folded his arms too. "Of course…," he said. "That would have been my next idea."

"Sure," the furry mutant mocked and shook his head. "Ororo, would you make the call, please? I need to check on our patients." Waiting for her to nod, he turned to leave the room.

"Fine," Charles said and leant back in his wheelchair. "And now I'd like to hear a detailed report about what happened."

"Where's Magneto anyway?" Kitty asked him instead. "I haven't seen him for a while."

"My old friend…obviously decided to look for new members for his group…," the Professor said with a heavy heart. "He thinks that we should rather take action instead of waiting for our enemies to knock on our door… Anyway,…a report, please!""

* * *

While he was propped up on his right arm and his head in his hand John used his free hand to stroke down Narya's still hot and sweaty back with a dreamy look. When she giggled he stopped, rested his hand on her lower back and smirked at her. "What?" he asked and she turned her head that rested on both of her arms while she lay on her belly.

"It tickles," she smiled and moved over to straddle him when he chuckled. "What's so funny?" she teased him and stroked over his powerful chest.

"Nothing," he waved off and placed his hands on her hip while his eyes looked at her. "You're so beautiful…"

Smiling in embarrassment, Narya blushed and lay down on top of him for a cuddle. "I can tell that you really mean it…," she replied and wrapped her arms as good around him as possible.

"Why should I lie about it?" John asked and caressed the soft skin on her back again.

"Most men just say it without meaning it…"

"I always mean things the way I say them…"

"Like Logan…," she smiled into his chest and leant in to kiss him. "The two of you are a lot alike…"

"What?" he playfully mocked and stopped his caressing. "Are you comparing us now?!"

"No, silly!" Narya said and gave him a slap against his chest, which earned her a chuckle. "Mhhhhm," she made and rolled off him. "If you be so kind and get me something cool to drink," she purred and looked at him seductively, "then you might get lucky again…"

"Thank God, I've got a healing factor, hm?" he mocked and got up to pull his briefs back on. "Anything else for the insatiable lady?"

"There should be strawberries left over in the fridge," she smiled and gave him a sign to get moving.

"Strawberries, huh?" John asked, picking up on what she was thinking and walked over to the door after stealing another kiss from her. "Be right back," he said with a last smile and made his way to the kitchen, not believing how lucky he actually was. They had spent the past days together, inseparable from each other and had done what had come to their minds. Either watching a movie together, go out for lunch or dinner, sometimes even breakfast, they had gone dancing or had just taken long walks or cuddled with each other in front of the TV… He just loved her company and her being and felt happy throughout the core. Especially after they had spent the night together… Smiling to himself, he got two water bottles out of the fridge and was looking for the strawberries when a very sleepy looking Heather entered the room. "Hey," he greeted her and could tell that the woman was close to drop to the ground. "Rough night, huh?"

"Yes, not every one in here had a fun night like you and Narya," she said and began to heat the bottle for Taylor. "He's a real glutton," Heather said and rocked the baby slowly back and forth, while she waited for the bottle to heat. "But at least one of us can run around with a goofy smile like yours." She smiled weakly when he chuckled. "I assume she has the same look on her face?"

"Maybe…," he joked and reached out to stroke over the baby's head, who was in the end his half-nephew. "They can be little monsters, hm?"

"Oh, yes!" Heather nodded and began to shake the bottle. "But lovely little monsters. And…I'm happy for you. It was about time that she and you found a new partner." She looked up from feeding Taylor when the phone rang. "Oh, could you…?" she asked and sat down on a stool after John nodded and was on his way to the phone.

"Yeah?" he asked. "Hey…"

Heather watched him with a deep frown and, from what she could hear, wondered why Ororo was calling them late at night. But she also began to wonder why she began to feel scared, or why John suddenly leant back against the wall and had a shocked look on his face. But she knew something had definitely happened when he said he would be there as soon as possible and hung up right afterwards. Still, he didn't move an inch and just stared at the ground. "What happened?" Heather asked worriedly and the pressure in her stomach was now rapidly spreading towards her chest. "John?" she asked once more since he didn't reply. "Did something happen?!"

"Yeah…," he nodded and was still unable to move.

"And what? From your reaction it must be something horrible…" Concerned she waited for a reply. "What did Ororo tell you?"

"That Logan's dying…," he mumbled and all Heather could do was to not let the baby fall to the ground…

* * *

Hank watched how Jean stood motionlessly next to the bed, her eyes constantly fixed on the man in it and his eyes lowered sadly to the ground. He could only guess what she was thinking, if she was able to think anything at all. Without saying anything he went over to check the chart and monitors again. Something he'd done quiet often in the past two days.

_After John had arrived, hardly an hour after Ororo had made the call, he had told him everything about his brother's condition and before he even had a chance to tell the man what he wanted, John had already told him to use his blood and take as much as he needed. Seeing it as his duty, Hank had warned him about the risk of spending too much, but the man had only shaken his head and had pulled his sleeve up, telling him that he didn't care about his own life, that he had lost his brother once and wouldn't let it happen again. So Hank had done what he had to do, but it hadn't been enough. And without giving John the time the man had needed to recover from the donation, he had to ask him for another favor. But once more the man had agreed on it, before Hank had a chance to finish his sentence…_

When his hand withdrew from his patient's head again Hank couldn't help but sigh. He'd waited for this to happen… "The poisoning set in…," he told Jean regretfully and frowned when the woman didn't even look up. "Did you hear what I said?" he asked and received a weak nod from her. "I just want you to be prepared when his condition worsens…" Putting the chart away, he looked at his friend with sympathy in his eyes. He knew that the condition would worsen very fast. He still remembered too well how the poisoning had affected his friend's well-being the last time. It would begin with weak convulsion that would soon occur more often and became heavier, then the fever would drastically become higher and soon the chills would set in and they would have just started to treat them, when the high fever kicked already back in. He remembered how they had drugged him so much that in the end nothing took effect anymore. And no matter what they would try now it was useless anyway… "It shouldn't be like that…," Hank said angrily and threw his glasses onto his desk with a shake of his head. He felt helpless. Helpless and useless, or better completely powerless. He was annoyed since the others, those without any medical knowledge, kept on bugging him about _trying this _or _doing that_. But he, Moira and Jean knew better, maybe even Xavier. There was nothing they could do. There was no cure against adamantium poisoning and its effects. And he hated himself for being so powerless…

"Steven just arrived. The Professor is calling in a meeting and wants you to join," Jean suddenly said in a monotonous and hardly audible voice.

"What about you?" he asked after putting his lab coat on a chair.

"I'll be right there…," she said in the same voice and it scared him. In fact, she had something terrifying about her all of a sudden, something that seemed to be so cold and uncaring.

"Jean…," Hank asked and stopped at the door. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine…," she assured him without turning around and still stared at her husband through empty eyes. "I'll be right there…"

After looking to the ground, he gave her and Logan a last look and exited the ICU. Upstairs he stepped out of the elevator and walked directly towards Xavier's office, where he knocked and entered. "You called?"

"Where's Jean?" the Professor asked and watched how Hank sat down on a chair.

"She said she'll be right there."

"How's Logan?" Scott asked and looked at his friend intently. He didn't miss the change in Hank's eyes and felt an odd pressure spreading in his chest.

"The adamantium poisoning kicked in…," Hank told the group and looked at the ground.

"That means?" the Cap asked and didn't look away when the furry mutant's eyes stared right through him.

"That I give him two days, maximum three…"

"But there must be something you can do," the man protested. "Logan died so often and woke up again, he's not designed to…"

"We gave him the blood and spinal cord donation from John, we drugged him with the strongest medicine possible, it's not showing any effects. His skeleton is poisoning him, there's nothing we can do about it," Hank said angrily and snarled. "Logan is an ordinary human being now, who's dying a slow and painful death. He won't wake up this time and I would really appreciate if you could finally accept it, since we have more important things to deal with right now."

"Which things?" the Cap asked sourly. "For me helping to save a friend's life is more important than anything else."

"You mean a friend's life that can't be saved anymore," Hank gave back and narrowed his eyes in anger. "We now have to think about how to tell his children…_again_!"

Holding the man's angry gaze for a moment, the Cap looked down and nodded. "I'm sorry…," he said barely audible and everyone could tell that he meant it. For the first time there was a kind of vulnerability visible in the man's face that they had never seen before.

"It my fault…," Peter suddenly said after the room had been silent for a while. "If I had paid attention to my surroundings as he had taught us…" He clenched his fists and gritted his teeth. "I would have seen him coming…"

"Peter…," Charles said not without sorrow in his voice. "Logan as well as everyone on the team knows about the risk by going on missions… If Logan hadn't protected you, you'd either be dead or someone else from the team had protected you. Either way it would have been the same ending… It's not your fault and I doubt that either Logan or Jean would ever hold you responsible for it."

While Kitty touched his shoulder and leant into him, Peter looked up with hate and tears in his eyes. "Do you think that will make it any easier to look at his children later, knowing it was me who has taken their father away from them?!" he asked in a deadly voice and glared daggers at Charles, who could only sigh. "_I_ didn't pay attention, it was _me_ who hasn't seen Apocalypse coming, if _I_ had seen him neither Logan nor Warren would have needed to jump in to help _me_! So it is _my_ goddamn fault!"

"Then you can also blame me because I told Jean that we need Logan on that mission, Pete!" Scott said and shook his head when the man faced him. "Either way, in the end it was our enemy who did it… And every one of us knows the risks and what can happen if a mission goes wrong. And that mission went wrong. So if someone has to be blamed then it's me, because I was the leader of the team!"

"Blaming ourselves will neither help Logan nor the situation!" Ororo said. "What happened, happened. We can't change it anymore…" She looked up and her eyes came to a rest on John, who hadn't moved an inch and was still leaning against the wall with his eyes looking out of the window. Biting her lip hard, she looked down and didn't even notice how Kurt put an arm around her. "What I mean is…," she began once more but was at a loss of words as her tears finally began to fall. "It's just not fair…," she sobbed and buried her face into Kurt's neck. "It's not fair…"

"Hank," Charles said after swallowing hard. "What is Jean doing?"

"Besides standing next to the bed and staring off into nowhere?" the mutant asked ironically and shook his head. "Nothing. I doubt she even understands what's happening… She's working on automatic and doesn't seem to notice what's happening around her."

In the ICU Jean still stood next to the bed and had her hand entwined with Logan's one that was left unharmed. She wasn't aware of the beeping of the machines that constantly echoed through the room, she didn't even hear it or the rest of the noises. Her thoughts were completely blank and her chest felt heavy. All she could think about was what the man, who was called Cable, looked like and what he had told her about the future she thought they had changed. She wondered what they had done wrong, where the mistake lay that had caused this drastic change and why she hadn't noticed it. But also that she didn't want this for _him_.

Her eyes looked briefly at the machines and her brain tried to understand what the monitors told her. In her current state she understood that the heart was beating regularly, but weak. When her eyes returned to the face of the man in front of her, who seemed to be so small and vulnerable all of a sudden, she unconsciously bit her lip and her eyes became even sadder. The three long and deep gashes in his face were the same Cable had, the shoulder where the left arm had been torn off had long, irregular and ugly wounds that even reached the chest and ribs and she knew that even with the high doses of morphine he was in deep pain, even if it was unconsciously. And she knew that it would become unbearable soon… And that she didn't want this for him. She didn't want him to become anything similar to Cable…

Reaching out, Jean touched Logan's hot and sweaty cheek, noticed that he was already shaking with weak convulsions and sat down on the edge of the bed. Her second hand refused to let go of his, even if she didn't get any response at all from him. Her lips whispered his name several times, hoped to get anything in return, but it didn't happen before she used her powers on his subconsciousness that he opened the eye that was still left a bit. "Hey…," she smiled sadly and bent more over so that he could see her better. Still smiling sadly and with tears in her eyes she stroked tenderly over his cheek and thought about what to say. "I'm sorry…," was everything she could come up with and she shook her head. "I shouldn't have let you go… I'm disappointing you again, Logan… You might believe that you married a strong woman, but…you didn't. I'm always letting you down because I'm too weak and pathetic…" Unable to look into his half-closed eye any longer she lowered her gaze and wiped a tear away with her free hand. "You always protected me… And I don't know why I can never do the same for you… You always have to suffer because of me…" When a sob escaped her lips she felt how he weakly, barely noticeable, squeezed her hand and she looked up.  
She adjusted her position a bit and remained silent for a while. "We did everything we could, Logan… There's nothing more that we can do…," she told him in a tearful voice and watched how little drops fell onto the blanket that covered him. "I don't want you to suffer…," Jean whispered and didn't care that her tears were now falling freely. "And I don't want you to fight against it either," she added while looking at him, still holding his hand and caressing his cheek. Even if Hank would deny it she knew that he understood what she said. His eye, even if only half open was never leaving her face. "I can make it stop…," she said and sobbed. "You won't feel any pain… It will be like falling asleep." Looking away for a moment, she heaved a deep breath, intended to calm her nerves by doing it, but it was useless. "When you begged to end it when you were blind," she went on and looked back at him. "I refused to do it because you weren't in any pain… But from what Hank told me about the poisoning…" She paused. "I know you will be suffering horrible pain and I don't want this for you…," she sobbed. "I love you too much for this…" Her crying became even heavier when she watched how he closed his eye briefly and saw that a single tear ran down his cheek. She bit her lip even harder when their eyes met again. "I'll take care of them, Logan… I promise I won't let anything happen to them," Jean said and moved so that she could lie next to him. Their hands still entwined, she used the free one to pull his head closer and lean again it with closed eyes. "I…want to thank you, Logan," she said against his neck and thought the pressure in her chest would crush her heart any moment. "The years with you have been the best of my life… I could never repay what you gave me… I just wish things would have turned out different for us…"  
Just holding him while she cried silently into his neck, Jean let go of him after a moment and looked at him with red eyes and her face tearstained. Smiling sadly, she kept his hand in hers and put her right one onto his heart after stroking over his right cheek. "It'll be okay…," she whispered with a weak nod and sniffed in sorrow. "I won't let you suffer… Just let go and everything will be okay… You'll just fall asleep…" While she leant forward and kissed him, her tears wetting the part of his face that wasn't covered in bandages, her mind switched off the alarm on the machines. She squeezed his hand as she kept her lips on his and concentrated her powers on his heart. Determined to keep her promise of not causing him any pain, she began to slow down the beats and leant back to look at him with a heavy heart. "I love you…," she whispered sobbing and felt in her head how his heartbeat died slowly down while his eyes began to close…

* * *

"I'm worried…," Moira said to Hank, inaudible for the others to hear.

"She just wants to be with him," he replied but saw that his wife shook her head.

"Something's wrong, I can feel it, Hank," she said with concern in her voice and looked up as the room suddenly fell silent, noticed that something must have happened.

"Charles?" Scott asked and looked at the Professor, who suddenly sat like frozen in his wheelchair and stared at something only he could see. "Charles?!" the man asked a bit louder and got up, already fearing that the man might have suffered a stroke. "What…?" he began as the bald man looked up, the face stern as Scott had never seen it before in his life and with tears clearly visible in his eyes. He remembered the last time the man had looked devastated and sad like this had been at Alkali Lake after Jean had… Not thinking twice Scott turned and stormed out of the room and towards the next elevator. Hastily and his heart nearly bursting through his chest, he pushed the button and waited impatiently for the machine to open its doors again. As soon as this was the case he ran out of it and down the corridor, thought that this one was longer than he remembered and wondered why everything was happening in slow motion all of a sudden. Not waiting for the door to fully open, he squeezed himself through it and froze on the spot. The first thing his brain was able to understand was that the machines had been switched off and that his teammate looked like being asleep. Still, he knew better… His head jerked aside as he noticed something dark sitting in the corner and gasped when two black eyes and a veined face stared back at him. But something about the creature was off; even in his shocked state he was able to notice it.

"I saved him…," Phoenix told him with fiery tears pouring down her face and Scott thought his heart would stop beating too. "I saved him… He's fine now…"

"Jean…," he said after he'd given Logan a brief look and went carefully over to her. "What…what did you do?!" he asked her and felt how every hair on his body began to stand up at the creepy sight of her.

"I saved him…," she said once more and tilted her head a bit. "I didn't want him to suffer, so I saved him…"

Finally understanding what she meant, Scott stared at her in shock for a moment and looked towards the bed in which his dead friend lay as if he was only sleeping. "You…you killed Logan?" he said more to himself and started when she suddenly began to sob aloud and wail like a wounded animal. Expecting the Phoenix to lose control any moment, he looked back at her but noticed that it was Jean now who uttered those terrifying sounds. In fact he wasn't so sure that it wasn't the Phoenix at the same time who cried for her lost mate. "Jean…," Scott said and touched her arm. "Come on, you need to get out of here…" Pulling her up without any resistance from her side, he led her over to the door and out of the room where he ran into the others, who had followed him in concern.

"Scott…," Ororo asked but he only shook his head and dragged the zombie Jean was right now with him towards the elevator, determined to take her as far away from the ICU as possible. He neither saw how Hank and Moira stormed into the room, nor how they came out of it again shortly afterwards with eyes that said it all.

"Hank?!" Rogue asked carefully and panted since her heart was beating so fast.

"He's dead…," was all the furry mutant said and startled everyone when he slammed his fist against the wall with an angry and sorrowful roar.

**I don't know about you guys, but I had to make 5 breaks while typing the Logan/Jean scene at the end since I was crying too hard. While typing it I listened to **_Stay with me_** from the **_The Fountain_** OST. You should try it, it really makes you feel bad. : ( **

**While writing the part with Scott on his way to the ICU, I listened to **_Debriefing _**from the **_Metal Gear Solid 3 Snake Eater_** OST (from minute 4:32-end). Both are really two beautiful songs that give you goose bumps. You should listen to them while reading the scenes. They are both available on youtube. Anyway, it's the first time that I wrote the ending before writing anything else. The beginning was written last. The idea of Apocalypse ripping Logan's arm off was taken from **_Ultimate X-Men 91_**. I didn't mention it at the beginning this time to prevent that those, who know the comic book, might guess what would happen in this chapter. Anyway, I'm curious to know your reactions to it and very attentive readers might guess what will happen next. ; ) Please leave a review!! See ya!!**


	34. Chapter 32

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!! : )

**I'm happy that I achieved my aim and made most of you cry. I intended to write an intense and sad chapter and from your reaction I achieved it, and this makes me happy. : ) I hope I can keep it up. : )**

**And OMG, thank you al so, so much for all the feedback I got. : ) I never received so many reviews for a single chapter. Thank you al soooo much!!**

**I listened to the John Rambo (2008) OST for this one here. To the songs "Aftermath" (fitting, don't you think?) and "Battle Adagio" during the funeral scene and the one at the beginning. It's really a great piece of art. You should listen to them.**

**Deathtones:** I still need your wish. No matter what it was you had in mind, just send it my way!!

* * *

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 32**

Scott didn't let go of her before he had reached his old room, where he locked the door and placed Jean on the bed. He watched, still trembling and shaken himself, how she had both arms wrapped around herself and was rocking back and forth. He knew she was in a deep shock and tried to remember what she had once taught him about how to react to someone, who suffered a trauma. "Jean…," he said calmly and sat down next to her, one hand on her shoulder and hoped she would react to it, but instead she just stared off into nowhere and tears were still falling constantly. "Look at me, Jean!" Yes, say her name, she once said it would help, he remembered. "Jean, come on! You have to look at me!" Carefully, Scott cupped her face and turned her head so that she faced him. But he knew that she was looking right through him at the same time. "Jean? Say something…," he begged and stroked over her wet cheek. "Please! Just say something…"

Blinking a bit, the redhead stared at him with empty eyes for a moment. She knew he had said something, but couldn't remember what. Or maybe he hadn't said anything at all and she had just imagined it. "I saved him…," Jean heard herself saying and didn't understand why Scott's face twitched painfully.

"I know…," he whispered and pulled her close to rock her back and forth, knowing that she was incapable of understanding anything right now. "I know…"

* * *

Charles Xavier couldn't remember that the mansion had ever been this still and frightening before. He wheeled past the rec-room, paused briefly to watch how Rogue lay in Remy's, Kitty in Peter's and Jubilee in Bobby's arms; the young women crying heavily for the friend and father figure they'd lost, the young men trying their best to give support, but shed tears too. Every time the girls stopped crying, it only took a couple of minutes before one of them began again and the others joined.

Charles face twitched briefly in sorrow and he lowered his head with closed eyes to heave a deep breath. To him it appeared as if they had lost everything today. They had lost the very heart and soul of the team and school, their strongest warrior, who'd always pushed them if they had given up or were about to, the man of few words, who, if he had to say something, could be sure that everyone was paying attention to him… Yes, Charles already felt the loss to the very core of his heart. And it didn't help at all that he could pick up on the thoughts and emotions of nearly everyone inside this house. He was too busy already to make sure that the Grey-Howlett children were sleeping and wouldn't notice their loss. He still didn't know how to deal with it anyway…

"Charles…," Hank suddenly said, his voice calm and broken and the Professor looked up, pain mirrored in his eyes, when the furry mutant laid a hand on his shoulder. "He's prepared… We…" He swallowed hard and heaved a deep breath. "The funeral can be tomorrow already…"

Nodding, Charles covered Hank's hand with his briefly. "Thank you, Henry…"

"Of course…," Hank nodded, tears visible in his eyes and he couldn't help but watch the younger X-Men in the rec-room. "Did you already decide…?"

"No," Charles replied, withdrew his hand and shook his head while he too looked at the couples. "No, I don't know how to tell them…"

"I still can't believe what she did…," Hank whispered and shook his head.

"She wanted to prevent him from suffering, Hank… We all would have wanted it."

"I know, but…she's a doctor! I should have known what she was up to. Jean was behaving so weird before I left and…" Again Hank sighed and looked up at the ceiling to prevent from crying. "I could have done it too, I mean… She could have turned into her negative and…"

"From what Scott told me mentally, she did turn into Dark Phoenix," Charles replied. "I just don't understand why Jean didn't lose any control…"

"It's a bad sign, Charles," Hank said, his eyes steady, but also worried. "You said it yourself that Jean needs Logan to keep sane."

"That's why I am worried, Hank," the bald man answered. "I don't even want to imagine what Jean can and will do if she looses the last bit of control she has…"

"Where is she now?" Hank asked and followed him as the man began to wheel down the corridor again.

"Still with Scott. He gave her some sleeping pills and said he'd watch over her."

"Good…"

"Where is John by the way?" Charles asked and stopped at the kitchen door. "He should watch over the children…"

"Ororo and Kurt already do it," Hank told him. "Moira and I will watch over their children and Nick." He saw how his opposite nodded. "I think John and Steven wanted to… Well…"

"Alone?!"

"No, Peter Parker is helping too! So is James. The other Avengers and members of Alpha Flight are patrolling the grounds," Hank informed him. "The Fantastic Four, Ghost Rider, Elektra and the Daredevil are patrolling the area to make sure that there are no surprise attacks."

"That's good to know…," Charles nodded and ran a hand over his face. "We should try to sleep… Even if I doubt that anyone of us can tonight…"

"I think you're right, Charles," the furry mutant nodded and heaved another deep breath, before he watched how the man wheeled away. Not knowing what else he could do, Hank walked out of the backdoor and heard how the Cap and others were talking.

"I never thought I'd dig his grave…," James said and sipped on the vodka bottle the group on the terrace shared. Smiling sadly at it, he shook his head in the end and handed it over to the Cap, who looked briefly up when he saw Hank. "Always thought he would dig mine, you know…" Wiping his tears away, James clenched his fists in anger and gave Hank a look too. "You should talk to him," he said and nodded into the darkness.

Following his gaze, Hank walked over to Memorial Garden and saw what the man had meant. He looked briefly down before he approached the figure and reached out to squeeze the man's shoulder. "You shouldn't do this to yourself, John…," he said in a calm voice and looked into the dark grave too, which lay directly in front of them and right next to Jake's. The man next to him was staring into it like a zombie, his hands buried in his pockets, eyes empty and the face blank. "There is nothing you could have done to prevent it from happening…," Hank tried to assure him.

"I should have been there…," John replied darkly and his jaw tensed briefly.

"We tried everything we could," Hank said and tried to pull him away from the grave, but the man was like a rock. "There's nothing anyone of us could have done to prevent the attack from happening, John! We did anything that was medically possible… Logan would have died within the next two or three days anyway. And he would have died a painful and miserable death… I can assure you that if Jean hadn't done it, I'd have…" He held the glaring gaze the man gave him. "As hard as it is, but we…" He sighed and shook his head. "We just have to accept it…"

"I'm not angry with Jean if that's what you think," John said darkly. "I'm angry with myself… I should have been there, taken part in the fight…"

"And then what? So that Apocalypse would have killed you instead of him?! Or maybe both of you?!" Hank asked while looking at him. A shudder ran down his spine when his opposite turned to look at him, the lips curled up in a sad smile, while the eyes looked completely dead.

"Yeah…," John nodded, before he looked back at the grave. "It's the same with brothers than with fathers and their sons… The older ones should be the first to go…" He sniffed and looked away, not willing to show any weakness now. "Would you leave me alone, please?" he asked after a moment, his voice barely more than a whisper.

Only nodding, Hank patted John's shoulder again and walked back over to the mansion with tears in his eyes. It was then that he ran into Heather and Narya. Unable to smile at them, he only hugged the redhead and gave the blonde an approving nod, watched how she then walked into the direction he'd just come from.

The mood only got worse on the next day. It was up to Ororo to keep the sun shining, but if she had her will it would be raining for weeks. She watched how the students already sat on their stools and how the other teams had already taken their seats too. She didn't see one who wasn't dressed in black, was convinced that if she took a flight today this part of the garden would look like one huge black veil.

"Hey…," Scott said next to her and gave the grave she was staring at again a look. "Never expected so many people…"

"Yeah…," she nodded and took a brief look around. "I think Logan wouldn't reckon with it either…," she added sadly and swallowed hard. "The Professor?"

"Makes sure that the children don't see this," Scott replied with a look at the mansion. "I guess he'll keep them asleep… I don't know what else he's going to do about it…"

Nodding, Ororo saw how Mystique, also dressed in a black robe, approached them in her human form. "What did Logan tell you when he pulled you out of the kitchen by the way?"

"That he wants me and Mystique to talk…," he said and she nodded again. "That I should think about where I came from before I judge her."

"That means?" she asked, a frown visible on her forehead.

"Nothing!" he waved off and buried his hands in his pockets with a sigh. "I need to get Jean. Be right back." When he approached the mansion he saw how Rogue and Remy came out of it, he dressed in a black suit, she wearing a black skirt and black shirt. Scott pulled her close for a moment, felt the pressure in his chest when she began to cry once more. Since yesterday he hadn't seen her stopping once. Nodding at Remy, he watched how the man wrapped an arm around her waist and began to lead her away.

"C'mon, chérie," he whispered and began to feel worried since she once more didn't show any resistance.

While Scott went to get Jean Ororo still stood at the grave and looked at it. To her it happened way too fast that everyone arrived, that the white chairs got occupied and everything seemed to be ready for the ceremony to begin. She wished it wouldn't begin at all, that the day would either stop right now or made a huge leap so that it was already over. Reaching up, she wiped her tears away with one hand, as another one suddenly touched her shoulder. Returning the sad smile, she allowed Kurt to pull her over to her seat and it wasn't before everyone fell silent that she looked up again, just to see how Scott and John approached with Jean in their middle. If someone asked her, she wouldn't be able to say whose face looked more gravely. It didn't help either that behind and next to her Rogue, Kitty and Jubilee were sobbing aloud, nor that she could hear women and students doing it all around her. In the end, she leant into Kurt for support, who was already shedding tears too, due to his sensitive nature.

"Sit down," Scott said and didn't let go of Jean's hand. He exchanged a worried look with Hank, since the woman didn't react at all. Since it happened she was like a dead shell and stared off into nowhere.

When the Professor arrived, his face grave and suddenly looking very small, everyone looked up and watched how he stopped in front of them, his eyes taking a look around until he had seen every face. He too was surprised about how many had actually come. "A minute of silence, please," he said and lowered his head, as everyone else. With his eyes closed, he began to prepare for what would follow. He hadn't prepared any words or a long speech at night. Even if he hadn't been able to sleep for a minute, he hadn't been able to find words that would suit the situation or the feelings of the people in front of him. "I think…," he began and looked up, the faces of the people in front of him showing him that he had their fullest attention. "I think Logan wouldn't like it at all that so many people came to say farewell to him. If he was here, he would ask us why we are making such a _fuss_ about it, if we don't have anything better to do than wasting our time on him," Charles said with a sad smile and voice that wasn't as strong as usual. "No, he wouldn't have liked it at all… At least that would have been his reaction when he first came here. Now, I think, even if he would have tried to hide it, he would have at least given us a small, happy smile. I believe he would still call us crazy for doing this ceremony today," he went on and turned his head to look at the black coffin, which stood above the hole in the ground and was surrounded by dark roses. "But then I am asking myself why not? Why not doing a great ceremony like this for a great man like he was?"

Charles paused to look into the round again. He saw how students had tears in their eyes, how John had fixed his eyes on the ground and refused to look at anything else, while he held Jean's right and Scott her left hand. No, he had never expected so many people to come at all…

"Because that is what he was," he began once more and nodded. "As reckless and careless as he could be, he had a big heart for those he really cared for. The only times he got hurt during his stay with us was in battles he fought to protect those he cared for. And I know that he would have gladly given his life for his family and friends. And in the end…," he said and gave Peter, who was glaring at him and still put the blame on himself, "…in the end he did give his life for one of his friends." Charles paused briefly as some loud sobs could be heard and took his time to regain his composure. "And as much as he wouldn't regret this…I don't regret to make a funeral this big for him. Because as much as I consider him a friend and family member, the students saw in him their teacher and father figure. They looked up to him and listened to him, they sought his knowledge and support. And I know that all of you know how much we lost with him," he went on and once more looked at the others with tears in his eyes. "We did not only lose our heart and soul of the team, we also lost a teacher and friend, a brother and husband, and children lost the father they love more than anything."

The Professor looked at Jean for a moment, who still sat between the two men like a ghost and didn't show the tiniest reaction to all of it. "Since so many different people, who knew Logan from different times, have come together today," he said and looked especially into the direction of Fury, the Avengers, the Fantastic Four and other teams that sat to his right, "I'd like to say that your picture of him might be different than ours. We got to know him as a loner, who would have rather run away from the team instead of helping us. He didn't trust us at all. But he chose to stay, chose to help us and began to learn that there were still people out there he could trust. So as the time passed, Logan changed and grew with it too," he smiled while he looked at the grass to his feet, remembered their conversations, their fights… "He learned what it meant to be a part of a family, how much work it was to keep it intact, how fragile it could be," he listed and looked at Jean again. "But most importantly he learned to be a father and husband and that the future was more important than his past. In the end…Logan wasn't the man he'd first been when he came to this school. More importantly, he wasn't a weapon or animal or anything close to what men chose to call him! He grew with each lesson, became wiser and stronger… And I know that nothing and no one can ever fill the gap he left behind." With a last look at them, Charles nodded at Kurt, who had to let go of his crying wife and took the place the Professor had occupied before.

Kurt spoke a prayer and did what was asked of him as a priest, before he asked if anyone else had something to say. Since they obviously thought that everything that could have been said was already mentioned, and most of them weren't capable of talking anyway, he pushed a button and watched how the coffin disappeared into the ground. Speaking another prayer while tears began once more to fall, he bowed briefly and with closed eyes, before he made the sign of the cross and finished his duty as a priest. Kurt then stepped aside to join Ororo again and give the others enough room for their farewells.

"Come on…," Scott said in barely more than a whisper and pulled Jean, who still held a red rose to which a black band was attached in her hand, up and walked with her and John towards the grave first. In the past he had hardly been to any funeral and it gave him the creeps to even look at the coffin in this dark hole. A look aside told him that the redhead was still too far gone and John only glared daggers at the ground. Not knowing what else to do, Scott took her hand and helped her to throw the rose, felt how a cold shudder ran down his spine as he watched it fall. He took his time to look at it a bit longer, didn't know what he could possibly say since his mind was blank. So after a couple of minutes, he began to push Jean aside and squeezed John's shoulder briefly. From where they stood now, he watched how Ororo and Kurt went next with Hank and Moira, both men and women crying and unable to remain longer at the grave for a minute. Seeing it as his duty, Scott hugged them without really realizing it and had his eyes still fixed on the grave, which was now visited by the younger X-Men. His jaw tensed and his heart became even heavier when Rogue and Jubilee nearly dropped to the ground and were sobbing aloud in sorrow. Kitty, who couldn't have possibly dropped with Peter holding her, kissed her rose before letting go of it and helped Bobby and Remy to pull their two fiancées back up again.

The procedure went on and Scott watched all of it, until only few people still had to say their farewells. His muscles tensed when he watched how Mystique stood in front of the grave, face tearstained, and also blew a kiss to her rose before throwing it. Scott guessed that the coffin should be covered with those flowers by now. He knew that Logan had always liked roses. When the woman came slowly closer to offer Jean her condolences, he remained on the spot, watched how the blonde woman hugged the redhead firmly and gave her a sad look, before she did the same with John. Their eyes met and, even if he wanted to, he couldn't look away. The last two days had shown him once more how fast things could be over, that time couldn't be rewind… and he remembered the sermon Logan had given him after he'd come back from Canada… Opening his arms, Scott pulled Raven close and closed his eyes while she sobbed into his neck. "I'm sorry…," he whispered and cupped her face to wipe her tears away. When he embraced her once more he watched from afar how Captain America and Nick Fury saluted in front of the grave, remained in that position for a moment, just to throw something into it afterwards, which looked like a half US, half Canadian flag.

John looked up when Narya approached him, tears still falling from her eyes, and returned the embrace he was given. Leaning into her, he closed his eyes and buried his face on her neck, listened to the words she was whispering and the sobs she uttered. "I'm so sorry…," the woman mumbled into his neck, kissed it and his cheek, just to lean into it again.

"Charles…," Ororo said and he already knew what she was about to say by seeing the agonizing look her face wore.

"We go inside," he agreed and squeezed her hand '. "It's not fair to put this much pressure on you. You did well, Ororo…" Smiling at her briefly, he told the others that the weather would change soon and that they would go inside now.

"We leave to make sure they stay away," the Cap announced and shook Charles hand. "If they dare to attack someone today, we make sure they'll regret it!" he added darkly.

"Thank you for coming!" the Professor nodded and received a brief one in return. He watched how the Avengers, Fury and the other groups turned to leave, only leaving the Alpha Flight team behind.

"Ororo," Scott said and placed a hand on her shoulder. "We'll hurry up, okay? If you can't take it anymore, then it's okay… It's only rain…" After receiving a weak nod from her, he joined Hank, Peter, John, Kurt and James with a spade and they began to close the grave, while the other mutants entered the mansion; Jean now being supported by Ororo, Moira and Raven.

* * *

"What did you do about the children?" Hank asked and stared at his glass of red wine that reflected the light of the fire in the chimney.

"I changed their memory," Charles replied and ignored the shocked and surprised looks he was given. "Logan said that they suffered enough… He wouldn't have wanted them to go through the loss of a parent again, even if he's against the manipulation of the mind…" He sipped on his tea, knowing what the others asked with their looks. "I changed it so that instead of Jean they remember Logan dying… So everything what they experienced with Logan in the last year happened with Jean instead and they can't remember visiting Canada either…"

Nodding, Scott handed the vodka bottle over to Peter. "He would have been fine with it…," he slurred and ran both hands over his face and through his disheveled hair. "They suffered enough already…"

"Scott, you really should stop drinking," Charles said and gave him a worried look. "You know that…"

"Honestly, Charles," the man replied and shook his head while staring at the fire. "I…don't…give…a…damn!" Sniffing, he looked aside and took the bottle from Peter, who had nearly emptied it. "Hey! It's the last one we have," he slurred and took another sip before handing it back to the man. "I know what you're thinking!" he told the Professor and gave him a lop-sided grin. "It's dangerous for me to drink too much, I know!"

"Scott!" Charles said warningly, but the man shook his head again.

"I don't give a damn! Let'em know!" Scott shrugged and leant back into the sofa, throwing his head over the rest with a heavy sigh. "Let them know…," he repeated and stared at the ceiling, his mood changing back to being depressed.

"What is he talking about, Charles?" Hank asked, trying to remember that he had ever seen Scott being on a good way to get drunk.

Before the Professor could reply to this, Scott had looked up again and was now staring at Hank, his face unreadable. "What I'm talking about, you say?" he said close to babbling.

"Scott!" Charles tried to intervene once more, but his old student waved off.

"NO! No, he asked, right?" he said and ignored the look he was given. "I'm talking about ME!"

"Yes, I figured that much," Hank nodded and put his empty glass on the table, while he noticed that those, who were as sober as him and the Professor, exchanged uncomfortable looks with each other. "You had enough, Scott!" he said determined and pulled the bottle away from Peter and him. "You should go upstairs and sleep." With that he pulled the man out of the sofa and dragged him over to the door. "Go to bed, Scott!" he said more calmly and patted his friend's shoulder. He waited for a sorrowful nod and watched how his friend staggered to the next elevator, before he returned to his friends. The silence in the room slowly got to him again and he began to feel depressed once more. "I've never seen Scott in such a state…," he said to break the silence.

"Well, we are all not ourselves today," Charles said and watched how Peter just stared off into the fire. "You should go to bed too," he added after a moment and waited, but Peter didn't intend to move.

"C'mon, Pete," Bobby said in the end and grabbed his friend's left arm, while Remy took the right one. "Night, Professor."

"Good night…," Charles replied with a forced smile and watched the younger X-Men leaving. "We should go to bed soon too. It's nearly 2 a.m…."

"I don't think I can sleep," Hank sighed and shook his head. "But I guess you're right…," he added with another heavy sigh and got up. After saying Good night to each other their ways parted. While the Professor retreated to his room, Hank went upstairs to his room. There he ran into Moira, who stood next to Nick's bed and looked at him. After he had closed the door behind him, he went over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"I still can't believe it…," she whispered and it was then that he noticed she was crying.

"I know," he mumbled against her neck and nuzzled her cheek. "Me neither…" Slowly, he began to pull her over to the bed. "We need to sleep. One sleepless night is enough…"

"Do you really believe this one will be better?" she asked while she got ready for bed.

"No, I don't…," he replied, laid his clothes onto a chair and went under the sheets. He waited for her to do the same before he pulled her close. "Try to sleep, okay?" Hank mumbled into her hair and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"You too," Moira replied and cuddled up to him.

* * *

"But what's wrong with mommy?" Jack asked his Uncle for the at least twentieth time on that day and all John could do was roll his eyes. "Why is she not talking to us?" the boy asked next and glued to his Uncle's legs, determined to receive an answer.

The man was surprised how persistent the boy already was. "She's not feeling well," John said, also, for the twentieth time. "Don't you have classes today?!" he asked annoyed and stopped. "As far as I remember your schedule said French next!"

"I can come too late. Remy won't say anything!" Jack sulked.

"No, you can't!" John replied and grabbed his nephew's hand. "Don't even start with it!"

"But why is mommy not feeling well?" Jack began to ask again while his Uncle dragged him to the classroom. "And why is everyone so weird all of a sudden? The other students give us funny looks and…"

"Jack, would you just stop it?!" John snapped and came to a halt. He closed his eyes briefly and sighed when he noticed the surprised and shocked look his nephew gave him. "I'm sorry… Just go to your class now, okay?" he said a bit calmer and opened the classroom door to push Jack inside. "My fault," he said to Remy when the man looked up and closed the door again, just to heave a deep breath and ran a hand over his face.

"John?"

He turned into the direction of the voice and saw Narya coming closer.

"Can we talk?" the woman asked carefully and stopped in front of him, her blue eyes meeting his hazel ones. She watched him nodding before he put a hand on her back and began to led her towards the staircase. The blonde followed him until they had reached his rooms and she began to look around in curiosity, smiled when he put the things, his daughter had left, from his bed and motioned her to sit on it.

"What's wrong?" he asked and remained in front of her. He didn't sit down next to before she had asked him and waited for him to do so.

"I talked to your Professor…," she began without looking at him, but he already knew where this was heading. "I know that you promised Logan to take care of Jean and his children if something ever happens to him…"

"Narya…," John tried to interrupt, but she shook her head.

"No! I know you said that you can't do this after what happened, but…" The blonde sighed and took one of his hands into hers. "Someone has to take care of you too," Narya said and looked at him with tears in her eyes. "I want to help you…"

He sighed and turned away from her. "I told you I can't do this now…," he said after a moment and ran both hands over his face. "It wouldn't be fair to you… And the thing between us…"

"Thing?!" the woman asked in a rather chilly voice and her eyes changed from emotional to cold. "That's what it was for you? A _thing_?!" Before he could say something she had gotten up and stood at the window. "So I was just a quickie for you?! Well, Logan was at least so nice and told me _before _we did it, you know?" she snapped and turned around to look out of the window. Hurt and angry, she wiped her tears away and swallowed hard with a shake of her head. "I really believed that we're real, that we have something real… You're just like the others!" Narya added disappointedly when he was suddenly behind her and wrapped his arms around her. "Don't you dare and touch me!" she snapped and tried to free herself, but his grip was too strong.

"Listen!" John said calmly and leant into her, while he too looked out of the window. "I don't want you to leave your home for me. Heather and the others are your family… And I won't be of much use now… I don't want to hurt you in the end…"

"But especially because you feel miserable I want to stay here," Narya disagreed and turned around in his arms. "You need someone to take care of you too… You can't expect to help Jean and the children and not to brake down after a while. You're hurt too…" She held his unreadable gaze for a moment, before she reached out and touched his cheek. "I want to be there for you…," she added softly. "I…I'm falling in love with you…"

Even if her last sentence was hardly more than a whisper John had understood every single word of it and looked up, surprise and shock mirrored in his face. She was overwhelming his senses with her nervousness, but her heart was also beating as fast as his.

Since he didn't say anything Narya took it as a hint that she was alone with those feelings. Lowering her head to hide her hurt and disappointment, she took a step back and wrapped her arms around herself in a protective gesture. "I'm sorry…," she mumbled and was about to go when he grabbed her arm.

"No, wait!"

"It's okay. I shouldn't have said it," she said and tried to shake his hand off, but he held her in a steady grip. "I understand that you don't feel that way…"

"I do feel that way," John cut her off and she finally stopped pulling, so he led go of her arm just to ran a hand through his dark hair. "It's just…" He shook his head. "I never allowed anyone to come that close after…since Ann died… It just terrifies me to think that I'd have to go through something similar again…," he admitted without looking at her.

"That's understandable," Narya replied and moved in to wrap her arms around him. "Still I'm tired about being alone…"

"I have to talk to Anna first," John mumbled into her hair and met her gaze when she looked up at him. "She has to be fine with it…"

"Sure," the blonde nodded and smiled after he kissed her briefly. "I'm in my room."

"Okay," John nodded and watched her leaving. While he remained on the same spot for a bit longer, his eyes switched over to the bedside table. He knew what he still had to do…

* * *

When he entered the West Wing he knew that the children still had classes and that Mystique was watching over Jamie and Alex. John followed the noises he could hear from the bedroom and knocked carefully at the door. "Hey…," he said and entered the room, watched how Jean occupied herself with folding the laundry.

"Hey…," she greeted back, her voice barely more than a whisper and went on with her work. "What do you want?" she asked after a moment of silence and without looking up.

"I ehm…," John began and pulled two envelops out of his rear pocket. "I need to give you these…"

"What is it?" Jean asked frowning and put Jack's shirt aside.

John motioned her to sit down on the edge of the bed and sat down next to her. He stared at the two white envelops for a moment, thought about what to say. "When you decided to do the surgery on Logan's eyes…," he said and, even if his eyes were fixed on the two objects, saw out of the corner of his eyes how she looked away, "he came to me and asked me to help him write these two letters… He wanted me to give them to you in case that the surgery went wrong. Well… I kept them in case something ever happened."

Jean looked at the two envelopes that he held into her direction. It took all her strength to take them from him.

"One is for you. The other one for the children… I thought you should have them…"

She was only able to nod and looked at the letters in her hands. When she felt the bed moving, she raised her head. "No! Stay here…" Jean waited for him to sit down again before she took the envelope with her name on it and put the second one aside. With shaky fingers she opened it and pulled the white paper out of it. Her heart was beating rapidly in her chest when she began to unfold it and even more so as her eyes began to read…

_Dearest Jeannie,_

_if you read this letter the surgery or something else has probably gone wrong._

_If that's the case, I use this way as my last opportunity to tell you some things. I know things have gone wrong lately between us, I also know that you're keeping something from me, but let me tell you, if you read this here it doesn't matter anymore anyway._

_Just keep in mind that I love you more than anything else. You showed me what really counts in life and because of you I realized how lonely I've actually been before. The years with you, all the up and downs, the sad and happy moments were worth staying at the school, and I wouldn't change any moment with you if I had the chance to do it._

_Your love means everything to me and I want to thank you for everything; for being my best friend, my mate and wife and mother of my children, for helping me to achieve what I could have never done on my own or with anyone else. You taught me the real purposes in life and I hope that you feel the same way about what we had._

_I know you'll keep our children safe and help them to become great persons later in their life. I know I can trust you with helping them through all the struggles of life and that you will accept whatever they chose to do with it. Just tell them what they mean to me and that the only thing I regret from all the things I've done in my life, is that I can't be there for them anymore. Give them the second letter when they are old enough to understand everything, will you?_

_I'm sorry that things have turned out the way they did. Just keep in mind that I'll always be with you and that I love you!_

_Thanks for everything you've ever done for me, and please, don't me sad! You know that I can't stand to see you crying. I'll be waiting for you, darling, and don't feel bad if there's someone else one day. I don't want you to be alone, so it's fine, okay?_

_Logan_

John watched how Jean let the letter sink, waited for a reaction, an outburst, just anything that would show emotions, but once more there was nothing. In the weeks since it happened she hadn't cried, she hardly spoke to anyone, when they ate together she just sat there and stared off into nowhere. And John knew that Logan would hate to see how skinny she had become. Everyone was worried that she was a bomb ready to explode, because no one knew when it would happen, only _that _it would happen.

"Thank you," she said and put the letters into the drawer of the bedside table before she got up and went on folding the laundry.

"That's all? Just thank you?" John asked while getting up and instantly her eyes were on him.

"What else do you want me to say?"

Her voice was cold, it made chills run down his spine. "Jean…"

"I'm fine," she cut him off and went on with her work. "I'm okay."

"Your husband died, Jean!" he said aloud and came a bit closer, still she didn't stop. "The man you loved died, you are NOT okay! You behave like a robot since it happened!" John shook his head. Nothing. There was absolutely nothing, neither in her eyes, nor in her whole demeanor. She just acted as if nothing had happened. He knew it was denial, it was shock, it was the false hope that it was just a bad dream and she would wake up. "He won't come back… You know that as well as everyone else here. So stop acting as if you don't care and as if Logan meant nothing to you!" John said angrily, a bit too loud maybe, and stomped out of the room. Just as he'd reached the stairs, he heard a hollow _thud_ and waited. As soon as the crying began he was back in the bedroom and on the floor next to Jean, who clutched one of his brother's shirts to her chest, which must have been somewhere in the laundry pile on the bed, and watched how she cried for the first time into the ground.

"Jean…," he said worriedly and touched her shoulder, which made her crying even harder. While there had been no reaction at all before, she was now crying endless rivers in sorrow and he knew she wouldn't stop so soon. He only hoped that the children wouldn't walk in on it, because then they really were in trouble…

* * *

"Hey," Scott greeted after entering his rooms and let himself fall onto a bed with a loud sigh. "I'm too old for this…"

"Had a rough day?" Raven asked and smiled when Alex cuddled up to Jamie in his sleep.

"You have no idea…"

She walked over to the bed and sat down next to him. It was still an awkward situation between them. They lived together again, shared the same bed, but still…it was weird, odd…just crazy.

"Did they behave?" he asked and sat up again.

"Jamie is a sweetheart. You know that," she shrugged. "He never makes any problems…"

Nodding, Scott looked around the room. "Hank wanted to talk to you," he said after a moment and looked briefly at her when she looked up. "He said it was important."

"Now?"

"I think so. He said he was in the lab."

"Okay…" Not really liking it Mystique got up, checked once more on the two sleeping boys and walked over to the door. She was aware of his eyes being on her. "Can we talk later?"

"Sure." He shrugged and watched her leaving. He then began to pull out the papers in his bag and sighed. He still had some grading to do and to prepare the next lessons for tomorrow. But first, he decided, he needed a refreshing shower and walked over to the bathroom, where he undressed and looked into the mirror. His face hardly had any wrinkles, mostly because his glasses hid the ones around his eyes. At least he guessed that he had some around his eyes. He had turned 48 this year, only two more and he would be 50… Shaking his head, he stepped under the shower and turned on the water.

"Raven," Hank said and got up to greet her. "Have a seat."

"Scott said you wanted to talk to me?" she asked insecurely and sat down in front of the desk.

Hank remained silent for a while and looked at her. In the end he opened a drawer and pulled two files out of it, took his glasses next and put them on so that they sat half way on his nose. "Scott…talked to me about your past," he began and saw that her eyes widened while her jaw dropped slightly. "Why are you not walking around in your mutant form anymore by the way?" Hank said, since it was something he was noticing for a couple of days by now. He knew the last time he remembered it happening was… "Are you pregnant?"

"No!" Raven instantly said. "I just… I don't know…" She began to rub her arm absently, avoided his eyes. "Why did he talk to you about it?"

"Because he was angry and about to explode…," Hank mumbled while turning the pages. "And yes…," he went on as he noticed that she was about to say something, looked up to meet her now blue eyes, "I know that you have two sons next to Alex. Or better said might still have one…"

"If you want to tell me how disappointed you are and that I made the wrong decision and how bad I am," she said and got up, "then, yes, I already know! But no one of you understands what kind of times…"

"Raven!" he said and raised a hand. "I didn't ask you to come down because I want to make any accusations. Yes, you did the wrong thing and yes, I disapprove with it! But the reason I need to talk to you is this." He put one of the files right in front of her.

"That's my file…," Raven said after taking a brief look into it.

"The second page. Look at it!"

Doing so, the file nearly dropped out of her hands.

"I see you know Azazel," Hank said and looked into her shocked looking eyes, before he turned to the second file. "After Scott told me about it, about your second son…the words _looked like a demon_ caught my attention. I remembered seeing a file about a mutant, a teleporter and shapeshifter, who looked like a demon. Azazel, a man you obviously remember, am I right?" He waited for a nod. "I studied his file again and compared it with yours…" He looked at the one he still held in his hand. "You know that we keep records on every student and teacher of this school, right? That means DNA fingerprint, blood type everything." Once more she nodded slowly. "It's rare to have mutants with nearly matching skin color and eyes at the same place. The father being a teleporter, the mother a woman with blue skin and yellow eyes… The child inherited his father's looks and mutation and his mother's appearance too…"

"You talk as if you expected me to know what you mean," Raven said rather coolly to hide her pain, which surfaced once more after remembering the sin she'd done.

"You know what I'm talking about," Hank replied and looked into her eyes. "Think about it… Which mutant do you know at this school who has blue skin, yellow eyes, looks like a demon and is a teleporter…"

She shook her head. "You're wrong!"

"I am not! Kurt turns 43 this June, Raven. He has Azazel's blood type and his DNA fingerprint matches yours AND his father's."

"You….are wrong!" she said once more, louder, and got up to fold her arms. One hand covered her mouth, the other was wrapped around her belly and she stared at the wall when tears began to fall.

"I know it is a shock…," Hank suddenly said right next to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "But I am not mistaken. I wouldn't tell you this, if I wasn't absolutely convinced. And DNA doesn't lie! Kurt is your son…" When she began to cry bitter tears he pulled her close and comforted her. Both just stood on the same spot for minutes, she crying into his chest, he holding her and stroking over her back. "Will you tell him?" Hank asked after Raven had calmed down enough and he had helped her onto a stool again.

"How?" the woman sniffed and ran a hand over her face. "I can't just show up and say _by the way, I'm your mother. Thought you should now…_" She shook her head and looked at the pictures on Hank's desk. One was of Moira alone, one showed Nick and the third one was a wedding picture of them.

"No, but knowing it…you can't just ignore the fact either." Hank remained silent for a moment. "If Kurt is nearly 43…how old are you then?"

"Old…"

He gave her a look. "Is there anything specific you remember? A year or something and how old you were?" She nodded slowly, her eyes staring off into nowhere and a small smile played about her lips. "And what?"

"Meeting Logan in Austria in 1917," Raven said in a calm voice. "He was a soldier with the Canadian Army back then…"

Hank couldn't help but smile. "Everyone knew him, hm? How old were you when you met him?"

"17…," she said.

"1917…," he thought out loud. "He was 19 back then, wasn't he? How did you meet him?"

Sighing, she leant back and stared at the ceiling. "I had to hide my whole life through. My family tried to kill me when they saw what I was. They called me the child of Satan and said a monster like me didn't deserve to live. I practically grew up on the street. In 1917 I was in Austria. When the war had begun I had traveled around and left a city or even a country as soon as the soldiers arrived," Raven told him. "That year I had stayed in a small town. It was pretty calm there while the war was raging throughout Europe. I worked at a little tavern and the owner allowed me to stay there as long as I did my work well. He told me one day that soldiers would pass through the town on their way to the capital. He said a few of them would probably stay in the tavern and that I should hurry up and clean the rooms."

"I assume you kept on changing your looks to blend in?" Hank asked while listening to her.

"I had no other choice. As soon as someone found out they began to hunt me," Raven shrugged. "Back then I had blond hair and blue eyes. I had just finished cleaning the rooms when a group of ten soldiers arrived. One of them spoke a broken German and my boss called me. He ordered me to show them the rooms and believe me," she said and gave her opposite a look that spoke volumes, "dealing with men, who haven't seen anything but war and violence for months, isn't funny at all when you're a woman."

Thinking about it, he nodded. "I see… They hit on you, hm?"

"You have no idea…," the woman sighed and rolled her eyes. "I always slept with a knife under my pillow and locked the door twice…"

"Was Logan one of them?"

"No, he…he arrived about two or three days later. He actually saved me when his comrades drank too much one night," she said. "It was funny…"

"What?"

"He was pretty small and his comrades were tall. But still they listened to what he said."

"Well…," Hank began but didn't finish what he intended to say. The pain was still too fresh and it hurt to think about his friend. "So he saved you, you said?"

Raven nodded absently. "Two of those soldiers tried to kiss me and began to touch me. Suddenly he was there and pulled me aside. His comrades of course tried to make him snap, but he just pulled me to the outside…"

_Not knowing what to expect, Raven remained at the door while the stranger walked over to the banister. The night was cool, only few lights illuminated the area, but the huge mountains that surrounded them were visible. She started when a light suddenly appeared and only calmed down after noticing that he had only lit up a cigar. She watched how the man, or should she rather say boy, with the strange nearly black hair, piercing gaze and attentive eyes and strong features released the smoke he had inhaled before. He took a look around and sucked once more on his cigar, which he lowered slowly. "Wie heisst du?" (What's your name?)_

_She was surprised. "Du sprichst meine Sprache?!" (You speak my tongue?!)_

"_Yeah, a bit…," the stranger replied and watched her like a predator. "I asked ya somethin'… Ya understand me, right?"_

_She nodded slowly. "Marie…"_

"_Marie, huh?" the soldier said and sucked on his cigar again. "Name's James, but call me Logan."_

"_Okay…"_

_His eyes were once more on her and even if she somehow felt uncomfortable she didn't feel any fear. Something within her told her that he wouldn't hurt her. "Ehm…," he made and to her it seemed as if he was thinking hard. "Your…what's it called here…? Age?"_

"_Alter…," Raven said and he nodded. "17… You?"_

"_19."_

_She was surprised. She knew he was young, but hadn't expected him to be that young. "Und schon in der Armee?" And already in the army? He only shrugged. And she had to admit that she had seen even younger soldiers than him. "Danke..." (Thank you)_

"_For what?" the soldier asked and looked up again._

"_Helping me…," she replied and nodded at the tavern. Looking at it, he waved off. "Wo hast du es gelernt?" (Where did you learn it?)_

_Again he exhaled the smoke and cocked an eyebrow at her. "Was?" (What?)_

"_Deutsch." (German.)_

"_I came here last year," he grunted and looked at her the whole time through. "And I learn fast." He paused. "He your father?" he asked with a nod at the tavern._

"_No. Er ist mein Chef." (He's my boss.)_

_He nodded calmly, but his eyes were still on her. "Ran away, eh?" He noticed her look. "You a runaway? A…" He tried to remember the word. "Ausreißer?" For a moment she didn't say anything, but then she nodded slowly. "Wo sind deine Eltern?" (Where are your parents?)_

"_They…" Raven began, but stopped, which earned her another cocked eyebrow. In the end she shrugged._

"_I see…," he grunted with a nod and threw the remains of his cigar away. He looked up when the door opened._

"_You coming?" a fellow soldier asked and gave the woman a brief smirk._

"_Leave her alone, Mitch!" Logan warned and came a bit closer. "I'll be there in a sec." He glared at the man when he winked at the blonde. "Be careful with him," he told her after the door was closed again. _

"_Okay," Raven nodded and wrapped her arms around herself. "Ich zeige dir dein Zimmer." (I show you to your room.)_

"How long did they stay?"

"About a week," Raven said and leant back again. "Logan taught me English in that time and I taught him German. They didn't have a lot to do and were waiting for new orders, since the mission to Vienna got delayed…"

"Did he know? That you were a mutant?" Hank asked.

"We talked about it the night before they got the order to leave," she replied and kept her eyes fixed on the ground. She knew what Hank was probably thinking.

_Raven laughed and leant back against the wooden wall while Logan cocked an eyebrow at her. "What?!" he grunted._

"_I'm sorry," she snickered and waved off. "The pronunciation was a bit…komisch."_

"_It wasn't weird!" he complained and sulked. "Ya guys have odd words, that's all." When she laughed again he smirked and shifted his position on the bed. "Why did your parents kick ya out?" Her laughing died down instantly. "I mean…you're a nice girl…"_

_She looked away. "Let's say…I'm anders…"_

"_Different?"_

_She nodded. "Different from my family…"_

"_In what way?" he asked and supported his head with one arm while he looked at her from aside. "Hair color?"_

"_No…"_

"_But?"_

_Sighing, she looked at him insecurely. "I…can't tell you… Sie werden mich töten…"_

_He frowned. "Why would they kill ya?" he asked her and sat up. Since she refused to look at him, he reached out to touch her cheek with one hand. "Ya can trust me! So what is it?"_

_Raven looked at him for a moment. Up to now he hadn't done or said anything that had upset her, in fact he was the first man, or boy, who was nice to her and didn't push her to do something she didn't want to do. It was already late at night and the tavern was silent. Still, she gave the door a look. "Really? Versprich es!" _

"_I promise!" he replied and started when she suddenly changed into a redhead with blue, weird looking skin and yellow eyes. As quickly as she had done it, she changed back. "The hell… What are ya?!" he asked and saw the hurt in her eyes too late. She jumped up and was already on her way to the door when he grabbed her._

"_No, you promised!" Raven cried and feared he would kill her. _

"_Shh," he made and pulled her back over to the bed. "I ain't gonna hurt ya, girl, so calm down!" He just stared at her for a moment, knew that she was more than scared all of a sudden. But his mind was already dealing with other things. Somehow he believed that she was as different as he was… Or better he knew she was… "How did ya do that?" he asked and sat back down next to her, but she shrugged. "Ya ain't gonna tell me or ya don't know?"_

"_I don't know…," Raven sniffed and wiped her tears away while hugging her legs and looking away._

"_So…you're hiding here, huh?" he asked after a moment. "I figured that much… Ya used some words that other people around her don't use…"_

_Of course he had to pay so much attention, she thought and snorted briefly. "They'll kill me if you tell anyone…" _

"_I won't…" For emphasis he shook his head. "Marie ain't your name, right?"_

_Raven shook her head slowly. "It's Raven…"_

_He nodded. "Well, I'm different too…," he said after a moment and earned a surprised look from her. "I heal pretty fast, get never sick…" He shrugged. "So you're not the only one…"_

_Before she could reply someone knocked on the door and a soldier looked into the room._

"_What?" Logan grunted and didn't bother to sit up again. Since Raven had wanted to leave the room, he reached out and grabbed her hand, motioned her to stay._

"_We just got orders, Jim," the man said and nodded at the blonde. "Say bye to your girl. We leave for Germany at sunrise." Winking at the woman he left again._

_An uncomfortable silence spread in the room. "Is…there anyone waiting for you?" she asked him after a moment and looked at his hand that was still holding hers. "Home, I mean."_

"_Nope," he replied and shook his head, still not liking that they had to go back to the battlefield so soon._

"_No one?" Raven asked and looked at him. "Parents?"_

"_My parents are dead. I'm alone."_

_She nodded. So he was in the same situation, she thought. "What will you do? When the war is over?"_

"_Dunno."_

"_Would you come back?" she asked and he finally turned to look at her. She knew he had gotten the message, understood what she had meant…_

"_So that ya can make fun outta me when I try t'pronounce your stupid words?" he asked her with a cocked eyebrow and smirked when she smiled. "Maybe… I don't know…"_

"_Well," she said after another moment of silence. "You should sleep..." Smiling briefly at him, she got up and walked over to the door, knowing full well that he was watching her._

"_Would ya stay here?" she heard him asking and froze with her hand on the doorknob._

_She turned and saw that he was staring at her, thought that her heart would burst in her chest when she blushed. "I…" Her eyes became wide when he got up and walked over to her, felt how her legs turned into jelly as he began to caress her cheek. "I…have never done this before…," she managed to whisper and wanted to back off, but her body didn't obey._

"_Same here, so?" he asked huskily and leant in to kiss her._

_Before she even realized what was happening they both lay on the bed again and she was kissing and caressing him back. Even if he did his best not to hurt her, the real pain came as soon as she woke up on the next morning. She watched sadly how he put his uniform back on and got ready to join his comrades again. Even if he had promised her to come back after the war was over, she had waited in vain for years… _

"So that's why you were after him," Hank nodded.

"I didn't know that he had lost his memory. So I got angry since I believed he just ignored it," Raven shrugged. "He was the first man and person who really looked at me, who listened to me and treated me with respect…who treated me like a woman and not just a servant or thing. I never met a man like him afterwards again…"

"The first in every aspect, hm?" he mumbled and leant forward again. "Anyway… You need to think about what you will do about the knowledge you now have…"

"I know…," she nodded slowly and got up. "I should go back upstairs." She exchanged a brief look with him and walked over to the door. In the elevator Raven leant back against the wall and closed her eyes, unable to believe what she had just learned…

* * *

Upstairs John still sat on the ground and held Jean in his arms. The woman had finally calmed down enough and only single sobs could be heard. He was glad that the Professor had picked up on her state and was making sure to keep the children away. He gave the redhead, who still clutched the flannel shirt to her chest, a worried look. He was unsure of what to do, couldn't tell how she would react. The sudden outburst had surprised him.

"I miss him so much…," she sobbed into his chest and pulled the shirt even closer.

"I know…"

"I killed him…," Jean whispered and watched how her tears dropped onto the shirt.

John sighed. "You had no other choice. Hank said he would have died anyway. You just stopped his suffering…"

Only shrugging, she ran a hand over her face. "I never realized it before…"

"What?" he asked calmly.

"What I've asked of him… To kill me I mean…," she explained in a monotonous voice and he decided to just let her talk. "How did he even survive afterwards…? Everything's just so meaningless…"

"I know… But it will get better after a while," he replied and let go of her so that she could sit up and lean against the bed. Reaching out, he pushed her hair back over her shoulder, saw that her eyes were swollen and red from crying, that they looked empty and dead. "It's hard in the beginning and you don't feel like doing anything… But as odd as it might sound now…It'll get better."

"I'm afraid that I will forget him…," she sniffed and stroked over the shirt. "His voice is already fading…"

"You won't forget him," John said softly and pointed at her chest. "He's right here, will always be."

Jean turned to look at him and swallowed hard. The man's and eyes were too much like Logan's as that she could look at him for long without beginning to sob heavily again. "We were just getting better…," she cried after he had hugged her again. "We wanted to talk about everything after that mission…"

"He knew that you were sorry… Even if he'd been angry with you he still loved you," he tried to soothe her and stroked over her back and hair. "I know it's hard, I know how painful it is, that you don't have any hope it will become better ever… But we're here for you. Your children need you. And Logan wouldn't have wanted you to just give up…" He looked at the watch on the bedside table, noticed that it was already late. "Dinner should be ready soon. You coming?" But she shook her head. "Jean, you need to eat…"

"I'm not hungry," she said and ran both hands through her face. "And I still have work to do."

"The laundry?" John asked and nodded at the basket on the bed.

"And cleaning the bathroom, and preparing Callie's box…," she listed with a sigh.

He nodded and took her hand. "You know what?" he said and took the basket. "You lie down and sleep and I do the rest. I'd bet you haven't slept in days."

"That bad?" Jean asked, meaning her looks, and rubbed her eyes.

"I'm sorry, but….yeah, that bad." John packed the shirts and clothes she had already folded and put them away. "We'll take care of the kids, okay? Try to sleep."

"Thanks…," Jean said like a robot and pulled a pillow close. The smell she caught on it made tears well up in her eyes again and she buried her face in it.

**I'm not really satisfied with the end and I know the chapter is rather depressing, but well… I wanted to keep that mood up a bit. Thanks again to all the reviewers. I just got another one and I'm just like WOW. I never expected that response and I'm sooooo happy about it. : ) Please let me know what you guys think and I decided that every reviewer can state something he/she would like to read. I think it's more fun to see your ideas and not only write what's on mine. : ) So, just let me now!! See ya!!**


	35. Chapter 33

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!! : )

**Thanks for all the nice reviews!! : ) I'm glad that you liked the last chapters so much. I never expected to get such a huge response! You guys are great!! : )**

**I don't know what happened and why story alert mails were sent without anything that was updated. I didn't update the story and was wondering why I was told I did update. LOL Sorry for the confusion guys and thanks for letting me know!!**

**Deathtones: I still need your wish!!**

**Sorry for not updating sooner, but Metal Gear Solid 4 will be released on June 12 and I, as a big fan of the series, suffer from the same MGS4 fever like every fan of the game. So, I pretty much can't concentrate on anything else. LOL Sorry for that. But I love the series. ; )**

I know the beginning is hard, but I wanted to explore his past further. Let me know what you think!

I didn't have time to do a beta!!

* * *

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 33**

_He was hungry…_

_Aaron just smiled. "Hungry, hm? Before you didn't make at least 400 bucks additionally today, you won't get anything, you hear me?!"_

"_But… I haven't eaten anything in two days…"_

"_That's not my problem!" Aaron said coolly. "If you worked harder, you would get your food."_

"_You mean the junk from the trash?" His head flew aside when the palm hit him hard._

"_Watch your mouth, boy!" the man warned him and grabbed him roughly by the collar. "Work harder for your money. The few bucks you make are far from being enough!" Uncaring Aaron pushed the boy away. "And now get back on the streets and work!"_

_Hesitating, the boy turned into the direction of the man. His body shook from time to time, pain was mirrored on the young face. "I need something…," he begged, couldn't tell how Aaron looked at him, guessed the man's eyes turned into slits._

"_Need something?!" _

"_Yeah…"_

"_Do you have any idea how much money you already owe me?!" Aaron roared and the boy made instinctively a step back. "I give you a place to sleep, I give you food and took you away from the streets and that's how you thank me? What am I? Your dealer?!"_

"_I just need a shot to get through the day," the boy cried in despair. "Just something… I don't care what!"_

"_Go back to work!" the man shouted, ignored the look he was given. He couldn't care less. "Bring me my money first!"_

"_But I still have to work for 4 hours, I won't…"_

"_I don't give a fucking shit!" Aaron grabbed his opposite's arm roughly and threw him out of the office and into the corridor. "Work harder and bring me my money! Before that you won't get anything, you hear me?!" he roared and nodded at another adult, his bodyguard. "Take him back! And make sure he works!" He didn't wait for a nod. Instead he slammed the door shut behind him and sat down in front of the screens, watched how his guard did what he was told to do and leant back in his chair._

_At sunrise, after working all night, the boy lay panting and groaning on his bed. The trembling was strong, his entire body seemed to be in motion while his heart was racing in fear. Cold sweat ran down his body, which hurt everywhere. He felt every muscle, every bone of his body and couldn't find a position that made it even comfortable to stay in for longer than a few seconds. His mind was screaming in pain and need, it wanted to finally be able to rest, to find a few hours of the sleep that he needed so desperately. But his body wouldn't allow him anything of that. His body needed something else, needed to numb the pain and by now he didn't care about the how. He'd long forgotten that he hadn't eaten in days, that his body was actually too tired to walk…_

_When the door opened and closed quickly, he knew who it was. "Please…," was all the boy could say, knew what his master demanded of him in order to be freed from the pain for a while. Still it was a great effort to even roll onto his stomach, relaxing wasn't possible at all when a much heaver and manlier body than his own lay down on top of him. He was in too much pain from his need, too tired and exhausted, yet too much awake… He nearly drew blood when his teeth connected with his lower lip, his hand grabbed the sheets hard as his master forced his way into him and all he could do was waiting for the man to finish and not to cry out in pain. If he lived through it, he knew, he would get what he wanted, he would be able to forget about the pain for a while…_

_His mind ignored the rough touches, the violent act or that he was hurting badly. He tried to focus on his reward for the torture, on the rare peaceful minutes it would give him and grabbed the sheets even harder when his master became more violent. It didn't take much longer, thankfully, and he was released, felt how the product of his violator's efforts hit his lower back, before something was thrown at him and the door opened and closed again._

_Quickly, the boy took the small package and began to prepare it with shaky hands. He collapsed back onto the bed afterwards, the pain and hunger forgotten as the warmth finally began to spread in his blood and body and saved him for now of what would come later…_

"_You hear what I say?!" Aaron asked and grabbed the boy's chin roughly. "God, how much did you take that you're still high?!"_

"_Dunno… Took it when you left…," the boy replied and smiled in his daze._

"_That was two hours ago! You should be up already and get ready!" the man roared and got angered when the boy snickered. "You fucking laughing at me?!"_

"_No…"_

_He grabbed the boy and pulled him up, pushed him into the shower. "Get cleaned up! You got a call, business men from over seas, lots of money for you so don't you dare and screw up!" he told him and waited while the younger one showered. "You'll do everything they ask for, you hear me? I told them you're good and that you're willing as long as the payment's right. And you still owe me some thousand bucks, so you'll do as they say!"_

"_Yeah, whatever," the boy waved off and used a towel to dry his skin. "How many?"_

"_Six," Aaron replied and dragged him back into the other room. "They asked especially for a boy like you and I bet they're willing to pay extra, if you do what they want. And you WILL do what they want, you hear me? Don't you dare and deny them anything! At least 2000 are in for you, so don't dare to come back without that much money!" He gave his guard a sign after the boy was dressed and handed him the address. "Take him there and wait for the call before you get him." Once more he waited for a nod and retreated to his room._

_When the boy arrived at the said address, he was brought into a room with said men in them. They stopped their actions and looked at him with hungry eyes, an older one approaching him and caressing his face. "There you are. We've been waiting," the man smiled lasciviously. "Your employer said you're Jack?"_

"_Yeah…," the boy nodded and heard from afar how two of the men were occupied with a third one, while two others obviously lay on a bed and were taking rounds in smoking something._

_The older man's smile widened when he figured what the boy had picked up on. "Why don't you come over and smoke one with us? To get relaxed… You seem pretty tensed." He led him over and to the bed. "You drink?" the man asked and handed the younger one a bottle. "Best vodka there's." He still smiled when the bottle was handed back to him after a while. "You like cocaine?" _

"_You have some?" the boy asked hopefully and heard laughter._

"_We have everything you want, Jack," another man on his right said and a hand went under his shirt. "But it costs, you know…?"_

"_I know. Just tell me what you want."_

"_Self confident, huh?" the host laughed and prepared something for him. "I like that. Here, take this for a start." He waited for the boy to sniff the white powder. "It's good, huh?"_

"_I'm used to stronger stuff," the boy replied and wiped his nose, still waiting for the drug to take effect and hoped they had something better to numb him._

"_Stronger, huh?" another man laughed and the hand under his shirt went lower. "You sure know what you want, kid…"_

"_Well, if he wants stronger stuff, we'll give him stronger stuff, gentlemen," the host replied cheerfully and the boy heard how he left briefly, while the others got rid of his shirt and began to touch him._

"_You're such a pretty boy, Jack," one man groaned into his ear and kissed his neck. _

"_So beautiful," another one behind him whispered and hands roamed over his body._

_Suddenly his left arm was taken. "Something stronger…," he heard the host saying as already a needle pierced his skin and he gasped as his veins were on fire within seconds. "Best stuff there is…," was the last thing the boy understood before his mind disappeared in a strong daze, which consumed his entire being._

_When he awoke, he was already wearing his clothes again, held some money in his hands and was dragged towards the door. He hastily began to feel the bills. "Wait!" he gasped as the cool air from the outside hit his face. "That's not enough!"_

"_Jack…," the man laughed and shook his head. "It's more than enough!"_

"_No, you promised 2000, that's hardly 1500!" the boy protested. "2000! I need the 2000!"_

"_Well, Jackie-boy," he heard the man replying, knew that he smiled, "you said you'd pay for the drugs. And you took quiet a lot, so…"_

"_No!"_

"_It's all you get and now piss off you fucking faggot!" the man suddenly barked, gave him a hard and unexpected push before he slammed the door shut._

_Panic began to consume him and his hands hastily began to feel the bills once more. He counted and he had been right. He held 1500 in his hands, 500 less than he was expected to make. Aaron would kill him… "Please, no…," the boy whispered more to himself, began to quiver at the thought of his master getting to know about this. He put the money into a pocket and reached out until a hand touched a wall, tried to recall the street he was on. He had to find a way to make the missing 500, he couldn't go back without them… _

_For what appeared to him as an eternity, he stumbled down the streets, the drugs still doing most of his thinking and nearly fell when he ran into something solid._

"_Can't you watch were you're going?!" a man snapped and pushed him roughly aside._

_He had no other chance and grabbed blindly after the man. "Sir?"_

"_What? Let go of me, you filthy scum!" the man grunted and pulled his arm away._

"_500, sir!" the boy begged and still panted. "500 and you can do anything you want with…" He didn't come further when a foot connected with his stomach and left him gasping for air. Coughing, he collapsed onto the ground and desperately tried to fill his lungs again._

"_Fucking queer!" he heard the man shouting and curled up to protect himself from the beating. _

_The boy still remained in that position after the beating had finally stopped. Tears were burning in his eyes, partly from the pain, partly from the fear of going back without the missing 500. He didn't know what to do…_

"_500 you said?" a man suddenly said next to him and he started. _

"_Y…yes…"_

"_How old are you, kid?" _

"_19…"_

"_19, hm? I bet you're only 15 from the way you look…," the man replied and for a while there was silence. "200 tops and I want both ways."_

"_500!" the boy said. "I need the 500!"_

"_I won't pay 500, kid! 200!"_

"_500, sir! Please!" the boy begged. "I'll do anything and I'm good!"_

_Again silence. "Hm… 500 for me and my friend, everything goes and no pulling out!"_

_He shook his head. "I don't do it without…"_

"_Is it me or you who needs 500, kid? That's the deal!" the man cut him off. "500 and everything included or you can rod in hell!"_

_The boy felt how fear became even stronger within him, how the quivers became even more violent. He needed the money… "F…fine…," he said in the end._

"_What's wrong with your eyes? You blind?" the man asked while dragging him with him._

"_Yeah. I'm J…"_

"_I don't give a fucking shit on who you are," he heard his john saying. "You'll use your mouth for one thing and that's it!"_

"_Okay…" _

_A strong stench hit his nose when they entered an apartment complex and he was dragged up a couple of stairs until they entered a room, which smelled even worse. "Get rid of your clothes and wait here," he was ordered and did as he was told. The quivers hadn't stopped and for the first time ever he was scared shitless. He never did it that way, at least not as far as he could remember. His mind screamed at him to just go, that being beaten up by Aaron was better than whatever this guy would be doing to him. Or he and his friend… He uttered a loud shriek when hands suddenly grabbed him, hadn't heard them coming and tried to struggle against the four strong and very naked arms. _

"_Let go of me!" _

"_Shut up, kid!" the man from the street said and withdrew his arms while his friend kept the boy steady. "I'll just give you something nice… That's all…"_

"_No," the boy begged and tried to fight harder. "I just had something!"_

"_So? Then you'll have some more."_

"_I should go! Please, sir, you can keep your money. Just let me go!" the boy said completely terrified by now and screamed when something sharp pierced his arm. "NO!"_

"_Hot stuff. Ever had it?" the man chuckled and threw the syringe aside before he pulled the boy's head up. "Now get to work, kid. Me and my friend here wanna see something for our money."_

"_I don't want this!" the boy slurred and knew something was wrong as thinking, speaking and breathing became harder. "What…what did you…give me?"_

"_As he said," the man behind him and who'd grabbed his hips said, "hot stuff…"_

_The boy felt how his blood began to burn in his veins, how his heart was suddenly in every inch of his body and how his lungs began to hurt terribly. Like a doll he was at the men's mercy, couldn't fight them or what they were doing to him and the pain was more present than ever. But his voice failed him completely._

_After they were finally done with him, they kept the money and threw him back onto the streets and into some alley. He didn't hear what they said, his mind was too occupied in telling him that he was about to die, that he would die like the rat on the streets he was. The boy was panting heavily, still it appeared to him as if the air didn't reach his lungs. And his heart…it hurt, like his whole body. What ever it was they'd been given him it was supposed to finish him off. He wouldn't mind as long as he would be freed from his so called life. At least it would be okay for him, if he wasn't hurting so badly…_

"_Scott?" a voice from somewhere suddenly said. He knew that voice…_

"_T… Professor?" he managed to say under great effort and his mind already began to shut down. _

"_You sure he'll make it, Charles?" another voice, a stranger to him, said and gentle hands pulled him up. Or was he still lying on the ground and finally dying? He couldn't tell._

"_I don't know, Erik."_

_The Professor sounded concerned, didn't he? So he was dying. That was good… He was placed onto something hard, it smelled like leather and a hand touched his cheeks. He didn't want to be touched anymore… _

"_He's burning up, Charles. You better hurry up," the stranger said and something was placed upon him. It was then that he began to vomit violently, didn't reckon with not having eaten in days to be able to throw up so much. But all of a sudden there was darkness… "His heart stopped!"_

"_We're almost there, Erik!" the Professor replied and it was the last thing the boy heard._

_Or better, so he'd hoped. When he awoke again he was in some kind of hospital like room. At least it smelled that way to him…_

"_Scott?" _

"_Professor?" he asked weakly and turned to the side the voice had come from. _

"_How do you feel, my child?" A hand covered his._

"_W…where…"_

"_You're at my house in Westchester. We brought you here," the Professor explained in his casual calm voice. "You were sleeping for three days, Scott. The men you've been with have injected you with hot heroin. They nearly killed you and it is a miracle that you're still alive!"_

"_Wouldn't have mattered if I'd died…," Scott muttered and looked away. "What do you want from me?" he asked after a moment. "I don't do a threesome for less than…"_

"_Please…," the stranger said from close by._

"_Who is that?!" _

"_Erik Lensherr. He's a good friend of mine and helped me rescuing you," the Professor explained. "You are in no more danger, Scott. You'll be safe here."_

"_Yeah, sure…," the boy scoffed. "As if you're so different from the others…"_

"_So young and already so mistrustful?" the man called Erik asked him and shook his head. _

"_Erik…," Charles said, received a nod and waited for the man to leave the room. "Scott, I know that it's hard for you to trust people. What you've been through not even an adult should experience, but I can assure you that you're safe here!"_

"_Then what do you want from me?!"_

"_I want you to learn about your mutation."_

"_My what?!"_

"_You're a mutant, Scott. Mr. Lensherr and I are mutants too," the Professor explained. "We try to establish a school here for people like us."_

"_I'm not like you," Scott replied and had his head turned away while his jaw clenched and his breathing became heavier._

"_You are like us. There's no need anymore to hide it. I know you are afraid to open your eyes, that you haven't open them in nearly three years," Charles said and pushed the button to call the doctor. "I know that you had a head injury and that this makes it impossible for you to control your powers. But I can help you!"_

_Scott suddenly laughed. "What are you? A pedophile?! How come you know so much about me?"_

"_You're not the only one with gifts, my boy," the Professor's voice said, but this time he only heard it in his head and started. Then, something was handed to him, which felt like glasses. "Take them. You can open your eyes while wearing them." He helped to put the glasses on. "Open your eyes, Scott!"_

"_No!" the boy replied and began to quiver. "It hurts…"_

"_It's the withdrawal. A doctor should be here soon," Charles tried to soothe him and was glad that the boy couldn't see his face. He was clearly worried for the young mutant._

"_Can…can you give me something?" Scott begged and grabbed the hand that was next to his. "Please, I'll do anything!"_

"_No, I won't!"_

"_Please!"_

"_Scott, your body's already through the first three days."_

"_I don't fucking care!" the boy shouted and began to fight against him, desperate to escape the pain that was eating him up from the inside. "Let go of me!"_

_Charles looked up when Erik reentered and was followed by the doctor. "Scott, it'll be fine. You don't need those drugs, you can't let them control your life!"_

"_I NEED them!" the boy shouted in despair, just to fall backwards all of a sudden._

"_He needs to experience it by himself, Charles," the doctor scolded him and restrained the unconscious boy. "His mind has to learn the same lesson."_

"_I know," the bald man replied and ran a hand over his face. "I'll let go of his mind as soon as you injected him with something."_

"_It's not as easy as you thought, hm?" Erik said._

"_I never expected it to be easy, Erik."_

"_What makes you think that he doesn't run back as soon as he has the chance to do so?" The men met each others eyes. "He's a drug addict. You know how it works with them."_

"_I'm only offering him a chance to escape that life, Erik," Charles shook his head. "I don't force him to stay here. If he wants to go, he is free to do so. I don't force him to do anything."_

"_He won't make it. You know that as much as I do," Erik said while watching how the doctor treated the boy. "He can be lucky if he's not seriously sick…"_

"_When did you say can he be tested?" Charles asked after turning towards the doctor._

"_6 months tops. I can run a test now and check for any possible diseases," the woman explained, "but it's impossible to tell now if he's caught something in the past days or weeks, yet. We now for sure in approximately a bit more than 6 months."_

"_Explain that to him, old friend," Erik said and patted Charles' shoulder before he left the room._

"_You can let go of his mind now, Charles."_

"_I already have," the bald man said and returned to the stool next to the bed._

"I don't know what was worse," Scott said while he still sat opposite of the Professor in the office, "going through a cold turkey or waiting for the test results…"

"You were lucky, Scott."

"I know…"

"It still amazes me that you don't show any late symptoms of your drug abuse," Charles went on. "Do you feel better now? It's been our ninth session…"

Thinking about it and he thought hard, Scott tried to figure out how he felt. Sure, he had went through all aspects of his early and late childhood trauma, had told the man, who's always been like a father to him, how he had felt during his time on the streets, how often he had hoped that someone would kill him, that he could find a way to take an overdose and just die, how he had regarded the drugs as his friends, friends that numbed his feeling while men had used his body, how his soul had long been dead after the first time…

He also remembered the first time he had opened his eyes after all those years. He could still feel the shock and fear when all he'd seen was red light, how he had quickly closed his eyes again and had denied to believe that everything was fine and that he wasn't hurting anyone. Everything he was able to see was red, he couldn't tell on his own what peoples' hair or eye color was. But he didn't care. Since the day he had opened his eyes for the first time after three years again red was the color of his life. To him red was beautiful…

And the fear of dying… It was still too present when he began to remember it. When the doctor had told him that she could treat him for what he had caught while living on the streets had been one thing, but when she's told him that the bigger tests had to wait for 6 months tops… The fear he had gone through…, the fear of being saved just to die miserably in the end… No, he wouldn't even want his worst enemy to go through something similar. Not knowing if you're seriously sick with something for over half a year is hell, the fear is present every day, every night, sometimes even during your sleep. He remembered how he had broken down several times because he couldn't take it anymore and especially how he had cried for hours after the results had been negative, how the Professor had caught him and held him…

It had been so hard first. He hadn't gone to school for years, had to learn everything again and had worked hard, had nearly been obsessed in learning as fast and as much as possible to make up for the time he'd lost. The Professor had helped him the best he could, had helped him to go to one of the best colleges possible. He hadn't had any friends there. For the others he was the freak, someone you don't talk to, someone to ignore and it had taken long until he stopped caring about being treated like dirt. He had found true friends as soon as Jean, Hank and Ororo had arrived at the mansion. He had learned what a family was and meant. But he had never told them about his past... Nevertheless, he was still grateful for what Charles had done and knew he could never repay it…

"Or what are you afraid of?" Charles asked, since there hadn't been any reply.

"That he'll find me one day…," the X-Man said in barely more than a whisper.

"That he'll find you? After all these years?"

Sighing, Scott got up and stopped at the window, watched the children on the outside with folded arms. "You don't know the rules, Charles. You can't just leave. You have to pay for your debts, your master owns you, you have no rights, no own thoughts or will… He tells you what you have to do and you do it, no questions, _no_ is unacceptable… And I still owe him money…"

"Money he told you that you owe him, Scott," the Professor said. "He forced you to take those drugs, he made you addicted to them to have control over you. He used you! You don't owe him anything!"

"I know that!" the man nodded and gave him a weak, but sad smile. "But that's not the rules. I'm not free until he has what he wants. And if he's still alive…then he'll kill me if he ever finds me!"

"He would be a fool to attack a school full of mutants or even attack you on the streets!"

"That's the point here!"

"What?"

"Attack me on the streets," Scott said. "I'm not like Logan or John. If a bullet hits me, I won't get up anymore. And I have a little son now, what if he finds out?"

Charles sighed. "Scott, why now?"

"I don't know!" the man replied and ran a hand through his hair. "Maybe I was afraid of it the whole time through, but suppressed it. I don't know why now! Maybe…" He shook his head. "Maybe telling Logan about my past triggered something within me… I really don't know…"

"Anyway," the Professor said and still looked at the man from aside, "you are safe here, Scott. I doubt he's still looking for you after all those years. He probably thinks you're dead."

"I hope so…," Scott mumbled and buried his hands in his pockets. "Anyway… I wanted to go and see what Jean's doing. I haven't seen her in a while."

"Same here…," Charles said and his face spoke volumes. "I know that she doesn't want to talk to me, but please remind her that it would be nice if she did." He gave the man a weak smile after Scott had nodded and watched how the man left the room.

Upstairs he knocked at Jean's room door and waited, but someone else instead of the redhead opened. "Hey, is your mom here?" Rachel shook her head and eyed him with her green eyes. "Do you know where she is?"

"She said she would go for a walk."

"Anyone with her?" Again she shook her head. "Okay, thanks. Someone here with you?"

"No," she shook her head and looked aside when Jamie stumbled closer. "Stay here, Jamie."

"I'll send someone up, okay?" Scott said and turned to go. "In the meanwhile, behave!"

Scott had hardly reached the kitchen when something on the outside caught his attention. He walked over to the window in the corridor and began to frown.

"Scott?" he heard the Professor asking and looked briefly aside when the man wheeled closer.

"What is this?" Scott asked and nodded at the thing that was hovering above the woods. "Can you see it?"

"Yes…" Charles had already begun to concentrate on the source and soon began to frown. "It's a person, but… I can't read his or her mind at all…"

"Oh my God…," Ororo suddenly gasped behind them and both men watched how she stared at the scene in horror.

"What?" Scott asked confused. "Do you know…?"

"It's Jean," she said without taking her eyes from the woods. "She did the same on Alcatraz…"

"Then it's Phoenix…," the Professor said gravely and his head jerked aside. "Scott! Wait!" he shouted, but the man was already gone.

On the outside Scott ran through the wood and towards the source. The air became steadily cooler and it didn't take long before his breath became visible due to the cold. He was shivering even if it was already June and warm. Jumping over a fallen tree, he approached the lake and stopped just to stare at the water that was hovering far above him, while the lake was empty. Fear definitely took over, the more so when he took notice of the woman, who was sitting on a bench close by and was covered in orange flames. "Jean?" Scott tried carefully, but it wasn't before he reached out to lay a hand on the redhead's shoulder that the woman startled. Immediately something seemed to break, the water crashed back down into the lake, the cold air was gone and the fiery aura around her had vanished. "What are you doing?" he asked and sat down next to her, tried to hide that he was shaking.

"What?" Jean asked confused and gave him a questioning and confused look.

"You used your powers," he explained, surprised that she hadn't noticed it. "You gave 'Ro nearly a heart attack because the water was hovering in the air." He watched how she began to frown and turned away from him to look at the now still water. "Jean… We're worried… It wasn't the first time that you…"

"I'm fine," she cut him off.

"No, you're not!" he disagreed and shook his head. "Or do I have to remind you of the two windows we had to replace because of you?"

"_Tell him to leave us alone!"_

"Leave me alone, Scott," Jean said and turned away from him.

"Jean…," he sighed and stared at the water first and then at the sun that slowly disappeared behind the trees and turned the sky into a fire of red and orange, "we miss Logan too. We know it's hard for you, but you should really talk to the Professor about it… You know how much power you have and…"

"I said leave me alone!" Phoenix hissed and glared at him with black eyes.

"Jean!" the Professor suddenly said from somewhere behind Scott and the redhead switched her gaze to him, his stern voice surprising her.

"_Destroy him!"_ Phoenix demanded of her and snarled in her head when the redhead pushed her back. Instead she gave Scott an apologetic look. "I'm sorry…"

"Jean," Charles said once more and came to a halt next to her. "I have enough of this! Your powers are getting to much out of control and…" He watched how her head jerked aside all of a sudden, her eyes widening in shock. "What…?" he asked and exchanged a worried look with Scott and Ororo. "Jean, what…"

"Logan…," the woman suddenly gasped and started into a run.

"Jean!" Scott shouted and looked at the Professor for help.

"Follow her!"

Nodding, the man, followed by Ororo, ran after the redhead and came to a halt at Memorial Garden. "What's she doing?" the weather goddess asked out of breath and turned her head just to see that Hank was coming closer.

"Charles said she's losing it?" he asked and frowned when he watched how Jean knelt down, just to touch the grass with her hand next. The mutant gave his two friends, who could only shrug, a look. "What is she doing?!"

"Don't ask me," Scott mumbled and walked over. "Jean?"

"He needs help," she said and looked at him, panting.

He just looked at her eyes that were so not like her usual ones. She seemed to be shocked, scared and completely out of it. Sighing, he shook his head and looked down. "Jean,… Logan is dead…"

"He _needs _help!" the redhead said more demanding and looked to and fro between her friends, saw that Charles was coming closer too and wondered why now one did anything, why no one moved. "Scott!"

"No, Jean," he replied and put his hands to his hips, while giving her a worried look. "It's you who needs help…," he added with regret in his voice.

"Jean…" It was now Ororo, who came closer and looked at her with sympathy in her eyes. "Let Hank check on you… He told you before that it's normal for you to show those symptoms after what happened and…"

"I am NOT crazy!" Jean nearly shouted and grabbed Scott's arms. "He needs help!"

"Jean, Logan is dead!" he tried it once more and shook her a bit. "He…" But she had already pushed him away with her powers and was now clawing at the grass. "Jean!"

"No, he needs help!" she said aloud and began to fight against him and Hank when both men tried to pull her away. "You don't understand! He says he can't breath, he can't stand being locked into something, it reminds him of what Weapon X did to him. Scott!"

"Jean, you have to calm down!" It was now Scott who shouted at her. "Calm down!"

"Scott…," Charles said and Ororo turned around to look at him, just to frown next.

"He's suffocating!" the redhead said in panic and narrowed her eyes at her attackers as they didn't let go. "Let….go….of….me!" she snarled and her eyes began to glow fiery in rage.

"Jean, Scott is right," Hank begged. "You are out of your mind!"

Glaring at him with now black eyes, Phoenix pulled them closer with her powers. "If he dies," she hissed, her voice like pure venom, "then I'm going to rip you apart…limb by limb!" With that she pushed them away and turned back to the grass, ready to unleash her powers on it, but both men tackled her from behind.

"Stop doing this!" Scott shouted and the pain to see her like this was clearly mirrored on his face. "Jean, please!"

"Scott!" the Professor said once more.

"What's wrong, Charles?" Ororo asked, since the bald man was heaving deep breaths and all color had drained from his face.

"He's terrified and can't breathe!" Phoenix shouted back and was ready to smash them as she felt how the Professor reached out to her.

"Charles, do something!" Hank pleaded and turned his attention to the man in the wheelchair.

"She's right…"

"What?!" Scott and the furry mutant asked at the same time and dropped to the ground when Phoenix pushed them away once more.

"I can hear him…," Charles mumbled, shocked. "You need to get him out of there. He doesn't know where he is."

Before neither Scott, Hank nor Ororo could asked what he was talking about, Jean had already ripped the earth half open and was now using her bare hands to feel for the coffin that they had buried only 4 weeks ago. Desperate, she kept on pushing ground aside, didn't think about using her powers anymore since she was unable to think straight at all and also didn't notice how her friends joined her and were digging their hands into the ground next to her.

"I've got him!" Jean said in barely more than a shocked whisper and immediately Scott and Hank buried their hands into the dirt where she had hers and pulled.

Gasping in shock, Ororo's eyes widened and she covered her mouth with her dirty hands, watched how her friend's pulled a body out of the dirt, which was gasping for air and breathing heavily. "Oh God…," she breathed and gave the Professor a confused and shocked look, was unable to notice that she was shaking heavily or that tears were running down her cheeks.

"It's okay, it's okay you're home," Jean said over and over again, tried to calm the confused and terrified being in front of her, which still had trouble to fill its lungs with fresh air, and didn't dare to touch it.

"My God…," Scott managed to say and still stared at the whole scenery in utter disbelief, while Hank had forced himself to kneel down next to the redhead and help her.

But before Hank was able to say any words of comfort, the body in front of him collapsed to the ground and remained motionless. "Don't worry!" he instantly said to the terrified redhead and withdrew his hands. "There's a pulse." Only able to shake his head in disbelief, he looked up at Scott. "Let's carry him down. We need to clean him up and he needs medical attention."

Watching them and still crying silently, Ororo gave Charles and Hank a confused look, but followed them back inside and down the corridor, where they tried to keep the situation hush-hush. While Charles scanned the surroundings to make sure that no one would see them, Hank and Scott carried their friend under great effort, while Ororo lead Jean, who seemed to be too shocked to realize what was happening just now.

"Wait on the outside, please," Hank said and Scott wrapped an arm around the redhead to lead her out, followed by Ororo, whereas Charles remind in the infirmary with him.

The Professor watched how the furry mutant began to undress Logan at the same time as the door slid open and Moira stormed inside. "So it's true?" she asked out of breath.

"Where's Nick?" her husband asked and began to clean the body of his friend.

"What do you think?" she asked and couldn't help but just stare at the whole scene. "I grabbed him and ran downstairs as fast as I could after Charles told me. I gave him to Scott, since Ororo is crying and Jean is just staring at the door…"

"Help me with cleaning him," Hank said and handed her another cloth. "The sooner we're done, the sooner I can hook him up to the machines."

In his wheelchair Charles was watching the two doctors intently, his eyes switching to their patient only when the face was clean again and his face became instantly dark. "Something isn't right here…"

"What?" Moira asked.

"Something isn't right…," he repeated for her and entwined his fingers while deeply in thought. "Look at him… Logan hasn't healed at all, he's still half dead…"

"Yet he's alive," Hank said and began to hook his friend up the machines.

"It was too early for him, Hank," the Professor went on. "Logan and his body weren't ready for this."

"You think someone's behind this?" Moira asked frowning and he nodded. "Who?"

"Phoenix perhaps…"

"But Jean wouldn't be so shocked, if she had planned it," Hank disagreed and began to take notes.

"Maybe Phoenix did it unconsciously. You have seen how much Jean lacks control lately," Charles said. "How is he?" he asked after a moment of silence and sounded deeply worried.

Sighing, Hank shook his head, waited for Moira to take blood from Logan and watched how she entered the lab to analyze it. "He's practically unchanged," he told the bald man. "John's donation might have worked and his healing factor is rebuilding slowly. At least Logan's blood pressure isn't as devastating as it had been before… But…" He shook his head again. "His wounds, the scars, his arm and eye… It's unchanged…"

"Will he get better or will he suffer?"

"I don't know… If his healing factor is really kicking back in, then he should be fine."

Looking at the man gravely, Charles nodded slowly. "If he's not getting better, Hank… If he gets worse and you are sure that he won't get any better…" He paused, unsure of how to say it. "Logan suffered enough in his life, I don't want him to…"

"I know," Hank replied and nodded. "Neither do I…"

Only nodding in their silent agreement, the Professor turned around and wheeled out of the door. On the other side Scott with the sleeping Nick on his arm, Ororo and also Jean looked up, noticed his deadly glare and already feared the worst, as the man spoke up. "In my office, Jean. Now!" was all he said and wheeled towards the elevator without giving her another look.

* * *

"What were you thinking?" Charles asked aloud and shook his head. "Logan's mind and body were not ready for this! He's still half dead, Jean!"

"What… What are you talking about?!" the redhead asked and crossed her arms. "I didn't do anything!"

"Of course…," he nodded and held her glare. "Your powers are instable since you came back from the dead. You nearly destroyed the kitchen the last time you got too angry, then the incident in the wood and now you brought Logan back to life," he listed. "You have no control over your powers anymore!"

"I didn't do this in the wood and I didn't bring Logan back!" she defended herself angrily.

"No, but you let your guard down and Phoenix was able to gain power over you. You can't let her do this! You know how dangerous you can become, Jean, and this is a school! You friends and family live here, you put us all into danger!"

Heaving deep breaths, Jean narrowed her eyes and Charles saw them flashing black and fiery for a moment.

"This," he said, "is exactly what I mean. You are too instable. And what Phoenix did to Logan…"

"I didn't do anything!" Phoenix suddenly hissed and black eyes combined with a demonic voice and face glared at him. "Who are you to judge me?!"

Remaining calm and shielding his thoughts from her, the Professor noticed how the air became cooler, heard how the windows began to vibrate and things slowly began to defy gravity. "He is suffering…" She snarled. "Is that what you want?"

"No!"

"Then why did you do this? Why did you bring him back in that state?!"

"I said," she growled and slammed her hands onto his desk while her face stopped only inches from his, "that I didn't do it!"

"Only you have that kind of power, Phoenix," Charles disagreed and a lamp exploded behind him. "But fine… You say you didn't do it. I'll find out who did it!"

"Do whatever you want, Charles!" she snapped and turned around, leaving the spots on the desk, where her hands hand rested on before, smoking. With her mind she forced the door open and slammed it shut behind her again with a force that the wood nearly burst. Angrily, she returned to the basement, where she was greeted by Moira, who was on her way back to Hank with the results. As soon as the woman noticed the black eyes, she froze and backed off. Phoenix closed her eyes for a moment and heaved a deep breath. "What are the results?"

"Well…," her opposite said and waited a moment to make sure that the redhead's eyes were green again. "His blood actually looks very normal… At least I wasn't able to find any abnormalities." She handed the file over.

Following Moira into the infirmary while reading, Jean stopped next to the bed and shook her head with a heavy sigh. "It can't be…"

"He's stable," Hank informed her. "I hooked him up to everything. We should just let him sleep. I assume you'll stay with him?" He nodded back. "Moira and I will do shifts then, so that at least one of us stays down here with you."

"We should get some things from upstairs then," his wife suggested.

"Right…"

"We'll tell Ororo that you'll stay here, so that she can take care of the children."

"Thanks," Jean replied absentmindedly and stared at Logan, who was still asleep and took even breaths. She heard how the couple left and sat down on the edge of the bed. Her hand reached carefully out and traced the three long scars then ran through his face, still wondered if Apocalypse had attacked him with Logan's own claws before he had thrown him away. "Logan?" she asked calmly and stroked over his check, repeated his name until he stirred and cracked his good eye open a bit. "Hey…," Jean said with a sad smile and moved a bit closer. "Are you in pain? Do you need anything?" She watched him swallowing a couple of times, wondered from the face he made if his throat hurt.

"Sleep…," he finally managed to croak, his voice hoarse from not using it in a while.

"We're here," she assured him, but he had already fallen asleep again.

When Hank reentered the room again he saw how she wiped away her tears. "It wasn't me…," he heard her sniffing as he put Moira's and his things onto a nearby table. He knew what she meant.

"Maybe it wasn't you," he replied sternly. "But you can't be sure that it wasn't _her_."

She shook her head. "Phoenix said it wasn't her either. She's angry because of this…"

"So I've been told," Hank said and went over to check on the machines.

Noticing his cold demeanor, Jean bit her lip. "He's been awake briefly." That caught his attention. "He said he needed sleep…"

Hank gave his friend a look, made sure that he was breathing. "I hope he heals soon… From the way his left arm looks he shouldn't be able to use it at all. His eye is still damaged too. I assume he can't see through it." He sighed and crossed his arms, watched how she sat next to his friend on the bed, tears running down her cheeks and held his hand. "Jean…," he said and held her desperate gaze, "can you assure me that neither you nor Phoenix are responsible for this?"

"I wouldn't kill him to end his suffering just to revive him and make him suffer, Hank," Jean replied in a monotone voice. "It wasn't us…"

"Good." He took some notes. "We agreed that we keep this a secret until Logan's better. Ororo said she and Scott would tell your children that I asked you to help Moira and me with a project." He put the chart away. "Everyone else…," he said and looked at her, "will not get to know about this! Understood?"

"But Peter still blames himself for…"

"And he will blame himself even more if this ends badly for Logan." Hank pulled a second chair close and sat down with a book in his hand. "Then let's hope we'll have a calm night…," he mumbled and opened the book on Mutant Genetics, while Jean remained on the bed and kept her eyes on the sleeping man in it.

* * *

"Leave me alone…"

"You shouldn't do tis, mein Freund," Kurt said and lowered himself to the ground next to Peter, who chose to stare off into the distance. The demon-like mutant took a look around the garden, wondered why the man was sitting on the roof in the dark. "It vasn't your fault!"

Peter snorted. "Nyett."

"It wasn't! Logan knew vhat he was doing, he vanted to protect you and Warren."

"And the next thing you tell me is that it was God's will and that everything has a reason and all this shit about destiny and stuff," Peter growled and sipped on his bottle.

"Nein, I…"

"Da!"

"Tink about tis," Kurt said and snatched the bottle quickly away from his friend, "if Logan hadn't interfered, Apocalypse would have killed Warren, you and him. He was our leader, he knew about te risk and tat he was responsible for us. He did his job. And tat was to protect us." He looked at the giant from aside before he laid a hand onto this one's shoulder. "Now come on, your wife is worried." Before Peter could protest Kurt had already teleported them inside the mansion and they stood in the middle of the corridor, where a worried Kitty was soothed by Jubilee and Ororo, all dressed in their PJ's.

"Where have you been?" Kitty asked aloud and slapped Peter hard against the chest. "I was worried!"

"Sorry…," Peter mumbled and avoided her gaze.

"And you drank again!"

"I said I'm sorry!"

Glaring at him, she turned around and slammed the room door shut behind her.

"I think that means you can sleep on the couch," Jubilee shrugged and crossed her arms behind her head. "Night!"

"Are you alright?" Ororo asked Peter concerned, but he waved off and entered the room he shared with Kitty. "What a mess…" She sighed and started when Kurt wrapped his arms around her waist.

"Let's go to sleep," he said in his casual calm voice and kissed her shoulder.

"Yes, I think you're right," she nodded and leant into him as they walked over to their door. As soon as this one was closed she sighed. "Again…"

Kurt only smiled and went over to pull Tommy up and place him further onto the side where he usually slept, only that his side was also occupied by TJ. He watched how his boy cuddled up to his sister and waited for Ororo to lie down, before he lay down behind her and pulled her close. "Gute Nacht," Kurt whispered and placed a kiss on her neck.

"Night," she replied and closed her eyes when he cuddled up to her.

"Is everyting alright?" he asked after a moment. "You've been weird lately…"

Remembering that she wasn't allowed to tell him, Ororo nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. Just tired…" She felt him nodding behind her, waited a moment before she said what had been on her mind all day. "Did you…talk to her yet?"

He instantly knew who _her_ was. "Nein…"

"You should. I mean what Raven did was horrible, but…"

"I don't want to talk to her," Kurt said coolly. "Night," he added and Ororo knew that it was a sign for her to drop the subject.

"Night…," she said in barely more that a whisper and turned around his embrace so that her back was to him.

* * *

"Mommy?" Rachel called and entered the kitchen, looked around and pulled a face.

"Mom?!" Jack barked behind her and came into view a second later.

"Jeez, would you stop yelling so early in the morning?" Scott asked and put the newspaper down. "What's wrong?"

"I can't find my shirt!" the boy said.

"And I can't find my French book!" Rachel added.

"We have classes!"

"Then, you should have packed your bags yesterday and not five minutes before your classes begin," the man told them and got up. "Come on, hurry up!" He went upstairs with them. "Which shirt?"

"The one daddy gave me," Jack said and Scott sighed.

"Could you describe it a bit more? Color, what's on it?"

"Blue and with a wolf head on it," the boy explained and rummaged in every drawer that he could find.

"Maybe it's in the laundry?" Scott suggested, but Jack shook his head. "Does it have to be that shirt today? You have plenty of other ones to wear, Jack…" Seeing the glare he was given, he knew he had no choice. "Rachel? Did you find your book?"

"Yeah!" the girl said loud enough for him to hear.

"Then go to your classes!" Scott said and crossed his arms with a heavy sigh. "Jack, just pick one of your shirts and get going!"

"What's going on here?" Jean suddenly asked and he quickly told her, not liking the face the woman was suddenly making. "Oh, sweety, I forgot to tell you…"

"What?" her son asked and looked up at her.

"The bottle with bleach accidentally fell down and landed on the shirt…," Jean told him regretfully. "I'm sorry, but the color was completely ruined. You couldn't have worn it anymore."

Only staring at her and feeling how his heart hammered against his chest the boy remained silent for a moment. "You threw it away?" he asked shocked.

"Jack, it wasn't wearable anymore."

"You threw daddy's shirt away!" he nearly yelled angrily, clenched his fists and began to pant. "You had no right!"

"Hey, calm down!" Scott tried to sooth him in a stern voice. "You need to go to your classes!"

"I don't care!" Jack shouted, grabbed his things and gave his mother a deadly glare before he left and slammed the door shut behind him.

While Scott shook his head, Jean sighed and used her powers to send the shirts back into the drawers. "Why is he making such a fuss because of a shirt?!" he asked her.

"Because Logan gave it to him and you know what values everything that his father has given him has to Jack," she explained. "He's fixated on Logan. It's hard for him and even if Charles' altered their memories and for them Logan has died last year, he still cries at night, or steals one of his father's shirts to sleep with it. He misses him and my telling him about his favorite shirt being ruined makes me his enemy for the moment. You know Jack's rages…"

"Too much like Logan…," Scott nodded and sighed. "Well, why don't you tell them about…"

She returned to the living room followed by him. "Because Hank said that Logan can come back upstairs in a day or two. I'll wait until you do the field trip with them on Wednesday before I help him upstairs. And Charles has to set their memory straight first too…"

"He can already come back upstairs?" he asked surprised and crossed his arms. "He wasn't looking that well the last time I saw him…"

Jean shrugged. "It's slow, but… He still sleeps a lot."

"I see…" He nodded. "Well, I have to get ready for my classes. I assume you'll visit Logan and stay with him?" She nodded. "God, Raven's on baby watch duty today, so she'll take Jamie."

"Good," the redhead nodded and watched him leaving.

In the meanwhile, Jack had reached his classroom still furious and threw his bag to the ground. Seeing it, his sister gave him a look. "What's wrong?" Lily asked.

"Nothing!" he growled, his fists still clenched.

Before she could ask him again an older student chuckled and exchanged a look with three others. Glaring at him, Jack growled. "Stop acting like a dog, runt!" the older boy warned him. He had barely said it as he screamed in pain all of a sudden. Shocked and shaking, he stared at his arm where three long gashes were clearly visible. His shirt quickly soaked with blood. "You fucking little…," he cursed in anger and was about to hit Jack with his powers as this one already pounded on him…

* * *

"Jack, you can't just use your claws against students!" Charles said sternly. "It's not the first time that it happened and I'm repeating myself by now." He looked at the boy, who stood in front of his desk, had his fists clenched and kept his eyes on the ground. "You could have seriously injured anyone!"

"I didn't start it!"

"The whole class you said that you started the fight," the bald man replied and leant back in his chair. "You'll get detention for the next week and I want you to write an essay about why control is so important, especially for mutants like you!" He gave Jack a sign that he could go and sighed after the door was closed. "Is Anthony seriously injured?"

"No, only scratches. But the ones on his arm will scar," Moira told him. "Jack's rages prevail by now…"

"I know…," Charles nodded. "I really have to talk to Jean about it…" He paused briefly. "How is Logan doing?"

"He's sleeping most of the time."

He nodded.

"It really wasn't her?"

He shook his head. "She says no… But it can't be that Logan's healing factor did it either. He's too weak. His body wasn't ready for it so I doubt his healing factor was responsible…"

"But…what or who can be held responsible then?" Moira asked and pulled Nick, who was peacefully sleeping in her arms, further up.

"I don't know, Moira," Charles said. "I don't know…"

In the meanwhile, Jack had his face buried in his pillow and was crying into it, while Jean gave him a sermon about using his claws against fellow students. When she was done, he suddenly turned his face and gave her a look full of hatred.

"You never listen to me!" he complained aloud. "He deserved it!"

"You could have killed him!" she gave back.

"I don't care!" he shouted. "You don't know anything what they're doing to me! You don't care about me!"

"What makes you think that?" she asked and crossed her arms.

"Because you never listen to me!" he barked.

"Would you stop that shouting of yours?!" Jean put her hands to her hips and held the glare she was given. "You know that you can always talk to me, so what makes you think…"

"Because you don't!" he shouted while crying heavily. "You never have time for me and you're always gone, you never listen!" He panted and ha to cough. "They can bully me whenever they want, they can call me names, but you never care!"

"What…?"

"Daddy always cared about it and told me to fight back and I do!" Jack went on, rage and sorrow rushing through his veins like poison. "And it's always me who gets punished, never them! No one cares what they do!"

Sighing, Jean ran a hand through her face. "What do they do? I don't know what you're talking about, Jack…"

"How? You're never there for me!" he shouted upset and buried his face in his pillow again to go on crying. "I hate all of you!"

Knowing that it was better to not push him further, Jean decided to leave the room. She moved aside when Miloh stepped into the room, watched how the wolf jumped onto the bed and nudged her devastated son with his snout. It took less than a second for Jack to bury his face in the wolf's soft fur and go on crying.

"I want daddy back…," the redhead heard Jack sobbing and felt a sharp stitch in her chest.

* * *

"Careful," Jean said and tightened her grip around Logan's waist while this one supported himself with one arm on the wall. She saw the exertion, which was clearly mirrored on his face, noticed that he was panting a bit and also the weak traces of sweat on his forehead. "Sit down for a moment," she suggested, felt scared when he didn't protest and even more so when Logan crossed his arms on the counter in the kitchen to rest his head on it and heaved a deep breath. "Here."

He looked briefly up and took the glass of water from her.

"You should really start eating normal food again," Jean suggested and refilled the glass for him. "Your body needs to get its strength back."

Logan snorted. "Tell that my stomach…" By now he couldn't even count anymore how often his so-called doctor had made him eat normal food and even less how often he had thrown up afterwards. In his words: he felt even worse than shit. His eye had mostly healed up, the three scars in his face were mostly faded, but his body felt heavy like ever. Even raising his arm or doing a step was enough to make his vision go blurry and his body wanting to shut down. And he didn't even want to start with his left arm…

"Wait!" Jean said and wrapped an arm around his waist again. He knew she used her powers to keep him straight. There was no way that she was able to carry his weight by herself.

Again Logan used his right arm for support and forced himself to look at the ground. The few steps from the kitchen to their door seemed to be miles away. Right now it was an agonizing long trip…

After they had finally made it upstairs, and for the first time he thanked Charles for the additional elevator to their rooms, he let himself fall onto the bed. "The beds downstairs suck…," he mumbled tiredly and closed his eyes.

"I thought you wanted to shower first?" Jean asked and got some fresh clothes out of the drawers.

"Can't stand that long…," he replied, again mumbling only.

"Then take a bath and I'll help you," she suggested.

"Do I smell that bad?"

"No, but you'll feel better," Jean said and went over into the bathroom to fill the tub with water. When she came back into the bedroom she noticed that he had already fallen asleep again. "Logan?" Shaking him until he stirred and opened his eyes, she beckoned him to sit up. "Take a bath first. You can sleep afterwards," she said and helped him up and into the bathroom.

"Ya don't have t'baby me," Logan grunted tiredly, but accepted her help with his shirt. It was kind of awkward to not be able to raise your right arm higher than a bit until it was approximately on the same level with your shoulder, while your left arm was completely numb and stuck in an arm sling.

The water did indeed help a bit. He felt clean again, but also became even more tired. It wasn't of any help either that Jean used a sponge to clean his skin or that she quickly washed his hair. It rather sent him further into oblivion.

"Come on," Logan heard her saying from far away and felt her powers raising him a bit. "Let's get you into bed before you doze off." Without any protest he waited for her to towel him off and help him into fresh clothes. Yes, he felt indeed better. Jean ran her hands through his still damp and unruly hair, before she helped him up and into the bedroom again. With her mind she pulled the duvet aside, waited for him to lie down and tucked him in. "I'll bring you some water and something to eat. I'll also put a bucket next to the bed in case you have to throw up again, okay? Just try to eat something. Hank said you're still feverish due to the healing process…"

"Mhm…," Logan grunted and snuggled deeper into his pillow.

Jean stroked once more through his hair. "Sleep. Charles said he set the minds of our children and the students straight. For them you have been gone to Canada. They don't remember that you died and know that you're sick and have to rest." Seeing his weak nod, she got slowly up. But he suddenly grabbed her hand.

"Thank ya…," Logan mumbled and looked at her through half-closed eyes.

"Of course," she waved off. "You need help with you arm and…"

"No…" He shook his head.

"No?" Jean asked confused and sat back down on the edge of the bed.

"For savin' me," he said drowsily while closing his eyes again.

"Sure…," was all Jean could come up with and, still holding his hand, remained next to him a while longer…

**This chapter really sucked. I can't tell you how hard it was to write. It was a real bitch. The scene with Scott at the beginning was so easy to write and then I was stuck for weeks. I had ideas over ideas for everything that's gonna happen AFTER this chapter, but I had no idea how to go on after the Scott scene.**

**Then weeks later (and I began to type after posting the last chapter!) I finally wrote the Jean scene and then….stuck again. I hate this chapter and I'm not satisfied with it at all. I'm sorry for that, especially after the two strong chapters I'd posted before.**

**I haven't forgotten about Weapon X either. I'm still trying to figure out what to do about it. Since exams will be in 5 weeks, I doubt I'll be able to post that soon again, ut I'll try.**

**Sorry for making you wait so long! And I have NO idea why Chapter Alerts were sent. Oo I didn't updated the story…. Anyway, please review and see ya!!**


	36. Chapter 34

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!! : )

* * *

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 34**

In his sleep Logan could tell that he was being watched. His subconscious was on alert and he slipped slowly back into being conscious again, even if his body still demanded sleep. He rolled onto his back and heaved a deep breath before he began to blink rapidly. "Hey, pumkin…," he mumbled sleepily and ran his right hand over his face. "What's wrong?" Logan looked at his eldest with a frown, since Jack rather looked close to start crying. The man guessed that he was told to leave him alone, that he was sick and needed rest, so he moved aside a bit and nodded at the empty space next to him. "C'mere." He waited for Jack to climb up and pulled him close with his good arm when the boy held onto his shirt and began to sob into his chest. "What's wrong, kiddo?"

"They're mean to me…"

"Who?"

"Everyone," the boy complained. "They keep on calling me names and bully me and I get punished. And mommy never listens to me. She doesn't care…"

"'f course she does," Logan grunted and stroked through his son's messy hair, tried to pay attention despite that he was tired as hell. "Who bullies ya?"

"The boys in my classes," Jack sniffed and mumbled everything into his father's shirt. "They hate me…"

"Again because of your height?" his father asked, knowing that it was because of it. A nod was answer enough. "Look,…they're just jealous coz ya were able t'skip classes and you're smarter than them. I told ya before that just because you're not as tall as they're that this doesn't mean they're better than ya or that it's gonna stay that way, 'kay?" he said and received a weak nod and another sniff. "And you're friends and family love ya for what ya are. I also told ya before not t'give a damn about what others say."

"You also told me to fight back and I got detention because of it!" Jack complained and gave him an accusing look through red eyes.

"Ya don't have t'go and I don't give a damn about what grandpa thinks about it," Logan grunted and wiped his sons tears away. "And mommy was probably too busy… A lot's been goin' on lately. She does care for ya!"

"She threw away the shirt you gave me!"

"Which one?" Logan asked tiredly.

"The one with the wolf… She ruined it with bleach," Jack sulked.

"It was an accident," his father soothed him. "We get a new one, 'kay?" He waited for another nod before his eyes began to close automatically. "I'm tired, Jack…"

"Can I stay here?" the boy asked carefully. "I won't bother you…"

"Sure," Logan said and pulled his son close with his good arm after he had cuddled up to him.

It was later, how much he couldn't tell, that someone shook him again and his sleep was interrupted once more. "Logan?" he heard Jean's voice calling him from somewhere and gave a dismissive grunt, not liking that his sleep was interrupted again.

"What?" Logan mumbled drowsily and annoyed, cracked one eye open a bit. A pressure on his arm told him that Jack had fallen asleep and was still cuddled up to him.

"You have an appointment with Hank," the redhead said, kept her voice calm and reached out to pull her son carefully away.

"I wanna sleep…"

"He needs to check on you. You know that he said at least twice a week," she replied and watched how Jack stretched with a loud sigh and cuddled up to his father's pillow instead after turning around. "You need to move too. Your body needs to get used to the weight of the adamantium again. Come on." Jean helped him up and wrapped an arm around his waist for support, while also her powers worked on him to keep him up. She alone wouldn't, even if he lost weight and muscle mass, be able to keep a man, who still weight at least 300 to 350 lbs, up by herself. "Think you can manage the stairs?" she asked and closed the door to their rooms with her powers. The look she received was answer enough and they used the elevator to head to the first floor, where they began to walk down the corridor slowly. "Scott tells the others about you while Hank checks on you…"

"They…don't know?" Logan asked, panting due to the exhaustion.

"No," Jean replied and pushed the button to the elevator, gave him time to lean against the wall for a moment. "We kept it a secret and wanted to wait until you feet a bit better… Everyone was…pretty devastated after you died. Especially the students, Kitty, Rogue and Jubilee. And John of course. But Peter…" She supported him again when the doors went open. "He blamed himself for your death. Kitty and he are in a real crisis because of it."

"Why?"

Jean looked at him frowning. "Why what?"

"Why the blame?"

"You don't remember?" she asked surprised and earned a questioning look from him. They walked down the corridor in the basement toward the infirmary and lab, entered it and found Hank already waiting behind his desk.

"There you are," he greeted them and gave Jean a sign to take Logan over to a bed, while he got the chart and equipment. "Your heart rate is really high…," Hank said after checking on it.

"Oh really?" Logan mocked grunting. "I walked here, remember?"

"Hm…," the furry mutant made and drew some blood, which he put aside to analyze it later. "How's your arm?"

"Numb…"

"Still?" Hank asked and stopped checking on eyes and ears to turn his attention towards Logan's shoulder and arm. After he had helped his friend to pull the shirt over his head, he gave the still visible huge scars, which were the result of Apocalypse's attack, on Logan's shoulder, back and chest a critical look. His eyes instantly searched Jean's before he reached out to examine the shoulder. A touch was enough to make his patient wince. "It hurt?"

"No! It felt great!" Logan snapped growling, but felt too tired to add a glare.

"It shouldn't hurt when you say that your arm feels numb…" Hank scratched the back of his head. "I'm sorry, my boy, but I have to do some more tests on it…"

"Yay!" the feral mutant made and clenched his eyes shut tightly as the furry mutant began to move his arm into every direction…

* * *

After Jack had woken up and figured that he was completely alone in the bedroom, he went downstairs to the kitchen where everyone was already gathered for dinner. With his hand on the doorframe his eyes began to search the room, but couldn't find what he was looking for.

"What's wrong, Jack?" Kitty asked, since she had noticed the look in the boy's hazel eyes.

"Where's daddy?" he asked and wondered why the room fell silent at once and why everyone either exchanged odd looks or directed them at him.

"Jack,…what are you talking about?" Jubilee asked, frowning. "Is this some kind of sick joke?!"

Confused the boy looked back at them. "He was upstairs with me…"

"Is he going nuts or something?!" the young woman asked angered. It still hurt her to even hear Logan's name, no matter what the circumstances, and now that Jack was openly asking for his father…

"Your father is…," Kitty, who looked as hurt and Rogue and her friend, began, as Scott entered the room with Alex on his arm.

"He's downstairs, Jack," he quickly said and ignored the looks he was given now.

"Why are you telling him this?!" Jubilee asked after Jack had stormed off. "Did I miss something?!"

Scott sighed and put his son into the height chair next to Tommy and Jamie. Everyone was staring at him, only Ororo shared his secret. "Okay…," he finally said and crossed his arms. "The Professor and we agreed…"

"Who is _we_?" Bobby demanded to know.

"Scott, Hank, Moira, Jean, the Professor and I," Ororo replied and looked back at her husband as Kurt gave her a questioning look.

"Agreed on what?" Peter asked darkly and his eyes switched to and fro between the older mutants.

"That we keep it a secret that Logan's back to give him time to heal," Scott explained briefly. "He was in a terrible state when he came back and Hank hadn't been sure that he was going to make it…" He noticed the angry and shocked looks, scratched the back of his head. "We only wanted to spare you the pain of losing him again…"

"So…Logan was back and you didn't say one word?!" Rogue asked after a moment of silence, her voice monotone, like a machine that still had to understand. "You just kept it a secret?!"

"How could you do that?!" Jubilee asked angrily and got off her stool. "How could you NOT tell us?!"

"Because we still don't know why Logan returned!" Ororo gave back. "We don't know who brought him back, because his body was clearly not ready for it! We did it to protect him and you!"

"Think about how you would have reacted if he hadn't made it," Scott went on. "We didn't like the decision, but to protect you we had to do."

"So…he's…he's really alive?" Rogue asked with tears in her eyes, waited for a nod or any other reply that would give her the answer she wanted to hear.

"Yeah," he nodded. "But he's in no good condition. So please don't run over and hug him or anything. He can hardly stand let alone walk alone and is still incapable of using his left arm."

"That reminds me," Ororo said and looked at him, "does John know by now? He's still in Canada with Narya and Anna…"

"As far as I know Charles wanted to inform him," Scott shrugged and looked up when Peter just left the room wordlessly. "Kitty, would you tell him please that Logan doesn't blame him. He can't even remember what has happened…"

"If you had told him before, it wouldn't have come that far!" she accused him and glared daggers at him. "You knew how he felt!"

"Yes, and that's why we didn't tell him or you!" Ororo said. "What do you think it would have done to Peter, if Logan hadn't made it?! The result would have been worse than not knowing the truth!"

"Still you had no right!"

"What about the students and children?" Bobby asked them sourly. "Did the Professor mess with their minds again?"

"Bobby!" Scott warned.

"What? He's right!" Jubilee snapped. "You changed their children's minds so that they believed their father had died last year, now you changed their memory again… What's next?!"

"Would you cut it off?!" Scott asked angrily.

"No, she's right!" Bobby defended his fiancée. "You did something that we were taught was wrong and that is misusing your powers!"

"For the greater good!" Ororo said and turned her face away, anger already mirrored on her face by now.

"Remy understands dis…," the Cajun suddenly said and shrugged. "Remy dinks dat mon pètite would 'ave been trés triste, if da Wolverine…" He shrugged again. "J'entendre, non?"

"Ja," Kurt nodded in agreement. "It wasn't te right decision, but…" His yellow eyes fell on the door as their topic of discussion suddenly stood in it, supported by the redhead.

"I only want you to eat a bit, Logan," she said and wanted to help him to the stool where he usually sat.

"Wait, take mine!" Scott offered, since he noticed how done Logan obviously was and his stool was closer to the door. "What do you want to eat?"

"Nothin'…"

"You need to eat something!" Jean disagreed and was about to put some pancakes on a plate, as Rogue got up to wrap her arms around Logan's waist and began to cry heavily into his shoulder. The gesture was soon followed by Kitty and Jubilee.

"Watch the shoulder, darlin'," Logan said tiredly and used his good hand to wipe their tears away before he placed a kiss on their cheeks. "We talk later, 'kay?" he asked them after a moment, waited for a nod and got slowly up.

"Where are you going?" Jean asked and watched how he supported himself with his right arm on the counter.

"I need t'sleep, Jean," he replied, hating how much effort it took him to keep himself on both feet.

"You need to eat!"

"I'll throw up anyway," he waved off.

"Wait!" Scott said and put an arm around his teammate's waist, which earned him a cocked eyebrow. "I'll help you," Scott added without looking at him and walked him to the door to the West Wing. "You look terrible, Logan…," he said and watched his opposite leaning against the wall in the elevator. "What did Hank say?"

"That he wants me t'eat and t'move around," Logan grunted and closed his eyes for a moment. He opened them when Scott wrapped an arm around his waist once more and was glad that he could finally lie down in bed again, but wondered why the man sat down on the edge. "What?!"

"Do you need anything?"

"Why's everyone makin' such a fuss about me?"

Scott snorted with a smile and shook his head. "Because we missed you, Logan," he said. "Charles actually said that you would say that…"

"Say what?"

"_Why are you making such a fuss about it_? He said it on your funeral," Scott replied and looked down, his smile gone.

"Funeral?" the man next to him asked and cocked an eyebrow. "Don't tell me ya actually held one…"

"Of course," his teammate said with a look at him. "You'd be surprised how many people attended it. You've more people that care about you than you think, Logan. The students were devastated, Peter blamed himself so much for it that we had to keep an eye on him, Alpha Flight and the Avengers helped us to prepare the funeral and to keep the grounds safe… The Cap and this Fury guy even had a half Canadian-half US flag made and saluted for you," Scott told him and knew that Logan felt embarrassed.

"Hank said you and John took care of'em?" the feral mutant asked after a moment of silence.

Scott nodded.

"Thanks…"

"Sure…"

"Where's John?" Logan asked and rubbed his eyes tiredly.

"He's in Canada since last week. Narya and he are trying to get Anna used to Narya's presence…"

"Somethin' serious, huh?" he mumbled and closed his eyes.

"Yeah, you can say that," Scott nodded. "She moved in after the funeral to help him." He patted Logan's good shoulder and got up to tuck him in. "You should sleep. We can talk later," he said and walked over to the door where he stopped, knowing that his teammate still watched him, even if it was through half closed lids. "Does that actually mean that I'm the alpha male at the moment?"

"Fuck ya, Scooter!" Logan mumbled into his pillow, but gave a weak smirk when Scott laughed.

"Sleep, Logan!" he heard him saying before the apartment was silent. But not for long…

The feral mutant had just dozed off a bit as a terrified Lily stormed into the room…

* * *

"You wanted to speak with me?" Jean asked and looked at Hank, who sat once more behind his desk in the lab.

"Yes, have a seat," he said and pointed at the stool in front of her. "I need to speak to you about Logan…"

"What about him?"

Sighing, he leant back in his chair and pulled off his glasses. "Something is seriously wrong with him, Jean…"

"Wrong in what way?" she asked frowning.

"In the way that his healing factor is active, but he doesn't seem to be healing at all," Hank explained and looked at the chart. "The only things that have healed, and that very slowly, were his eye and the wounds in his face. But his arm…" He shook his head. "It's not normal that his shoulder causes him so much pain, but his arm is completely numb. If the blood flow was somehow cut off, his arm shouldn't be warm but it is. So the blood flow works properly. Still he's not healing…"

"We aren't experts in vascular surgery, Hank," Jean said. "Maybe something went wrong and we hit a nerve or a nerve didn't connect properly…"

"I don't think so," he replied with a shake of his head. "What bothers me is how weak he is. He is still incapable of eating food and the fever he still has indicates that his body is healing something. But then again he isn't healing… It doesn't fit together. I made some tests and I can rule out adamantium poisoning. His fever is also not caused by John's donations…"

"So?" she asked.

"I analyzed his blood and Moira checked it too," Hank said. "We can't find anything. Nothing at all. But something must cause his current state. He shouldn't be in the condition he is in with an active healing factor. If you ask me, his healing factor is fighting against something in Logan's body and focuses on it. But I can't find the cause of it…"

Thinking about it, she remained silent for a while. "Maybe he just needs more time… He was dead for nearly a whole month, Hank… We can't expect him to be his old self just like that…"

"I know…" Frustrated, he threw the chart back onto the table. "But we have a problem… He needs rest and to eat, but also to move, which tires him very quickly, and then there's the problem of his incapability to digest any food… Without food his body isn't supplied with nutrition and he needs proteins for his healing factor to work properly, his muscles need movement to get used to the weight of his adamantium again and to rebuild…" Hank sighed and squeezed the back of his nose. "We can wait maybe two more days, but then we need to think about something." About to say something, Jean froze. "What's wrong?" he asked her concerned and was already about to grab his bag when she got up.

"Callie's having her cubs," she informed him and got up.

"You'll be fine?"

"Yes. Logan knows what to do."

"Yes, but," Hank began still looking concerned, "will he be fine…?"

"I'll let you know," Jean said and left the room, headed upstairs quickly, where she ran into Scott and Bobby who both tried to carry an angry Miloh away.

"Logan told us to keep him away," Scott panted and cursed when the wolf nearly broke free. He couldn't hide that he felt nervous carrying the growling animal, who wanted to be with his mate.

"Easy!" Bobby said and tightened his grip on the wolf's snout, which angered the animal even more.

"You'll be fine?" the redhead asked and disappeared behind the door after receiving a nod. Upstairs she entered Jamie's room where Logan was already sitting next to the husky at her box and tried to calm her by speaking to her. She knelt down next to him and noticed the scared looks of her daughters. "Is she okay?"

"Stressed…," he mumbled and stroked over the black and white fur gently when Callie began to whimper once more. "And in pain…"

"Will you be alright?" she asked and gave him a worried look, but he nodded.

"Is Callie going to die, mommy?" Rachel whined and looked to and fro between her mother and their dog.

"No, she's not," Logan replied before Jean could do.

"She's only having her babies, honey," the redhead added and stroked over her daughter's hair, noticing the look Logan gave her. "Go downstairs, okay?"

"I wanna stay here," Laura pouted.

"Callie's stressed, baby," Logan said tiredly. "Ya can see the babies as soon as they're here, okay?"

"Listen to, daddy," Jean added and watched how her daughters reluctantly left the room, before she closed the door with her powers. "Are you sure you'll be alright?" she asked, not liking the fact that he was sweating and shaking.

"Yeah…" He tried to evade her touch, but she was faster. Her warm hand felt burning hot on his skin.

"God, Logan, you're burning up with fever!" she said shocked, wanted to tell him to go back to bed as he suddenly bent forward and did something she couldn't see.

"Need a hand here," she heard him saying and had hardly pulled on the latex gloves as he already handed her a whimpering cub that she began to clean quickly. "My God…," Jean gasped and looked at the helpless creature in her hands. She had never before in her life seen such a small dog.

"You're doin' good, girl…," Logan spoke softly to his husky and caressed the panting dog. "Ya said four?"

"Yes, Hank saw four cubs," Jean replied and put the whimpering cub into a second box that stood right under an infrared heat lamp. "You did something similar before, didn't you?" she asked and received a nod, while they could both hear Miloh's howling from the outside. Concerned she gave the tiny cub a look. "He won't do anything to them, will he?"

"No…," Logan grunted and tried his best to support Callie. He sighed tiredly. "This might still take a while…"

"Then go to bed and let me do it."

"No…"

"Logan…"

"Ya don't know how t'reanimate'em, Jean," he said and heard her sighing in defeat.

"I'm worried that's all…," she mumbled and held out her hands as he placed the second cub into them…

* * *

"He goes nuts here!" Scott said and watched how the wolf kept on running back and forth and switched between howling and whimpering before he began to pace again.

"He's worried, that's all," Ororo mumbled and sipped on her juice as she gave the clock a look. "I'm more worried about Logan. He's awake for two hours in a row by now…"

"Right…" Scott nodded and rubbed his temples.

"Headache?"

"I don't know. I don't feel that good all of a sudden. I think I stood too long in the sun yesterday." Scott sighed. "Or I'm just getting too old. That's probably it…"

Ororo smiled and patted his shoulder. "You should sit down. You don't look that great either…" She was about to put her glass down as she watched out of the corner of her eyes how Scott began to sway. "Hey!" she said and grabbed the man quickly, helped him onto a stool and checked on his pulse. She didn't like at all how fast Scott's heart beat. "You should see Hank!"

"No, I'm fine. It's just this damn headache…," Scott said, his voice weak and ran a hand over his face. "Or maybe I should lie down… This usually helps."

"Wait!" Ororo said and supported him.

"Thanks."

"You sure you don't want to see Hank?" she asked when they reached Scott's room door and opened it to help the man inside.

"No, I'm fine, 'Ro. But thanks!" Scott waved off and let himself fall into his pillows with an exhausted sigh. "Maybe I'm coming down with something…"

"Then rest. I'll send Raven up," she said and closed the door, but not without giving her friend a worried look. To her his sudden illness had come very unexpectedly and it just felt wrong to her. In the end she went back downstairs on the search for Hank and Raven…

Upstairs, Jean watched with a smile how the exhausted Callie now lay in the second box and was feeding her four cubs, of which only one was snow-white like Miloh and his brother and two sisters looked like their mother. She made sure that the lamp was spreading its heat equally over all four cubs before she turned her head. Instantly her hand reached out and touched Logan's sweaty forehead, which made him open his eyes a bit while he still leant heavily against the wall. "You need to go to bed and that quickly," Jean said determined and used her powers to help him up, pulled him away from the wall he had leant against. Her heart skipped a beat in fear when he was hardly able to stand at all. "Hank needs to check on you," she added, was surprised that he didn't react to it and helped him to the bed. While she called out for Hank mentally she helped Logan out of the soaked clothes and went into the bathroom quickly. She returned with cold towels and wrapped them around his legs, used another one for his forehead and another to cool the rest of his body. Concern was clearly mirrored on her face, since he was shivering noticeably and seemed trapped between being conscious- and unconsciousness.

"What's wrong?" Hank asked stressed and entered the room.

"He's worse…" Jean looked up at him and frowned. "Is something wrong?"

"Scott's sick all of a sudden. He's come down with fever and spit blood," he explained while examining Logan quickly.

"Really?" she asked and received a brief nod. "That's strange…"

"How much did he drink today?"

"He slept most of the time… I don't know…"

"Because he's completely dehydrated," Hank cursed and rummaged in his bag. "I need to hook him up to some things… Do you have any anti-fever drugs here?" While Jean disappeared for a moment, he went on with his work. His eyes critically looked at the medicine she showed him, but he nodded his approval and put the blood he'd drawn aside. "Okay. Give him that three times tomorrow. I gave him some drugs just now and he should be sleeping at least the whole night through. I doubt his system is strong enough to fight off the drugs so soon," he said and put some things onto the bedside table. "Just exchange them when the others are empty." He checked once more on the pulse and temperature before he got up. "I'll go and analyze the blood once more. If something's wrong and you need help, let Moira or me know, okay?"

"Yeah…," Jean nodded with her eyes on Logan, felt how he briefly squeezed her shoulder and heard him stopping at the door.

"By the way," Hank added and met her eyes as she turned around, "I think the daddy wants to see his wife and children, don't you think?"

She slapped her forehead. "I've completely forgotten about him," she cursed and concentrated on the backdoor downstairs. It didn't take long and something white and furry ran past her and into the room where his mate had last been in. Jean followed him, concerned about the newborn cubs and watched from the door how Miloh began to sniff excitedly, before he gave his sleeping mate a quick lick over the head and settled in front of the box, watching her attentively. Satisfied for the moment the redhead gave the two dogs fresh water and food, checked briefly on the sleeping cubs that were cuddled up to each other and left the room again.

"Jean?" Ororo asked after entering the rooms and handed her the sleeping Jamie, who'd been watched by Raven up to now.

"How's Scott?"

"Not so good. Moira's with him," she replied and sighed. "How's Logan?"

"Not so good either," Jean replied and gave the bedroom door a worried look. "It has given his body the rest. It had shut down and he's completely exhausted."

Nodding, Ororo looked aside. "Hey…," she smiled when the children entered the apartment.

"Get ready for bed, okay?" the redhead told them.

"But we wanna see the babies!" Jack said.

"I know. Get ready for bed first, then you can see them," his mother said. "But calmly and no touching! The babies and Callie are sleeping." She adjusted Jamie on her hip.

"I go back and see if I can help Raven," Ororo said and received a nod. "Night!"

"Night…," Jean replied and went over to Rachel's and Laura's room, where her youngest was currently sleeping in, to carefully change Jamie's clothes and put him to bed after kissing him softly. She watched how the boy stirred briefly but rolled onto his side in the end and was fast asleep. She returned to the living room to give her children a sign to stay silent and waited for them to take a quick look on the cubs, while she kept an eye on Miloh, who was watching them closely. "Come on…," she said after a moment and waited for them to leave the room again, just to close the door a bit afterwards.

"Can we keep them?!" Lily instantly asked and tried the look on her that always worked on her father. "Please?!"

"Sweety, they will become as tall as Callie," Jean replied and motioned them over to their rooms. "We don't have enough room for all of them."

"But we can't just give them away, mommy!" Rachel protested.

"They will be sad if you separate them from their parents!" Laura added and pouted.

"It's different with dogs than with humans, Laura…," Jean said and nearly bumped into Jack as the boy suddenly stopped.

"We still have to say night to daddy!"

"He's sleeping."

"We can still say night…," he replied.

"Jack, daddy's sleeping and not feeling well. Go to bed, please!" his mother said more sternly.

"But…"

"Please!" Holding her son's glare, she waited for him to obey and closed the doors behind her after she had brought them to bed. Back in the bedroom, Jean cooled the towels once more and got ready for bed too. Exhausted she lay down in bed and looked at Logan, who was sleeping restlessly, from aside. Reaching out, she touched his cheeks and forehead that were still burning hot and sweaty. "Do you know what's wrong with him?" she asked mentally and waited for a reply, but while one voice only snarled at her, the other chose to remain silent. "Thanks for the help…," Jean snapped and placed a chaste kiss on Logan's temple before she settled down to sleep…

* * *

"How long will the Professor stay in Europe?" Hank asked and looked at Ororo over his newspaper.

"I don't know. Neither Alex nor Lorna have said anything about it the last time they've called," she replied.

"What's he doing there anyway?" Bobby asked.

"Right! It's way too dangerous at the moment," Kitty agreed. "What if he's attacked? Or captured?"

"That's why Alex and Lorna are with him," Hank said and turned the page. "How's Scott?" he asked as Raven entered the room.

"Still sleeping," she replied and began to make some breakfast. "Do you think he can eat some scrambled eggs or will it make him sick?"

"You can try to give him some…"

"Why are you not eating?" Jubilee looked at her fiancé but Bobby shrugged. "You always eat like a glutton in the morning…"

"I'm not really hungry," he sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Where's Pete by the way?"

"Still sleeping," Kitty said and swallowed her pancakes, while she watched how Raven cooked breakfast.

Upstairs, Scott slowly awoke and raised his head a bit. A groan escaped his lips when a skull breaking headache set in and he sank slowly back into his pillows. Nevertheless, he felt sick. More than sick. Lying in bed didn't help at all and he had to get up. One hand held his stomach while he walked slowly over to the bathroom and sat down on the edge of the bathtub next to the toilette. His body felt like being on fire, his head hurt, his stomach and eyes were burning… Sighing, he ran a sweaty hand through his hot face and noticed the cold sweat. He definitely had a fever and chills…

"Mommy?" he heard Alex calling and looked briefly up.

"She's downstairs…," Scott called and tried to keep his voice steady. He heard how the room door was closed and was about to lower his head again as he suddenly had to throw up violently. His world began to spin when he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and noticed that it was covered with blood…

* * *

"What are you doing here?!" Jean asked as Logan, looking as bad as ever, stood in the door and leant against the frame heavily and tiredly. After putting her cup down, she walked over to him and gave him a worried look. "Why didn't you stay in bed?!" she asked, feeling how her heart skipped a beat. There was something odd in his eyes, something that looked almost scared. "What's wrong?" Jean asked in barely more than a whisper, noticed that he was shivering heavily and his eyes looked still feverish.

"Logan?" it was now for Ororo to ask and she came over; she too gave him a worried look. She watched how he gave her a look through heavy eyes. "Hey, what's the matter?"

"Need…Hank…," he mumbled and breathed heavily.

"Sit down," the redhead said and wanted to help him over to a stool but he just slumped to the floor and rested his head against the frame with closed eyes.

"I get Hank," the weather goddess said and left, while Jean began to examine Logan, aware of the stares of the others.

"Here."

She looked up when Rogue suddenly stood next to her and handed her a cool cloth. She too seemed to be more than worried for her friend, who was like a father to her. Jean gave her a brief smile and began to cool Logan's face, as he just dropped to the ground. "Logan!" she and Rogue said aloud at the same time in shock.

"Is he dead?" Kitty asked, fear echoing in her voice and got off her stool. She watched how the redhead searched quickly for a pulse and put him, with the help of her powers into the recovery position. "What's wrong with him?!" the young woman asked, didn't notice that she was breathing heavily.

"I don't know," Jean mumbled and pressed the cool cloth against Logan's forehead, while he lay unconsciously on the floor. Unconsciously, she ran a hand through his hair as Rogue suddenly shrieked.

"Blood!" the young woman shouted and pointed at something Jean couldn't see.

"Where?!"

"His mouth," Kitty said and took the cloth from the older woman to wipe it away. She looked up and into the face of her husband. "Where's Hank? Have you seen him?!"

Peter gave Logan an unreadable look. "He told me to carry him to the infirmary," he told them and knelt down.

"Where's he?" Rogue asked.

"Scott collapsed too," Ororo, who arrived out of breath, said and put a hand to her chest while she watched how Peter pulled Logan up. "And Bobby is suddenly not feeling well either…"

"Something's wrong here," Kitty said and looked at them. "Logan can't become sick and Scott and Bobby have both been fine." She watched how Jean followed Peter to the infirmary and bit her lip hard. It startled her when Rogue got up as if she had been stung by a bee. Nevertheless, she knew where her friend was going.

* * *

"Remy?" Rogue shouted upstairs and entered their room. "Remy?!" She already began to feel how fear spread in her stomach as the bathroom door opened and the Cajun appeared with a towel around his hip.

"Qu'est-ce qui se passé, mon petite?" he asked and brushed the wet hair out of his face.

"Are you alright?" she asked and walked over to touch his cheeks and forehead. "Do you feel weird or anything?"

"Ehm…non." He gave her a questioning look. "Somet'ing wrong, mon chère?" he asked and watched how she checked on their son next. "Did somet'ing 'appen?"

"Logan, Bobby and Scott are sick," she explained and felt relieved that both of them seemed to be fine. "They just collapsed."

He looked back into her eyes and had already noticed the tears that she was trying to hide. Sighing, Remy went over and pulled her close against his chest. "Remy dinks dat 'ank will find out da cause…," he mumbled into her hair but heard her sniffing. "Ma chérie…"

"What if it's something serious?" Rogue asked sobbing and held onto his bare skin. "What if Hank, Moira or Jean can't find out the reason behind it? What if they'll die?" she went on, her voice breaking while she talked.

Pulling a face since he couldn't stand her crying, Remy pulled her closer and leant his head against hers. "T'ey'll be fine, chérie. Remy's sure of it…," he tried to soothe her. After giving her some time to calm down again, he wiped her tears away and chuckled. "Remy dinks dat mon petite needs a new s'irt!"

Rogue looked down on herself and smiled weakly. Her shirt was soaked since he had just gotten out of the shower before hugging her. "You're right…," she nodded and wiped new tears away. "I'm just worried that's all…"

"Remy knows dat de Wolverine's like a père to mon petite…," he said and caressed her cheek. It hurt him to see the look in her eyes. "'e'll be fine."

"I hope so…," she said and gave him a quick kiss before she turned to Jean-Luc, who was sleeping on their bed.

* * *

"Nothing!" Hank cursed and shook his head, angered. "There is nothing!"

"I don't see any abnormalities either," Moira confirmed and walked over to a computer. She gave the pictures she saw a disapproving look. "Jean?"

"No," the redhead said and wrote down their patients' statuses before she made sure everything was still completely attached to them.

"It must have a reason," Hank cursed again and ran a hand through his fur. "All three of them have the same symptoms. But I can't find anything in their blood…"

"Let's do a lumbar puncture," Moira suggested.

"Too risky!" Jean shook her head. "Not in their condition."

"It's the only way to find out what caused this."

"And I'm telling you it's too risky!" the redhead gave back with emphasis and crossed her arms. "You are not going to touch my husband with a needle, Moira, if I have a say in it!"

"Calm down, Jean, will you?"

"Hey!" Hank intervened and gave both of them a stern look over his reading glasses. "We don't have time for this! Moira is right it is the only way. We have to rule out any known diseases and it's the only way." He exchanged a look with both women and walked over to the door. "I let Ororo know that she needs to call Charles. It's better if he flies over to Canada and stays with Alpha Flight before he, Alex or Lorna become sick too." With that he left the room.

"How is he?" Raven asked and her light blue eyes met Hank's.

He was still not really used to her walking mostly around in her human form. "I don't know…," he replied and she lowered her gaze. "We can't find anything in their blood. The symptoms indicate that it must be a virus but we don't know what kind of virus…"

"So what will you do now?" Ororo asked him, concern clearly written in her face.

"I want you to call Charles. Tell him to fly to Alpha Flight Headquarters and stay with them. We can't risk that he gets sick too. Alex and Lorna should stay with him. Tell him that I'll let him know as soon as we found out anything."

"Okay." She nodded and left.

"What are you going to do about Scott and the others?" Raven asked as soon as the elevator was on its way up. She looked at her opposite while hugging herself.

"That's why I need to talk to you," Hank said and crossed his arms. "We need to do a lumbar puncture. But considering his condition and how high his fever is…" He heaved a deep breath and looked at her. "It can be risky…"

"But it will give the answers you need?" she asked after a moment.

"We can't tell for sure…"

"What can happen to him?" she demanded to know and listened to his explanation. Knowing that she had to make a decision, she nodded in the end. "Do it…"

"Fine…," Hank nodded in return and gave her a gentle pad on the shoulder. "I'll call you as soon as I know more."

"No, I'll wait here," she shook her head and sat back down on the ground.

"Okay…" With a last look at her he went back inside.

* * *

When Narya slowly awoke from her pleasant dreams she turned around in bed and a smile became visible on her face. Her subconsciousness took notice of the arm that lay heavily on her waist and the hand on her belly that pressed her against a warm body. She felt how the man behind her breathed evenly against her neck and cuddled up to her. Her hand reached out and turned the clock on the bedside table, noticed that it was time to get up. Sighing, the woman ran a hand over her face and turned in his grip. She smiled while she kissed him on the lips and wrapped her arms around his waist to rest against his chest a while longer. A squeal escaped her lips as he turned them around all of a sudden and the blonde began to laugh when lips attacked her neck. "That tickles!"

"So?" John growled playfully and sucked on it hard once before he settled on her chest and closed his eyes again. "I'm still tired like hell…," he mumbled and kissed her belly briefly while she stroked through his hair.

"Are you? How come?" Narya asked teasingly and earned a snort from him.

"Dunno. I guess it has something to do with some sexy blonde, who used my body the whole night through…"

"Ohhhh," she mocked and slapped his butt. "The poor man was used?" She felt how he nodded quickly. "How can I make up for it, hm?" she asked teasingly and he looked up.

"Hmm…," he growled deep in his chest and shrugged. "Think about something…"

Smiling at his wolfish grin, Narya pulled him into a kiss and wrapped her legs around him to pull him even closer. She realized that she had gotten lost in his kiss when he attacked her neck once more and pressed harder against her. "I thought you're tired?" she sighed and threw her head back to give him more skin to caress, which he gladly did. "Doesn't feel like it!" the blonde added giggling and he snorted.

"Can't help it," John mumbled against her neck and rubbed against her. "Do we have to get up now?"

"Not really…" Narya smiled and kissed him again, heard how he rummaged in the drawer of the bedside table.

"Damn, we used the last ones at night," John cursed and closed the drawer again. He was about to withdraw when she pulled him back down.

"It's okay," she said and kissed him again.

"No, it's not. It's too risky."

"Don't worry about that." The blonde stroked over his cheek and was about to pull him closer again when he shook his head. "What's wrong all of a sudden?!"

"I just don't want to risk it that's all," John replied, kissed her and got up. He heard how she gave a frustrated groan and looked at her. Looking at her, he couldn't help but smirk. "What?"

"Of course it's me who has to date one of the few reasonable men on this planet…"

"Yeah, so it seems," he nodded and pulled her out of bed, just to drag her to the bathroom next.

"I thought you're oh so tired," she mocked playfully and followed him under the shower.

"Mhm," he made and turned on the water.

Afterwards both got dressed and stopped briefly at another room door. Narya waited while John went inside. "Baby?" he asked gently and stroked over his daughter's head. "Sweetheart?"

"What…?" Anna mumbled into her pillow and cracked one eye open.

"Time to get up, come on," he said in a calm voice and placed a kiss on her cheek. He picked her up and chuckled since she buried her face on his neck and leant into him like dead weight. "Still tired, huh?" he asked and stroked over her back before he joined Narya again. Together they walked down the corridor and towards the kitchen.

"Morning!" Heather greeted them with her casual bright smile and looked back down on Taylor, who sucked eagerly on the bottle. "You're a glutton, baby," she commented and shook her head smiling. "Had a good night?" she asked the couple after a moment and smiled even wider when she saw the looks. "I guess that was a yes…"

"I could still sleep though…," John yawned and ran a hand through his dark hair.

"Well…," James grinned and reached for another piece of bread, "depending on the work-out you had…"

"Honey!" Heather warned with a look at Anna, but he only winked at her. Nevertheless, he had hardly bitten into the bread as a loud roar of a jet could be heard on the outside…

* * *

"What are you doing here?!" Hank roared when he saw how John exited the elevator, closely followed by Narya. The furry mutant was well aware of the fact that only a specific bald man or a weather goddess could have let the news slip. He had already reckoned with John arriving two weeks ago or a day after everything had started.

"Why didn't you tell us?!" the man asked angrily and looked inside of the infirmary. The room was crowded, all X-women running back and worth between the beds, of which some, as he guessed, stood also in the lab and ICU. He shook his head. "What the hell happened here?!"

"We don't know," Hank told him and began to walk over to the lab, followed by John and Narya.

"What do you mean you don't know?!" the woman asked and looked into the lab, the same chaos meeting them.

"That we just don't know," Hank said stressed and annoyed. "It must be a virus and it spread rapidly but we are unable to locate it in the blood samples. All we know is that it targets male mutants only since every woman in this house is fine." He gave John a disapproving look. "And you shouldn't be here either. We already have enough men lying in beds…"

"I'm not worried," John replied and earned another look. "If you are fine, I'll be fine too."

"What makes you think that?" Narya asked.

"Because he and I belong to the same family tree that's why," he said and crossed his arms.

"The virus started with Logan," Hank told him and shook his head. "If he was infected, it will most likely infect you too."

"No it won't."

"How can you be so sure of that?!" the blonde asked and gave him a worried look.

"From what Ororo told me Logan was sick before, right? She said that you said," he looked at Hank, "that his healing factor wasn't working properly, that it was most likely fighting against something. So he was weakened before and with his already weak healing factor fighting against his injuries and most likely the virus too, he was too weak to fight it off completely."

Hank held his stare and tilted his head a bit. "Do you have an MD?"

"Ehm…not that I know of…"

"In all that stress we never thought about that…," Hank said and ran a hand through his fur.

"Is really everyone sick?" Narya asked concerned and link arms with John, who gave her a brief look.

"Yes. It began with Logan and Scott, then Bobby. One day later Peter, Remy and Kurt just collapsed, then 6 students that remain here for the summer break," he explained and looked at his chart. "Angel is lucky that he decided to go home until his wings have grown back. I called him and told him to stay there."

"What about the children?" John asked him.

"Alex and Tommy got sick today. Jean-Luc yesterday…"

"What about Jack and Jamie?" Narya asked and stepped aside when Moira left the lab, handed her husband three charts and stormed off to the ICU next.

"They are fine… I don't know why, but they are fine…," Hank replied.

"Same reason you are fine and I'll be fine," John said and earned a questioning look from both mutants. He sighed. "The others are Homo sapiens superiors. Hank, Logan, Jack, Jamie, Nick and I are Lupus sapiens superiors."

"This is a theory Jean's father came up with. It is proven…"

"It is! Trust me. It's been proven a long time ago actually," John said. "No one made it official though… Every mutant with claws, fur, canines, a feral nature or animal-like senses and behavior are descendants of the ancient wolves and belong to their tribe. Everyone else is a descendant of the ape tribe. So the virus targets this tribe only as it seems… That is until it mutates…"

"How come you know all this?!" Hank asked suspiciously but his opposite smirked.

"My wife was interested in genetics and evolution. She hardly read anything else."

"I see…" Hank nodded and sighed. "Well, if you want to see Logan he's in the ICU with Scott and Kurt. Jean, Raven and 'Ro can tell you what to do." With a nod he turned and entered the lab while reading through the charts. He looked up as he heard someone sniffing and noticed that it was Rogue, who held Remy's hand while cooling her son's face. Knowing that he couldn't do more at the moment, he patted her shoulder and checked in his patients' vitals. He knew they had to find something soon, better today than tomorrow, since he didn't want to imagine what might happen if the virus mutated…

"Bobby's doing a bit better. His mutation helps to cool his body for the moment, but Kurt's worse," Moira informed him and ran a tired hand over her face. By now she didn't know what sleep felt like. Since the others have gotten sick, she, Hank and the rest were working around the clock and hardly slept at all. "Scott's not so well either…"

"We have to find out what kind of virus that is…," he replied and looked around the room, stepped aside when a half-dead looking Kitty went back over to her husband to cool his body with every wet fabric that was still available in the house. "John has a good theory…"

"Which one?" she asked and allowed him to pull her aside a bit. She listened to his explanation and thought about it for a moment. "But who would create a virus that targets normal mutants only? Why making that effort?"

"I don't know… I think I will call Charles and discuss that matter with him," he replied and squeezed her hand briefly. "And I think I will send John and Narya up. Someone has to take care of the children. We can't leave them alone most of the time…"

"You're right…" She nodded and gave him a tired smile before she went on with her work.

* * *

"Hey…," Narya said calmly as they entered the ICU and gave a weak smile when they were given surprised looks.

"You shouldn't be here!" Ororo addressed John worriedly and wiped her tears away before she hugged the blonde briefly and him a bit longer. "You'll get sick too."

"No, I won't," he waved off and used his thumb to wipe new tears away.

"How can you be so sure?" Jean asked and cooled a cloth before she put it back on Logan's forehead. She watched how he came closer and studied his brother with a worried look.

"Why did no one tell me that he was back?" he asked without taking his eyes off him.

"We wanted to keep it a secret until he felt better," Ororo explained tiredly. "He was in a really bad shape and…"

"…and you didn't think it was necessary?!"

"No! We just wanted to give him time to heal…"

John snorted and covered his brother's hand with his own.

"Where's Anna? Did she stay in Canada?" Jean asked him after a moment but he shook his head.

"She went upstairs to sleep," he replied and the redhead had hardly nodded as Scott, who lay in the bed behind John, suddenly began to throw up.

"Roll him onto his side! He's not conscious!" Jean ordered immediately and grabbed a bucket while her brother-in-law did as she said with the help of Raven and all three of them watched in horror how Scott spit a huge amount of blood. The redhead gave the machines a brief and worried look, wrote something on the chart and met Raven's eyes for a few seconds. She knew the woman understood her without words.

"He's going to die, isn't he?" Mystique asked with tears in her eyes, held Scott's right hand in hers while she looked at her son, who was sleeping restlessly.

"They all will if we don't find a cure," Moira suddenly said, alarmed by Jean's mental note, and checked on Scott's vitals. She shook her head and leant against the wall for a moment. "Hank asked if the two of you could take care of the children upstairs? They are mostly alone and are probably afraid and confused."

"Sure," Narya nodded. "But if you need help…"

"We'll let you know," Moira nodded and watched them leaving. She then went on with her work and could only shake her head instead of saying anything. "We need to find something…," she said after a while, "…and that soon…"

Upstairs the couple entered the West Wing and was instantly greeted by Jack, who jumped into his Uncle's arms. "Hey!" the man smiled and hugged his nephew, who buried his face on his neck. "Where are the others, huh?"

"Sleeping…," the boy mumbled and held onto him.

"Have you eaten anything at all today?" Narya asked and stroked through the dark hair but Jack nodded.

"You should go to bed too," John suggested and looked at the boy. "It's already late…"

"Will you stay?" Jack asked. "Mommy's always with daddy…"

"_You can use our bed,"_ Jean's voice echoed in the man's head and he gave his nephew a nod.

"Yes, we'll stay here. Get ready for bed, okay?" He placed a kiss on Jack's cheek and put him back down, watched how the boy went back into his room. "Maybe we should get the other children too and let them sleep in the bed…"

"Would be easier and in that way someone's with them and their parents doesn't have to worry about them too," Narya nodded and returned his weak smile.

Only a bit later they tugged in Isa and TJ in Jack's bed, the boy agreeing on sleeping in his sister's one and kept Anna and Nick with them in the bedroom. They too went to bed after making sure that the children were sleeping and that the dogs had their food. Narya supported her head on her arm and watched how John stroked through his daughter's hair absently. Knowing what he was probably thinking about, she reached out and covered his hand with hers. As she was about to say something the room door was opened slowly and Hank appeared.

"Did something happen?" John asked alarmed, but kept his voice low. Since the furry mutant beckoned him to come outside, he did so and looked at his opposite expectantly.

"Someone called…," Hank began, earning a questioning look from his opposite. "He said he has the cure…"

"And who is it?"

"I don't know… It was a man," Hank shrugged.

"What else did he say?" John asked and crossed his arms.

"Only that he has the cure and that if we want to have it, he wants us to meet him at the George Washington Bridge at the Hudson River within in 2 hours. That's all." He waited for a reply but there was none. "What do you think?"

"That it's probably a trap but our only chance," John said after a moment of silence. "I'd go…"

"Same here," Hank nodded. "They won't make it without a cure and we're running out of time. Kurt and Scott have both thrown up blood again and Logan should be the next… Trap or not, either it is the cure or they are going to die anyway. I don't have any hope left that we'll find out what kind of virus it is…"

Nodding, John began to walk backwards. "We meet at the garage."

Two hours later they were waiting at the river as Hank had been told and looked at the illuminated city. Both waited in utter silence and were occupied with their own thoughts. So much even that they didn't notice how a shadow came closer and stopped only few meters behind them…

"I knew you'd come…"

Startled, both men turned around in full alert and prepared themselves for any attack. It took a while for them to notice who stood in front of them, but as soon as they did surprised became visible on their faces.

"Daken…," John gasped and held the glare his nephew gave him…

**First of all: Thanks again for the great respond to the last chapters. I'm really happy that so much of you still enjoy reading the story after over 2 years and that you take your time to leave a review. : ) I always like to know what the readers are thinking about the stuff I write. LOL And then: I know this chapter is short, but I'm writing a test tomorrow and on Wednesday and should be actually studying for it… Still I wanted to update this one here. It turned out way different than I had planned and I'm again not really satisfied with it, but next week is the last week for college, then I'm off until mid October and have more time to write.**

**I hope you still liked the chapter. Suggestions and wishes are always welcome. ; ) Please review!! See ya!**


	37. Chapter 35

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!! : )

**Guys, go watch The Dark Knight! The movie is awesome and Heath's Joker is so worth watching it. : )**

**And yeah, I know that Hugh's taller than Christian Bale and John is modeled after Christian, but hey…Wolverine isn't as tall as Hugh either, so… ; ) The Dark Knight rocked btw. Germany won't get the movie before the end of August and then of course it's dubbed… : P**

**BTW: Did you guys see the trailer for the Wolverine movie?? It's awesome! I already love Live as Sabretooth. I was so happy when it was announced that he would do that part. : ) If you haven't see it, yet, go to YT as long as it's still up. FOX is pretty quick in deleting movies. It's way either to picture the new Sabretooth while writing, than it was to do it with the old one. I wasn't that fond of the old one anyway. lol**

* * *

**Wow, the new Reader Traffic thingy is cool. I didn't know that even people from Hungary, Australia, Sweden, China and Singapore read my stories. Oo That's awesome! So, eh…hi too everyone from all around the world. It's pretty cool, I think. : )**

* * *

**And Luke and Keith return…briefly.**

* * *

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 35**

Both Hank and John didn't dare to move, instead they chose to watch how the shadow came closer and became slowly visible in the weak light that the bridge and city spent. Both X-Men went into an attack stance, snarling, prepared themselves for everything that might come. "Others?" Hank asked, not willing to take his eyes from their enemy.

"Can't sense anyone," John mumbled, still glaring at his nephew.

"Pathetic, really…," Daken huffed and crossed his arms. His black leather pants and nearly all the way buttoned up shirt of the same color were covered by a leather coat of the same color, probably a new uniform or something similar as they guessed. "If I wanted to kill you, you'd be already dead…" He gave Hank first and his uncle next an emotionless, cold look. "You came alone? How brave of you," he mocked and moved over to the Hudson River. "So…how is my old man? Lying gore-spitting on the ground, I hope?" He smirked when snarls became louder.

"What do you want?" Hank demanded to know and watched how the man turned around to face them. He still wondered how a son could look so much like his father, yet so different. Daken was approximately 5'7'' whereas Logan measured 6'2'', compared to John and his 6'4''. Nevertheless, the man had definitely inherited his father's features, with a touch of Asian thanks to his mother, and his physical built, but the biggest difference were the eyes. While Logan's sparkled with life and joy when he was with his family and could look intimidating when the man was angry, Daken's looked emotionless, cold and merciless the whole time through. It made Hank's blood run cold. The hair was as dark as Logan's and also as messy, but Daken wore them a tad longer than his father did.

"I told you that I have the cure," Daken replied in his casual monotonous voice.

"Yeah, we got that," John said. "But what do _you_ want?"

Smirking, his nephew tilted his head, the smile never reaching his eyes. "Nothing…"

His uncle chuckled. "Yeah, sure… As if you'd give us the cure for nothing. If you want the twins or Jamie, forget it. Not gonna happen!"

"Oh, please!" Daken scoffed with a snort. "I've no interest in those kids. I couldn't care less about them."

"Jeez… Do you have a heart at all?" John asked and shook his head in disbelief.

"I guess no with such a father," his nephew gave back and held the glare he was given.

"Unlike you he has a heart," Hank snarled sourly.

"Yeah, sure," Daken growled and threw something at John that the man caught. "That's the cure for _one_ person. It will kill off the virus in an infected person's body within 24 hours and the symptoms will subside."

Hank walked over to John, both men looked at the red liquid skeptically. "How can we be so sure that this here isn't another virus that is programmed to kill normal mutants too? Or that it will infect humans?"

"Easy answer…," Daken shrugged and his features hardened further, if that was even possible. "Because Sinister has no right to kill my father with that stupid virus of his. The only one who has a right to kill him is _me_! I don't care if the rest of you dies. My business is with my father and I'll be the one who'll finish him off, not that virus," he growled.

"What is that virus anyway?" Hank asked him, hoping to receive an answer.

"Sinister calls it Legacy."

"And he created it?"

"You have a PhD, right? Then you've probably paid attention to what I've said and an answer is unnecessary," Daken said arrogantly and ran a hand through his black hair.

"To what purpose? It targets homo sapiens superiors and male mutants only!" Hank went on, ignoring the remark.

His opposite sighed and turned back to look at the city with hatred in his eyes. "Because they are useless. As useless and worthless as those homo sapiens over there," the man replied darkly and with disgust in his voice.

"I still don't understand to what purpose…," John said and put the cure into his pocket.

"And you don't have to. All you need to know is that this is the cure and that I want you to give it to my old man. That's all!" Daken said and turned around to leave.

"Why do you hate your father so much?" Hank asked, watched how the younger man came to a halt and turned to give him an ice cold glare.

"Because he's an egoistical, arrogant, self-righteous piece of shit, who murdered my mother when she was pregnant with me and never gave a damn about his own son!" Daken growled, his eyes darkening.

Hank shook his head. "He didn't even know that you were alive. Logan lost his memory due to all those experiments Weapon X did with him. He regained his memory only before a while ago and he didn't know about you before I told him that you were his son," he told him. "Whoever murdered your mother, it wasn't Logan. He wouldn't do such a cruel thing and he loves his children! He even traveled to Japan to find out the truth about you, because he didn't know. You were stolen from him, Daken! Stolen to be used as a weapon against him!"

Glaring at the man for a while longer, Daken just turned around and buried his hands in his pockets. "Tell my father that he should watch his back. Because one day I'll get my revenge and kill him!"

"How can he just not care about it?!" Hank asked John in utter speechlessness.

"I don't know…," the other man shrugged and concentrated on their surroundings. "It's clear to go… No one's around."

"Do you think he really gave us the cure?" Hank asked as soon as they sat in the car and were on their way back home. He eyed the liquid again.

"As much as he hates Logan…," John mumbled and navigated the car through the gate of the mansion, "yeah! I bet he gave us the real thing."

"I hope we can analyze and reproduce it in time," Hank said after the car was parked in the garage and they walked down the corridor to the staircase. "Thanks for taking care of the children and coming with me!"

"Sure," John waved off. "Good luck with it," he added and nodded at the supposed cure.

"Yes, let' hope it's for real," the furry mutant said and gave his opposite a pad on the shoulder before he entered the elevator.

Back upstairs, John closed the door quietly and got rid of his jeans and shirt before he went under the sheets again. His eyes fell on the sleeping, cat-like, Nick next to him, who was curled up in a furry ball and purred in his sleep. Smirking, the man reached out and touched the pointed ears of the boy just to tuck him in again next. The even breaths of Narya and his daughter told him that they were sleeping and also the rest seemed to be in a deep slumber. Satisfied for now, John tried to get comfortable again and closed his eyes. But sleep didn't come that fast to him…

* * *

"You got what?" Moira and Jean asked at the same time and starred at Hank.

"The cure. Supposedly it is the real one," he replied and both women looked at the object in front of them.

"And where did you get it from?" the redhead asked drowsily since she had fallen asleep in the chair next to Logan's bed.

"Believe it or not… Daken gave it to us."

She snorted and shook her head. "Then it is everything but not the cure."

"John and I both think it is the real thing," Hank said but she shook her head while Moira crossed her arms suspiciously. "Daken wants to kill Logan by himself. He said he would never allow Sinister's virus to kill him. We have to try it. We're running out of time here."

"Then we need to analyze it," Moira said and took the cure into her hand. "The question is…how do we reproduce it?"

Taking it from her, Hank prepared something and gave a small drop onto a slide, which he put into a machine and typed in some commands into a computer next. He waited for the results and put on his reading glasses. It didn't take long and both women stood behind him, their eyes fixed on the screen too. The results slowly appeared on screen and the scientists began to read. "It shouldn't be a problem to reproduce this…," Moira mumbled and supported herself with an arm on Hank's shoulder while reading. "We can ask Warren's father…"

"The last time we asked him for help his men tried to kill Logan," Jean said, remembering how he had asked the man for help when she'd been in a coma and afterwards had been hunted through the sewers.

"Warren's father has sworn that he hadn't known about the things that scientist had been doing. And it should be in his interest too if that here," he held up the cure, "was reproduced. In the end his son is a mutant too."

"The question is if he will even listen to us," Moira said. "Warren went on a mission with us and got hurt."

"Yes, but he got hurt while he tried to help Peter," Hank disagreed. "Who would have reckoned with Apocalypse tearing his wings out…"

"We still can't be sure that this really is the cure," Jean suddenly said and looked at them.

"Then we have to test it," he suggested after a moment. "I'll give this example here to Warren's father and tell him that we need him to reproduce it quickly. We can't be sure about it being the cure or not if we don't test it…"

"We can't just test it on someone."

"It's our only hope and you know that, Jean."

"He's right," Moira nodded. "We are unable to locate the virus in the blood samples for weeks by now. We're running out of time here, Jean. The others don't have that much anymore… As hard as it might sound, but better to sacrifice one of them in order to save the rest."

"You're trying to play God here!" the redhead said, angered. "You can't choose someone by lot and just give him this…stuff." She gesticulated with her hand. "What if it makes the symptoms even worse? Or what if it infects all others?"

"I know…," Hank sighed and ran a hand through his fur, squeezed his nose next. "Still we're running out of time!"

"Hank?"

"What is it, Kitty?" Moira asked, surprised that she hasn't heard the door opening.

"Peter's awake. I just wanted to ask if it is okay for him to drink something?" the woman asked tiredly, the exhaustion of the last days visible in her face.

"I'll come with you," Moira said and got up to follow her into the infirmary. "For how long is he already awake?"

"He just woke up. So not longer than maybe a minute or two."

Nodding, Moira stopped next to Peter's bed and checked the monitors. "How are you feeling?" she asked the man in a hushed voice since the others were sleeping.

"Thirsty…," Peter said barely audible and had trouble to keep his eyes open.

Moira watched how he sipped carefully on the glass which Kitty held for him. It was obvious for her that just raising his head a bit was more than a huge effort for the man and she considered herself proven when his eyes closed again.

"I heard that you talked about a cure…," Kitty said after a moment and looked at her. "Is it true? Do you have one?"

Sighing, the older woman shrugged. "We don't know. Logan's son gave it to us, so it could be everything…"

"So what will you do now?"

"That's what we're trying to figure out…," Moira replied and looked at her. "You should go back to sleep, Kitty. I'll stay a bit longer."

"Okay…," her opposite nodded and tried to get comfortable in the chair. It didn't take long and she'd dozed off again.

After checking on all patients, Moira left the infirmary and was ready for some serious shut eye. Nevertheless, she wasn't prepared for what awaited her as soon as the door had opened. "What are you going to do with him?!" she asked shocked since Hank, heavily breathing due to the weight, was carrying Logan over to another room. She didn't see that Peter had opened his eyes a bit again and was concentrating on what they were saying.

"He's burning up heavily all of a sudden," Hank explained briefly. "We need to cool his body temperature before he goes into shock again."

"Where's Jean?" she asked and tried to help him. "God, is he heavy…"

"She's already preparing the tub," he panted and was more than happy as they finally reached the room. "Careful!" he warned after Jean had attached the necessary machines to monitor the heart rate and body temperature and they lifted Logan with the redhead's help into the tub, which was filled with ice cold water and cubes.

"Not so fast!" Moira said and tightened her grip on the shoulders. "And now slowly."

"Better hope he won't wake up…," Jean mumbled and watched how Logan's body slowly sank into the tub.

"Why?" Hank asked and turned his head to watch how the two women began to check on the screens.

"He hates if he's trapped in a closed space that is filled with water," Jean explained and took some notes. "It reminds him of Weapon…" Her head jerked aside as Hank let out a loud yelp at the same time as a familiar growl could be heard. "Oh no…," she gasped and pulled the furry mutant, who held his bleeding arm, aside with her powers. She watched how Logan, or better a dazed Wolverine, who didn't seem to know where he was, tried to get out of the tub but failed in doing so. She heard him panting heavily despite his supposed to sounds threatening growls and heard how the monitor that displayed his heart rate began to beep warningly.

"Can't you calm him down?" Moira asked and kept her distance.

"He's blocking me," Jean said and withdrew her hands quickly after trying to touch him, since he had extracted his claws and lashed out at her weakly. "Logan, you have to calm down," she said and gave the blood, which poured down his arms a worried look. "Calm down! You're home…"

"Sedate him!" Moira suggested and pressed a towel on her husband's bleeding wound.

"No…," Hank hissed and watched how Wolverine fell to the ground while trying to get away from them. "He's too weak to be sedated. Call John."

After she'd called out for her brother-in-law mentally, Jean approached Wolverine slowly. The panting and sweating mutant sat on all four on the ground and tried to keep his head up, his vision blurry and his mind telling him that he was back with his torturers. He believed that they had caught him again, then drugged him and now tried to put him back into that tank. He remembered the agony they had caused him and tried to pull himself enough together to growl. Why did his head feel so heavy and was throbbing mercilessly? What had they done to him this time? Wolverine noticed that a blurry shadow came closer, the voice speaking to him sounded demonic to his hears. He couldn't understand what they were saying. Trying to back off, he lashed blindly out, felt how a thick liquid ran down his knuckles and arms, but couldn't understand that it was his own blood. Why was it so hot anyway? He was burning from within… Did they try to burn him with fire again? Just to see how fast he could heal? Dizzy as he was his awkward attack ended with him hitting the floor hard.

"Logan…," Jean said in sympathy and watched how he tried to crawl away from her.

"What's wrong?!" John asked while entering, his voice still thick with sleep. But as soon as he noticed what was going on, he was instantly fully awake. "What happened?!"

"His fever has increased dramatically and we need to cool his body," Hank explained while Moira dressed his wounds. "He obviously thinks that he's back at Weapon X due to the tank and went feral."

"Can you try to calm him down?" Jean asked worriedly since Wolverine hardly managed to keep himself up on both arms anymore. "I can't reach through to him…"

"Okay, I'll try…," John nodded and slowly approached his brother, saw how Wolverine weakly rose his head a bit and uttered a barely audible growl. Unimpressed, the man spoke quietly to him, stopped briefly when claws took an awkward swing at him and quickly used his chance that Wolverine was off balance. "'s okay. Calm down…," John muttered and held his brother pressed to his body, heard the surprised gasps of Moira, Jean and Hank but ignored them. Both of his arms were wrapped around the other mutant so that he couldn't use his claws on him anymore. Even while he still received angry growls, he kept on speaking in a soothing voice to Wolverine and forced him slowly completely onto the ground. "Is there room for two in the tub?" John asked.

"W…why? What do you intend to do?" Moira asked and watched how he dragged Wolverine over to the tub and pulled him up as if Logan weighted nothing, before he went into the tub with him and pressed his brother into the cool water.

"For how long?" he asked after , felt how his skin cooled rapidly down.

"We'll let you know," Jean replied and quickly reattached the necessary cables.

"We're only trying to help you, Logan…," she heard John saying in a calm voice and watched how Logan slipped back into unconsciousness. "Is he alright?"

"Yes, he is…"

"How did you do that?" Hank asked and received a questioning look.

"What?" John asked and frowned.

"This…this ghost thingy," Moira replied and still looked at him with big eyes. "And your eyes were glowing red…"

"It's part of my mutation," he shrugged and looked down on himself after leaving the tub, the water dripping to the ground. He smiled when Jean handed him a large towel. "Thanks," he said and got rid of his shirt, began to dry his skin and wrapped the towel around his hip before he got rid of his pants next.

"Do that again!" Moira suddenly said and earned a surprised look from him. In the end he shrugged. The woman watched how his hazel eyes began to glow red and his body turned into some kind of fog-like appearance. "It's not like Kitty's mutation, is it?"

"I can't phase through the floor or ceiling if that's what you mean," John said and watched how Hank and she came closer to look at him from all sides, Moira even using her hand to try and touch his chest but went right through him. "My codename is White Ghost for a reason, you know?" he chuckled.

"But how come that you can still touch people if you're practically fog only…?" Hank asked and made a step back when John extracted his bone claws.

"I can still hurt people with those too."

"But how?"

"Dunno…," John shrugged and turned his hand to look at his claws from both sides. "I just can…"

"Jack should be able to do this, Jean. Or even Lily," Moira said to the redhead when the man turned into his human form again and made sure the towel was in place again. "Logan is probably unable to do it because his skeleton is coated with adamantium…"

"Just because his brother can do it, doesn't necessarily mean that our children can do it," the redhead said and checked the monitors. "Logan needs to be pulled out." Using her powers, she lifted the still unconscious mutant up and onto a bed close by. While she walked over to him Jean grabbed another towel and began to towel him off.

Hank laid a hand on John's shoulder. "Thanks. Go back to sleep."

"Okay, night," John nodded and left again but came to a halt on the corridor. Frowning, he turned slowly around and, after a moment, began to walk towards the additional lab, which Hank had set up since the actually one was occupied. Slowly, he approached the door, which slid open after he stood in front of it. "Shit!" John cursed and went quickly over to the man that lay on the ground and was heavily panting. "What did you do?!"

"They…needed to test it…," Peter whispered during his heavy breaths and trouble to focus on anything. He didn't even hear how Hank and Moira stormed into the room after they'd received John's warning, which he had sent over to Jean mentally.

"What did you do, Pete?" Hank asked worriedly and knelt down next to the young man to check on his vitals.

"Don't tell me he took the cure?!" Moira asked and stared at the empty syringe in Peter's hand.

"Why did you do that?!" the furry mutant asked. "We don't even know if it's the real thing, Peter. It can be everything!"

"You said…you needed…to test it," Peter said under great effort and closed his eyes tightly when the pain became to strong.

"Yes! But not on one of you before we can be sure that it's not just another virus!" Moira cried and shook her head. "This is my fault… I shouldn't have told Kitty when she'd asked…"

"Logan died because he saved me," Peter whispered at Hank and looked at him.

"He did it because it was his duty as the team leader," Hank replied, angered about the man's actions.

"Then it's my duty…as a friend," this one replied and gasped for air. "The others…have children to take care of… I don't…" With that he gave in to the darkness and his head fell aside.

Instantly Hank reached out to check on the pulse. "He's only unconscious…"

"But if he took the cure," John began to ask and helped him to pull Peter up and onto a bed in the corner on which either Hank, Jean or Moira too a nap, "how do you intend to reproduce it, if it really is the real thing?!"

"I already sent the analysis of the liquid over to Warren's father. He said he would tell his men to start working on it."

"Okay…," John nodded.

"He actually just wrote that he will have it by tomorrow," Moira suddenly said and looked up from the computer.

"Tomorrow already? He works fast," Hank said impressed and whished John a good night once more before he went over to hear. "But as I said…the cure isn't made of anything that isn't known."

"Then let's just hope that nothing happens until then…," she sighed and ran a hand through her face.

"You mean nothing like the stupid boy over there," he cursed and looked at the man in the bed. "If that really is the cure, I'm going to smack some sense into him as soon as he feels better…"

"You know perfectly well that you won't, honey," she smiled and laid a hand onto his.

"I know, but it sounded good for the moment…"

"I go and check on everyone," she yawned and got up. "Just call if something happens." Waiting for a nod, she kissed him gently and left the room.

* * *

Mystique dozed in her chair between Scott's and Alex's bed. She stirred when a noise caught her attention and looked up. It was then that she noticed that she was the only woman in the room and assumed that Ororo and Jean were either gone to eat something or that Hank had called them. "Do you want something to drink?" she asked Tommy, who reached out a shaky hand to the bottle on the bedside table. She got up and sat down on the bedside table to help the boy with it. Her free hand took the cloth out of the bowl and began to cool Tommy's heated skin with it. "Drink slowly, okay?" she whispered and stroked through the damp her. When the boy fell asleep again, she put the things back onto the table and tucked him in, just to get up and looking at Kurt in the bed next to the boy's.

Since he was breathing heavily in his sleep, Raven began to cool his face too, a strong pressure building up in her chest while she did so. Her mind pictured how she would have sat next to his bed during the typical children's diseases, how she would have chaperoned him during it until he felt better again… She sat down next to him, still feeling the shock deep within her that the man was really her son. "I'm sorry…," Mystique whispered and looked down to blink away her tears. "I swear I didn't know that you were my son." Reaching out, she took his hand and stroked over the blue skin unconsciously. Her heart ached for him to know the truth. But how was she supposed to tell him something that she still didn't know herself. Not thinking about it, Raven began to tell him how the villagers had seen him when he had just been born, how they had freaked out since he had looked like a demon and came for the boy and his mother one night. That she had grabbed him and had run up the hill to the wood, but they had chased them with horses, how she had looked around for a way out and seen the reed by the river, how she had went over and hid him there, the tried to fool the villagers and tried to lead them away from the boy… "But when I returned…," Raven sniffed and still stared at Kurt's hand, "you were gone… I believed they had found and taken you because I couldn't find you. I believed you were dead…" Letting out a sob, her eyes suddenly widened as his hand squeezed hers weekly and her head jerked up. She thought her heart would stop beating as she noticed that he looked back at her through half closed eyes, noticed the tear that left his eye and rolled down his cheek… "I'm so sorry…," Raven said once more and stifled her sob by covering her mouth with her free hand.

"What's going on?" Ororo asked and walked quickly over to her since she believed something was wrong. She pushed Raven a bit aside to check on her husband and began to wonder why Kurt held onto the woman's hand.

"I…forgive you…," he said barely audible and let go of the hand when his strength left him. Tiredly, he closed his eyes again.

"What was that about?" Ororo asked and looked at Raven, wondered why the woman was crying.

"Nothing…," the woman waved off and sat back down on the chair between her son's and Scott's bed after checking on them. Sniffing, she ran a hand over her face and leant her head against the wall, just to look up when Jean entered the room next. "Did something happen?" Raven asked concerned since the redhead's face spoke volumes.

"Peter took the cure while we took care of Logan…"

"What?!" both women asked shocked, but Jean only nodded.

"But… What now?" Ororo asked her. "What if it is just another virus?!"

"Then…we'll be dead soon too," Raven said sarcastically and got up when Scott had a coughing fit. "Better?" she asked and stroked through his hair.

"Lungs hurt…," he croaked and still had trouble to breathe.

"Sit up for a moment," Jean said and pulled his shirt up to auscultate him, closely watched by Raven and Ororo. Both women noticed the look on her face. "We should do an X-ray from your lungs, Scott."

"This bad, huh?" he asked weakly and breathed hard.

"Be right back." The redhead turned around just to come back with Hank. Both helped Scott over to another room and brought him back after doing a scan.

"Here," Raven said and helped him to sip on a glass. "And?" she asked when Jean returned, saw how the woman bit her lower lip.

"It's an acute pneumonia, Scott," the redhead told him.

"So I'm dying?" he asked weakly.

"No, but since you have so much trouble to breathe Hank and I suggest that we use an ET tube to make it easier for you. A chest tube isn't yet necessary since you do not have that much fluid in your lungs. But it's possible that it will worsen," Jean told him and also exchanged a look with Raven.

"As I said…dying…"

"No," she shook her head. "We had to use an ETT on Logan too. And he's worse, trust me," she added calmly. "It will make it easier. I know that you won't like it, but…" She shrugged. Seeing that he only waved off, she nodded and left to get the necessary supplies.

Scott coughed and looked at Raven next to him, saw the concern in her eyes. "Listen…," he said hoarsely and reached out to take her hand, "if something goes wrong…"

"Scott…," she cut him off, not wanting to hear it, but he held onto her.

"No, listen! If something goes wrong… If I won't make it," he went on and had to stop due to another fit. "Charles has my will, okay?"

"Scott…," Raven said again but leant forward in the end to pull him close. "I love you…," she sniffed and kissed him when Jean and Hank came back inside and began to prepare him. Not willing to leave his side, she held onto his hand and watched the whole process. Even if their relationship was a disaster at the moment it pained her to see him like this.

"He'll most likely be asleep for a while," Hank informed her and laid a hand on Raven's shoulder.

"Hank? What about Peter?" Ororo asked.

"No changes yet," he replied. "If Daken is right it will take at least 24 hours…"

"How are the students?"

"Two of them are not looking good…" He lowered his head. "The only positive thing to report is that Warren's father might have the reproduced cure, if it really is the one, probably by tomorrow already."

"And if it's not the cure?" he heard Ororo asking while she stroked through her son's hair, exchanged a look with him when there was no reply. Only nodding, she looked back at her child.

* * *

"Here you go," Narya said and put another plate with pancakes onto the table.

In the meanwhile John was occupied with feeding Nick and watching over Jamie, who was using his hands to eat instead of the spoon. "Jamie! Don't eat like a pig," he scolded him and shook his head when the boy looked up. "Use the spoon!"

"Nooo!" his nephew disagreed and shook his head, ignoring the man's heavy sigh. "No pig!"

"You are a pig!" Jack said and chewed on his pancake.

"You too!" he heard his uncle saying and noticed the cocked eyebrow.

Swallowing quickly, the boy looked down. "Sorry…"

"Be nice!" Narya sat down and began to eat her breakfast, smiled at how John was feeding the baby.

"When will you have a baby?" Isa suddenly asked and was confused because both adults stared at her speechlessly.

"W…what?" the blonde asked and exchanged a brief look with the man next to her.

"A baby!" TJ now said and looked at them too. "When will you have a baby?"

"What makes you think that we will have a baby, kid?" John asked and put the bottle away before he began to pat the little furball's back.

"Because…," the girl said and stretched the word for emphasis, "couples make babies when they love each other very much!"

"Right!" Isa nodded to make her opinion clearer to the couple.

"Just because you love someone doesn't mean you have a baby, kid, you know?" John replied and cradled Nick in one arm while he began to eat with the other.

"Then you don't want to have a baby?" TJ asked curiously and looked at Narya, clearly waiting for a reply.

"I…," the woman began and gave John a surprised look when he first interrupted her and then answered with a rather cold _No_! that was addressed to her.

"Can we go and see daddy?" Rachel demanded to know after a few minutes of complete silence.

"I don't think so," Narya said and shook her head.

"But why not?" Lily asked pouting.

"You've been told why. Your mom is busy and your dad needs time to rest," John told them. "Uncle Hank told you so."

"But I wanna see my daddy too!" Isa complained and TJ nodded, which made him sigh.

"I know that!"

"Then why can't we go and see them?" Jack asked angrily.

"Just listen to what they've said and be patient, okay?" Narya tried to calm them down and save the situation. Nevertheless, the only thing she achieved were the kids beginning to sulk even more. "How about watching a movie later?"

"No…," Jack grunted and hopped off his stool, followed his twin.

"I go and talk to him, daddy!" Anna announced and was gone before John could tell her to finish eating.

"Can we go and watch this new Pixar movie later?!" TJ asked and received unsure looks.

"I'll ask your mom, okay?" Narya said, received a big smile from the girl before she left together with Rachel and Isa. "Did she ever leave the grounds before?" she asked John after a moment. "I just mean because of her looks…"

"Dunno…," he grunted and began to tidy up, which made her frown.

"What's wrong with you all of a sudden?!"

"Nothing…"

She watched how he pulled Jamie out of his highchair and left when the phone began to rang, Sighing, the blonde ran a hand through her long hair and went upstairs after picking Jamie up to watch over the children.

* * *

"But why do I have to wear that?" TJ asked her mother and looked at the wristband first, then at her different skin color.

"Sweety, you know why…," Ororo tried to explain and stroked over the girl's long, dark hair. "Daddy and I told you that there are bad people out there who do not like mutants like us. Uncle Forge invented the wristband to protect mutants like your daddy and you. It makes you look normal."

"But I am normal, mommy!" the girl cried.

"Normal like those bad people think it's normal, baby. I know that you're normal." Seeing that her daughter was still close to start crying, she sighed and pulled her close. "It's just to protect you, okay?" she asked and waited for a weak nod before she kissed her cheek. "Have fun watching the movie and listen to what Uncle John and Aunt Narya say, will you?"

"Okay…," TJ pouted and wiped her eyes. "Can you give daddy and Tommy a kiss?"

"Of course," her mother smiled and led her to the car. "Have fun, okay?" She watched how Narya told the children to buckle up.

"We'll be careful don't worry," John said next to her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm just worried…" Ororo hugged herself after running a hand over her face.

"You should really sleep," he told her worriedly. "I mean Moira and Jean are really on the edge, but you don't look better."

"I know. Have fun!" Hugging him briefly, she waved until the car had disappeared and returned upstairs to watch over Jamie and Nick as long as the group was gone. "Time for your nap, hm?" she asked and picked Logan's youngest up to bring him to bed, saw that Nick was already curled up and sleeping. "Do you think I can take a nap, too?" she asked after ticking Jamie in.

"No!"

"No?" Ororo yawned and stretched her aching muscles. "Well, I'm going to try anyway… Sleep well." Exhausted she lay down on the sofa and closed her eyes.

When she opened them again it took her a while to realize that something was wrong. "Oh God!" she shrieked and sat up.

"Easy!" Narya tried to calm her and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"What time it is?!"

"8:26 a.m."

"What?!" Ororo asked shocked and got up. "I slept a whole day?! Why didn't you wake me? I'm…"

"Ororo," Narya said calmly and raised a hand, "easy! You needed the rest and I was downstairs with Kurt and Tommy. Everything's fine and nothing had happened!"

Sighing, the weather goddess ran both hands over her face and through her hair. "What about Peter? Are there any changes?"

Narya sat down on the couch. "I don't know. The 24 hours are not over yet." She took the woman's hand and pulled her down. "Sit down for a moment."

"I'm sorry!" the woman said stressed out and something hit her. "Oh God… What about Jamie and Nick?!"

"They were both still sleeping when we came back. Don't worry!" Narya laughed and shook her head. "And now, you'll go down and have a nice breakfast and then you can go back to your duty, okay?"

"Did TJ have fun?" Ororo asked after opening the door.

"Yes, she had. Everything went well," the blonde nodded and grinned. "Well, except for Isa spilling her popcorn all over John…"

"If Logan survived Rachel throwing up milk all over him when she had that stomach virus…, then John will survive too," Ororo said and gave a weak smile back. "Thanks."

"No problem!" Narya watched how the woman left and quickly headed to the door. "And don't forget to eat!"

* * *

"What do you mean I can't go and see him?!" Kitty asked aloud and crossed her arms. "What is Hank doing in there with him?!"

"He's does a check-up, Kitty," Moira tried to calm the woman and squeezed the back of her nose. "Would you please be patient?"

"Patient?! Do you know what it felt like to wake up and he was gone? I thought he was dead!"

"I know…"

"And then you tell me that he sneaked away to take this…this stuff, just to inform me afterwards that you still don't know what it is and now you want me to be patient, while my husband probably is dying!" Kitty said enraged and was about to go on with her sermon as the door opened and Hank beckoned Moira to enter,…but Kitty to wait. "Gods!"

"What's wrong?" Rogue asked on her way from getting new water, but her friend waved off.

"What does the result say?" Moira asked her husband inside the lab.

"Look at him," Hank only said and watched her frowning first and then how she went over to Peter and began to check on him. When she froze and looked back at him in confusion he nodded.

"It worked?" she asked shocked, grabbed the chart and went through the newest results. "But…"

"I know," he said. "The fever is gone, blood pressure, heartbeat, organs…everything is normal."

"Anything from Warren's father?" she asked and took the man's pulse.

"He can deliver in the evening and…" Hank stopped when he heard Jean's voice in his head. When Moira turned, he knew that she had gotten the same news and he stormed after her and into the infirmary. "What happened?!" he asked and looked at Jean, who was working on one of the students.

"His heart suddenly stopped," she replied and informed him about the changes since the last check. All three of them were aware of the stares that Jubilee, Rogue and Kitty gave them and even more so when Moira switched off the machines and a depressing silence filled the room. It wasn't before Hank cursed aloud that the three younger women startled.

It didn't take long and Rogue began to cry as much as Jubilee did and both kept on saying that their men were going to die.

"They won't!" Moira tried to soothe them but all she received was an angry glare of Jubilee.

"Then I just imagined that Keith died?!" she nearly barked and was shoved out of the room by Hank together with Rogue.

"Stop it and listen!" the man said in a stern voice that was determined to get her attention. "Peter is fine again, the cure worked on him and Warren's father will deliver the reproduced cure later today. So calm down!"

"You said it will take 24 hours before the cure takes effect!" the woman went on. "It can be too late in 24 hours!"

"Jubilee…," Moira sighed. "Keith was sick before. You know that he had a weak heart…"

"I don't believe you!" her opposite snarled and went back into the infirmary.

"It really worked?" Rogue sniffed and wiped her tears away.

"Yes," Hank nodded and crossed his arms. "Peter is fine… His blood cells, temperature, everything is normal again."

"Hank?" Kitty suddenly said behind him and he turned around, saw that she was crying. "He's awake."

"Excuse me," he said to Rogue and squeezed her shoulder briefly before he joined Kitty in the lab. "Peter, how are you feeling?"

"Hungry…," the man said and smiled at his wife when she took his hand. "It worked?"

"So it seems," the furry mutant nodded and checked on his friend's heartbeat again to be sure. "Do you feel dizzy or anything?"

"No… Just pretty weak."

"That's not unusual after being that sick." He paused briefly. "I'd like to smack you so hard, boy! What you did was utterly stupid!"

"So he's really fine?" Kitty sniffed hopefully and hugged Peter after receiving a nod from Hank. Hearing how she began to sob heartrendingly, he reached out to pat her back.

"I'll leave you alone," Hank said after a moment and left the room to join Moira and Jean again.

* * *

"But I think it's not fair…," TJ pouted and pulled her plush dog close while she sat on Jack's bed. "Why can't I go outside and look like myself?"

"Because there are people out there that hate mutants," Lily told her while she shared the bed with her twin brother and held her plush wolf close. Groaning, she gave the boy behind her a push. "Jack!" she complained since he cuddled up again and pushed her even further to the edge of the bed.

"Still, it's not fair!" TJ sniffed and buried her face in the dog when Isa began to stroke over her hair.

"They just wanted to protect you," she tried to soothe her friend and looked up when Jack yelped all of a sudden.

"Stop pushing me!" Lily cried and pushed him further over to the wall, receiving a growl of her twin. But the fight was interrupted when the door was opened.

"It's nearly 2 a.m.," John growled drowsily. "Would you finally sleep now?!"

"I'm sorry, Uncle John…," the girl said calmly and looked over her dog at the man. "But Jack's pushing me."

"I'm not!" the boy complained.

"You are!"

"No!"

"Yes!"

"No!"

"Okay, that's it," John said. "Jack, pillow, wolf and off you go. Move!" Pointing at the door, he waited for his nephew to obey.

"But I didn't do anything!"

"It's the third time I've to get up because of your quarrels, grab your things, get up and lay down in the bedroom because I want to sleep," his Uncle grunted and growled when Jack gave his sister an additional push before he obeyed. "Say sorry!"

"Why? I didn't do anything!" Jack complained.

"You pushed her just now, so say you're sorry!" John said a bit harsher and waited for him to do so. "And now do me a favor and sleep now, okay?"

"Sorry…," Isa mumbled and quickly went under the sheets again. "Night!"

About to close the door, he paused. "What's wrong with TJ?"

"She's crying because of earlier today," Lily informed him.

Sighing, John went over and knelt down next to Jack's bed. "Hey…," he said calmly and touched the girl's back. "What is it now, huh?"

"Why couldn't I go as myself?" TJ sobbed and looked at him with tears in her yellow eyes.

"We told you why, kiddo," he said and stroked over her hair after wiping her tears away. "It was to protect you."

"But why?!"

"You know that there are many people out there that hate mutants," he tried to explain. "There are mutants that look like normal humans and then there are those who don't. And those people would probably start hurting you when they see you with your normal looks, you know?"

"But why?!" she asked again and sniffed, which made him sigh and shrug.

"I don't know, kiddo. Some people are like that, you know? They don't have a reason. They are just afraid of the things they don't know."

"They are stupid…," Isa said and received a smirk.

"Yeah, I know," John said and got up to tuck them back in. "And now sleep, okay?"

"Okay…," TJ sniffed and wiped her face. "Night!"

"Night," he replied and returned to the bedroom just to groan, since Jack lay sprawled over his side and was deeply asleep. Only shaking his head, the man pulled him carefully up and further to the middle. He had hardly lain back down when his nephew cuddled up to him again. "And you're surprised that your sister starts complaining?" John mumbled and shook his head before he closed his eyes again, hoped that he would finally be able to sleep…

* * *

The next day was spent with waiting and hoping. After a man had visited the mansion and told them that he was sent by Mr. Worthington, Hank, Moira and Jean had instantly taken the cure and prepared as many syringes as they could find. After they had given the cure to the men the waiting had begun and now their eyes constantly switched to the watches and they waited for 24 hours to be finally over.

Their eyes full of hope Rogue and Jubilee sat next to Remy and Bobby. They too waited for the cure to finally take effect and exchanged tired looks in between, while in another room Kitty helped Peter to eat some soup.

"It was stupid what you did," she said and looked directly into his eyes.

"They needed to test it…," he replied and accepted another spoon full of the hot liquid.

"You could have died! Or it could have been another virus…"

"I know… Still it had to be tested," he swallowed and shook his head when she offered him another spoon.

"You didn't eat much, Pete," Kitty said concerned and put the cup away.

"It makes me feel sick, sorry…"

"Do you need Hank?"

"No, I'm fine," he waved off and sank back into the sheets. Seeing her sad look, he reached out to touch her cheek with a weak smile. "You look tired, kisska."

Kitty gave a brief laugh. "Oh really?" she asked and leant into his touch.

"Come here," he offered and moved aside a bit so that she had enough room next to her. Pulling her close, he rested his head on hers and was amused about how small she felt against a giant like him. "Sleep," he mumbled into her hair and closed his eyes after pressing a kiss to her hair. "Ja tibja abashaju…"

Kitty smiled tiredly and snuggled deeper into his arms. "I love you too," she replied and began to think. "Let me try something…"

"Okay…," Peter shrugged and waited.

"Mh… Mnje tibja…," she began and he chuckled. "Wait!" she scolded him playfully. "What was it again…? Nichwa…?"

"Mnje tibja nichwatala?" he helped her out and she nodded. "I missed you?"

"Yeah. I forgot so much…," Kitty sulked and sighed.

Smiling tiredly, he stroked over her arm. "Gladit'." And kissed her afterwards. "Zyluju." Just to hug her next. "Abnimaju tibja. What did I say?"

"Mh… Stroking… I kiss you and… What was the last one?"

"I hug you."

"Right…"

"Now sleep, maja sslatkaja," Peter said and closed his eyes again, just to realize that she had already dozed off.

* * *

"Okay, Scott," Moira said and took the tube into her hand. "When I'll tell you, I want you to take a very deep breath, okay?" She waited for him to give a thumbs up. "Okay…now!" she said and pulled the tube out of his mouth, which triggered a coughing fit and Scott had trouble to get any air into his lungs first. "Try to take deep breaths," she told him and patted his back until he began to breathe more or less normally. "And?"

"Still hurts…," he replied hoarsely and lay back down.

"The antibiotics we give you additionally will fight off the pneumonia," Moira informed him. "Just be patient, okay?"

He nodded and closed his eyes for a moment, felt how she patted her shoulder. "What about Alex?" Scott asked and turned his head to look at his son.

"He woke up before you did," Raven told him. "He's fine."

"I would allow you to hold him normally," Moira said and put the chart away. "But not with that pneumonia of yours. If we had a free room, I'd put you into quarantine."

"Mhm…," he made and took Raven's hand that lay next to his on the bed.

"What about the others?" Kurt asked and held his son close while Ororo sat next to him on the bed, closely cuddled up to him.

"Bobby and Remy have both woken up and are already sleeping again," Hank told them after entering the room "Jean-Luc is still feverish and Luke hasn't woken up yet."

"And Logan?" Scott asked, coughing.

"Unchanged…," Hank mumbled and read through the charts.

"How come?" Ororo asked him but he shrugged.

"We don't know. I want you to start eating slowly again, okay? Your stomachs are not used to food anymore, so you will most likely feel sick."

"Sicker than I already do is impossible…," Scott mumbled and pulled the blanket further up.

Four days later and after Jean had spent most of the time next to Logan, she had finally slumped down in the chair next to the bed and was sleeping. It wasn't before the machines began to beep warningly that she was roughly awoken and her heart was in her mouth.

"What's wrong?!" Moira asked and stormed into the room followed by Hank.

"He's panicking," Jean informed them and still tried to calm the feral mutant down. "Logan, I need you to calm down," she tried again and finally used her powers to force him to lay still. "Hold one, will you?"

"He's trying to breath, huh?" Hank asked and told his friend to heave a deep breath, before he pulled out the tube quickly and waited for Logan to stop his retching and coughing. "Better?" he said after a moment and received a glare. "I'm sorry, my boy, after your breathing stopped twice, we had to hook you up…"

Worriedly, Jean bent forward a bit when Logan still grimaced in pain and held his chest. "Where does it hurt?" she asked and touched his shoulder, watched how he curled up and gritted his teeth.

"Logan?" Hank and Moira asked at the same time and moved already over to the heart defibrillator in case it was his heart, when the mutant suddenly sneezed aloud and looked up.

"Now that's better…," he grunted and rolled onto his back to cock an eyebrow at them. "What?"

"Nothing…," Moira waved off and crossed his arm. "We only believed that you would suffer from a heart attack in the next five seconds, but never mind…"

"Are you alright or in pain or anything?" the redhead asked worriedly and looked at him with tears in her eyes, feeling relieved that he had finally woken up again.

"I'm starvin'…," Logan grunted and ran a hand through his hair.

"Do that again!" Hank said and received a cocked eyebrow. "Move it again, Logan!"

"Why?!" this one asked just to realize what the man meant. "Oh…"

"Does the shoulder still hurt?" the furry mutant asked and began to examine his friend's left arm thoroughly. "The scars? What about them?"

"No, it's fine…," his opposite said and decided whether he was hungry or sleepy. "I'm still starvin'…"

"You can try to eat some soup. But not much," Moira told him and wrote some notes before she put the chart away.

"I said I'm starvin'…"

"I know, but you can't eat normally again so soon. Your stomach has to get to use to normal food again, you know?"

"Fine, then I'll sleep," Logan growled and rolled onto his side to curl up.

"You'll be alright, Jean?" Hank asked and waited for a nod. Nodding back, he left with Moira to check on the other patients again.

"Do you want to drink something?" the redhead asked and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Logan.

"No… Wanna sleep."

"Okay," she whispered and reached carefully out to stroke through his hair, which earned her a look. Seeing it, she withdrew her hand and sat down in the chair again where she tried to get comfortable.

"Ya slept in it?" Logan asked drowsily after a moment.

"Yeah. With everyone getting sick the beds were occupied."

"When was the last time ya slept for real?" he asked and pulled the pillow closer. When she shrugged he moved to the edge and nodded at the empty space next to him.

"You need to sleep, Logan…," Jean sighed and ran a hand over her face.

"And ya look like shit," he replied honestly. "C'mon." When she finally moved and lay down next to him, he turned around so that their backs were touching.

"Thanks…," she mumbled and closed her eyes, instantly felt how much her back muscles were actually complaining.

* * *

"That's what he said?" John asked and looked at his brother from aside.

"Yeah."

"Hank really said _stop lying around and move or I'll beat you_?!"

"Yeah," Logan said again and grimaced briefly. His eyes looked around the garden and fell onto the pond. "Can we stop for a moment?" he asked, feeling how his body was still too weak.

"Sure," his brother shrugged and followed him. He watched worriedly how Logan lay down on the stony edge. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, just tired…"

"Sure?" he asked concerned and sat down next to him slowly.

"I'm not used t'it anymore. That's all," Logan grunted and sat up again after a moment. "Thanks for helpin' out…"

"Sure." John looked around and finally back at his brother. "Your kids missed you. Especially Jack…"

"He was difficult, huh?"

"Sometimes…yeah." He nodded.

"It's been hard on them with me gone and all," Logan said and ran a hand over his face.

"Not only for them," his brother reminded him. "Hank still has nightmares from where he found you in that alley. I can hear him at night… Your death was a hard blow to everyone. Not only for your family…" Not seeing how the man next to him looked at him, John raised his head when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He tried to give him a weak smile.

"I need to lie down…," Logan mumbled and got up with the help of John, who pulled him into a tight embrace.

"I missed you," this one mumbled, "little brother," he added smirking and received one in return. Since Logan swayed a bit, he wrapped an arm around his waist and led him to the backdoor again. Both men nodded at the Professor, who sat in his wheelchair in his office and watched them from his office.

"Anything else that happened during my absence?" the bald man asked and turned to Hank and Ororo.

"Not really," she replied. "I mean… It was enough, wasn't it?"

"Yes, it is a terrible that we lost two students because of this…," Charles nodded.

"If you ask me, Charles," Hank began and shook his head, "we can be happy that we only lost two students! If Daken hadn't given us the cure…"

"…they'd be all dead," Ororo finished and shuddered at the thought.

"Is Scott feeling better?" the Professor asked after a moment of silence.

"Yes, he is," the furry mutant said. "He's actually healing faster than Logan…"

"Well Scott wasn't dead, Hank," she mumbled.

"Anyway…," the Professor said after a moment, "I still have to call Warren's father and thank him for his help."

Taking the hint, both got up and left the room just to run into John. "Where's Logan?" Ororo asked.

"He wanted to go alone to his rooms," the man said and kept on walking. "See you later!"

"At least he listens to me," Hank smiled. "His muscles rebuild faster when he moves and his healing factor needs to be pushed too."

"Mhm…," she nodded sarcastically and followed him down the corridor. "Because of Logan the fridge is empty, Hank."

"Empty?!"

"Yes, he ate everything we had left. Or nearly everything. The milk is gone, the juice, the meat, noodles, rice…."

"See it from that side," the furry mutant said and came to a halt, "at least he eats…"

* * *

With the children already in bed the adults were gathered in the rec-room and watched a movie together a few days later. When Jubilee had suggested that they spent some time together after the past horrible days the others had quickly agreed on it. Now the couples sat either on the couches or the ground, had made themselves comfortable with blankets and pillows with food and drinks surrounding them and stared at the screen. They watched how Neo had just beaten up two agents and was now flying towards the moon, looking for the Oracle and dashed to the ground next, pulling clouds with him.

"So unrealistic…," Kitty mumbled into Peter's chest. The couple shared the armchair and it looked rather funny how a giant like Peter tried to fit into the chair and had Kitty, who looked compared to him like a small puppy, on his lap and chest.

"It's just a movie…," he replied and stroked unconsciously through her hair.

"Still it's unrealistic…"

"You walking through walls is unrealistic too," Jubilee teased her and snuggled closer to Bobby, who was occupied with drinking his soda and eating popcorn.

"Make sure he doesn't freeze the popcorn!" Kitty huffed.

"Quiet!" Scott said and pulled Raven closer with one arm, entwining their hands. He gave Logan, who had been given the couch by Kurt, Ororo, Rogue and Remy, a look and noticed that the man was obviously as tired as he was. On the ground the two couples had made themselves a cozy nest and were silently watching the movie. His eyes switched briefly over to John and Narya, she sitting between his legs and leaning against his chest while watching the movie, he resting his head on her shoulder and stroking absently over her arm. Scott himself gave Raven a look and regretted that she wasn't one to show affection that openly. Nevertheless, he pulled her closer with one arm and gave her a peck on the neck, ignoring the look she gave him.

"Where's Jean?" Moira, who chaired another armchair with Hank, mouthed into his direction, but Scott shrugged. He too had noticed that everyone sat together and only Logan, who gave the screen an uninterested look, was alone. When Scott noticed how the woman's eyes switched towards the door, he guessed that the redhead had just entered the room.

Everyone knew that the relationship between her and Logan was still tensed and nearly all eyes watched how she came closer and intended to sit down on the couch that he and Raven shared, but Logan already sat up and she sat down next to him.

"You look tired," the redhead whispered when he leant his head against the backrest and tilted his head a bit to get more comfortable. Not touching him, even if she wanted to, she took the pillow he had been resting on and that now laid next to her and handed it to him. She was indeed surprised as he took it and motioned her into a half laying position, just to put the pillow onto her belly and lay down again. Stunned about his move Jean used her powers to spread the blanket she'd brought with her on him and stroked through his hair. "Why don't you go to bed?" she asked him mentally but he only shook his head and tried to get comfortable on her lap. After leaning back, the redhead looked at the screen but hardly saw what she was watching. Her mind was too occupied with other things and she began to stroke through Logan's hair unconsciously. Before she even realized it the movie was already over and nearly everyone got up…

"I'm beat…," Kitty yawned and smiled when Peter pulled her up to carry her upstairs.

"God, get a room!" Jubilee mocked them with a playful role of her eyes and clung to Bobby next. "How about carrying me?"

"You can walk!" he said and received a slap against the arm. "What was that for?!"

"For being an unromantic jerk!"

"Way too go, Bobby!" Rogue laughed and was pulled into a kiss by Remy, who wrapped an arm around her next.

"Let's go t'bed, chérie," the Cajun said and both wished the other a good night before they left, followed by Kitty, Peter, Jubilee and Bobby.

"I think we're off too," Hank announced and stretched. "Nick needs to eat too."

"You're right," Moira yawned and got up to make one, smiling since Jean had fallen asleep. "Better wake her up, guys," she said and pulled Hank with her. "Night!"

"Night!" Scott said and reached out to shake the redhead gently.

"Hm?"

"You fell asleep," he smirked and laughed by the look at her. "Someone was pretty much gone, huh?"

"The movie is over?" Jean asked confused and sat up a bit just to realize that Logan still claimed her lap.

"Sleepyhead," Scott said with a shake of her head. "Logan's fallen asleep as soon as you've given him the pillow."

"Really?" she asked and received nods. She sighed. "He's so hard to wake up when he's really sleeping…" Reaching out, she stroked through Logan's hair and said his names several times, but he didn't react at all and, as soon as she moved, wrapped his arms around her possessively to pull her closer again.

"He still does this?" Mystique asked, recalling the moments in which Logan had fallen asleep and refused to let go of his wife. She especially remembered one moment in which Jean needed to pee and he had hold on to her as if his life depended on it.

"You have no idea," Jean said and shook him. "Logan! Come on, get up…"

"Is he doing that too?" Scott asked Narya and nodded at John, who quickly raised both hands.

"If," the blonde said with a look at her man, "then I haven't noticed it so far."

"What?!" Logan suddenly growled still half asleep.

"Time to go to bed," the redhead said and got slowly up but he remained on the couch. "Logan, you can't sleep on the couch. It's too small for you."

"I'm tired!" he grunted and buried his face in the pillow again. "Lemme sleep…"

"You can sleep in bed," she insisted and pulled him up with her powers, earning a growl from him. "Come on."

"Night!" Scott said and watched them leaving thoughtfully.

* * *

On the next day, Logan was on his way to his rooms, walked past the front door and put a hand to his stomach. He had just eaten the cereals that had been left and was hungry again. Obviously, as he guessed, his healing factor was pushing his system harder than he thought… "If ya go on eatin' like that, ya will look like the Blob soon, Logan," he mumbled to himself and stopped when someone rang the door bell. "Great…" Turning, he walked back and opened it just to feel how his heart began to race horribly. His blood ran cold and the world around him stopped spinning first and began to turn violently next. So much that he had to support him on the door frame…

"Thomas…?" the woman in front of him asked and was about to reach out to touch him, when Logan just turned and began to ran…

**I finished the chapter in the past three days after being stuck while typing on it. I don't have the time for a beta since I have to learn for an oral exam. : ( Anyway, thanks to all reviewers!! I'm glad that so many of you liked the past chapter. I hope it's the same with this one here. Please review and let me know what you think!! ; ) See ya!**


	38. Chapter 36

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!! : )

* * *

**This chapter contains heavy spoiler for Wolverine Origin and Wolverine Origins!! And I stole Magneto's "Did you tell him (aka Logan) about his past?" from X2.**

* * *

Thanks to sammygirl, who helped me out here and there. ; )

* * *

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 36**

The chains were cutting into his wrists that were already bloody due to the fact that they had to support his whole weight. His naked body hung from the ceiling in the dark room that stank of sweat and blood and he heard the dark, amused chuckles of his opposite, just before this one's wrist buried itself deep into his abdomen and made him throw up blood. A hoarse scream escaped his already aching throat as a high dose of voltage ripped through his body, made stars dance in front of his eyes, blood pour out of his nose and his heart skip two beats. Heavily breathing, his head dropped to his chest and another hard punch ripped more skin from his wrists, which gave an ugly cracking noise. For how many hours this torture was already going on, he didn't now. But he knew that the men in front of him knew that also he had limits.

"I warned you…," a voice on his right said and he raised his head a bit, felt how someone's cold hand did something to his spine. "I warned you and that not only once… You disappointed me again. And you know I hate to be disappointed!"

Instead of a reply he could only cough up blood.

"What you did…destroyed the work of decades and threw us far back again!" the man went on, hissing the words that were normally barks with other people. "I'll make you pay for this!" he snarled right next to his ear and gave the man behind him a sign.

If he had believed that he had screamed out loud before, he was amazed how much power his voice had still left in it. Whatever had been attached to his spine set all nerves and muscles on fire. It was like being cooked from within. He had never felt such a strong pain before. Not when they had burned him with fire or acid to punish him or the many times his bones had been broken… This agony was beyond anything he could handle. "Stop!" he barked with the last strength he had left in him and gasped for air. "Please!"

"Oh, I don't think so!" the man snarled and gave another nod to the man behind him, turned away when another scream filled the room. "You're going to pay for destroying my work! My master is highly displeased with you again and as far as I've been told yours is not so pleased with your doing either."

"I…I'm sorry!" he pleaded once more and gritted his teeth when his left wrist gave in and broke due to the weight that it had to carry. "Please, stop!"

"So ya've learned yer lesson?" another man with a darker voice that was almost like a low growl asked. He knew instantly who it was without seeing him. Even if the man had been there in the shadows throughout his whole life so far and he had never seen the face, he would recognize the voice everywhere and under any circumstances.

"Yes,…yes, I did," he replied in a broken voice and lowered his head, just to cry out as claws ripped through his body.

"I've given ya the order t'stay away from him," his master growled and twisted his claws until he received another whimper. "'n ya never listen. So what else 'm I supposed t'do if ya disobey me every time?!"

"I…," he began but gasped for air with gritted teeth. "I'm sorry…"

"If…ya'll ever get close t'him again," the shadow in front of him warned him, "then I'll make ya experience pain 'n agony that ya've never experienced before. This here…will be nothin' compared t'it!" With a growl he retracted his claws on one hand, ignored the whimper of the man and the blood that splattered the ground. His other set of claws cut through the chains easily and his black eyes watched how his opposite dropped limply to the floor. Growling, he grabbed the neck and pulled him up. "Ya know why all of this happens t'ya, don't ya?" he asked, forcing his voice to be softer now. "All the agony in yer life, the things ya had t'do… All of it is yer father's fault! He slaughtered yer mother when she'd ya in her belly, he murdered her coz he feared what ya are, what ya'll become… He hated ya from the moment she told him that she's expectin' ya." The shadow grinned, showing his fangs when the man growled. "Yer not like him, Daken. Yer better than yer father, stronger,…more dangerous even. Ya'll finish him and then ya'll become the best of our race next t'me. But in order t'achieve that…ya've t'be patient." Carelessly, he let him fall to the ground.

"Apocalypse is not pleased!" the man in the corner said.

"I don't give a damn 'bout him, Sinister!" the shadow growled.

"You should! The moment he rules over the world will be the moment the genocide begins," Sinister told him. "Your race is of far more value to him than those homo sapiens superiors. It should be in your interest to please him, Romulus."

Romulus laughed darkly, the sound was more like a growl. "I've seen leaders on their thrones, Nathaniel. The higher their aim's been, the harder their fall. I've no interest in Apocalypse and his crazy plans."

"Then what are you here for?" Sinister challenged and his red eyes stared into the black ones of his opposite. "For your precious revenge on Wolverine?" He laughed arrogantly. "You're hiding in the shadows for decades." He nodded at the unconscious man behind him. "Wolverine's boy is only your pawn in that process. He would be far more valuable for genetic experiments…"

"Ya already have yer clones."

"I want more! I want the ultimate assassin and to achieve that goal I need a working DNA example of that mutant," Sinister said and crossed is arms. "You have no idea how powerful the right combination between him and Jean Grey would be… That child of them…," he paused to look at Daken, "that child is far more valuable than this man. He's useless on the genetic level. I have hundreds of him, so the only use he would have for me is on gaining more information on your evolutionary strain. Other than that he's junk."

"He's of value fer me," Romulus snarled. "Always has been…"

"Yes, for your stupid revenge," his opposite nodded. "What do you intend to do anyway? Kill the son in front of the father? What you did to Wolverine in the past set him off for a moment and that was all. In order to really finish the Wolverine, you would have to kill him mentally. He is not afraid to die physically, but killing him mentally…let's say by going after his wife and children…THAT would finish him for good."

"It didn't in the past…," Romulus growled but Sinister waved off with a laugh.

"You mean going after his old girlfriends or wives? Please! This is nothing compared to him having a family now," he replied and shook his head in amusement. "All those years and you still don't understand the effect the mind can have on a body. Back then Wolverine had mates but no children. You hit him every time he was the happiest and thought of himself as safe. Now…he has everything he ever wanted. A home, a family, a wife that he loves and children… Taking those things away from him will hurt him more that what Weapon X or your men have done to him in the past." He paused for a moment and made sure that Daken was still unconscious, before he leant in and whispered: "You do remember Wolverine's reaction after he had found this Japanese woman dead in his house? When he believed that also his baby had died? He wiped out two villages full of people because he was led to believe that they had murdered her. And now imagine what he would be capable of, if he found his wife and children dead…"

"His wife's the Phoenix!" Romulus snarled.

"So? Even the Phoenix needs to sleep at night," Sinister said and leant back again. "Finding them dead would fuel his rage enough for him to kill everyone in that school… It might be even possible for us to convince him that some of his old comrades have murdered his family. He was of great value for the master as his servant Death…"

"Sounds t'me as if ya've already planned somethin'…"

The man with the white skin and red eyes smiled. "Let's say…money can do wonders sometimes…" He stopped at the door. "Clean up the room after you're done with him." Sinister looked aside when he saw how Romulus gave the shadows a sign and Sabretooth came closer. "Again?!" he asked and sighed. "It's disgusting, you know?"

"Our drive's strong, Sinister," Romulus growled and smirked when Daken slowly regained consciousness, just to widen his eyes. "Do me a favor," he said and Sabretooth looked up, his black, wild eyes sparkling with arousal and the desire for blood, "make sure he ain't hurtin' fer two weeks this time. I still need him…" When Sabretooth flashed his canines his eyes fell on Daken.

"I said I learned my lesson!" the man said and struggled against his captor's grip. "Please, master!"

"And I said stay away from yer father!" Romulus growled and closed the door after Sinister and he went through it.

"Get off me, Creed!" Daken snarled despite his heart being in his mouth since he knew what was awaiting him.

"I don't think so, runt," Sabretooth smirked and showed his sharp canines. He quickly used the chains to bind the man's wrist on this one's back and extracted one pair of claws. "We gonna have fun now… And ya gonna enjoy it."

"Get off me…," Daken said once more and glared, but his eyes were watching the claws closely. He knew how aroused the animal on top of him became when he watched someone being tortured. And the pressure against his lower back made it too obvious that he had quiet enjoyed the show before. His muscles pressed against the chains that held him captive and he snarled warningly as Sabretooth used the claws to rip off the few clothes he was wearing. "If you do that…I'm gonna kill you!"

The giant chuckled and used his claws to rip open the tattooed back of the younger mutant underneath him. "Yer sayin' that every damn time, runt… Ya never did it before, yer ain't gonna do it now." While one clawed hand kept on cutting through skin and black eyes watched in complete joy how blood poured out of the deep wounds, his free hand grabbed another pair of chains. "We don't want ya t'start screamin' again, do we?" Sabretooth snarled and, after putting the chain around Daken's neck, pulled on it. He watched amused how the younger mutant gasped for air first, how the face reddened and the eyes widened, before he entered him roughly and made sure that he hurt him a lot. His senses focused on the racing heart of his toy and made sure that he didn't allow Daken to breathe again, before the man's eyes began to roll back. Snarling in heat, Sabretooth used a hand to press the mutant's head to the ground, felt how his excitement became even stronger as Daken desperately tried to fill his lungs with air, while the other part in him wanted to whimper in pain and fought at the same time against his feral nature. "Don't try t'fight it," Sabretooth snarled and thrust hard once, chuckled when he achieved a whimper. "Yer gonna be punished fer yer disobedience and I'll make sure that yer gonna enjoy every second of it, runt." He bit hard into Daken's neck until he drew blood. "Ya can thank yer dear daddy fer it," he chuckled into the man's ear and knew that Daken was determined to stay silent. "Coz yer dear daddy never wanted a piece of worthless shit like ya are. He even killed that bitch of a mother of yours. I bet he still regrets that he hadn't made sure this bastard son of his was really dead," Sabretooth growled and faked pity when he saw how Daken gritted his teeth but had tears in his eyes. "See it like that, runt… Yer daddy never wanted ya and by killin' yer mama he spared her the shame t'have an animal like ya," he panted and buried his nail-claws deep into the man's hip, still amused that Daken refused to utter a sound. Only the tensed muscles and shaking told him that he was hurting him. "Dear daddy would be ashamed of his fag son anyway…"

"I'm not queer!" Daken suddenly roared and bared his teeth when he couldn't move at all due to Sabretooth's weight.

The taller mutant gave a throaty laugh and quickened his pace until he could feel the blood pouring again. "Still ya like men, runt. Dear daddy would be ashamed of ya… Who'd want an animal like ya? Yer a worthless mongrel!"

"Shut up!" Daken growled and his eyes flashed black for a moment, but only until he became aware of the pain again. In the end he glared at the door, tried to ignore the insults Sabretooth had for him and just waited for the mutant to be done with him. Knowing that it could still be hours until he would leave him alone, his mind focused on the man responsible for the agony that was his life: his father.

* * *

When Rachel heard how the door was opened and Miloh howled his casual greeting, she stopped working on the picture in front of her and got up to look who'd come. To her surprise the doors that had been closed or left half opened before looked still the same to her and there was no sign that anyone had entered the apartment. Her green eyes followed Miloh to Jamie's room and she walked over to take a look. But still there was no one in the room except for the wolf, Callie and their cubs, who were occupied with drinking. Frowning, the girl looked aside and finally noticed that the balcony door wasn't complete closed. Curiously, she walked over and saw that her father was standing at the banister, both arms supporting his weight and had his lowered. She figured that something was wrong, knew that he was still not completely recovered from being sick and gave him a worried look. "Daddy?" Rachel asked once, then twice and finally touched her father's leg to get his attention. "Daddy, is something wrong?" she asked and looked at him with her green eyes, began to tuck on his jeans when he still just stared at the garden.

Picking up on her mother in the kitchen, she turned and ran downstairs. "Mommy?!" the girl barked and made the older redhead look up from putting the food Ororo, Raven and her had just bought away. "Mommy?"

"What's wrong?!" Jean asked since it was unusual that Rachel ever raised her voice and that she seemed to be scared. She frowned when the girl clung to her legs and exchanged confused looks with Ororo and Raven. "Did something happen?!"

"Something's wrong with daddy," Rachel cried and looked up at her with tears in her eyes.

"What's wrong with him?" Jean asked concerned and already feared the worst when she walked over to the door.

"I don't know…"

"And where is he?"

"On the balcony," the girl sniffed and was told to stay where she was before her mother left.

"Sweety," Ororo tried to distract Rachel and knelt down next to her, "how about helping us a bit while your mommy talks to your daddy, hm?" She reached out to stroke over the girl's long red hair when she heard her sniffle. "Your daddy's fine… Don't worry!"

"But…but he didn't react to me," the redhead cried and buried her face on the woman's neck when Ororo pulled her close.

"He was probably thinking about something…," Raven said and crossed her arms, but still exchanged a worried look with the weather goddess.

Upstairs, Jean entered her rooms and instantly walked over to the balcony, just to be surprised that it was empty. She quickly checked the garden to make sure that he hadn't jumped down and went back inside to the bedroom. "Logan?" she asked and opened the door. The bed was empty and there was no sign that he had been sitting on it either. Sighing, she was about to turn around and leave again when she noticed that he was sitting in a corner, had his head lowered, the legs pulled close and his hands buried in his hair. She knew from experience that this meant something was seriously wrong…

Cautiously moving closer to him, she knelt down in front of him. "Logan?" she whispered, not wanting to startle him, even though she was sure that he had already heard her.

"Go away!" he grunted, not looking up.

"No," Jean insisted and laid her hand on his arms, which earned her a growl. "What happened? Do you feel sick again?" she asked since the cold sweat on his forehead and the slight shaking of his hands indicated that he must have thrown up. "Talk to me!" she pleaded since he didn't say one word. "It won't go away by itself if you hide in a dark corner…"

"Says ya, huh?" he mocked and gave her a cold glare. "Leave me alone…"

"You scared Rachel!"

"What?!" he asked confused and tried to read the look she gave him. "Scared her?"

"Yes!" Jean nodded and sat down next to him. "She found you on the balcony and you scared her by not reacting to her. So what happened? I can see that you're still shaking." She sighed when he looked away again. "Is it possible that you talk about your problems just once, Logan?!"

"_Jean? I need Logan to come downstairs to my office, please!"_

"Charles wants to see you," the redhead informed him, was surprised when he got up to grab some money from his wallet and the keys for his bike. "Where are you going?!"

"Away," Logan grunted and wanted to get away from the mansion as fast and as far away as possible. But of course she followed him.

"What is going on?!" Jean asked him and followed him down the corridor and towards the garages. "Logan!" Seeing that he suddenly stopped just to turn around and head for the backdoor, she looked down the corridor and saw that the Professor wheeled closer and was followed by a woman, who looked to be around 40, maybe 50. Confused and not knowing why he so desperately tried to run away, Jean followed him to the kitchen and used her powers to keep the backdoor locked.

"Open the fuckin' door!" Logan instantly growled and earned himself the confused looks from the others, who sat at the kitchen isle and were eating dinner.

"Not before you tell me what has gotten into you!" Jean replied and looked around. "Where are our children?!"

"They help John with something," Scott told her and began to frown when Logan behind him began to pace like a caged tiger. "What's wrong with him?!" he asked since his teammate was heaving deep breaths and looked like someone who was a) about to freak out or b) ready to go on a killing rampage.

"Open….the fuckin' door!" Logan growled again and narrowed his eyes. "Now!"

"Logan, what's…," Moira began when Charles appeared and addressed him.

"Logan…," the bald man said but was at a loss of words. He closed his eyes briefly since the emotions he picked up on from the man overwhelmed him. He knew Wolverine was on the edge, far worse even, close to come to the surface. But what shocked him even more was that he picked up on fear and that the man was projecting it strongly. He exchanged a brief look with the still confused redhead, knew that Jean had noticed it too.

"I tear this fuckin' door outta its hinges, Jean!" Logan warned her in a low growl and grabbed the doorknob to show that he meant what he said.

"Can someone please explain what is going on here?!" Bobby asked after Ororo had sent the children out of the kitchen and looked to and fro between the more than nervous Wolverine, who looked at the woman as if she was his worst nightmare, and the woman, who looked at the pacing Wolverine as if he was an animal in a zoo.

"You look like him…," she said more to herself and her blue eyes scanned Logan from head to toe. "Exactly like Thomas…"

"Who is Thomas?!" Bobby whispered and looked at Rogue and Scott from aside, but their shrugs told him that they didn't know the answer either.

Jean stepped towards Logan and laid a soothing hand onto his broad shoulder. Despite their differences he relaxed slightly under her touch and stopped his nervous pacing for a moment. "What are you doing here?" Jean spoke, her voice calm, but an underlying warning lacing her tone. "As far as I remember you kicked him out and never wanted to see him again…"

Looking at her skeptically, the woman next to Charles crossed her arms. "And you are, my dear?!"

"His wife," Jean gave back to the surprise of everyone. "Jean Grey."

"Ah,…you look an awful lot like Rose, you know?" the woman said. "I am…"

"Elizabeth Howlett, his mother, I know," the redhead replied coolly. "Still that doesn't answer my question why you're here and what you want, does it?"

"I call that bitchy…," Jubilee mumbled and began to eye Logan's mother curiously, tried to find any similarities or differences between her and her son. But in the end she realized that John had mostly inherited his mother's facial structure and looks. When it came to her father-figure there were no similarities at all.

"I was asked to come here…," Elizabeth said and returned the glare she was given by Jean. It didn't need a genius to see that both women couldn't stand each other.

"By whom?" Jean demanded to know and kept her hand on Logan's arm, since she felt how terrified he was.

"By me," Charles replied and folded his hands. "I was asked to look for her. Logan, would you please come with us to my office?"

"Why do you call him Logan?!" Mrs Howlett demanded to know and looked at the bald man from aside.

"I'll explain later," he promised and still looked at the man next to the redhead. "Logan? Please?" he asked and made an inviting gesture to the door.

All eyes switched from Charles to the still terrified looking Logan, whose eyes were fixed on his mother. His heartbeat refused to slow down, he still felt each beat in every single part of his body and knew that his hands were shaking. He felt trapped in his personal nightmare. His eyes noticed that Charles said something, which was obviously directed at him, but he couldn't understand what. So he just shook his head, usually that did it.

"You don't really believe that he would talk to her after what she's done to him, do you, Charles?" Jean asked and gave Logan's hand an encouraging squeeze. Narrowing her eyes, the redhead glared at the woman next to him. "You see what you're doing to him, don't you?"

"I'm sorry," Elizabeth asked sharply, "but is it possible that my son can speak on his own?! The question was directed at him not you!"

"Son?" Logan asked in a hoarse voice that was barely more than a whisper. "I thought I was a damn abortion, an animal and a monster?!" he snarled, his eyes full of hatred all of a sudden when he saw in front of his inner eye how she had reacted after his mutation had shown. He believed to be able to feel how she had beaten him, still saw how she had begun to throw things at him and started yelling and calling him names that a mother should never use on her own child, heard himself begging her to stop it, saying that he had been a good boy and loved her… He now knew that his animal had taken over back then and that he, as soon as he had regained control, couldn't remember what had happened or what he had done. But she hadn't cared about it at all… "And all of a sudden I'm your son again?!"

Uneasily, his mother rubbed her arm. "That was so long ago…," she mumbled without looking at him.

"Ah…," he nodded cynically and crossed his arm, a dark look masking his pain inside. "Maybe you've forgotten about it…but I haven't! And I'll neither forget nor forgive what ya did t'me!"

"Do you think I will?!" she snapped, the others completely forgotten. "You murdered Thomas!"

"He blew my father's head off in front of my eyes and came after me afterwards!" Logan barked enraged.

"That's not an excuse for what you did!"

"Right… But it excuses what ya did, huh?" he mocked and shook his head.

"How would you react if your son turns…" She gesticulated with her hand. "…into an animal in front of your eyes?!"

"I wouldn't kick him out without clothes, food or money!" he growled. "And don't ya dare t'act as if ya haven't known about it!"

"How was I supposed to know about it?" she snapped at him when he suddenly nodded at something behind her.

"Ask him for a chance," he grunted and crossed his arms, watching how Rogue got up to escort his children upstairs. He didn't want them to see or hear anything about that. He knew the whole conversation would turn out ugly.

Elizabeth, in the meanwhile, had turned to look at the man, who stared at her in complete shock, and shrugged. "Why should I ask him? What has that man to do with it?"

Logan chuckled low and shook his head. "_That_ man?!" he asked and gave his brother a look. "Say hi to mommy, _John_!"

"You found her?" John asked Charles but was talking more to himself. His eyes were fixed on the woman in front of him, looked into her blue eyes and at the black, now longer hair. She looked older than he remembered, but the shock that she was really still alive went deeper than he would admit.

"Do I know you?" Elizabeth asked him in annoyance.

"So one son's a damn abortion and the other doesn't exist anymore, huh?" Logan mocked darkly and leant back against the wall.

"Calm down…," Jean whispered and received a glare.

"No, I won't!"

"He is not my son," his mother replied after looking at John again. "I don't know him."

"Of course you don't," John now said and stepped into the kitchen, away from a confused Narya and joined his brother on the other side of the kitchen isle.

"My son is dead!"

"Oh, I heard that before," he nodded and crossed his arms. "But, you know, I still wasn't told how I died. Maybe you can help out?!" he asked mockingly. "So how did I die, hm?"

"What kind of sick joke is this?!" she asked and looked to and fro between both men. "I'm telling you, James, that I don't know that man!" Startled, when John suddenly extracted his bone claws on one hand, she made a step back.

"Wanna see if they still fit to the wounds on your waist?" John asked her. "Oh, no, wait! With that healing factor of yours they should have faded by now, right? In the end you're what? 152 years old?!" he waited for a reply but there was none. Instead his mother stared at him and was obviously at a loss of words. Shaking his head, he turned to look at the garden for a moment.

"How come…you're still alive?" Elizabeth asked in barely more than a whisper. "He said you died…"

"Who?" John grunted and looked back at her. "The old man?" She nodded slowly. "Then how did I die according to him?" he asked, his voice being so cold that Narya made a step back from him.

"He told us that there had been an accident with the carriage…," she began to tell him without looking at anyone. "According to him the horses startled and the carriage was pushed into the river. He said you drowned…" She looked up when he gave a brief chuckle and saw how he shook his head. "What is so funny about it?!"

"How naïve are you?!" John asked her, the amused look gone and replaced with anger.

"Why don't you go into a room where it is calm and you're alone to discuss this?" Scott intervened before the tension between the three people would escalate. The glares he received were answer enough and he raised both hands. "Never mind…"

"And you believed that crap?" John asked furious and now it was for him to pace. "Do you have any idea," he went on and spoke in a low and tensed voice, "what he did to me?!"

"How am I supposed to know?" Elizabeth shrugged and gave no impression that she was interested in it.

"He put me into a madhouse and told those people to keep me locked away," he nearly barked at her in rage and began to pant, not realizing that his eyes had begun to glow red. "And you can't tell me that you didn't know! It was obvious that the old man would do anything to keep any embarrassment from the family as focused on classes as he'd been! You know what kind of person he was! How much he hated everything that had been lower than him."

"Well, I didn't and that's all I can tell you," she replied in a chilly voice and gasped when he turned into fog with red eyes for a moment as his rage took over. "What kind of thing are you…?!"

"The _thing_ those people made out of me after experimenting on me for _50_ years…," the fog snarled and ignored the surprised and shocked looks he was given from his friends. "And neither you nor father ever showed up to visit me or sent anyone else to get me out of there. You just forgot about me… Your own son…," he went on in a low snarl. "Do you know what it felt like? To be locked up with murderers and really mad people? Not to know why you are there or why your family abandoned you? Or why those people experiment on you as if you were some kind of dog?!"

"You and him are dogs," his mother said and gave his the claws that he had still extracted a disgusted looks. "You are animals in human form…"

"Are we?" he asked her full of hatred. "For me a mother is an animal who throws her 12 year old son out of her house!"

"You haven't seen what he has done!"

"He killed that idiot gardener, so what? That man murdered our father, he didn't deserve better!" John barked and heaved very deep breaths. "You hoped that Logan would die after you kicked him out, didn't you? You didn't give a damn about him! You destroyed both of our lives!"

Now it was for her to give a brief laugh. "_I_ destroyed _your_ lives?! He destroyed mine," she yelled back and pointed at Logan, who had stared at the ground the whole time through and now slowly raised his head to cock an eyebrow at her.

"Sure!" John mocked. "You had a great life and father has always been good to anyone, even to the servants! You could do whatever you wanted to do and go wherever you wanted to go, he never held you back. And what did you do? Threw yourself at this idiot gardener!"

"Thomas wasn't an idiot! Watch your mouth, John!" Elizabeth warned him.

"I'm of age, remember? And he WAS an idiot, a drunkard and violent man, who has turned his own son into a psychopath," he growled. "You destroyed your own life by spreading your legs for him. Logan, didn't! After you had Logan you began to change and began to ignore me, so stop blaming him for your life going down the drain! That was your own fault and that of this fucking gardener!"

"I didn't want _this thing_ to begin with!" his mother yelled and pointed at Logan to the great shock of anyone. "He ruined my life, he destroyed everything! Because of him I was trapped in that cage that you call a good life! If he hadn't been born, Thomas and I would have gone away and started a life together as we had planned. He is the reason why I became that way! And I told Thomas that the chance he would turn out to be the same disgusting animal like you were too great."

"Then why didn't you get rid of him when ya had the chance, huh?" he snarled. "You could have just pushed him into the river. Make it look like an accident."

"If abortions had been possible, I would have, trust me!" she hissed enraged and looked away.

"Excuse me?!" Narya now said and gave her a shocked look, practically as everyone else did. "What kind of mother are you?! Both Logan and John are great, kind men and the best partners a woman can hope for! You don't know rats about them!"

"Wrong!" Elizabeth said and glared at her. "_You_ don't know what they will evolve into. I do! They will turn into the animals they are on the inside."

"I see…," a deep voice suddenly said from the door and Magneto entered to the surprise of the X-Men. "So you finally told the Wolverine about his past, old friend?"

"Erik…," the Professor warned but Magneto chuckled. "Stop it!"

"What are you talking about?!" Jean asked and narrowed her eyes. "What does he mean with told him about his past?!"

"That woman is mama Wolverine, isn't she?" Magneto smirked.

"How come you know?"

"Erik, may I asked who let you in and what you are doing here?!" Charles tried to change the subject.

"I actually came to talk to you but this here is much more interesting," Erik smirked and crossed his arms. "So, did you finally tell him?"

"Tell me what?!" Logan grunted, his eyes and mind still unfocused because of the destructive words his mother had practically thrown at him. Even if his mind and heart were racing he could tell that the Professor began to feel uneasy. "Tell…me...what?!"

"He didn't?" Magneto asked innocently.

"Erik!" Charles warned and narrowed his eyes.

"How much longer do you want to keep it away from him, Charles?" Erik asked amused and enjoyed the situation clearly.

"Keep what away from me?!" Logan growled and looked to and fro between the two men. "Tell me, for fuck's sake!" he barked all of a sudden.

"Logan…"

"No, you shut up!" he warned and pointed at Charles. "I want to hear it from him," he added with a nod at Magneto. "Tell me what?!"

"Erik, don't!" the Professor begged and shook his head.

"Block his powers!" Logan demanded with a nod at the bald man from Jean, who was completely confused about the whole situation. In the end, she had already too much to do to keep Phoenix from killing her mother-in-law.

"He deserves to know, don't you think?" Magneto asked sweetly and turned his attention back to the nervous Logan. "Ask your so-called mother about Weapon X… About Sinister and his experiments…" His smile widened when the man's eyes switched to his mother and had widened slightly. "Or better,…ask my old friend about what he knew about you before you came here." Winking at Logan, he turned around. "I think the time to talk is bad. I'll come back on another day, old friend."

Watching him leave, Logan switched his attention to the Professor, who had his eyes closed and heaved a deep breath. "What was that about?" he asked him.

"Logan…"

"NO! No more lies, I'm done with this fuckin' shit!" he warned. "What does she have to do with Weapon X and Sinister and what are ya hidin' from me?!"

"Weapon X wanted me to work for them in order to regain my freedom," his mother began before Charles could stop her. "And Sinister wanted me to be the surrogate mother for an experiment of him… He said something about a clone project…" She shrugged.

"Clone project?!" Hank asked and began to do the math. "Was the baby you gave birth to a girl by any chance?!"

"You don't think that…," Moira gasped as she understood why he looked so shocked and her eyes widened when the woman gave the confirming nod. "Oh my God…"

"What?" Bobby asked, still not getting it but Jubilee elbowed him into the ribs after she had noticed the look Logan gave his mother.

"Ya have been there when they experimented on me?" he asked in barely more than a whisper. "Ya watched how they did those things t'me and never tried t'help me?!"

"It was my freedom and I wanted it back, James," the woman replied. "They said you volunteered for it."

"Volunteered…?!" he asked calmly, too calm as Jean noticed. "As I volunteered t'do a man's work as a miner when I was only 12 years old and actually too sick t'do it? As I volunteered for going days without food since I couldn't work that hard? I went through hell because of ya! And ya watched how those men cut me open and did who knows what t'me?!" he asked almost desperate and pushed Jean's hand away when she touched his shoulder in an attempt to calm him down. "How could ya do that t'me?!" he demanded to know in a whisper, but she turned her head away from him. His attention switched to Charles, who too avoided his eyes. "Ya knew, didn't ya? Ya knew about me before I came here…"

"Logan…"

"No! I think I know why ya wanted me t'stay here," Logan growled and looked at the man full of hatred. "Ya knew who I was and ya knew what those fuckers tried to make me do. Ya were afraid that if your enemies got your hands on me that I'd come for your students one day! So ya thought that keepin' me here and tellin' me that I had a place t'stay and that ya would do everythin' t'help me put back my memories together, would ensure that your enemies could never reach me. Am I right?!"

"No, you're not," the Professor replied and looked at the panting man, who was close to lose it completely, with tears in his eyes. "I tried to atone for what my father did to you, Logan. I knew you were Weapon X, I knew that they tried to turn you into a walking killing machine and I knew that your mother was involved… But I…" Before he could finish the backdoor slammed shut and Logan was gone. Sighing, he buried his face in one hand, the silence in the room bone-crushing.

"I think that was all, wasn't it?" Elizabeth suddenly asked him and turned to go when John stopped her.

"Is that gardener my father too?"

"What?!" she asked and gave him a questioning look.

"Thomas looked like Logan… So he has to be his biological father," he said slowly and without looking at her. "Who is my father?"

"You know that, John. What kind of stupid question is that?!" she asked annoyed and shook her head.

"Then you can't be right," he replied and looked up, tears in his eyes and disgust mirrored on his face. "Logan and I both have inherited that healing factor from you. But if we had different fathers…our powers wouldn't be so much alike, would they? We both have claws and a feral nature. And we clearly haven't inherited THAT from you!" he concluded and looked at Hank for a confirming nod. "Now,…either you knew that fucking gardener for longer than we thought…, or our family has an even darker secret than I believed it had… But Logan and I are too much alike that we could have different fathers."

"I don't need to answer that," she said coolly. "Least of all to you. I don't have any connection to you. To me you died when you were 12."

Snorting, John shook his head. "You know what?" he asked after a moment. "Next time you decide to blow your head off, make sure you stay dead! Because for me and him you are dead too!" With that he turned and slammed the backdoor shut behind him.

His fists clenched in anger he stomped away and into the already dark garden where he just began to walk. He didn't stop before he realized that he had reached the walls, which surrounded the property. Growling, he slammed his fist into the brick and leant his head against it. Her words still rang in his ears and had struck deep, especially her brutal honesty. Looking up, John sniffed and tried to locate the scent of his brother. He knew that the shock for the man was way harder than for him. He walked back, followed the scent but began to frown soon…

* * *

"What kind of mother is that woman?!" Ororo asked enraged and slammed the silverware back into the drawer. "How can she look into his eyes and tell him that she never wanted him?!"

"Calm down!" Scott said for the at least third time. "All that yelling and snapping at each other will lead to nothing. What happened, happened."

"Of course this comes from you!" she snapped.

"Ororo, he is right," Hank tried to soothe her. "We can't turn back time, so we can't change it anymore." He sipped on his drink and sighed. "But you are right… What she has said…" He shook his head.

"I still don't get what you meant before," Bobby said and looked at him. "Why were you so shocked about her giving birth to a girl?!"

Looking back at him for a moment, the furry mutant sighed. "You really didn't make the connection?" he asked but the younger man shrugged.

"He's slow, you know?" Jubilee said teasingly.

"Then explain it to me, genius," her fiancé gave back and crossed his arms.

"Let me rephrase Hank's question…," she began and began to tap her finger repeatedly against her chin and acted as if she had to think very hard. "Which girl inside this mansion is a clone?"

"Laura," Bobby shrugged but still had the questioning look on his face.

"There you go," Jubilee said and rested her head on one hand again. "You are so dense…"

"Hold on…," he made, his brows furrowed and a hand raised. "Does that mean Logan's mother is also Laura's mother?! Because that would be sick…" He pulled a face. "Is that even possible?!"

"I doubt that she is Laura's mother," Hank replied. "I think she just gave birth to Laura and that the ovum is from someone else… Since Laura was cloned from Logan, I'm still asking myself how they did it… They must have duplicated his X chromosome to create a female clone. So it is very likely that they took an ovum, removed the nucleus and inserted one of Logan's cells into it. That would mean that Laura is to 100 percent Logan but female…" He thought about it for a moment. "Of course it is also possible that they used the whole ovum of a woman and planted Logan's genetic information into it. That they found a way to strengthen his dominant traits…"

"Did Logan or Jean plan to tell Laura one day that she is a clone?" Kitty asked. "I mean, she is not dumb… And better to tell her than risking that she finds out on her own that they are not her parents and that she is just a clone."

"Actually Logan is her father in a complicated way…," Moira mumbled while feeding Nick, who sucked eagerly on his bottle and held onto it with his little pawns. "Or brother and father in one person…"

"You know what I'm asking myself?" Jubilee said after a while. "How can John and Logan be more or less normal with such a mother?! I would have zapped her if someone had given me a go… Stupid bitch…"

"Better say how John can be so normal after spending 50 years in a madhouse," Scott mumbled and shook his head, just to look up when the backdoor opened and said person entered.

"He's not on the grounds," John said, panting since he had searched the whole grounds.

"Who?" Mystique asked.

"Logan!" he grunted and rolled his eyes, believing that it was obvious who he was talking about. "He's not on the grounds anymore. He has left!"

Groaning, Scott got off his stool and walked over to the door. "Did you check the garages? Is my and his bike still there?"

"No, I only checked the grounds."

"Maybe he's inside the mansion?" Ororo shrugged. "In the Dangerroom perhaps?"

She heard him sighing. "I said…NOT on the grounds."

"Okay, okay!" She raised both hands and walked over to the door. "I let Jean know." After she had left the kitchen, she stopped in surprise. "Hey, why are you standing there?" she asked Laura sweetly, but the girl just stared at her with confused eyes and ran upstairs. "Strange…," the woman mumbled and went upstairs where she knocked on the door.

"Come in," she heard Jean calling and went inside, saw how her bets friend was toweling Jamie off and couldn't hide her smile, since the boy's hair was stuck out into every possible direction.

"What's wrong?" the redhead asked and put the towel away. She ran a hand through her son's dark hair and smiled a bit when he quickly raised both of his arms to cover his head.

"No!" the boy complained and jumped quickly off the sofa.

"Hold on!" Jean said to Ororo and went after her son, who began to protest loudly since he didn't like it at all that his mother carried him back to the sofa again. "I still need to put crème you. You can't run around naked."

"No crème, mommy!" he whined and watched how she was about to take the bottle with the baby oil.

"Jamie!" Jean sighed and tried to grab the bottle again, but it floated into the opposite direction. "Be a good boy and stop it!"

"He can do that?!" Ororo asked surprised, forgotten for the moment why she had come.

"Don't even ask!" her best friend sighed and watched how the bottle floated once more into the opposite direction of where her hand went. "Jamie… Please?! Don't make me get daddy."

"Wanna daddy!" he said and whined dramatically again since his mother had grabbed the bottle quickly.

"Be a good boy!" Jean said and began to apply the oil to his skin, mirroring his pouting. "It's not the end of the world, you know?"

"Obviously it is for him…," Ororo said and sat down on the armrest of the sofa.

"Do you know where Logan is? It's time for the children to go to bed and they are waiting for him." While she began to dress her son, she looked up. "What?"

"We don't know where he is… That's why I came," the weather goddess replied in a whisper.

"I knew he would do that…," Jean sighed and pulled Jamie up.

"Scott and John are probably already looking for him. Do you know where he'd go?"

"Maybe into a bar to start drinking and fighting…," she mumbled and kissed Jamie before she put him to bed. "Night, baby," she said and put his bottle next to him. "What do you reply to that?"

"Night," he replied but was already interested in his plush wolf.

After closing the door behind her, Jean walked over to the twins' room. "You ready?"

"Where's daddy?" Jack asked and looked up.

"Daddy has something to do and had to leave," she said and tucked him in before placing a kiss on his forehead.

"You're lying, mommy," Lily suddenly said and Jean noticed the disappointed look she and her son gave her. "We heard him and Uncle John yelling at someone…"

The redhead sighed. "It's too hard to explain, baby…"

"Why did daddy's mommy say so mean things to him?" Jack demanded to know and surprised his mother with it.

"You really heard everything?!" she asked and they nodded. "I'll be right back," she said after a moment and went of to Rachel's room to say goodnight to her and Laura. The latter surprising her with an odd look and tears in her eyes. Dismissing it as the same problem she now had with the twins, Jean only gave her a weak smile and kissed her cheek. "Sleep well."

"Is something wrong?" Ororo asked since the redhead was on her way back to the twins' room.

Giving her a sign to wait, Jean closed the door behind her and sat down on Lily's bed. "So what did you hear?" she asked in a calm voice, her eyes looking at her hands.

"That she was mean to daddy," Lily said and pulled her plush wolf closer.

"And to Uncle John," her brother added. "And we heard that both got angry with her and started yelling…"

"Why was she mean to them, mommy?" Lily asked.

"It's complicated…," the redhead replied and began to play with her shirt while she bit her lip. "You know neither daddy nor Uncle John knew that their mother was still alive. And…well, their mother… She had some problems in her life, you know… And she blamed daddy for it."

"She called him names…," Jack mumbled and pulled on the sheets of his bed. "I don't like her…"

"Me neither," Jean replied. "But yes, she said things that really hurt your daddy… And Uncle John of course."

"So…" Lily began and felt how tears began to gather in her eyes, "did daddy leave?"

"No!" her mother said and reached out to stroke through her dark hair. "He left because he needs some time to think. But he would never leave his family! Don't even think something like that…"

"But Uncle John said that daddy's gone," Jack sniffed. "And he left us before…"

"But never without telling you before, Jack!"

"He did! When he went to Japan for nearly a whole year!" he snapped.

"But not now!" Jean insisted. "Uncle John and Scott are already looking for him. He didn't leave and he will come back. Just be patient and give him the time he needs. His mother hurt him pretty bad with the things she had said…"

"_And you didn't stop her!"_ Phoenix snarled and made her close her eyes and heave a deep breath.

"Sleep now, okay?" Getting up, she walked over to the door.

"Mommy?" Lily asked and sat up a bit.

"What, baby?"

"Is it true what Aunt Kitty said?"

Jean began to frown, wondered what else they had picked up on. "What did she say?"

"That…that daddy and you are not Laura's parents…," Jack finished for his twin and watched how his mother gave him a shocked look. "She said it when you gave Jamie a bath…"

"So that's why she was crying…," the redhead mumbled and opened the door, thinking about what to do. "We talk when daddy is back, okay? Now sleep. Good night!" Closing the door behind her, she leant against it for a moment to heave a deep breath.

"Jean, what is wrong?!" Ororo asked concerned and walked over to her.

After making sure that Laura was already sleeping, she beckoned Ororo to wait a moment and made a quick check on the cubs, who were all sleeping next to their mother. "They heard everything…"

"Really?" the weather goddess asked shocked and gave the door of the twins' room a look. "Oh God… Really everything?!"

Jean nodded. "They are scared that Logan left them…"

"He wouldn't do that… You know that he wouldn't do that!"

"After what Charles did," Jean said darkly and shook her head, "I wouldn't be so sure about it. Logan trusted him, especially him from all people. And Charles betrayed him."

"Jean, you know that Charles always has a reason behind the things he does…," Ororo disagreed and followed her downstairs. "I doubt he would use Logan like that…"

"I'm not so sure about it, 'Ro. He put barriers into my head too without telling me."

"But he has learned his lesson!" the white haired woman disagreed. "He even cried and was crushed that Logan left without listening to him."

Jean came to an abrupt halt. "He _knew _that Logan's mother was still alive! He _knew_ that she was part of Weapon X!" she hissed and her eyes darkened. "What if he knew that John was still alive too? He never said a word and acted as if he didn't know Logan and all of a sudden he did know about him. You know how hard it is for Logan to trust strangers, to trust other people at all! And he trusted Charles unconditionally…"

"I know! What I'm saying here is that Logan should listen to what Charles version is," Ororo said. "Maybe there really is more to it. Charles said something about atoning for what his father did to Logan." When Jean began to walk again, she followed her and was surprised that she entered the kitchen instead of looking for Scott and John.

"How could you do that, Kitty?"

Turning, Kitty gave the redhead a surprised look. "Do what?!"

"Laura heard you," Jean said angrily. "The twins heard it too that you talked about us not being Laura's real parents. How could you do that?!"

"Oh damn…," the woman gasped and was clearly shocked. "I'm sorry! I didn't think about that and just replied to what Hank said before."

"Great! Thanks you!" the woman snapped darkly. "Now I have to explain to her the things we wanted to tell her much later!" Angrily, she left the room and went to search for Scott and John.

"You're in trouble…and I mean reeeeaaally in trouble," Jubilee said and received a glare from Kitty.

When the phone rang Hank got up to answer it and was watched by the others. "Okay, we will do that. Bye!"

"Do what?" Moira asked him and put the towel she'd been using before away.

"Scott and John are trying to find Logan and want us to search the grounds frequently in case he comes back. And if he does…to give them a call," he explained and squeezed the back of his nose. "If you ask me, I doubt he will come back… After the news he has received…"

"He wouldn't leave his children behind!" his wife reminded him.

"I know. But I bet he will call from Canada and tell Jean to come up with the children and dogs." He gave the garden a look. "I say we make teams and a schedule for each group and for a thorough search of the grounds… Tell everyone to gather in the rec-room within the next 30 minutes."

**I actually wanted to add the following scenes to this chapter but I decided to include a flashback in the next, so I stopped here. Thanks to all reviewers!! I didn't make it to reply to the review I can reply to. I will do that now. I hope you liked the chapter and will leave a review!! Let me know what you think and thought while reading. See ya!**


	39. Chapter 37

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!! : )

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**Again: Spoiler for the comic book Wolverine Origin!!**

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**Please comment on the Scott and Logan scenes. I put a great effort into writing them, especially the second one, which was on my hard drive for at least 3 months by now!!**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 37**

It had been a long night for her.

When Jean heard how the others came downstairs and began to prepare breakfast, she still sat on the couch in the rec-room with the phone in her hands and was waiting. Reaching him had been utterly pointless. The few occasions in which Logan had actually taken his cell with him were rare. And of course he had to leave without it this time. Lost in thoughts, Jean stared at the empty fireplace, rested her head on one arm that lay on the backrest. Her green eyes practically went right through the wall of the chimney and her mind went on with its work that had started as soon as she had sat down with a blanket. She couldn't help but picture every possible situation, thought about him going off to Canada, Japan or who knew where else he would go, feared that he wouldn't call once, wouldn't write a letter to explain himself or do anything else to contact her or at least their children… What would she tell them if that was the case? That their father had run out on them? That they would have to deal with it and just go on with their lives?

Sighing, Jean buried her face in her arm and closed her eyes for a moment. The several attempts to contact him through their link had been fruitless too. It was like running into a brick wall on full speed. There was nothing. Just complete black- and emptiness. Where trust, love and passion had been before, their link was completely withered now. She wasn't even able to feel him when he stood or slept right next to her and she missed it terribly. Just the small touches throughout the day, being held by him at night or being hugged by him and able to lean into him… She missed them a lot and knew that Phoenix, who was constantly bitching and arguing with her and _her_, missed it too.

"Don't tell me you've been up all night?"

Startled by the voice, Jean looked up and wiped her tears away. She had to blink before she realized that Alex had addressed her and stood with Lorna in the door to the room. When they came closer, she sat up and pulled her legs closer.

"They haven't found him yet?" Lorna asked and sat down on the table in front of her, causing Phoenix to start snarling within her since she felt trapped.

"If they had, I wouldn't be sitting here now, would I?"

"Hey, no reason to get all snappy!" Alex said and gave her a look. "What happened to you? You haven't been like that in the past…"

"Things change…," Jean mumbled and looked away, feeling how a strong headache came up. "I'm not feeling well, would you leave me alone please?"

Rolling her eyes, Lorna got up. "I was just trying to be nice… You coming?" she asked Alex, who gave her a go ahead and turned back to Jean.

"Did Logan change you so much?" he asked and crossed his arms.

"What makes you think that?" the redhead asked him incredulously. "Logan has nothing to do with it."

"Well he can be difficult," he shrugged. "And as moody as he can be…"

"He has _nothing _to do with it," Jean snarled and her eyes blackened in a brief fit of rage.

"Fine, I was just thinking aloud," Alex defended himself and began to walk backwards. Before he left the room he shook his head at her. "Man, he really rubs off on her, huh?" he asked as he entered the now crowded kitchen.

"Who?" Hank asked him.

"Logan on Jean. She hasn't been that moody and aggressive when she'd been with Scott."

"When did you talk with her?" Ororo asked and gave the clock a brief glance. Usually, the woman was still upstairs and prepared the children, in case they were already up, for the day.

"Rec-Room," he grunted and drowned his pancakes in syrup. "Or better said…_War_-Room…"

"Don't tell me she's been up all night," she cursed and left the room to go and look for her friend.

"Still nothing?" Mystique asked as Remy, Peter and Bobby entered. Only a second later Kurt _bamfed _into the kitchen and landed on his stool.

"Non, we 'ave looked everyw'ere, mais 'e is now'ere to be found," Remy shrugged and walked over to Rogue to kiss her. "Morning, chérie."

"Tell me what you want, but I doubt we would even find him in that state," Bobby said and sat down. "He's probably already in Canada."

"But he left without a car or bike," Kurt disagreed. "He wouldn't come far without money either." Looking down, he adjusted his awkward position on the stool. "And he wouldn't just leave his family behind…" His yellow eyes met Peter's who nodded and lowered his head.

The others had just begun to eat when a sleep drunken Narya entered and looked around. "He's still not back?!" she asked and ran a hand over her face. "Did they call?"

"No, but you might get lucky," Hank replied. "I think I just heard a motorcycle…"

It didn't take long and the backdoor opened. John had hardly enough time to close it before Narya hugged him and placed a kiss on his lips. "I was worried," she pouted. "Did you find him?!"

He shook his head and the others, who had turned in hope, lowered their heads again. "I searched the whole city and even ran into that Parker kid and the Cap," he told them and sat down. "They were pissed off first because we didn't tell them about Logan being back and helped me looking for him. But he hasn't been seen anywhere. No gas or train stations, no bars… Parker and the Cap checked on people Logan knows but they haven't seen him too…"

"And where's Scott?" Mystique asked him since her partner was nowhere to be seen.

"We split up. I went to check on the city and he searched the streets and woods around here," he told her, which earned him a stern look from the Professor.

"It was dangerous to split up, John…"

"If you had told him the truth from the beginning, it wouldn't have come that far!" the addressed growled with a glare.

"I had my reasons not to tell him," Charles replied.

"What _reasons_? You lied to him and to me too! So don't give me the shit about reasons!" When a soothing hand touched his arm John looked aside and directly into Narya's pleading blue eyes. Understanding her, he nodded. "Sorry…"

"No luck?" Ororo asked him and entered with Jean, both sighing when he shook his head. "Is Scott still looking for him?"

"Yeah…," he nodded and scratched the back of his head. "But actually…he hasn't called in a while… Where's Anna?"

"She's still sleeping. I didn't want to wake her," the blonde told him and received a nod. "She actually didn't notice either that you were gone…"

"Good." Sighing, he ran a hand over his face. "Do you have some aspirin here?" he asked and looked at Hank, who gave him a rather confused look. "My head's exploding from all those smells and noises."

"Because you didn't filter your senses while looking for him?" Hank asked and received a nod. "We have aspirin but it never works with Logan. No matter how many pills I give him at once…"

"Put them into a glass with water and much glucose. Then it'll work," John grunted into his hands while holding his throbbing head. "I swear I can't drown anything out anymore…" He looked up when Moira placed a glass with water in front of him. "Thanks…"

"That really works?!" she asked skeptically and watched him drinking it.

"Of course…," her husband nodded after thinking about it. "Glucose is quickly delivered to the brain… As it seems it works as a carrier for the aspirin on him… Interesting." He nodded just to turn his attention to the door next.

"Eat something and take a shower, okay?" they heard Scott asking and to everyone's surprise he dragged Logan with him into the room.

"God, where have you been?!" Jean asked and went over to embrace him. "We were worried sick," she mumbled into his neck and closed her eyes briefly. When she let go of him she made room for John to hug his brother.

"I searched the whole city for you," the man said accusingly but was relieved that Logan was back. Letting go of him, he held onto his opposite's neck with one hand. "Where the hell have you been?!"

While he glared at the Professor, Logan shrugged as a reply and turned around to go upstairs, but was held back by Scott. "You promised," the man reminded him and crossed his arms. "Come on…"

In the end, Logan took a plate and began to pile pancakes on it, then grabbed a bottle with juice out of the fridge and left. Shortly afterwards the door to the West Wing went shut.

"Where has he been?" Jean asked and followed Scott, who walked over to Mystique and sat down next to her after kissing her, with her eyes.

"At the lake he once found," he replied and began to pile food on his plate.

"The one where we went to go swimming at in the past?" she asked frowning and crossed her arms when he nodded. "I thought he didn't take a car or bike?!"

"He didn't…," Scott shrugged.

"He _walked _all the way?!" she asked incredulously and received a nod. "_All _the way?! You need an hour by car to reach it."

"Jean, Logan walked us through knee-high snow in Canada when we tried to find Jamie," Bobby said. "And that at an incredible speed."

"I know that. But he was miserable in the past days and could hardly walk for longer than maybe twenty minutes," Jean replied and shook her head in disbelief about the sudden change.

"Well, he was angry…," Ororo mumbled and stroked through her daughter's long black hair. "Sweety, by now you really need a haircut…"

"No!" the girl instantly said and covered her head. "Lily's hair is as long as mine and she doesn't need a hair cut either."

"She actually does," the redhead mumbled and thought about what to do. "So when did you find him?"

Chewing on his breakfast, Scott shrugged and swallowed. "Around…midnight…"

"Then why didn't you call me?!" John asked and gave him a look that spoke volumes.

"Ask my cell phone. No service in the whole area."

"And why didn't you bring him back?" Moira asked curiously. "I mean what have you guys been doing all night?"

Scott shrugged and could already tell how shocked everyone else would be in five seconds. "We…talked…" Mentally, he counted from five backwards and yeah, he'd been right. Everyone stared at him as if he was some kind of alien.

"_Talked_?!" Jubilee was the first to speak. "Wolvie and you …_talked_?!"

"Well…yes. It's not as if we couldn't act like…civilized people," he mumbled and shook his head in annoyance that everyone acted completely weird as soon as they saw him and Logan interact with each other. Scott frowned when Jubilee leant over the kitchen isle and looked at him from all sides. "What?!"

"Who are you and what did you do to Scott?!" she asked and he groaned.

"So did Logan say anything?" Jean asked him.

"I'll tell you later, okay?" he said and got up to stretch. "I first need a shower."

"Why? Did you go swimming too?" Jubilee teased him.

"Jubes!"

"Naked?!"

"Jubes!" he groaned louder and gave her a look.

"Just asking!" the young woman said, but still watched him intently as he left the room to leave for his own.

But he stopped briefly and came back. "By the way, Charles," Scott said and the Professor looked up. "Logan is angry. Actually more than that. But I got him so far that he agreed on at least listening to you."

"Thank you…," the Professor nodded.

"Better don't screw up…," his old student mumbled and left for good.

"I'm going upstairs," Jean added after a moment of silent and did so. In her rooms she was surprised to find the living room empty. Same went for the balcony and bathroom. Wondering where Logan was, she entered the bedroom and found him sitting on the edge of the bed, clad in a towel around his waist and his hair still damp. Biting her lip, the redhead closed the door behind her and came slowly closer. In the end she knelt down behind him on the bed and thought about what to do. He clearly looked hurt and deeply lost in thoughts. She just knew that despite his cool demeanor those destructive words had hit him very hard. Not knowing what else she could do, Jean put her arms around him from behind and leant into him. "She doesn't know you… And she definitely doesn't deserve to have you as her son," she said soothingly and stroked through his hair. "What happened in her life was her own fault, not yours… You're neither an animal nor a monster, Logan. If that was the case, we wouldn't have been worried sick when you left nor would your friends and family love you so much. That woman doesn't deserve that you still keep on thinking about her… No matter how much she hurt you…" Jean held his gaze as he turned to look at her from aside and tried to give him a weak smile, despite his sad look. "She doesn't deserve you…," she said once more with as much honesty in her voice as possible and stroked over his cheek before she pulled him close despite their differences. "I'm glad you came back… The children were afraid that you just left them."

"They heard the whole stuff, huh?" he asked barely audible and sighed when she nodded.

"I talked with them about it yesterday. The twins understand the situation," she explained while still resting against him, surprised that he allowed it. "But we have another problem… Laura heard that she is not our daughter but a clone. And she knows what that means… She was pretty devastated yesterday…"

"How come she knows? Hank didn't mention her name," Logan asked her frowning and cocked an eyebrow.

"She must have heard how Kitty talked with Hank about it," Jean replied. "And obviously her name was mentioned…"

"Great," he scoffed. "Any other _great_ news?!" Shaking his head, he lowered it again.

"Did you eat the pancakes?" she asked after a moment and received a nod. "You must be hungry after such a long walk…" He shrugged. "Logan,…" Jean sighed. "She's not worth it!"

"Well I ain't it either…," he smirked cynically.

"That's not true! Stop crucifying yourself because of her," she gave back and looked at him from aside. "Logan, that woman is one arrogant, egoistical bitch. She doesn't know you and she obviously has no idea or understanding of what you have been through because of her! She just needed someone to blame for her miserable life." Snorting, he pushed her arms away and walked over to the window to look out. She knew that he was hiding his true feelings behind anger again, practically like he always did. "I know how you feel…," she therefore said in a calm voice.

"Do ya?" he said coolly and without looking at her.

"Yes, I do."

"I doubt that…"

"Logan, I have differences with my parents too. I know what hating them…," she began when he turned, his face a mask of anger.

"I _loved_ my mother!" Logan growled and clenched his fists. "I never hated her!"

Shocked about being so wrong, the redhead frowned and was about to say something, as he turned around again, lowered his head and supported himself with his hands on the windowsill. Looking at him, Jean thought about how she could have been so wrong. She bit her lip and tried to figure out what to do. From what he had told her about his life so far, she had thought that he hated his family and life back then, had believed that he hated his mother for never caring or acknowledging him as well… Biting her lip, she got up and laid a hand on his back, began to stroke over his skin and noticed that he was trembling. "Let it out…," Jean whispered almost pleadingly and stroked up to his neck and through his hair. Since he didn't react to it and kept his eyes tightly shut and had his teeth bared, she tried to pull him closer.

"No!" Logan grunted and pushed her away before he squeezed the back of his eyes to wipe his tears away. Heaving a deep breath, he walked over to the wardrobe and began to get dressed, knowing full well what kind of look she gave him. He had hardly put a shirt on when the door slammed open and the twins leapt at him. "Hey…," he greeted them calmly and knelt down to pull them close, feeling bad when Lily began to sob into his neck.

Seeing it, Jean decided to leave the room to give them some privacy.

"We thought you left, daddy," Lily cried and held onto him as if her life depended on it.

"I wouldn't leave ya, pumkin…," he mumbled into her hair and placed a kiss to her forehead. "I just needed some time t'think that's all…"

"Your mommy is mean," Jack spoke into his neck and hid his face on it. "I don't like her…"

"Right," his sister nodded and cuddled up to her father after he had sat down on the ground to make it easier for him to hold them close. When she heard him heaving a deep breath, Lily looked at him from aside and noticed the emotions in his eyes. "Are you sad, daddy?" she asked him concerned and looked into her father's eyes after he had turned his head into her direction.

"Doesn't matter, baby," Logan said hoarsely and kissed her on the cheek.

"Your mommy is our grandma, right?" Jack asked him and received a weak nod. "But if she's been so mean to you, I don't want her as our grandma…"

"She wouldn't like us anyway because we have claws," his sister added.

"I don't like her either. I hate her…"

"Hate is a strong word, kiddo…," Logan said with a look at his son and stroked absently through the messy hair.

"I don't care," this one replied and gave him a dark look. "If she doesn't like you, I don't like her either. She's mean!"

"I know…," Logan whispered and looked at the ground again.

"Daddy?" Lily asked carefully after a moment.

"Hm?"

"Is it true that Laura is a…clone?"

Looking at her, he noticed the fear in her eyes. "Do ya even know what a clone is?" he asked her instead and received a nod from both children. "And what?"

"A clone is…," Jack began and thought hard about what he had read in a book, "…like a copy."

"Right…," his father nodded and thought about what to tell them. He knew that they could easily tell if someone lied about something and also that they had to learn the truth one day. But before he had hoped they would learn it when they were a tad older than 9… "It's true… Laura's a clone," he said in the end and saw that their eyes grew wide. "So that means…she's a copy of me…" Without looking at them, he waited for a reaction.

"But why?" Lily asked in the end and Logan shrugged.

"Dunno… Some people thought it'd be funny to do it."

"But then she's not our sister and mommy and you are not her parents…," Jack concluded and frowned.

"Not really," Logan said and looked at him. "She's my daughter in some complicated way and that would make her your sister…" He saw his skeptical look. "Look, how would ya feel if ya learned that your family ain't your family?"

"I'd be sad…," Lily replied before her brother could and played with her father's shirt.

"Confused," her twin finally added.

"See? That's the way Laura feels right now. Just because she's a clone and not really your sister doesn't mean that she's a different person now. She still loves ya and we're her family," Logan lectured them. "And now she's sad and confused and probably really crushed coz of it… She didn't chose t'be that way and it'll really hurt her if ya treat her differently now." Waiting for their nods, he gave one back. "Good. Now go downstairs and eat somethin'."

"Only if you promise not to be sad anymore," Jack demanded.

"I'll try," Logan said and smirked weakly while he ruffled his son's hair and left it even messier than before.

"No, you have to promise, daddy!" Lily pouted and gave him her best puppy dog eyes that always worked on him.

"Fine, I promise," he gave in and received a bear hug from her and a kiss on the cheek.

"Love you, daddy," she mumbled into his neck.

"Love ya too, pumpkins," Logan replied and kissed both of them before he gave them a gentle push over to the door and got up. "Off ya go." He watched how they stormed out of the room and left the apartment when Jean came out of Jamie's room. She came to a halt when their eyes met.

"Rachel and Jamie are already downstairs," she told him and hugged herself. "I just brought Callie and Miloh new food." He nodded. "Laura is still in her room… She ignored me…"

"I'll talk t'her," he grunted.

"Sure?" she asked when he walked over to Rachel's and Laura's room.

"Yeah," he nodded and disappeared behind the door. His eyes instantly fell on the girl, who lay curled up in her bed and stared at the wall with her back to him. Logan guessed that Laura had heard everything he'd said to the twins, incase she didn't tuned them out and ignored them too. Unsure of how to approach her he sat down on the edge of her bed and looked at her for a moment, not receiving the tiniest reaction from her. His senses picked up on so many different emotions that he began to ask himself how a little girl like her could cope with it…

"Kid, just because you're a clone, doesn't mean that you'll lose your family," Logan began, noticing how she winced. "We lied t'ya coz we wanted t'protect ya, ya know? Ya neither chose t'be this way nor will we treat ya any differently…" He reached carefully out to lay a hand on her back. "Ya still belong t'our family and that ain't gonna change. Your mommy's still your mommy and I'm your daddy anway…" When she uttered a sob Logan pulled her up and into his arms, began to sway her gentle in an attempt to calm her down. "What happened's not your fault, okay? Ya had no choice in this and ya didn't choose t'be a clone. It doesn't mean that you're not human or that others are better than ya, kiddo. You're still our baby… Do ya understand that?" he asked softly and stroked through her long dark hair, receiving a nod and sniff from her. "Now stop cryin'…," he said and wiped her tears away. "Okay?"

Nodding sadly, she pouted and looked at him, her vision still blurry. Since she didn't know what to say Laura leant into him and held onto his shirt. "Love you…," she mumbled and shed another tear as he pulled her closer again.

"Lova ya too, baby…," Logan said while resting his head on hers. "Ready t'eat somethin'?"

She nodded sniffing. "But I wanna have chocolate pancakes…"

Chuckling, he got up with her on his arms. "I think I can do that."

When he arrived downstairs, he was already greeted by his eldest son. "Jamie stole my pancake, daddy!" the boy cried when his father placed Laura on her casual stool. "And Uncle Bobby ate all the rest."

"Well, I was hungry," the man shrugged apologetically and received a cocked eyebrow from Papa Wolverine. "Really!" Raising both hands, Bobby got up and left the room quickly.

"Daddy, Jamie stole it!" Jack reminded his father and pointed at his younger brother, who chewed on the pancake happily. "He's a thief!"

"Jack, how is Jamie supposed t'steal your pancake?!" Logan asked incredulously and began to make the chocolate pancakes Laura wanted to have.

"His teke," Jean suddenly said from the door and he gave her a brief look. "He uses it when he sees something and wants to have it." Remembering the day before, she added: "Or, if he doesn't want you to put crème on his back, he keeps on taking the bottle away from you…"

Turning around, Logan gave his youngest a look and shook his head. "Jamie, ya eat like a pig."

"No pig," the boy disagreed and went on chewing on his breakfast.

"Yes, pig! And a real big one," his father grunted and began to pile pancakes on a plate. "Ya gonna take a shower later, pal…" He looked aside and into Jean's eyes when she reached out to take the plate from him and put it onto the kitchen isle for their children.

The redhead smiled at Laura when the girl reached out to take a pancake and placed a kiss on her cheek. "A chocolate milk too?" she asked her and stroked through Laura's hair when the girl nodded. "Okay…"

While she began to make chocolate milk for them, Logan piled more chocolate pancakes onto the plate and began to rummage in the fridge for something he could eat next. In the end he grabbed the Chinese Noodles from the day before and began to eat them.

"If you're still hungry, I can cook something," Jean offered but he shook his head and put the empty box away after he was done with it. "Where are you going?"

"The gym," Logan mumbled and pointed a finger at Jamie when the boy looked up. "And when daddy's done, ya gonna take a shower with him," he warned. "Ya look like a pig, kiddo." Having said this he left the room and made his way to the gym where he changed into a pair of sweatpants and didn't bother to put on a shirt too. He was surprised to find his brother doing some kata on the mat and watched him for a moment.

"Wanna do some sparing?" the man asked him and stopped what he was doing.

"Why not?" Logan shrugged and bowed deep. He began to stretch on the mat. "Just go easy on my left arm."

"Does it still hurt?" John asked concerned and sipped on his water bottle.

"Nah, but it's still odd t'use it." Growling, Logan cursed under his breath as he noticed how stiff he'd actually become. He cracked his neck after he was done and bowed to his brother. "Which style?"

"Dunno. I don't know as many as you do," John shrugged after bowing back.

"I can teach ya," Logan shrugged. "How about startin' with some judo?"

"Fine with me."

* * *

"Now tell me!" Jean demanded from Scott when she caught him in the rec-room reading the newspaper, Ororo sitting next to him and going through some papers that students had to write before their holidays.

"Hm?" he asked and put the paper away when the redhead sat down next to him.

"What did Logan say and what did you have to do to talk him into coming back?"

"Want me to go?" Ororo asked while looking to and fro between them.

"No," Jean waved off and waited for Scott to begin. This one sighed and leant back in the sofa to run a hand through his hair.

"Well…," he shrugged. "I was on my way back to the mansion when I came past the lake and thought of it as a stupid idea that he might be there. So I went and checked it out…"

_Getting of his bike, Scott walked through the wood until he had reached the lake and looked around in the dark. He knew it was stupid to think that Logan was here. The lake was too far from the mansion to reach it by foot, but then again he was already looking for 4 hours by now. That was enough time, at least for Logan. His already poor vision thanks to his glasses didn't help much either and he was already about to turn around and leave again, as he noticed a shadow that sat on the ground, leaning against a tree. "Logan?" the man asked and walked carefully over. He couldn't tell if it really was his teammate or not. In the end it could be some stranger… "Is that you?" When he had nearly reached him Scott could tell that it was indeed Logan. "We've been looking for you. What are you doing here?!" he asked and stopped in front of the man, who had his legs pulled close, the arms resting on them and his head lowered. _

"_Hey…," Scott sighed and sat down next to him, finally noticing how miserable Logan actually looked. "That bitch doesn't deserve it. Really! She is one frustrated woman and only needed someone to put the blame on… She can't judge you without knowing you…" Seeing that the man still stared at the ground, he heaved a deep breath and finally reached out to lay a hand in Logan's arm, but began to frown. "Why's your shirt wet?" he asked but didn't receive an answer. First thinking that it had rained, he quickly dismissed the thought since the ground was and the streets had been dry. His other hand touched the man's shoulder, which was dry too. It hit him like a bolt of lightning when he finally understood why Logan's shirt was soaked at both arms. "Don't tell me you slashed your wrists, Logan!" Scott said aloud and quickly pulled up the sleeves to check on the arms, feeling relieved that his hands touched smooth skin only. "Are you out of your mind?!" he shouted in disbelief and was only able to heave very deep breaths while his eyes were fixed on the shadow in front of him. Neither understanding nor believing his teammate's reaction, Scott grabbed Logan's arm and motioned to get up. "Come one, I'll take you home."_

"_What home?" Logan finally grunted and pulled his arm away._

"_The home where your wife, children and friends are waiting!" Scott said in a strict voice. "It's getting cold at night…"_

"_So?"_

_Groaning, Scott turned away a bit. "Stay there!" he said in the end and walked back to his bike to get the blanket he had taken with him in case he needed it. When he reached Logan he spread it around the man, sat down next to him again and used the other half to cover himself too. "So what is your plan? Sitting here and staring at the lake while everyone else is worried about you?" Scott asked him cynically and watched the fireflies in the air. "I can't believe you actually slashed your wrists. Honestly!" He shook his head and pulled his legs close. "Why did you do such a stupid thing?! We just buried you, I doubt everyone feels like doing it again, you know?"_

"_What do ya want?" Logan sighed and turned his head away._

"_I want you to come home with me!" Scott replied and wondered if he had just heard the mighty Wolverine sniffing. "Hey, are you crying?!" he asked concerned and turned further into his teammate's direction. "Logan, she's not worth it! She kicked you out when you were 12, you turn 120 this December… You don't even know that woman anymore!" he said and waited for a reaction but there was none. "I mean, honestly…" He shook his head and looked for the right words. "What's wrong with you?!" Waiting again, he first thought that it was in vain since minutes passed without a reply, but then he heard him mumbling something. "What was that?"_

"_I can't take it anymore…," Logan said once more through gritted teeth and buried his hands in his hair as he lowered his head._

_Not knowing what to make out of it, Scott looked at him for a moment. "Take what?_

"_People screwin' me over?! People lyin' t'me and usin' me?!" the man next to him hissed._

"_Charles must have a reason…"_

"_Fuck him and his reasons…," Logan growled._

"_Logan, he always has a reason for the things he does," Scott tried to convince him._

"_Yeah?! He put barriers into Jean's head coz he was afraid of her!" Logan replied angrily. "He knew who I was, knew about my past and never said a fuckin' word t'me about it! I trusted him and he fuckin' used me!"_

"_I know that… But maybe he really has a reason. You can't tell!" his teammate said. "If it wasn't for Charles, I'd be dead today… He found me one night after two guys gave me an overdose, took the money and left me in some alley. If it wasn't for him, I would have died that day! He helped me through the withdrawal and with school and gave me a home. He also saved Jean's and 'Ro's life… If he didn't tell you about what he knew, he must have a reason for it! I'm not saying that it was right of him not to tell you, but you should listen to what his version is before you loose faith in him…" Scott paused a moment and went on watching the fireflies again. "What else is bothering you so much?"_

"_Ya ain't my fuckin' therapist!" Logan growled and still held hid head while his eyes were closed, the emotions running wild in him._

"_No, but I think I know what is wrong with you…"_

"_So? Enlighten me!" he mocked, wishing that he would be left alone._

"_Okay," Scott shrugged and pulled the blanket closer as it was cooling down. "I think that all this tough guy stuff with you is just your way of hiding how you a, really feel and b, how vulnerable you are in reality. I believe that you got hurt that often that you can either not show anymore how you really feel and express rage and anger instead, or that you are afraid to show it. Correct me if I'm wrong!" he said and waited for a reply. "Come on, I told you about my past and you know that I won't tell anyone. Talking can really help, you know?" To emphasis that he really meant to help, he put a hand on Logan's shoulder and gave him an encouraging squeeze. "What happened between you and your mother when you were a kid? Why did she never care for you?"_

"_Coz I'm a damn abortion, an animal and a monster…," Logan grunted._

"_Besides that… Did anything happen that she never cared?" Scott asked frowning. "A mother never hates her child…"_

"_Well she did. She never gave a damn about me," Logan finally said after a while and his teammate had to lean in to understand a word the man was saying. "I was sick nearly all the time, could hardly go out or stay in the sun for longer than a couple of minutes and she never cared."_

"_And what about your father?" Scott asked carefully, hoped that he wouldn't show him the cold shoulder after finally beginning to talk._

"_Had too much t'do with the estate than caring for me… He thought that buyin' me toys would keep me entertained."_

"_But there must have been someone who cared for you..."_

_Logan shrugged. "The servants sometimes. Mostly I was alone."_

"_But…," Scott began and gave the lake a brief look, "didn't you once say that you grew up with Sabretooth? That you've been friends in the past?"_

_Logan nodded. "My father brought Rose t'the estate when I was about 8 or 9 years old. She was supposed t'be my playmate. Dog lived on the estate too and we became good friends."_

"_What happened then?" Scott asked and looked at him from aside again, receiving a shrug._

"_Dog became as violent as the fuckin' gardener. He completely changed, turned into a sadist…" Again a shrug._

"_Well you once said that his father beat him nearly all the time… No wonder that it rubbed off on him," Scott mumbled. "How did Thomas murder your father?" he asked after a long pause and heard Logan heaving a deep breath. "Talk about it, Logan! What happened?"_

"_I dunno…"_

"_You said you watched it!"_

"_I dunno what happened, damn it!"_

"_Don't give me that crap now. You said you had to watch it, so what happened?" Scott insisted, using his own stubbornness to achieve his goal. _

"_I woke up due t'loud noises, got up and opened the door in time t'watch how my father's head was blown off. Satisfied?!" Logan snapped angrily while he heaved very deep breaths._

"_And then?"_

"_Fuck off, Slim!" he growled and got up angrily, becoming even madder when Scott followed him._

"_What happened then, Logan?!"_

"_What do ya care?!" Logan barked and turned around to give him a furious glare that the man couldn't see because it was too dark. "Why's everyone botherin' me about talkin' about it? There's nothin' t'talk about, so leave me the fuck alone!" Frustrated and unable not to recall what had happened afterwards, he buried his hands in his hair and knelt down with his back to Scott. Remembering that night and the trauma, the fear, confusion and pain he had felt back then washed over him like a gigantic wave and he began to whimper; not even feeling how Scott had knelt down next to him and hugged him._

"_Wolverine took over for the first time and killed the gardener, am I right?" he asked and rocked him slowly. "And your mother saw it. It reminded her of John's change and that's why she called you an animal and all those other names… Even if she already knew that you would be the same. That's why she hated you to begin with. Because she was afraid of what you are, without even understanding it herself…" Remaining next to him, Scott pulled him closer for a moment to comfort him until Logan had calmed down enough for him to pull him over to the tree again, where he wrapped him back into the blanket. He knew that his teammate was suffering from a deep trauma that was constantly eating at him from the inside and if someone had told him that he would comfort a crying Wolverine one day, he would have brought this person to the madhouse right away. "What about your grandfather? Didn't he help you?" Scott asked after Logan had run his hands through his face and heaved a deep breath, but the man only snorted._

"_He told me t'piss off and never come back coz in his eyes I was a creature and bloody abbreviation. He never gave a damn about me anyway. If it had been up t'him I should have received a good beating ever day t'toughen up, before I'd become the same softy like my father… In his eyes we were all not good enough for his family anyway… Especially not me…," Logan said darkly and sniffed. "In his eyes I was just a sick weaklin' and a burden t'the family…"_

_Only shaking his head, Scott pulled his jacket closer when he began to shiver. "How did you end up in that mine then?"_

"_Rose bought some clothes and train tickets from the money he's given us," Logan grunted. "It used up everythin' we had… Her father told her about the quarries at the Northern frontier, so we went there."_

"_And you began to work then?"_

"_More or less. If Rose hadn't talked Smitty into lettin' me work for him… I hadn't understood anyway what was happenin' or had happened in the past," Logan mumbled and pulled his legs close. Seeing that Scott pulled his jacket even closer, he wrapped half of the blanket around him._

"_Thanks," Scott said. "But wasn't it incredibly hard for you? I mean you were a sick child and never worked before in your life. And then working as a miner?" he asked but Logan only shrugged._

"_Ya can grow into everythin'… And we were wanted for murder, since that fucker told the old man that it was us who killed my father…"_

"_Yes, but still… You were 12. Those men were much older than you…," Scott said and looked at the lake again. "So what was your life like in that colony?"_

"_A fight for survival…"_

"_That means?"_

"_That we hardly had anythin' t'eat. This damn Cookje had fun anyway t'bully me around or beat me up for nothin'," Logan grunted and glared at the lake when he began to remember that man. "Since he cut us off food whenever he got the chance t'get away with it, I taught myself how t'hunt…"_

"_How did you do that?" Scott asked him curiously and looked at him from aside._

"_By learnin' from the wolves that lived in the wood," his teammate said as if it was the most normal thing in the world._

"_You went hunting with wolves?!"_

"_So?" Logan asked and cocked an eyebrow at him. "They're a way better company than people. Trust me… Either they like ya or not. If they accept ya they'll stick t'ya no matter what. Unlike people…," he spat and his eyes darkened._

"_Not everyone is a bad person, Logan… What else happened?" Scott asked and leant back against the tree, trying to get comfortable against the hard wood._

"_What else besides Rose decidin' t'go away with Smitty and Sabretooth showin' up?" Logan asked sarcastically. _

"_You loved her, didn't you?" his teammate asked. "Rose I mean… You mother said that Jean looks a lot like her." Logan shrugged. "So I guess you got angry when she told you, am I right?"_

"_Well, if ya do anythin' for a person, work double shifts so that she's enough t'eat and then she tells ya that she wants t'go away with your mentor?!" came the sarcastic reply._

"_Your mentor?" Scott asked and frowned. "That Smitty was your mentor?"_

"_Taught me everythin' I know and helped me t'toughen up. He was…like a real father t'me," Logan said lost in thoughts. "The first one t'really care for me and really cared…"_

"_That's why it hurt you even more that Rose wanted to go away with him, huh?" Scott asked and received a nod. "Why did Sabretooth show up?"_

"_Dunno. That day was a cage fight match bein' held. I was about t'win, but I let Smitty win so that he'd get the money he needed for Rose and him t'get away from there. When the fight was over Smitty said that he wanted me t'be the boss in the colony and after he'd left Dog showed up all of a sudden," Logan told him. "I couldn't remember him first thanks t'my healin' factor, but when I did, I began to remember what had happened t'my father. So we fought…"_

"_And then?" Scott looked at him and began to frown when Logan hesitated. "What happened then, Logan?"_

"_Rose showed up…," the man finally mumbled and kept his eyes fixed on the ground._

"_And?"_

"_I impaled her on my claws…," Logan whispered and still felt the shock he had felt back then when he had realized that he had accidentally stabbed her. "I dunno why she was suddenly there…"_

"_She died, huh?" Scott asked and received a weak nod. "What did you do afterwards?"_

"_Ran away. The people had seen what I was. I couldn't stay there…"_

"_But where did you go? Further into the mountains?"_

"_No, into woods… I stayed with the wolf pack," Logan replied and could already tell what the man next to him was thinking. Nevertheless, Scott surprised him._

"_I think she came back because she realized that she loved you…" Logan cocked an eyebrow at him. "I mean she did everything to protect you. And why else should she come back if she wanted to leave with your mentor on the same day? She must have loved you…" He looked at Logan from aside. "My foster parents were the same, you know?" Scott suddenly began after a moment of silence. "My real parents went flying with Alex and me one day, but something was wrong with the plane. My mom gave Alex and me the only two parachutes and threw us out of the machine to save our lives. When I woke up I couldn't remember a thing and a doctor told me that my parents' plane crashed. That I was the only survivor," he told him and could tell that Logan was listening. "I didn't even remember my brother. While I came to foster parents, Alex went into an orphanage as I later learned. He still believes that I just stopped caring for him… Anyway, my foster parents acted as if they really cared. I mean they've maybe even tried, but every time they fought I could hear them saying that I wasn't their real son anyway. I just felt like a burden to them…, unwanted and not loved. I didn't have any friends either since I've always been the skinny, weird kid to everyone." _

"_How long did ya stay with them?" Logan asked and pulled the blanket further up._

"_Until my mutation kicked in… I blew a hole into the toilet wall of my school. When they learned about it they kicked me and," Scott said and sighed. "Well, and you know the rest…"_

_There was a very long pause between both of them until he sighed. "Do you still love Jean?" he asked and looked at Logan from aside who only gave a nod. "Then what's going on between the two of you? You don't look happy, she isn't happy lately to begin with…"_

"_She's weird…," Logan mumbled._

"_Then how about talking about it?!" Scott said and shook his head. "Go out with her and talk things through. I know that she's weird, but you're weird lately too."_

_Looking at him, Logan cocked an eyebrow. "How would ya react if ya can't remember how ya died and wake up in your own coffin?"_

"_Touché…," his teammate nodded. "I forgot about that. I would have freaked… Seriously! You really can't remember the attack?" Logan shook his head. "What is the last thing you remember?"_

"_Talkin' to Jean and ya runnin' into us," the feral mutant grunted, which made Scott laugh._

"_Yeah, you should have seen your faces."_

"_Slim?" Logan asked._

"_Hm?"_

"_Shut up!"_

"_Then you don't know about Kurt and Raven either, huh?"_

"_Knowin' what?!" Logan cocked an eyebrow at him. "Don't tell me any horror stories. I'm still not over Peter huggin' me for five minutes after the Furball finally released me of the ICU…"_

"_Well, Peter blamed himself for your death," Scott shrugged. "He was pretty devastated. Kitty, Jubes and Rogue changed a lot too during that time. No, what I meant was that Kurt is Raven's son," he said and looked aside, guessing that Logan cocked another eyebrow at him._

"_How can he be her son?!"_

"_Raven's nearly as old as you. She remembered something about being 17 in 1921 or so…"_

"_Jesus…,"the man next to him made and ran a hand through his face._

"_Maybe you've met her in the past…"_

"_Not that I know of…"_

"_She also had a son with Sabretooth," Scott said after a moment and told him the story._

"_I need a drink," Logan grunted. "Or better t'get drunk…"_

"_Yeah…," his teammate nodded. "Sounds good actually…"_

"_As if Raven would allow ya t'get drunk, Slim…," Logan mocked._

"_Same goes for Jean, Logan," Scott chuckled._

"_Hey, Slim?" Logan asked after a moment and the man next to him turned his head. "Is that male bondin' here or what?!"_

"_You mean between us?" Scott asked. "Hell no! Never!"_

"_Good!" Logan nodded satisfied but frowned next. "Then why are ya sittin' so close t'me?!" he grunted._

"_Well because we only have one blanket, it is cold and I just had pneumonia," the man replied._

"_Then take the darn thing."_

"_So that I can listen to your chattering of teeth?" Scott mocked and shook his head. "No thanks."_

"_Don't ya dare and fall asleep against my shoulder!" Logan warned growling._

"_Oh, come on. You know you want it!" Scott smiled when his teammate growled._

"I can't tell more," Scott finished and looked at Jean, who only nodded and was at a loss of words.

"You slept in the wood?!" Ororo asked in disbelief. "It was cold outside at night."

He shrugged and began to read the redhead's face. "He still loves you… You just need to sit down and talk…"

Before she could answer Jamie came running into the room and whining a long and loud _Noooo!_. They watched how the boy hid behind the opposite couch and looked up when Logan stomped into the room. "Jamie!" he said and went over to the couch, which made the boy escape to the other side. "Shower!"

"No shower!" Jamie cried and took a peak around the corner.

"I'll get ya anyway," Logan warned and moved.

"No shower!" the boy cried again and ran past the table and towards the door, but didn't reckon with his father jumping over the table and grabbing him quickly. Upset about it, he began to scream aloud.

"Told ya so! I said when daddy's done in the gym, ya gonna take a shower with him," Logan lectured him and carried the crying boy away, who clawed at everything to get away.

"Okay…," Scott nodded and gave Jean a look. "Since when is Jamie that bitchy?!"

Shrugging, she pulled her legs close. "He's nearly a two year old, Scott. You know what children are like at that age…"

"Yes, but that bitchy?!"

"My son has been a saint," Ororo said proudly and gave him a mocking look. "Alex is maybe a late bloomer…"

He scoffed. "Sure!"

* * *

"Was it that bad?" Logan asked and turned off the water while Jamie was on his arm.

"Yeah," the boy sniffed and gave him a pouting look.

"Aw, that bad?" He stepped out of the shower and grabbed a towel. After Jamie was wrapped into it, he toweled himself off with another one and used it to cover his waist.

"You mean!" his son complained, still upset about the shower.

"Yeah, I know," Logan nodded and picked him up. "I love ya anyway, pumkin." He placed a kiss on Jamie's cheek and carried him over to the bedroom. While his son sat on his parent's bed and began to play with a toy, he began to look for some clothes for Jamie to wear. In the end he picked some jeans and a shirt and dressed him. Smirking, he ran a hand through the messy hair and watched him for a moment. "Where is Miloh, huh?" Logan asked with his arms crossed, knowing that this would get his son's attention.

"Mio?"

"Yeah, where's he?" Watching how his son got off the bed, Logan followed him and noticed that the boy ran straight into the correct direction.

"Mio!" Jamie said happily and pointed at the wolf while looking at his father, who nodded impressed.

"Ya already have heightened senses, too, huh?" Logan said more to himself and sighed. "Jamie? C'mere," he added as a thought crossed his mind and he knelt down, waiting for the boy to come over to him. When he stood next to him he took one hand into his and twisted it gently, being careful not to hurt his son. Concentrating on the back of the hand, Logan cocked an eyebrow as he saw how three tiny dots became visible under Jamie's skin and sighed. "And claws too. Great…"

"Caws?" the boy asked and looked at his father in confusion.

"Not so important, kiddo," Logan smiled and placed a kiss on his cheek. "Stay here, okay? I'll be right back."

When the others were gathered in the kitchen for dinner hours later, Logan entered and pulled on his leather jacket. "I'll go out," he told Jean and went over to say good-night in advance to his children.

"Go out where?" she asked him but he shrugged.

"Dunno, some bar," he said and was already on his way back to the door when she stopped him.

"Do you intend to drink, Logan?" Jean asked, a sharp edge to her voice since she knew why he wanted to go out.

"Yeah, so?" he gave back and looked at her.

"And how much do you intend to drink?" she demanded to know mentally, but he rolled his eyes. "Don't you dare and walk through our door drunk," she added on the same way even if he was already gone.

"I'll go with him and keep an eye on him, okay?" Scott offered.

"Thanks," Jean replied and sighed. "Just make sure he doesn't do anything stupid…"

"Why would daddy do anything stupid?" Rachel asked her.

"Because it's your daddy…," her mother said and went on eating.

* * *

Everyone looked up when Logan entered the room on the next morning, expected him to look miserable and sick but he truly looked like his old grumpy self. "What?!" he grunted and went over to the fridge to grab the orange juice.

"No headache?" Hank asked surprised and did not only receive a cocked eyebrow but also a frown from his friend. "You didn't have to vomit or feel sick?"

"Nope, why should I?" Logan asked and sat down next to Jean at the same time as a really miserable looking Scott entered the room, who looked clearly like the person the others had expected Logan to be. Which meant: A half dead walking corpse.

"Because you and him were thoroughly drunk," Hank told them and saw from the corner of his eyes that Scott raised a hand.

"Please,…not so loud," the man begged and clutched his head.

"And you should look like him," the furry mutant added with a nod at the picture of misery next to him. "How much did you drink?" he asked but Logan shrugged. "You don't know or you can't remember?"

"A bit of both," Logan grunted, sounding all Van Helsingish. "Why?"

"Ask him if he knows what they did!" Peter said and Hank nodded.

"Good idea!" the latter said. "So, ehm… Do you remember what Scott and you did?"

"We drank I assume?!" Logan replied annoyed and sipped on his juice. Suddenly he frowned. If he really thought about it, he couldn't even remember what he had drunken, why Scott was feeling….well…like shit, or how he'd gotten home at all... "How did I get here?" he asked his wife, who gave him a dramatic sigh.

"You climbed through the window and landed face down on the floor," she said.

"Why did I come through the window?!" he asked and turned a bit towards her.

"Probably because I told you that I don't want to see you coming drunk through the door?!" she asked rhetorically.

Impressed about being so smart, Logan nodded briefly. "And then?"

"You don't want to know, Logan, trust me," Jean replied and got up to put her dirty dishes into the dishwasher.

"C'mon tell me!"

Sighing, she stopped at the door and turned to give him a look. "Let's say you had a hard time understanding the words _No _and _I'm tired_."

"That means?" he asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"That I never let you drink that much again," Jean said. "Ever!"

Still trying to figure out what she meant with it, he gave Scott a thoughtful look. The man rested his head on both arms and obviously had a hard time to keep his non existing breakfast inside. "So, how did we get here?" Logan asked and looked at Hank.

"Well, since Scott and you didn't return Peter and I went looking for you and found you," Hank said rather matter-of-factly.

"And?!"

"You don't want to know, Logan," Peter warned him and received an annoyed looking cocked eyebrow. "I'm not going to tell you. Ask him!" He nodded at Hank, who cleared his throat, put his cup aside and folded his hands.

"Fine… We found you around 4:30 a.m. on East 13th Street in New York," Hank explained and Logan nodded.

"So?" he asked unimpressed and cocked his eyebrow again when Peter and Hank exchanged a look, and not knowing why Jubilee, Kitty, Bobby and Rogue began to giggle. "What's so funny about it?!"

"Oh, besides the fact that you and Scott were stumbling down the street, thoroughly drunk, arm in arm and singing _Summer Nights_ from _Grease_?" Peter shrugged, hiding his smirk.

"What?!" Scott asked and raised his head, wishing he hadn't done it in the next second.

"You're kiddin', right?" Logan asked and looked to and fro between them. "I don't sing!"

"Oh, you did, my boy," Hank said smiling. "And both of you quiet well, if I may add. I didn't know the two of you had such nice singing voices. And I mean that in a positive way!"

"So, who was Sandy and who was Danny?" Kitty asked them and wobbled her eyebrows. She began to laugh when Scott lowered his head on his arms again and shook it, while Logan growled warningly.

"I did not!" he said towards Peter but the man nodded.

"You did!"

"NO WAY!"

"Logan, please!" Scott whined. "Not so loud…"

"And you sang pretty loudly," Hank added. "But very well!"

"What else don't I wanna know?" Logan sighed and ran a hand through his face, still debating whether he should eat something or not…

"Maybe the fact that two drag queens greeted you and told us what a nice… What did he call it again?" Hank asked.

"Sexy hip wiggle," Peter replied.

"Right, what a sexy hip wiggle you have and that it was a shame Scott was too drunk to dance any longer," Hank went on, hiding his amusement when Scott looked up again, putting slow motion to shame, his jaw nearly touching the floor in shock, while Logan looked as if he'd just caught Jean making out with the Professor and Magneto. By now the younger X-Men were laughing aloud.

"Don't forget to tell him what Cherry said!" Peter reminded him.

"Right, he, or better she, wanted me to tell you that those jeans look magnificent on you," Hank nodded and smiled devilishly at Logan.

"Especially the back AND front!" Peter added, which made Jubilee cry out loud in laughter. "Oh, and Angel added that she, or he, hopes the two of you will visit the Phoenix again."

"P…Phoenix?!" Scott stuttered, nearly fell off his stool and, if still possible, all color drained from his face.

"What about it?" Logan asked him.

"It's a gay bar, Logan! I knew, I knew the street name they found us on!" his opposite cried and buried his face in his hands. "I don't believe this…"

"Oh, you better should," Hank smiled.

"Ya must have dragged me there, One Eye!" Logan growled after glaring daggers at the laughing X-Men around him. "No way that this shit was my idea!"

"Sure, now it's all my fault, hm?" Scott mocked.

"Well, it ain't me who knew what that Firebird thingy was," Logan shot back.

"It's called Phoenix!"

"See? There it is. It was your idea!"

"Asshole!" Scott snapped.

"Tight-assed prick!"

"Wow, and that after declaring their undying love for each other," Peter said loud enough for both men to hear.

"WHAT?!" Logan and Scott asked at the same time.

"You declared your undying, endless love after we finally managed to get you into the car," Hank said. "Oh, and after you finally stopped singing _Summer Nights_, of course…"

"Don't tell me he…," Logan began and nodded at Scott but Hank chuckled.

"No, Logan, he didn't kiss you…," Hank waved off and waited for the relieved sigh of both men.

"You actually kissed him," Peter said and the room went silent.

Looking from Logan to Peter, to Logan, to Hank, to everyone else and finally back to Logan. Scott finally dropped off his stool, but managed to catch his fall. "This…was a joke, right?" he stuttered. "Right?!"

"Yes, it was," Peter nodded and earned a low growl. "You actually preferred to stay in each other arms and went on singing…and laughing like idiots…"

"Still I'm sure I heard some smacking noises from the back seat," Hank added jokingly.

"No, ya didn't!" Logan growled warningly.

Peter tilted his head. "Actually…," the man began, but a _snikt_ silenced him.

"_No_ actually!" the mutant with the claws warned him with a deadly glare that made Peter swallow.

"Well, you did kiss each other on the cheek, Logan, I'm sorry, it's the truth!"

"No, it's NOT!" Logan and Scott said at the same time, ignoring the laughter of the younger X-Men.

"It is. And on the way back you fell asleep in each others arms and we had to wake you," Peter went on, looking at Hank for help.

"It's the truth," this one nodded smiling. "You can tell that we're not lying, Logan, so stop seizing us up for a coffin."

"He's in denial!" Jubilee giggled and quickly lowered her head when, accompanied with a _snakt snikt _of his re- and extracting claws, Logan glared at her.

"I assume you don't want to have Cherry's and Angel's number then?" Hank asked after Logan had gotten up to leave the room. "I take that as a _no_…" He heard how Scott uttered a whimper and watched how the man lowered his head on his arms again while shaking it.

"No…"

"Hey, look at it from that perspective," Jubilee told him. "At least you made out with Wolvie and not with someone else!"

"What else did we do, Hank?" Scott whined and left his head where it was. "Just tell me the truth…"

"I don't know what else you did," Hank shrugged. "But if the two of you get along so well when you're not sober, we should keep you drunk all the time."

"I thought it was kinda cute," Peter teased him and smiled wickedly at Scott as he groaned painfully. "Especially the cuddling part."

"So, yes, we can't tell you what else you did, Scott," Hank said. "We only know about the parts after we picked you up."

"So it's possible that we did who knows what with who knows whom before?" Scott muttered more to himself.

"Or with each other!" Jubilee added with a wink. "Haaaawt!"

"This is a nightmare… I'm sure I drank too much, hit my head and now I'm still lying in some dark alley…"

"No, my friend, I can assure you that you're home," Hank said and patted his shoulder.

Upstairs, Logan found Jean in the bedroom and watched for a moment how she folded the laundry. "You're not only pissed because of the window thingy, right?"

"No, I'm not," she said rather chilly and dropped his sweatshirt on the pile.

"Also not coz I got a bit too clingy?"

"No…"

"Ehm…" He rubbed the back of his head. "Mind t'help me out, please?"

Sighing, Jean dropped his flannel shirt and glared daggers at him. "You fell asleep on top of me, Logan!"

"Yeah, so?" he asked and shrugged. It wouldn't have been the first time. If he had trouble sleeping he always found it by either sleeping on her belly or chest.

"During _it_!" she added angrily, folded her arms and he cocked an eyebrow.

"Oh…"

"Hope you had fun, because _I _definitely _hadn't_!" Jean said with venom in her voice, grabbed the basket and stomped past him out of the room and into the bathroom.

Logan leant his head against the doorframe for a moment and shook it. He'd screwed up big time… "Darlin', I'm sorry!" he said loud enough for her to hear.

"Sorry won't do!" she snapped.

"Fine, what else will?" he asked and folded his arms.

"Think about something!" Jean hissed as she walked past him once again and began to put the clothes into the drawer and wardrobe.

Rolling his eyes, Logan shook his head. "Jeannie…."

"Don't Jeannie me, Logan!" she warned him and slammed the door to the wardrobe shut. "If I find out that you took drugs again to get drunk, I swear to God I'll kick you out!"

"I didn't take any drugs, are ya nuts?!"

"Of course not!" Jean smiled cynically. "Because they are NOT the _only_ way for you to get drunk and you were _thoroughly drunk_!"

"They ain't the only way!" he defended himself.

"Sure!" she mocked.

"They ain't!" he sighed and glared back at her. "The answer is moonshine, darlin'!"

"Moonshine?!"

"Yep. Joe sells the strongest one ya can think of. Five bottles and I'm drunk," Logan explained. "So…no drugs, no pills or anythin' else." He saw how she rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Jea…," he began but noticed her warning glare. "Darlin', I'm sorry! But after seeing her again… I just needed it, okay?"

Being able to tell that he really was sorry, Jean still shook her head. "Your childhood, Logan…"

"Stop it!" he warned her and raised a hand.

"No, I won't!" she insisted. "Your childhood and mother and everything you've been through as a child…has a much greater impact on you than you might even realize! I had a hard time too, so had Scott, so had Ororo and many more students here, but no one of us ever lost it like you did," she said sternly and held his glare. "Your issues and feeling towards your mother are buried so deep down in you and you refuse to even face them for a second…that it was enough to see her again to cause you to react this way… Not even John lost it or even considered doing something stupid!"

He snorted. "So? Ya want me t'talk to ya psychiatrist or what?" Logan asked her cynically.

"When it comes to your mother….," Jean replied and nodded. "Yes!" She watched how his gaze darkened. "Logan!" she called after him, but the door already slammed shut behind him. "Damn it…," she cursed and went after him quickly. "Logan!" she called once more and finally caught up with him in the kitchen. "Would you wait?!"

"Not….so….loud!" Scott groaned and clutched his throbbing head. "Please!"

The redhead ignored him and the others in the room, who, except for the suffering Scott, had looked up and looked to and fro between the glaring Logan and the slightly panting redhead. "Would you just listen to me?"

"Why?" he shrugged arrogantly and folded his arms in front of his chest. "I think I'm nuts…?!"

She groaned. "What I meant was…"

"That ya want me t'talk t'a psychiatrist."

"No! What I meant with it was…"

"That I'm sufferin' from a deeply buried trauma slash childhood experience slash negligence slash inferiority complex slash…," he listed.

"Would you stop it?!" Jean snapped.

"Would you stop yelling?!" Scott snapped back.

"Would you shut up?" she gave back and silenced him with a look, before she turned back to Logan. "What I meant was," she began and raised her hand as he wanted to cut her off once more. "Shut up and listen! I only wanted to say that you need to talk to someone about your issues with your mother!"

"That bitch ain't my mother!" Logan roared furiously. "And I don't have a fuckin' problem with her!"

Nodding cynically, Jean folded her arms too. "I think we all can see that you don't have any problem with it… You're so relaxed and calm, it's amazing…"

"Shut the fuck up, Red!" he warned her in a voice so low that most of the others shuddered. Glaring once more at her, he gave the counter a good kick, which made Scott groan painfully, and turned around.

"Logan, if you walk out of that door now…," Jean began and he stopped to cock a provoking eyebrow at her.

"Then what, eh?"

"Then you can sleep on the outside today! That's a promise!"

Snorting, Logan smirked arrogantly at her. "Wow…what a threat, Red, really. I shudder with fear," he mocked. "Then I sleep on the outside, so what? I'm used t'it!" With that he slammed the door shut behind him.

"God!" Scott winced.

"What the hell happened?" Kitty asked Jean, who still stared at the door in disbelief.

"You really told Wolvie to go and see a psychiatrist?" Jubilee asked her with big eyes.

Sighing, Jean sat down on a stool and ran both hands over her face.

"You know that he will stay on the outside for forever, right?" Hank asked her. "It will be a cold day in hell before he makes the first step. I hope you are aware of that."

"I know that I chose the wrong words, Hank," she replied. "But you have seen from his reaction that his mother is a major issue for him and it doesn't help at all that he refuses to talk about it."

"And you know, Jean, that Logan just is like that. If he doesn't want to talk, he doesn't want to talk."

"But this won't solve his problems!" she gave back. "He was drunk, Hank! Thoroughly drunk in a way that he doesn't even remember anything."

"I know," he nodded. "I've seen it, remember? But you can't force him to talk if he doesn't want to. His mother is a sensitive topic for him, you know that. Just give him time to get over the fact that his mother, of whom he thought committed suicide, is not only alive, but also the _mother_," he made exclamation marks, "of Laura, which makes her not only Logan's sister, but also clone and child, that she took part in the Weapon X project while they tortured him and that she knew he was alive, but never came looking for him. I'm sorry, but I think, except for his outburst, that he handles it pretty well. Especially after what she said to him. I doubt a lesser man could handle what he's been through in his life so far, Jean, without totally losing it!"

"I know that," the redhead sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She turned her head and looked out of the window. She knew he would stay on the outside and sleep who knows where if she didn't make the first step. "What's the forecast for tonight?"

"Stormy," Peter said and gave her a look that spoke volumes. "And rainy."

"Great…," Jean mumbled.

* * *

She rolled over. For the at least thirtieth time Jean rolled over in bed and stared at the red digital numbers, while her ears heard how the storm was raging on the outside. Was she worried? Hell, no! Of course she was worried, she was scared shitless. It was nearly 3:15 a.m., the storm had began to hit the area around midnight, she could hear how the rain hit the windows and _he_, as stubborn as he was, was still on the outside. Jean knew he wouldn't come back inside, not even if it would start freezing, which was, thank God, impossible in mid August…

She sat up and sighed. "Logan?" she tried mentally, but hit a brick wall. Of course, he'd block her out. "Logan, please… I'm sorry," she tried it again. But once more there was nothing. "Jesus," Jean cursed and got up, she didn't bother to grab a jacket or blanket. It wouldn't save her from nature's wrath anyway. She quickly opened and closed the door that led to the balcony and stepped onto it. At the banister she tried to keep steady and not to fall from the balcony. The storm was horrible. Using her powers, she wrapped herself into a protective cocoon and began to look for him. But after a few seconds she realized that it was useless. "Logan…," Jean whispered worriedly and tried once more to reach out to him mentally, "where are you?!"

"What do ya care?"

Starting, she quickly turned around. There, next to the door on the ground and soaking wet, sat Logan and glared at her. His eyes reflected the light due to his nightvision. "Jesus… Come back inside!" Jean begged, but he remained where he was. "Logan, I'm sorry. I chose the wrong words, I know that… Please come back inside."

"Will ya shut up then?" he grunted and got slowly up.

"Yes!" she said and grabbed his arm, closed quickly the door behind her and dragged him over to the bathroom. "You're soaked!"

"So?" he shrugged and she knew he was still angry.

"Logan…"

Rolling his eyes, he undressed himself and threw his wet clothes into the bathtub, not caring about his nudity. "What?" Logan grunted. "Ya gonna keep this on?" He nodded at her soaked, silky white nightgown. "Ya would win a wet shirt contest with that…" He tilted his head to have a better look at it, Wolverine taking his chance that Logan's guard wasn't fully up due to his anger.

"It's not funny!" Jean scolded him and was about to grab one of the bigger towels, when he groaned and pulled her gown quickly over her head and threw it onto the pile.

"We're together for what?" he asked and folded his arms, while her cheeks were red. "10 years, darlin'! And ya still act as if I've never seen ya naked before."

"Not every one is as straight forward to nudity as you, Logan," she gave back and crossed her arms over her breasts.

"And I don't get your problem with it," he grunted. "Ya hot as hell and can show off."

"Hot? That's all?" Jean asked and gave him a look that spoke volumes.

"Is this PMS or somethin'?!" he asked, since she sounded annoyed.

Rolling her eyes, Jean opened the door and returned to the bedroom where she went under the sheets. Her back to his side she glared at the wall and didn't bother to look at him as he closed the door behind him and lay down next to her. She couldn't care less…

"Mind t'tell me what's wrong all of a sudden?" Logan demanded to know and, with his head resting in one hand looked at her back.

"Nothing…"

"Mhm, sure…," he mocked and rolled over so that his back was facing hers. "It's me who has a good reason t'be pissed off, not ya!"

After a long moment of utter silence, Jean switched on the lights and sat up. Her hands were buried in her long hair and she shook her head. "I can't do this anymore, Logan…," she said pleadingly and looked at him with tears in her eyes as he turned around to cock an eye brow at her. "I can't go on living with you like that anymore…" Sniffing, she ran a hand through her face. "I don't want us to start hating each other one day. I miss being with you," she sobbed and looked at him. "It drives me crazy that we can't talk normally to each other without this…distance… I know that it is mostly my fault. And I'll do anything you want to change it. Just tell me how… But I can't take our current relationship anymore without being crushed by it." Burying her face in her hands, she uttered another sob and tried to get her feelings back under control. To her surprise his arm went around her waist and he pulled her close.

"I know that we have t'talk…," Logan grunted and kept his voice low. "And I ain't happy like that either…"

"Then what do you suggest?" Jean sniffed and wiped her tears away as he pulled her back down and switched off the lights.

"What Scott suggested," he shrugged and stroked over her back to help her calm down again. "We go out and try t'work things out…"

"And if we can't work them out?" Jean uttered her greatest fear, but he remained silent.

**I had the Scott and Logan being drunk scene pre-written for at least 2 or 3 months by now and I'm happy that I was finally able to use it. Some of you told me that they enjoyed seeing Scott not being an ass and it's just fun to write Logan and Scott interacting with each other. Please let me now what you thought about the scene, because I put a great effort into writing it!!**

**Thanks to all reviewers! I hoped you enjoyed the chapter! Let me know what you think! ; ) See ya!**


	40. Chapter 38

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!! : )

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** RachelAlyssa: **Did you get my message? Please write back and let me know what kind of wishes you have since you've been reviewer #350!!

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**Rated M (since some of you asked for it) and the chapter is very heavy on one pairing (since some of you wanted it LOL), but I won't tell which one!**

**I can't even tell you for how long the first scenes have been pre-written. I changed the first scene a bit and changed the scenery, but a similar dialogue was pre-written for at least over a year. So you can see it was planned. LOL The third scene was pre-written for a couple of months too. I'm glad that I could finally use them.**

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**Laceylou, I used your strip-wish, but I made some changes to it. ; )**

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**Important!: I used an online translator for the French sentences, so…I have no idea if they are correct. My French sucks. I didn't use it for over 7 years. LOL So to all French people: I'm sorry!**

**I don't know why messes up the format so much. I tried to fix the problem that some dialogues are so close together (since they originally aren't in Word and I use the same format I always use...), but it won't let me. : ( I'm sorry that some parts are so hard to read because of that problem.**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 38**

"So talk…," Logan said and had his eyes still fixed on Lady Liberty while he leant over the railing.

Jean, who sat on the bench behind him, looked away from the skyline and at him. They hadn't really told the others were they were going, just that they would go out to have dinner and that it would become late before they'd return. During dinner they had hardly said a word to each other that didn't deal with the food or the stupid waitress and since then they had walked next to each other in utter silence. To her greatest confusion they had ended up on the same route they had taken on the adversary before he'd been abducted by Apocalypse. And if she was honest to herself she didn't know where to begin either… "Where do you want me to start?" she shrugged while hugging herself and looked at the skyline again.

Logan sighed and turned around, leant against the railing and looked at her. "Why are ya so weird and distant? How about that?!" he demanded to know and she began to chew on her lips. "Is it Phoenix? Is she strugglin' again?"

"She's always struggling, Logan. You should know that…"

"Well then explain why you're so odd lately…," he shrugged and watched her for a moment whereas she stared back.

"You're odd too," Jean replied.

"I have my reasons…"

"Which are?"

"Wakin' up in a coffin, not rememberin' the past months…," Logan listed nonchalantly and added, "a wife who, when she kisses or touches ya, feels like an ice block… Pick one."

"Ice…block?!" the redhead asked speechlessly.

"Yeah, ice block!" he nodded. "Coz when you're close by there's nothin'. No warmth, no love, nothin'… I can't even feel ya anymore when ya lyin' next t'me and even Ray came t'me and asked if ya still love our kids and t'be honest, I'm askin' myself the same. So either ya gonna tell me what the fuck has happened that you're so different, or we leave it! Coz I can't be with ya if ya don't give me back what I give ya. I've been screwed over too often t'let ya do the same t'me and I don't want my kids t'grow up with the same fucked up childhood I had and with a mother who's not really there for them! Coz ya don't know what it'll do t'them!"

Jean just looked at him for a long moment and swallowed hard. "You're serious, aren't you?" she asked slowly and he turned around again with a heavy sigh.

"Yeah… I'm serious," Logan nodded and leant with his back against the railing once more, the illuminated city behind him. "Just tell me what the hell's wrong with ya…" She sighed and buried her face in her hands while turning away from him, which upset him even more. "Jean… It's our marriage and family that we're about t'lose, 'kay?" he said in a stern and slow voice. "Did somethin' happen with Scott or my brother or any other guy while I was gone?! Is that what you're afraid of?"

"No…," she mumbled into her hands and lowered her head.

"Then what? Do ya love someone else? Is it that?" he asked at the edge of his patience. "Or are ya pregnant? Before all this shit happened I felt so much through our link. Now I don't feel anythin' at all from ya."

"I'm afraid of myself that's wrong!" Jean cried out and earned a cocked eyebrow from him.

Only able to shake his head, Logan went over and sat down next to her, heard how she suppressed her sobs. "What do ya mean?"

"That I hear voices…"

"That's nothin' new," he shrugged, still watching her.

"It is new!" she snapped and glared at him through wet eyes. "I can hear and feel everything, Logan! The students, neighbors, cities, nature everything. It's…like being connected to every living thing on this planet. They're all in my head and it scares me. And then this…constant bitching of Phoenix and this other voice. It's driving me nuts…" Covering her ears, she began to sob freely. "I just want them to shut up…"

"What other voice?" he asked and laid a hand on her shoulder.

"I don't know…," Jean sniffed. "I don't know who she is…"

"She? Another personality?" Logan said and cocked an eyebrow at her in surprise. "So you're afraid of her?"

Looking at him, her inner pain, confusion and fear was mirrored perfectly in her eyes and face for him to see. She could only shake her head and lean into him for support. "I'm different…inside," she cried into his chest and made him frown. "I'm afraid that I'll lose it again, that I'll murder people again…, that I'll lose myself…"

"Ya didn't lose it when I died, Jean…," Logan tried to soothe her. "Maybe it's just the stress of the past months, everythin' that you've been through…" He watched as she got up all of a sudden and pointed at the city. "What?" he asked in confusion.

"Watch!" Jean only said and without even looking at what she was doing, switched off every single light in Manhattan, while Liberty Island was hovering in the air. She saw how his eyes looked at it for a moment before she returned everything to normal. "I could raise the whole city into the air without even concentrating on it," she told him while tears poured freely out of her eyes. "I'm different, Logan. Something happened to me after I died or while I was a ghost only…"

"And what?" he asked and watched how she returned to her seat next to him.

"I don't know… That's why I'm scared…," she sniffed. "I know that if I lose it…that I'll kill everyone. I've enough power to destroy the whole planet if I want to… And I can't seem to control it." Jean buried her hands in her hair. "He said that I'd be far more powerful when I rise again, but I never imagined that…"

Logan frowned. "Who's he?!" he asked in confusion and she first looked at him just to look away next.

"Jamie…," she whispered and now all he could do was staring.

"Jamie?!"

Nodding, she began to knead her hands nervously, watched how teardrops fell onto them. "I've heard him in my head when Apocalypse attacked us… He told me that I'd die and that I shouldn't be afraid. That I'd be the true Phoenix when I rise again… He's so powerful…," she explained and he listened with furrowed brows. "And when I came back… I realized that I wasn't ready. The power was too much for me to handle. It was too early that's what he told me too. I wasn't complete. So I had to die again to find my missing pieces…" Jean looked at him but Logan looked away. He knew which situation she was talking about and when he looked at his hands, he still believed that he could see her blood on them. "And now… It's still too much power. I can feel it within me. I feel her within me more than ever. And I'm scared that if I don't hold her back that…that I'll lose it again. I don't want to hurt anyone of you again…"

"So in hope t'stay in control, ya don't allow yourself t'feel anythin' at all," he concluded and kept his eyes on hers when she looked up. "That's the wrong way. Ya will only make it worse." Seeing that she was still silently crying, he moved closer a bit to pull her close. "Even if ya changed and got more powerful that doesn't mean that ya will turn into a killin' machine. Ya can't just suppress emotions. It'll kill ya sooner or later. And besides…ya hurt me more with it than any of your attacks ever could."

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Jean sniffed into his chest and stared at the ground.

"Allow yourself t'be human again," Logan said and cupped her face. "Stop bein' so damn emotionless and cold."

"What if I lose it?" she demanded to know in a weak whisper. "You don't understand that I feel much stronger than before… Every emotions turns into power nearly instantly… I can't handle that much power… I'm scared that it will consume me completely if I let go and won't leave any of my old self back… I don't want to lose my humanity just to have more power."

"Did ya test it before?" he asked and she frowned. "See? How can ya be so sure then?"

"Logan…," Jean sighed and was about to turn away when he pulled her into a kiss.

"Let go…," he mumbled against her lips since she remained unresponsive and kissed her again. He could feel how she slowly began to relax against him, how her lips kissed him back slowly, then more hungrily as a bolt seemed to hit his very core.

"I…I'm sorry!" she instantly said after he had jumped, being completely overwhelmed.

Still panting due to the unexpected shock, Logan looked at her with furrowed brows and tried to understand what had just happened. He had felt a rush through his whole body as if he was burning from within, his heart had kicked into high gear and her emotions had overwhelmed him completely. But despite her thinking that she had hurt him, it had felt good. More than good. Almost addictive. He blinked several times and leant in to kiss her again, but she turned her head away. "Ya didn't hurt me," Logan assured her and moved closer, still felt how uncomfortable she was.

"But you startled…," Jean said barely audible.

"Coz I was surprised, not because ya hurt me," he said and cupped her face again. "It was actually better than any climax." Smirking, he kissed her again as a loud _boom _made both of them jump. "Shit!" Logan cursed as heavy rain set in all of a sudden and grabbed her hand quickly. "C'mon!" Pulling her with him, he ran all the way back to their car and reached it when his clothes and hair were completely soaked that the water already dripped into his eyes. "Fuckin' weather…," he growled and closed the car door quickly. "I swear that was Storm's doin'." He looked aside and watched how she pulled her wet hair aside. "Wanna go back?"

"You should wait until the rain becomes less," Jean suggested since it was raining heavily by now. That much that she couldn't see anything. "I doubt even you can see anything out there…"

He snorted and tried to get comfortable in the seat. Since there was nothing else to do for the moment than to think about what he had learned a few minutes ago, his hazel eyes switched back to her, took notice of how soaked her clothes were and how much they actually clung to her curves. Of course the thunderstorm began for real to their luck and trapped them in the car. From his experiences with nature he knew it would take a great while until it would stop, so it was up to them to kill time now. While his thoughts remained on her wet clothes and Wolverine began to purr in his head, he cleared is throat and looked away. "So…what now?" he asked her and Jean shrugged. "Ya really didn't hurt me," Logan said once more and held her gaze after leaning into her direction a bit.

To his surprise she leant in too and pressed her lips hard onto his. Hungrily, he began to kiss her back, pulled her closer and held his breath for a moment as his blood seemed to be on fire again. He was able to taste her power, felt how much passion ran through her veins and sent bolt after bolt through his body. Before Logan even realized it she sat on top of him and desperately tried to be closer than it was possible. He heard her fast beating heart, her ragged breathing and moaned against her lips as she rubbed hard against him. Still…it was too damn uncomfortable. "Darlin'…," he therefore panted and broke the kiss, her heated eyes looking back at him, "Too long legs…"

Jean sighed in disappointment and retreated to her seat again to look out of the window, noticed that the rain had become less. "Then let's head home…"

"Do ya have your cell with ya?" he asked after a moment of silence.

"Why?" she asked in confusion and handed it over to him, looked at him while he made a call and handed it back to her afterwards, just to start the car next. "Why did you tell Scott that we won't come back tonight?!"

"Coz we won't." Logan just winked at her and drove off…

* * *

"What do you mean they won't come back tonight?" Ororo asked and watched how Scott sat back down on the couch to go on watching the movie.

"Logan said they won't come back tonight," he shrugged and pulled Raven close again. "Don't ask me why."

"They are either biting their heads off or trying to do some serious marriage counseling," Jubilee said and went on eating her chocolate. "You get my point, do you?"

"Who doesn't," Bobby grunted and rolled his eyes. "You hardly think of anything else when it comes to them…"

"Then I'll sleep at their place and watch over the children…," Ororo yawned, but Hank shook his head.

"I can do that," he waved off. "You still have to soothe TJ."

"Right, her bad, bad mommy cut her hair…," Kitty said and caught the pillow the weather goddess threw at her. "Well it's true. She was screaming as if you were burning her alive."

"She needed a hair cut," Ororo sulked and pulled Kurt's arms closer around her waist. "Do you think they will sleep in the car?" she asked after a moment and everyone knew who _they _was.

* * *

Jean had hardly closed the door behind her when he already pushed her against it and kissed her hungrily. Blindly, Logan looked for the lock and used his free hand to open her most bothersome clothes that were in his way. Her hands began to work on his soaked jeans in a rush, but had trouble to open them first. As soon as his belt and button were open she tore the leather jacket off and shirt open, just to be pulled up and against the door by him next. Both broke the kiss for a moment to fill their lungs with new air again. Panting, they stared at each other with heated eyes and leant in close enough for their faces to touch. Teasingly, both came close enough for a kiss but withdrew in the last moment until Logan finally managed to catch her lips again. Passionately, he kissed her again and kept her trapped between the door and his body, fought with her tongue for dominance. He knew they both needed a quick release to overcome the fire within them. When she wrapped her legs even more around him he took it as a sign to hurry up and both, he and his animal, were more than willing to obey after such a long time. Jean threw her head back at his sudden intrusion, the brief pain long forgotten and quickly replaced by pleasure when their tongues and lips met again. Desperately, she tried to pull him closer with her arms and legs, heard how his breathing was already as ragged as hers and even through the fabric she could feel his heartbeat that pounded strongly against his chest. She knew he was way closer than her already and broke the kiss to rest her head on his neck, where she began to suck and kiss him. Inside her head she felt the battle he was fighting within, knew that he tried to hold back, that he wanted her to come first.

"It's okay…," Jean panted and traced his earlobe with her tongue. "Let go," she whispered and, as if she had given the _Go _in a track and field race, Logan groaned loudly into her neck and pushed harder against her, just to went still next. Breathing as heavily as he did, she pulled his head against her chest and rested hers on it, but he dropped her onto her feet instead just to lean into her afterwards. "We should get out of those wet clothes…," she suggested after her breathing had returned to normal a bit.

Instead of doing it, he pulled her over and onto the bed, where he knelt down in front of her and kissed her again. His hands roamed over her whole body, kneaded her butt and breasts, began to undress her slowly while his clothes joined hers one after the other. When she said something about resting a bit, he only smirked. "No," Logan growled.

"But are you up to it?" Jean asked him worriedly and looked up at him with flushed cheeks as he gave her a cocked eyebrow.

"Ya won't get any sleep tonight, darlin'," he growled and attacked her mouth again.

His tongue caressed hers, fought with hers softly for dominance, while his hands roamed over her soft skin. Logan tilted his head and sucked on the pulse point of her neck, kneaded her breast gently and pushed his pelvis against hers teasingly. Jean, while stroking over his back and entwining one leg with his, closed her eyes and exhaled loudly. She felt how his hand wandered further down and threw her head back after it had reached its target. She heard how a soft growl escaped his throat and her neck was soon nuzzled by him again. When Logan suddenly stopped, Jean opened her eyes to give him a puzzled look but only received a smirk and quick kiss on the lips, before he disappeared under the blanket. "Logan!" she gasped and grabbed the sheets hard, looking up in surprise when he stopped again.

"What?" he asked and licked his lips. "Want me t'stop?" he teased her with a cocked eyebrow.

"Go on, you jerk!" Jean cursed and pushed him down again, just to close her eyes and relished what he was doing to her.

"Just one thing though, darlin'," he mumbled under the sheets and reappeared again, chuckling when she groaned aloud in frustration. "Can I hope for somethin' similar?" Logan teased her and rested his chin on her belly.

"Not when you don't disappear and go on within the next two seconds!" she grunted and closed her eyes after he had disappeared again.

Later, Logan smiled at her when she pushed him gently down and buried her hands in his thick, dark hair. He kissed her back; hungrily and with the same passion, ran his hands down her back, her sides, kneaded and caressed her butt and moaned into another kiss when she rubbed against him like a cat. "Jean…," he sighed into his mouth and felt her smiling against his lips, before the redhead began to suck and lick on his throat. Logan watched how she kissed her way down to his chest, ran her tongue over his hot skin and licked a circle around his navel until he tensed his muscles again. His chest rose and fell heavily as Jean descended his body even further and he arched his back, moaning loudly. With his hand buried in her hair, the other one holding onto the pillow as if his life depended on it, he began to pant. He knew he was already too heated up as that he would last very long and she didn't help at all by what she was doing to him. "Jean…," Logan managed to whisper and opened his eyes a bit. He couldn't help but moan softly again by the sight of her. "Jeannie… Ya need t'stop, darlin'…" He groaned and thrust unconsciously, since instead of stopping she even quickened her pace, enjoyed how his whole body began to shudder and his eyes rolled back.

Jean knew that he was at a point where he'd be willing to do anything for her. The power she had over the most dangerous mutant, who was now muttering incoherently and whimpered from time to time made her smile. She could feel how his hand tried to push her gently away, but by now his mind was too fogged to even try harder. It lasted only a couple more seconds and he exploded with a cry, just to collapse on the bed next, panting heavily and with his eyes still closed. Moving up again, she kissed him hard and smiled devilishly. "Good?" Jean asked and sucked on the sensitive spot on his neck, which made him groan again. She couldn't help but giggle at the sight of him. Both hands covered his face and he still tried to get his breathing and heartbeat back under control. "I take that as a yes."

"Ya cheated!" Logan panted and groaned when his member still twitched.

Kissing him, she lay down on top of him and stroked through his hair. "Not really… Teke just comes in handy sometimes. And besides," Jean said with another smile and rubbed against him, "I heard it's more intense for a man if he's stimulated there… Obviously it's true."

"Did ya, huh?" he grunted and was still trying to catch his breath. "Ya nearly killed me…"

"Stop lying, Logan! It was the best you ever had!" she teased him and smiled when he did the same.

"Ya know what?" he said after a moment and met her gaze. "Since ya have so much fun playin' with my G-spot, it's only fair if I do the same t'ya, don't ya think?" Smirking evilly, he grabbed her quickly and rolled her onto her stomach, so that she lay completely flat on the bed with him on top. "And I know ya love this position, darlin'!" he growled huskily into her ear, made her shiver just by his voice. While he wrapped one arm around her waist to keep her as immobile and close as possible, his free hand tried to support himself and keep as much weight off her as he could.

Noticing it, Jean turned her head a bit. "It's okay. You're not too heavy," she assured him and received a skeptical, cocked eyebrow from him. "I actually like it," she added and blushed slightly.

"But Phoenix ain't submissive and I don't wanna crash through the next wall," Logan replied, but she shook her head, telling him with it that it was okay. "Sure?" he asked and kissed her shoulder.

"Yeah… She's actually calm for the first time in weeks…"

"Fine with me," he shrugged and shifted his position again, just to cock another surprised eyebrow at her. "Geez, darlin'," Logan said huskily after rubbing against her, "I haven't even started yet and you're all excited already." He began to lick on her neck, bit softly into her shoulder, while he parted her legs with his knee and got settled between them. When he pushed both arched their backs and moaned loudly. Jean tried to make him finally move, while he kept still and pushed her down again.

"Logan!" she whined and tried to rub against the bed instead to keep from total frustration.

"What?" he asked huskily and, without really thrusting, rubbed against her, knowing full well what it would do to her and he proved himself right again when she moaned. "Tell me what ya want, Jeannie!"

"I want you to move!" she groaned, tried again, but his weight kept her trapped between the bed and his body.

"I'm movin'!" To prove it he kept on rubbing against her, chuckled when she slammed her fist onto the bed in frustration. "Say what ya want or ya won't get it!" he whispered darkly into her ear, partly Wolverine speaking, who only wanted to mate with his female. "Say it!" he demanded again and to make his point clear thrust hard once, which made her arch her back against him and utter a deep moan. "C'mon, baby. I know yer Phoenix wants t'use the f-word, so do it!" To break even her last barrier Logan began to move as slowly as he could, enjoyed hearing her frustrated whimpers that soon turned into pleas and bent over her to thrust even deeper and from a different angle into her. Even if she tried to hold back, he knew that she was more than aroused and by now willing to do everything. Smirking, since Jean moaned deeply into the pillow he began to whisper into her ear, told her how she made him feel at the moment, what he and his darker side wanted to do to her, what he wanted to see her doing, shared even his darkest thoughts with her and knew he had her when the redhead turned her head and told him to shut up and do her already. Logan only chuckled low and instead of obeying withdrew from her, which earned him another frustrated groan.

"I need ya t'relax, darlin'," he said and caressed her with his fingers until they were coated with her juice.

"What are you doing?" Jean asked, her face flushed and tensed against his invading fingers.

"Relax…," Logan said again and spread her carefully. "I ain't gonna do what we didn't do before, baby," he assured her and stroked himself until he thought she was ready for him.

"Be careful…," she whispered and tensed automatically when his hardness pushed against her butt. Trying to relax as much as possible, she took deep breaths, was glad that he was coated enough for him to slip into her easily and without causing her too much pain.

Patiently, Logan waited for her to adjust her tight muscle to his length and groaned as she tensed around him. "Ya okay?" he asked and bent over her to entwine one hand with hers, waited for a nod before he forced his way out and into her tight opening again. "Jesus, darlin'," he moaned loudly and gritted his teeth in sheer pleasure. "That feels too damn good…"

"Let me feel it," she demanded and gasped as their link sprang back to life like a bolt of lightning. They moaned in unison as both shared the pleasure the partner's body and mind felt, felt the heat, longing and arousal twice as strong as before and this time it didn't take long before their ragged breathing and moans tuned into a loud cry as both reached their climax. Collapsing on her, Logan still felt her muscles clenching violently around him, while he released into her tight hole.

Jean's head fell forward in exhaustion, her body covered in sweat and strands of her hair sticking to her face. He only grinned his feral grin at her and made a teasing thrust just to earn another moan from her. "Logan…," she gasped and still tried to catch her breath, "I need a break!"  
He chuckled and lay down on top of her after turning her around. "Do ya? It's only been…," he gave the clock a brief glance, "four hours. I can still go on, darlin'."  
"But I can't. Not if I still need to be able to walk later…"  
"Oh, I can carry ya," he teased and sucked on her neck. "That ain't a problem."  
"Logan!" she whined and arched her back against him when he touched another sensitive spot. "Please!"  
"Seriously?" he asked and looked at her with a smug smirk, but her look spoke volumes. "Fine, thirty minutes break," he said and rolled off her just to spoon her from behind in the next moment.  
"And you've been sick in the past two weeks?" Jean mocked and smiled when he chuckled into her neck. "Your bodily functions are seriously off…"  
"Mhm…," he made and pushed his pelvis against her, which earned him another gasp. "Blood's actually were it should be right now…," Logan grunted and bit softly into her neck.  
"Says the man, who couldn't even move a finger for two weeks…"  
"My friend's all I need t'move right now, darlin'," he said huskily and reached around her to stroke over her belly.  
"You're already doing this for fours hours by now…," Jean mumbled sleepily and pressed against him to seek his warmth.  
"Ya complainin' now, darlin'?" he mocked and rubbed against her, which made her gasp again. "Sensitive, huh?" he chuckled and sucked on her neck, while he stroked over her whole body. For a moment both just rested against each other and had their eyes closed, enjoyed the warmth their bodies were radiating and the feeling of the partner's skin against their own. "I've missed ya…," Logan mumbled against her neck and placed a kiss onto it, feeling at home again.  
Hearing it, Jean turned around in his arms and snuggled deeper into his embrace. "I've missed you too…," she replied while resting her head against his chest, needed to hear his heartbeat and finally feeling at peace again. After a moment she moved so that she was on top of him and kissed Logan hard. "I love you…"  
Instead of answering her, he pulled her back into the kiss and sat up so that she sat on his lap in lotus style. "Always wondered…," he said more to himself and broke the kiss.  
"What?" Jean asked softly and wrapped her arms around his neck.  
"How t'do it like that." He smirked lasciviously and received a slap against his chest. "What?! It was you who got that Kamasutra book from Jubes!"  
Her eyes widened in mock outrage. "You read it?!"  
"Nah,…just took a look at it," he waved off and chuckled when she stared at him. "Aw, c'mon, darlin'. Okay, maybe I read it…"  
"Logan!" she cried and gave him a look.  
"T's your own fault, darlin'. Ya left it on the bedside table." He shrugged, but smirked before he wiggled his eyebrows. "So…how about some lotus now?"  
"You're impossible!" Jean sulked, but smiled when he wrapped her legs further around her and crossed his behind her back. "Lotus, hm?"  
"Yep," he smirked and kissed her hungrily. "Ready t'hit the next four hours?"  
She laughed. "You know that we have to go back home sometime during the day, right?" she asked, just to moan in the next second as he raised her hip just enough to get settled.  
"It's past 3 a.m., darlin'," Logan breathed heavily into her neck and positioned his hands on her hip, began to knead her butt first before one hand stroked up her spine. "We'll be back for breakfast." His lips brushed over hers and he traced it with his tongue. "Maybe…," he added between kisses.  
"If we keep this up," Jean sighed and buried her face on his neck, where she began to kiss and suck, "I'll end up in a coma." He only chuckled and used his hands to help her moving on top of him. "And I'm sticky…"  
"Oh, you'll be even stickier when I'm done with ya, baby," Logan panted huskily and began to thrust after she'd found a rhythm. "I'd always take ya dirty anyway…"  
"Shower, hm?"  
"Mhm."  
"Not a good idea…," she breathed heavily and held onto him for dear life.  
"Together?"  
"Mhm…"  
"Why?" he sighed against her lips and attacked her neck again.  
"We won't get out of it so soon," she replied and moaned.  
"'n that's a bad thing?"  
"Kid's are waiting…"

"They're taken care of," he said hoarsely and nuzzled her neck.

Jean groaned and threw her head back. "Your stamina's not from this world…"

Chuckling, he licked down her neck, then up again. "Want me t'fall asleep on ya again?" he teased her, panting and she giggled into his neck as she pressed harder against him. "What?"

"It was a joke," she said, blushing, gasped when he thrust hard twice.

"Joke?"

"Mhm…"

"So we didn't do it?" Logan sighed into her neck and began to caress her breasts again.

"No, you fell face down to the ground and fell asleep…"  
"Hmm," he made and bit softly into her shoulder. "Mine…," Wolverine growled and pulled her possessively closer. Since he had enough of her holding back, he began to attack her most sensitive spots on purpose, was only satisfied when she started meowing and rubbing stronger against him, when her fingers dug into his back and shoulders. He didn't care that she would leave scratches perhaps even bruises when Phoenix came too close to the surface. He just plunged into the feelings she set free and relished them.

* * *

"Look who's come back," Ororo said while put a plate with pancakes onto the table. "Just in time."  
"I won't babysit!" Logan instantly grunted, remembering the last time she had used those words on him.  
"Where have you been all night long?" Scott asked and lowered the newspaper a bit to look at the couple.  
Logan gave Jean a brief look. "We…talked."  
"Talked?" Hank asked, looked to and fro between them. "About what?"  
Again Logan looked at Jean and buried his hands in his jeans pockets. He shrugged. "Us…"  
"And?" Ororo asked curiously.  
"Well…," he said with a brief shrug and look at Jean and rubbed the back of his head. "We both think it's useless t'try again."  
"WHAT?!" most of the others asked in unison, stared at the couple in shock.  
"You're joking!" Moira said, but Jean shook her head.  
"No… Too much has happened… We agreed that it's better to stay friends only," she told the group, which still stared, was shocked, exchanged looks or shook their heads.  
"Well…," Scott began, but was at a loss of words.  
"But…," Ororo said and sighed. "You've got to be kidding me! You can't just…"  
"It ain't workin' out anymore, okay? We spent the whole night talkin' about it!" Logan growled and glared at her. "It's over!"  
"That's….sad…," Hank said after a moment of silence and looked down as pretty much everyone else did.  
"Anyway," Logan began looked at Jean, then at the group again, "be so nice and take care of the kids until lunch time, okay?"  
"Why? You leaving again?" Rogue asked.  
"Nah," he waved off and shook his head. "We're just in need of a shower. Right?"  
"Definitely," Jean agreed. "And a serious nap."  
"Yap. But a shower first!" Logan said.  
"Did you get wet at night?" Scott asked and looked at them. He watched how Logan turned to the redhead briefly and then back at him. "Because of this…desperate need of a shower…and since it rained pretty heavily…"  
"She did actually…," the man nodded and folded his arms. "Pretty often and much at night."  
"Did it rain that much?!" Hank asked surprised and Logan tilted his head a bit.  
"In total….yeah, it was a pretty fountain…" He cleared his throat. "The climaxes were even better!"  
"Climaxes?!" Scott asked in confusion. "What climaxes?"  
"Never mind!" Logan waved off. "I need a shower. Ya comin'?" Jean nodded and followed him out of the door, leaving the others to stare at each other.  
"I don't believe this!" Ororo said and was the first to break the silence. "I thought they were fine again and then they come back just to tell us they will split up…"  
"I prefer not to comment," Scott mumbled and paid attention to his newspaper again.  
They were still occupied with breakfast when the freshly showered couple reappeared in underwear only, obviously first wanting to eat something before they would take a nap.  
"How can you laugh at a moment like this?" Ororo asked Logan sourly, since he was still chuckling.  
"Eh?" he asked, not knowing what the woman was talking about since his attention had been on the redhead next to him.  
"You, laughing!" the weather goddess said again and poked him into the chest with one finger, hitting pure adamantium. Pulling a face, she shook her hand. "Jeez… You nearly broke it."  
"Yer own fault, Storm!" Logan shrugged and went over to the fridge were Jean was standing and bent a bit over her shoulder. The others only watched how he whispered something and began to chuckle, while the redhead slapped him. She said something back that only he could understand, he answered and began to laugh aloud, just to grab her next and kiss her hard before she could slap him again.  
"Why…do I have the strong feeling that we got punk'd?" Scott said without looking up from reading. "And that badly?!"  
"Dunno, Slim," Logan shrugged and bit his lip while grinning at Jean.  
"Would you stop it?" she asked and rolled her eyes, but couldn't help it and smile back. "You're a pig!" she scolded him with a gentle slap against his chest and retreated to her stool, a bowl with strawberries in her hand. "Logan!"  
"What?" he chuckled and waited for her to bite into one of the fruits before he ate the other half.  
"I'd like to spank you!" Ororo said with a glare. "Both of you!"  
"Nah, still sore," Logan replied.  
"Argh! I don't want to hear it!" Scott said. "You talking about fountains and stuff was already too much."  
"Ain't talkin' 'bout last night, One Eye. I meant the shower," Logan smirked and grinned when his favorite object of teasing pulled the newspaper even higher.  
"I feel the strong urge to puke!" was all they could hear from behind the paper.  
"Then call yourself happy that ya haven't been in the same motel," Logan gave back and gave him the most self righteous smirk possible.  
"Good to hear and see that you're feeling better, Logan," Scott replied and hid his smile behind the newspaper.  
"Hm…," the addressed smirked and was already taken with the redhead next to him again. He kept on smirking at her until she looked aside and at him.  
"What?" Jean asked and was pulled into two quick kisses, then a long one and suddenly found herself sitting astride on his briefs clad lap - in briefs and a tank-top only - and still attached to his lips. She smiled against his mouth, already having forgotten about their friend's being in the same room with them and not seeing the amused looks they exchanged. She had her arms wrapped around his neck, while he had his around her waist and kept her close.  
"God, get a room…," Scott mocked and shook his head, hiding himself behind his newspaper again.

When they retreated to their bedroom again after eating something, Jean closed the curtains and lay down in bed, where she turned to look at Logan from aside. "What?" he mumbled sleepily without opening his eyes.

"I just want you to know that I'm sorry for what I did. I should have told you way earlier…," she said in a whisper. "I didn't want to hurt you… I just didn't know what to do."

"Darlin'," he sighed and looked at her, "It's okay. We talked, ya explained it… So it's okay."

"No, it's not," Jean disagreed. "You must think that I don't trust you, but I do. You're my life…"

"Hey…," he said and gave her a concerned look while he sat up a bit. "What's wrong?" Reaching out, he cupped her cheek and furrowed his brows.

"Nothing," she waved off and looked away, but cuddled up to him. "I just wanted you to know…"

While he held her close and stroked over her back, Logan still had his brows furrowed in confusion. "Ya sure that everythin's alright?" he mumbled into her hair.

"Yeah…" Jean nodded. "No…"

"Want me t'pick one?" he asked and cocked an eyebrow at her.

"No, I don't want to hurt you…," she whispered and snuggled deeper into his chest. "I've seen how much she's hurt you…that's enough." He sighed. "I just want you to know that I'm here in case you want to talk," she added and looked up to meet his now distant eyes. Smiling sadly, she stroked over his cheek. "She doesn't deserve to have you as her son," Jean whispered and kissed him. "And you're neither an animal nor a monster. That woman doesn't know you at all," she added and placed a kiss to his chest.

"Let's just try t'get some shut eye," Logan grunted and closed his eyes again.

"Knowing the children that will probably be less than an hour," she mumbled into his chest and wrapped her arms around him. "I love you."

"Mhm…," he mumbled and tried to doze of but even after an hour he couldn't find any sleep, while the redhead next to him was peacefully sleeping. In the end, he got up with a sigh and put on some sweatpants before he walked back downstairs where he ran into Ororo and Narya, who prepared a tray.

"Hey, I thought you wanted to sleep," the weather goddess said in surprise.

"Can't sleep," Logan grunted and got himself a bottle with orange juice out of the fridge. "Whatcha doin'?!" he asked since both women began to pile bottles and food on the tray.

"Take a look outside, dear," she smiled and pointed behind her to the garden. "The weather is great, it is hot and we're going to have a barbeque later."

"And your children are anxious to join us in the pool," Narya added. "So you better go looking for…"

"Daddy!" Jack suddenly shouted and jumped at his father's leg with a cocky grin that made Logan cock an eyebrow at him suspiciously.

"What do ya want'n how much will it cost me?" he asked his son, who furrowed his brows.

"Eh?" Jack made and gave him a questioning look.

"Just kiddin'," Logan waved off and pulled the boy up. "What's wrong?"

"We wanna go swimming!" Jack told him and wrapped his arm around his neck.

"And?"

"And you always tell us that we have to ask first… Can we go swimming?" he asked and gave his father his best puppy-dog-eyes look. "Please?!"

"Aw," Narya made, thinking that the boy's look was too cute, but Logan gave her a look.

"He doesn't know that it only works with his sisters, ya know," he informed her and put Jack down again. "Then go and tell the others," he began and the boy already headed for the door, cheering aloud, before he could finish, "BUT," Logan added and Jack stopped, "no shoutin' upstairs, mommy's sleepin'!"

"No, she isn't," Jean's sleepy voice came from the door and he turned to look at her.

"And why not?" he asked when she wrapped her arms around his waist to lean into him.

Shrugging, she rested her chin on his are chest, her eyes on his. "The pillow woke me up."  
"The pillow?" Logan nodded while he wrapped his arms around her and raised an eyebrow.

Jean nodded. "It didn't cuddle back, you know?"

"Aw… Missed me, huh?" he teased her and leant in to kiss her, not seeing how Narya and Ororo exchanged an amused look. "Don't ya have work t'do?" he grunted into their direction and watched them retreating. "Maybe we can get some shut eye at the pool?"

"You're the father of 5, Logan," Jean said and began to pull him with her to their rooms. "Do you really believe they'll let you sleep at a pool?"

"A man can have hopes, darlin'," Logan grunted and patted Miloh's head upstairs. "But thanks… Ya shattered'em."

After their children had changed into their swimsuits and grabbed their things, Jean still tried to decide which bikini to wear, while Logan dressed Jamie and looked at her from time to time. "The black one," he mumbled and placed his son onto their bed.

"But I wear it every summer."

"So? I like it," he said and changed into his trunks when something smacked his butt. "I assume ya feel better?!" Logan asked her smirking and gave lascivious look after turning around.

"I don't know what you mean," Jean mumbled, still occupied with her bikini. "You sure about the black one?" When he chuckled it was her who gave him a look. "What?"

"Stop playin' the innocent, darlin' and yeah, the black one." To make his opinion clear he snatched the red bikini away from her and gave her a gentle slap on the rear. "Need help puttin' it on?" he whispered into her ear, using his hoarse voice to perfection.

"I think I can manage," Jean smiled but blushed and was pressed against him in the next moment.

"Sure?" Logan asked and nuzzled her neck first, just to place feathery kisses down her neck and shoulder.

"Ew!" Jamie said after seeing it and received a playful growl from his father.

"Ew?" this one asked and pulled the boy quickly up who tried to get away, squealing aloud. "I give ya ew, kiddo," he warned and held him close while kissing his neck, which made Jamie laugh and squeal even louder.

When they were at the pool later, Logan and most of the men were splashing in the water with their children, while the women lay on the loungers, having a sunbath. Looking up from her book, Ororo gave the redhead next to her a look. "It's good to see that Logan and you have talked. You look way better."

"I feel better," Jean said and pulled her sunglasses up a bit. "It's the first time in weeks that I stopped hearing voices and feel in control."

"Maybe your Phoenix only missed Wolverine," her friend shrugged. "Logan is finally more at ease too," she added when the man threw his kids one after the next into the water and had to do this over and over again. "And…from the way the two of you acted earlier today, I assume that you had a fun night?"

"With lots of fountains as Logan was so nice to inform us," Moira added and Jean blushed.

"It was really mean of you to say that you'd split!" Ororo scolded her. "I really believed it…"

"It was Logan's idea," the redhead said and watched how he took Jamie for a swim through the pool.

"I bet he made fun out of us while you showered," Moira sulked.

"Yes, he did," Jean confirmed, smiling and settled back into the lounger. It didn't take long and she heard Logan calling her name in his sweetest voice. "My answer's no, Logan."

"Why not?!" he asked and rested his head on his arms that supported him on the edge of the pool. "C'mon, the water's nice."

"No."

"Yeah, it is!" he sulked and looked at Ororo and Raven. "How about you, ladies? Wanna join us?"

"No, but thanks, Logan," Ororo said and put her book away to enjoy the sun, while Jamie stumbled over to them and sat down on his father's lounger.

"That sucks," Logan grumbled and looked at Scott.

"Yes, it does," the man agreed and grinned back when his teammate smirked at him. Together they swam over to Peter, Remy and Bobby, who were lazily resting in a corner of the pool and exchanged some brief words, just to leave the pool next. The girls didn't see how the men told the children to stay clear of the pool for a moment via hand sign, began to run and jumped into the water together next and became aware of the huge wave of water too late and only when it hit them.

Shrieking, they jumped out of the loungers and looked at each other, the water dripping to the ground while the men laughed their heads off. Jean and Raven didn't see how Logan and Scott sneaked up to them either first. When arms suddenly wrapped themselves around their bodies and they were dragged towards the water, all squealing and writhing was useless. Their men jumped into the water and pulled both women automatically with them.

"Logan!" Jean cursed and glared at him, which earned her a laugh from him. "Damn you!"

"Gotten wet, darlin'?" Logan mocked her teasingly and wobbled his eyebrows. When he saw that she was about to give him a sermon he splashed water at her, but didn't reckon with Jean to use her powers to dunk him. Growling, he swam back to the surface but changed his mind and reached out to grab her leg and pull her under the water instead.

"Jerk!" Jean snapped and knew that he was up to something when he began to cock an eyebrow at her. "No more dunking!" she warned him and was pulled into his arms and a kiss instead. "Is that your way to offer peace?"

"Truce sounds better," Logan growled into her neck and kissed it.

"If you kiss her that much you will make too many babies, Uncle Logan," TJ lectured him and was confused when Jubilee and Kitty began to laugh aloud.

"If that was the case, kiddo," Logan replied and held the redhead close, who had blushed since the girl had said it loud enough for everyone to hear, "my kids had lotta siblings…"

"Maybe you didn't kissed her right then," the girl shrugged and frowned when the grown ups around her began to laugh again.

"She's too cute!" Jubilee said ruffled TJ's hair, making the girl teleport away and into her father's arms.

"Daddy…," she cried and wrapped her arms around his neck, "they're mean to me."

"Is that so?" he asked and winked at her. After he'd placed her onto his lounger, a _bamf _could be heard first and Jubilee's shriek next as he grabbed her, teleported away again and let her fall into the water. "Better?" he asked his daughter and smiled when the girl laughed aloud in joy, after he had teleported back to her.

"You!" Jubilee cursed when she reappeared on the surface and pulled her wet hair back. "You…"

"If you hit my daddy, I'll tell Uncle Logan that you are mean to me!" TJ warned her.

"So?!" Jubilee challenged and climbed out of the water.

"Then he'll spank you!" the girl threatened and stuck out her tongue. "He has claws, you know?"

"One thing, girl! Wolvie would never ever hit me," the woman replied, crossed her arms and stuck out her tongue too.

"No, but he'd do that," Logan suddenly said behind her and pulled her back into the water.

"Wolvie!" she cursed and splashed water at him after reaching the surface again. "Come back here!"

"Ehm,…no," he said after climbing out of the water and smirked at her. "Go and annoy Slim." As he walked back to his lounger he could already see that Jamie still occupied it and was deeply asleep. "Well, darlin', I think you've gotta move over a bit," Logan said to Jean and lay down next to hear with a sigh.

"You're mean," she scolded him playfully and he chuckled.

"Nah, just enjoyin' myself," he smirked and pulled her close after rolling onto his side. "Kids are occupied. That means we should get some shut eye," he yawned and cuddled up to her.

"Mhm, and it's going to snow in one hour, Logan," Ororo mocked while she applied crème to her skin. While she did so she watched the others at the pool or on the loungers and smiled when Jack and his siblings were now begging John and Hank to pay attention to them. "Your children have found another victim by the way," she said and began to frown when there wasn't a reply. "Logan?" Ororo asked and froze in her movements. "Jean?!"

"I think they are sleeping," Kurt said and walked over to the lounger Jamie lay on to put Tommy next to him, since the boy had fallen asleep too. He smiled when Tommy's skin color changed from deep blue to Ororo's first and his hair from black to white next when the boy turned around in his sleep.

"Unbelievable," the woman shook her head. "That means that must have been a really long and sleepless night of fun for them…"

"What do you mean, mommy?" her daughter asked and sat still on Ororo's lap when the woman applied crème to her skin next. "Did they play games all night?"

"Yeah, role playing games," Jubilee said and wobbled her eyebrows when the weather goddess gave her a warning look.

"Oh really?" TJ asked excitedly. "What role playing games? Did they wear costumes? I like costumes."

"I'm sure they went as the in the Buff's," Jubilee nodded and ignored Ororo's look on purpose.

"Who are the in the Buff's, mommy?" TJ asked and looked at her mother. "Are they some neighbors?"

"Sweety, she's just joking," Ororo told her.

"I think Uncle Logan went as a wolf."

"Must have been a very hungry wolf," Jubilee said. "And Jean was one of the little goats then."

"Jubilee, stop making fun out of her!" Ororo warned the woman.

"She's too cute. Can't help it!"

"But if she was joking, mommy, what did you mean with fun night?" TJ asked and pouted.

"Well…," the woman began and was at a loss of words.

"It means tat tey talked about teir problems, Mäuschen," Kurt explained and reached out to stroke through her black hair.

"And now they love each other again?"

"Ja, tey do."

"And why did mommy call it a fun night, daddy?" she asked innocently and looked at him with her yellow eyes.

"You know…," Kurt began and moved a bit closer while looking for the right words, "vhen a couple loves each oter very much, tey like to be close to one anoter."

Thinking about it, TJ looked at the couple for a moment. "You mean they made babies?!"

"That's what couples do when they love each other," Ororo said, still feeling uncomfortable but being glad that Kurt helped her.

"So they'll have another baby?!" the girl asked excitedly.

"No, I don't think so, baby." Frowning, her daughter looked at her questioningly. "We'll explain that another time, okay?"

"'kay…," TJ pouted and squealed when Kurt grabbed her, just to disappear with her next to land in the water. She laughed aloud when they reached the surface again, telling her father to do it again and again.

* * *

"Do we 'ave enough meat and drinks?" Remy asked while he played cards with Bobby, Alex, Peter, Kurt and Scott.

"Rule number 1," Scott said and threw a card onto the pile, "women always want fresh meat and veggies for a barbeque!"

"Right," Bobby agreed and played his card. "And don't forget they want their special stuff again."

"Talking about which," Ororo said and stopped behind Scott, "here's a list."

"And why me?!" the man asked with a look at her.

"Your turn to go food shopping according to Forge," she shrugged. "Oh, and better take Logan with you. You know how much meat he always eats."

"He's sleeping," Scott grunted and threw his cards onto the table, not liking that he had to go shopping at all. "What about John. Why can't he go?!"

"He's on shopping duty in two weeks, sorry!" Ororo said sweetly and returned to her lounger.

"What would Logan say now?" Peter smirked and went on playing. "A wife is always right."

"Yeah, whatever," Scott mumbled and looked over at the feral mutant, who was occupied with the redhead. "Hey, Logan!" he called, but was ignored and rolled his eyes. "Logan!" he said louder.

"What?!" this one growled and glared at him.

"We need to go food shopping, come on!"

"No, _we_ don't!" Logan growled and paid attention to Jean again. "Lil' Scotty's all grown up, he can go alone."

"Go with him," Jean said and caressed his cheek. "Otherwise you complain about the meat again," she added smiling and kissed him.

"But I don't wanna go," he sulked. In the end he did it reluctantly and, after putting on a jeans and shirt, met Scott in the garage.

"Stop sulking. I'm not happy about it either," the man said and drove off.

"Shut up, Slim!" Logan growled and glared out of the window.

"Whatever, Logan," Scott mumbled and took the route to the nearest Wall-Mart. "Behave and don't pick a fight again," he warned the man when they went inside.

Quickly and in utter silence they bought what they came for and now waited to pay for everything. "How come you have a tan already?" Scott asked, noticing the difference in skin color even through his glasses.

"How come ya have sunburn?" Logan asked back and gave him a look.

"Really?" his opposite asked surprised and touched his face. "Where?"

"Here," the feral mutant said and pointed at his cheeks. "And there," he added while his finger poked into his teammate's forehead.

"Ow!" Scott complained and slapped away Logan's fingers. "Do you always have to be so rude?"

"Slim?"

"What?!"

"Shut up!" Logan grunted and glared at an older woman, who had nearly bumped into him with her chart.

"Yohoo, sweethearts!"

"How embarrassing," Scott mumbled and pushed the cart forward a bit.

"Maybe he meant ya," Logan teased him and smirked.

"I know you're Canadian, Logan, but in the US the plural of sweetheart ends with an s, you know?" Scott mocked him when they heard the man shouting again. "Why are they looking at us by the way?" he asked after turning into the direction when he heard the man calling again.

"Do ya know them?!" Logan grunted since now the two men were smiling and waving at them.

"Ehm…no," Scott said.

"Well, but they seem t'know us."

"Wiseass! _I _don't know them, but maybe _you _do and can't remember."

Logan scoffed. "Yeah, sure." He furrowed his brows when his teammate suddenly grabbed his arm hard.

"Wait!" Scott said and his jaw dropped. "Maybe that's… What were their names again?! Strawberry and…"

Cocking an eyebrow at him, the feral mutant looked at the men briefly. "Cherry and Angel?" he asked and the man next to him nodded. "Ya think it's them?"

"Could be," Scott shrugged. "As happy as they are to see us… Damn, why now?!"

"Do we have everythin' by the way?" Logan changed the subject and began to glare at three men, who stood a bit behind Scott and were looking at and talking about them. "Got a problem, bub?!" he grunted after he had heard something he didn't like.

"Yeah, you!" one of the men said, causing several people to turn their heads into their direction and Scott rolled his eyes.

"Oh really?" Logan growled.

"Logan!" Scott said through gritted teeth and touched the man's shoulder. "Please! Not again!" he begged him.

"We don't want mutie scum and fags in our stores!" the man next to the first said angrily and glared at both mutants full of hatred. His eyes narrowed even more when Logan smirked arrogantly at him.

He looked at Scott. "Must be a good market if a jerk like him managed t'buy stuff here without getting' lost, don't ya think?"

"What did you just say?!" the man roared and made a step forward, but was held back by his two friends.

"Hey, calm down, okay?" Scott intervened. "What the hell's your problem?!"

"I already said…," the first man hissed and leant in a bit. "Mutie scum and fags like you, who buy in our stores! Who knows what kinda diseases you leave behind."

"Fags?!" Scott asked him incredulously and gave Logan behind him a look, who only shrugged, telling him with it that he didn't care.

"Yes, fucking queers like you and your two friends over there," the man said full of hatred with a nod at the two men, who were already paying for their things. "Get your fag asses outta here!"

"Fag…asses?!" Scott asked in disbelief and heard Logan chuckling behind him. "What's so funny?!"

"Fuckers like'em!" Logan grunted and reached for his wallet.

"Mutie scum like you should rot in hell!" the third man said and received a cocked eyebrow from Logan.

"Wow, it can speak…," the mutant mocked and listened to the ongoing fight for a moment, before his inner alarm began to ring.

Feeling angry now himself, Scott was about to snap back as Logan's arm went around his waist and pulled him against the man's body. Shocked and flushed, he went completely rigid. "L…"

"Calm down, sweetheart," Logan said in his sweetest voice and pulled him further away from the men, ignoring the looks they were given from most of the people. "They're not worth it. Think about your blood pressure." Calmly, he put their goods back into the cart and paid for them. Nevertheless, he smirked at the three fuming men.

"What are you doing?!" Scott hissed into his ear, felt how his heart was racing and his cheeks burning.

"He was about t'punch ya and I ain't in for another sermon of Jeannie or Raven! So just shut your mouth shut and stick with me! I think one of them has a gun." Logan growled back through clenched teeth and tightened his grip on the man's waist.

"Shit…," Scott cursed and began to ask himself why it was always him who ended up in such a situation. His eyes quickly scanned the surrounding and he knew what Logan was hinting at. There were lots of people around them and also children, so the chances were great that they would get hurt and mutants blamed for it again, no matter who started the fight. So he chose the lesser evil and played along. Looking at Logan, he gave him a faked, sweet smile. "You're so right, baby."

"Filthy mutant fags," one of the men said through gritted teeth and watched through angry eyes how Logan pulled Scott with him. He didn't like the smile the man gave him at all.

"Ya know what the funny thing is, bub?" Logan asked after Scott carried all bags and was waiting for him. "I might be a mutant, but you're a…_homo_…sapien!" Smirking, he winked at the group and began to run when the three men started barking one threat after the next and tried to push the people in front of them out of the way to reach the two mutants. While running, Logan grabbed Scott quickly and pulled him with him to the exit where he saw Cherry and Angel standing. "Ya here with a car?!" he asked them quickly.

"Ehm, yeah…," the dark haired man, Cherry, nodded in confusion.

"We parked over there," his blonde friend said and pointed at the far end of the parking lot.

"Then ya better stick with us!" Logan said and opened the doors to Scott's car after snatching the key from him.

"Why?" Cherry asked him and turned around when he pointed to the entrance of the market, where the furious men just stormed out of it.

"That's why! C'mon!" Logan grunted, waited for all of them to close the doors and drove quickly off. He took a couple of turns and stopped in an alley, just to face his teammate's wrath next.

"You…are…so…dead!" Scott hissed and glared at him through his glasses. "How could you provoke them like that?!"

"Sorry, couldn't help it!" Logan smirked and chuckled when Scott groaned.

"God damn it, Logan!" he cursed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Aw, c'mon! We got away, no one got hurt."

"Damn you!"

"Sweethearts!" Angel intervened and leant forward a bit, a motion that was copied by his partner. "Fighting might end up in hot make up sex, but…"

"Definitely not!" Scott interrupted him.

"Aw, come on," Cherry smiled sweetly at him and patted his shoulder. "Don't be mad with your darling!"

"Right!" Angel agreed and smiled at Logan. "Just look at those eyes, chest and ass and you'll be all happy again. I'd definitely be more than happy!"

"What…?!" Scott began and was at a loss of words. "I'll definitely NOT look at those things!"

Logan chuckled and looked at the two men behind him. "He's just shy!"

"Logan!" Scott warned.

"Why not?" Angel asked him seriously. "If you don't want him anymore, Scotty, we'll gladly take him!"

"Take him!" Cherry laughed and slapped his knee. "Great choice of words, darling!"

"I know."

"Okay, wait!" Scott said, turned towards them in his seat and raised both hands. "He is NOT my boyfriend, okay?" he said matter of factly and tried to read the expressions of the men's faces.

"Oh really?" Cherry asked surprised and smiled at Logan. "Why didn't you tell us before?"

"Damn, all the things we could have done…," Angel sulked and his partner nodded.

"Right. We could have continued our nice evening at our home."

"Damn nice evening, sweetheart!" the blonde corrected him. "A very damn nice evening!"

Scott looked at them, then at Logan and back at the couple. "You think…we're gay?!" he asked shocked and the men began to laugh aloud.

"Did you hear that?!" Angel asked and Cherry nodded, laughing.

"So did!"

"He asked us if we think they're gay!"

"We're NOT, okay?!" Scott said and glared at Logan, who only smirked at him. "I have a girlfriend and he has a wife."

"Darling…," Cherry said and put a hand onto his shoulder, "if you knew how many gay men have such things."

"I had a married one once, you know," Angel nodded. "No proof at all. Sorry!"

"We are NOT into guys," Scott said again and looked aside. "Would you mind helping me out?!"

"Why?" Logan grunted with a shrug. "Yer handlin' it just fine."

Scott scoffed and felt the strong urge to strangle him. "Look," he tried once more. "He was depressed and wanted to go out and drink something, I went with him to keep an eye on him, but somehow we both ended up being completely drunk and landed in your bar. We neither know how we've gotten there, nor what we did. But I know one thing for sure…," he said and raised a hand. "We're not into guys. Did I make myself clear?!"

Skeptically, Angel and Cherry looked at him for a moment before the first one leant forward a bit. "You sure you're not into guys? Just a tiny-winy bit?"

"Damn sure!" Scott nodded and noticed Cherry's frown.

"Strange…"

"What?!"

"Why did you strip then?" the man asked him and Scott didn't know whether his jaw had dropped or his eyes grown wide first.

"What?!" was all he could asked and slapped Logan's arm when the man chuckled. "I didn't do that!"

Angel nodded. "You did. We played a game, you lost and had to strip. And you didn't mind us helping you out."

"Never! I…I was drunk!" Scott said and shook his head in disbelief. "Stop laughing, Logan! I bet you did worse."

"No!" his teammate chuckled.

"Well, if you think this is funny, then let's ask them what _you _did, how about that?!" Scott asked sourly and looked at the two men on the back seat. "What did he do?"

"Played cards with us, drinking some shots with us…," Cherry shrugged. "We just had fun. It was you who quiet enjoyed himself and wanted him to join." He nodded at Logan, who still grinned at his teammate.

"Right. You actually began to sulk since he didn't want to strip too," Angel told him and nodded. "Then you tried dancing with us, but you weren't as good as him," he went on with a nod at Logan. "He had a very nice hip wiggle."

"Thanks," Logan chuckled.

"My pleasure, sweetheart!"

"Anything else I don't want to know about…?" Scott asked and had his face buried in his hands.

"Hm, no…," Cherry said. "We had a fun night. That was all."

"Are you sure you don't swing to both sides?" Angel asked him after a moment and still gave him the same skeptical look.

"Damn sure!" Scott nodded without looking at him. "Can we go home, please?! They're waiting."

"Too bad, don't you think?" Angel sulked and Cherry nodded, just to take his friend's hand.

"Definitely." He smiled back when his partner smiled at him and returned the kiss he was given, which made Scott shake his head and Logan smirk at him.

"Where's your car?" the X-Man asked and drove the couple back to the market, stopped the car next to their and helped them with their bags.

"Thanks a lot, sweetheart!" Angel smiled at him.

"And thanks for saving us from those mad man!" his friend added.

"No problem," Logan said, still smirking and closed their car door. "See ya!"

"Bet on it!" Angel winked. "And tell your wife that I'm jealous!"

"By the way…," Cherry asked after buckling up. "You don't happen to think that she would lend you to us for a night or so?"

"Aw, I doubt that," Logan said. "Sorry!"

"Pity! But well…see you soon, I hope!" Cherry said. "Bye!"

"Bye!" After he was back in his car and had started the engine, Logan took notice of the look Scott, who leant against the window and had a bright smile on his lips, gave him. "What?!"

"You…were flirting with them!"

"No, I was just bein' nice."

"You…were flirting with two men," Scott said again and his smile turned into a mocking one.

"Wrong! _They_'re flirtin' with me, _I_ was just bein' nice," Logan grunted and concentrated in the street.

"Sure!" the man next to him mocked. "How come you know so well how to handle men, huh?" Scott couldn't help but to give Logan a teasing smirk.

"First, I was in the army, second, I'm 119 years old, Slim. Do ya really think only chicks are attracted t'me?!"

"To you or vice versa?" Scott asked, enjoying the moment clearly.

When they came to a halt at stop lights Logan turned to look at him. "Think your car will survive a front crash with a wall?"

"Don't you dare!" Scott warned him and sat up straight.

"Then shut up, Slim!" Logan warned him back.

"Sensitive topic, huh? Want me to tell Jean?"

"Don't…make me start of your past, bub" he growled and received a look for that comment.

"That was a low blow, Logan!" Scott said sourly. "Besides, I was just teasing you, okay?"

"Shut up!" Logan said again and looked back at the street, ignoring Scott's look on purpose.

* * *

After a long BBQ and evening in the garden some X-Men still remained in the kitchen to play a game after the children had been brought to bed. While Logan played poker with the remaining men, Jean and some of the women were playing another card game. "Are you sure you're alright?" Ororo asked Raven, who looked back at her after the woman had said it.

"What should be wrong with her?" Scott asked and threw a card into the middle. His eyes briefly switched to his partner. To him she looked fine.

"She looks pale."

"Well, wiseass, all Scotty sees is red," Logan grunted and sipped on his beer. "Or does she look pale-red t'ya, Slim?" he asked and looked at his opposite.

"Funny, Logan!" Ororo scoffed. "Don't you think she looks pale?"

After playing her card Jean looked at the blonde. "I told her she didn't look well, but…," she began when Raven suddenly let go of her cards and stormed out of the room.

"We can borrow ya romper suits," Logan grunted and smirked evilly at his favorite object of teasing.

"W…what?!" Scott asked and turned pale.

"C'mon, bub. A woman throwin' up…can only mean one thing." He chuckled when Scott swallowed hard and began to sweat.

Rolling her eyes, Jean gave him a look. "It can also mean that she's just sick."

"Sure thing, darlin'. We have four stomach flues running around… "

"Scott?" Rogue asked and bent forward a bit. "You have a girlfriend, remember?"

"So?" the man asked stuttering and began to ask himself what she had just asked him. He somehow couldn't remember… And why was it so hot in the room all of a sudden?

"Brain dead…," Kitty mumbled.

"Mon Ami," Remy began after playing his card, "Remy dinks dat you should go looking for your amour, non?"

"Son cerveau a lieu en vacances," Logan said to him and Remy laughed.

"Hey, what?" Ororo asked and looked to and fro between them. "Speak English!"

"Sois sage, mon ami," the Cajun replied and Logan snorted. "Sois sage."

"Je suis toujours gentil," Logan said innocently but smirked.

"Il est choqué!" Remy said with a look at Scott and laughed.

"Comme j'ai dit…brain dead," his opposite concluded.

"If you think that I didn't understand you…," Scott growled and got up to look for Raven.

"Logan?" Jean said and he turned his head to look at her in return. "Be nice and stop teasing him."

"He started it!" he defended himself. "And besides… I'm always nice."

"Sure!" Bobby nodded next to him. "Always the darling."

"See?" the older man said and smirked at Jean. "Popsicle got it."

"I just don't want to get stabbed," Bobby mumbled and played a card.

"Is something wrong?" Hank asked Logan, since the man had his brows furrowed and his head slightly tilted. Frowning, the furry mutant looked outside the window, but all he could see was the darkness on the outside. "Logan? Do you hear something unusual?!"

"Dunno… It's just a feelin'," Logan replied and turned completely around to take a closer look, as a bullet struck him in the head, the impact jerking his head backwards. He hardly heard the shocked screams as everything went black and he dropped limped to the ground…

**I have to say I actually wanted to stop after the Wall Mart scene, but the cliffie has been lurking inside of my head for quiet a while now. So I added the rest. I'm sorry that the chapter isn't that good, but I'm still studying for an exam that I have on Sept 11 (yeah, great date… : ( ). So thanks to all of you who have left a review to the last chapter. I hope you enjoyed this one here. Please review and see ya!!**


	41. Family Tree

**As requested, here's a family tree. For birthdates check the timeline (chapter 30).**

**Jean Grey – James/Logan Howlett**

Jack and Lily

Rachel

Jake (+)

Jamie

Laura (adopted)

**James/Logan Howlett ****– Itsu**

Daken

**James/Logan Howlett - Mariko**

Amiko (adopted)

**Scott Summers – Raven Darkholme**

Alexander Logan/Alex

**Marie/Rogue – Bobby Drake**

Isabella/Isa/Iz

**Marie/Rogue – Remy LeBeau**

Jean-Luc

**Ororo Munroe – Kurt Wagner**

Talia-Josephine/TJ

Thomas-Joshua/Tommy

**Ororo Munroe – Sabretooth**

Taylor (adopted by Heather and James McHudson)

**Henry "Hank" McCoy - Moira MacTaggert**

Nicholas/Nick (adopted)

**John Howlett ****Jr. – Anne**

Anna

**I hop****e I haven't forgotten anyone. LOL**

**Anyway, I'm currently working on the new chapter but I have one major writer's block for about three weeks already. I'm not satisfied with how it has turned out so far… I'll try to update soon! Thanks to all reviewers so far!!**


	42. Chapter 39

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!! : )

**I totally forgot two things in the last chapter:**

1. After seeing the ComicCon08 Wolverine trailer (and still being more than happy with Live playing Sabretooth), I decided that my Sabretooth is (from now on) modeled after Live Schreiber's version when it comes to his look/gestures/etc.

2. The "two long legs" sentence in the last chapter was stolen from Hugh Jackman's 60 seconds interview with Rachel Weisz, in which he's asked whether he prefers the window or isle and he says isle, since he has too long legs. (you should watch that interview, it's very funny)

3. The "I'm the best there's at what I do" reference works only if you keep in mind that this is movie verse and not comic verse. And only comic verse Wolverine uses that sentence.

Ehm…anything else?! I've pre-written a lots of additional scenes and stuff and of course, received the wishes from reviewer 300 and 350. My God, soon it's 400. Oo Amazing, really. Thank you all so much for staying with me for over two years by now. Changes was actually meant to have 10 chapters in total. Lol

Oh and the new animated series **Wolverine and the X-Men **is really better than I thought. : ) I watched the first episodes that were aired in Canada up to now and can't wait for the next one.

Oh, and I borrowed some dialogues from Origins and another comic strip (can't say which one, you'll see at the beginning anyway and I mentioned the source at the end), but changed them. And the "Never start with the head" sentence was my homage to The Dark Knight.

And italics include a flashback that I've written months ago (actually sometime suring the last year before I travelled to the US).

Have fun!

* * *

**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 39**

"There you are," Scott said after he'd finally found Raven and knelt down next to her. Worriedly, he reached out to pull her black hair back and rubbed her back with his free hand. "Feeling better?" He watched how she shook her head and tilted it so that it leant against the wall, while she remained kneeling in front of the toilet. "Come on, I'll help you upstairs. You need to lie down." Scott had hardly said it as her body convulsed and she threw up again.

"Just shoot me…," she begged and rested her head on her arms, feeling even sicker than before.

"Are you in pain?" he asked and held some tissues under water to cool her neck with it next, touched her forehead with his free hand to make sure she had no fever. "Maybe you caught something when Alex and I were sick… You've been through a lot of stress."

"I'm not in pain. I feel like shit!" Raven mumbled into her arms and closed her eyes, hoping that her stomach would finally stop turning.

"Come on," he said after a moment and waited until she stopped holding her head in an obvious fit of dizziness. Carefully, he walked her upstairs to their room and tucked her in. "Stay here. I'll get Jean, okay?"

Scott walked back downstairs and was surprised to run into some of his friends, who acted as if there had just been a bombing in the kitchen. Hank sought cover underneath the window and was covering Moira with his body, Ororo hid herself behind the kitchen isle together with Bobby but as soon as he noticed Jean, who held an unconscious Logan in her arms, he knew that something was seriously wrong. Ducking too, he crawled over to her. "What happened?!"

"We don't know," Hank said. "Someone just shot him."

"Shot him?!" Scott mumbled and his heart suddenly kicked into high gear. "Damn… They found us…"

"Who?!" Ororo asked and looked at him.

"We were attacked by some mutant haters in the market," he explained and sighed, his hand reaching out to check for Logan's pulse. Relieved that there was one he withdrew it again. "They said that mutant fags weren't welcome and Logan said that one of them had a gun…"

"Hold on!" Bobby interrupted him and frowned. "Mutant…fags?!" he asked and a grin became visible on his lips. "They…thought you were a couple?" Unable to stop himself he began to laugh aloud. "How dumb were they?!"

"Bobby…," Ororo sighed.

"I know! Not the right time, sorry!"

"What did you do that they thought you were a couple?!" Hank asked curiously and had his brows furrowed.

"That was Cherry's and Angel's fault," Scott told them. "They were there, recognized us and waved. So they must have thought that we were a gay couple…" Having said this, he felt heat rising to his head and knew that he was blushing.

"How dumb can people be…," Ororo mumbled and shook her head.

"I can picture everyone as a couple. But Logan and you? Never!" Moira added.

Scott rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I need someone to check on Raven. She's really miserable." He lowered his head as something made _clung _and noticed that the bullet had left Logan's forehead, was now lying on the ground. He shuddered at the thought that it could have been him if he hadn't left the room. It didn't take long for Logan to stir and open his eyes. "Oh shit…," Scott said backed quickly off as black eyes settled on him.

"Wade…," Wolverine growled, clearly pissed off and twisted his knuckles until a _snikt_ announced his unsheathed claws.

"No, Logan!" Jean said aloud but couldn't react that fast. With a quick jump he was out of the backdoor, uttering an angry roar.

"Wade?! Did he say Wade?" Ororo asked and risked to take a look over the kitchen isle. Nevertheless, she ducked quickly again after she heard Wolverine roaring once more. "Whoever that is…I think he's found him." Carefully, the mutants got up and took a look outside. "It's too dark," she cursed after they stood on the terrace.

"Not for long…," Jean mumbled and fixed her eyes on the moon. Within less than a second it began to shine like fire and coated the grounds in an orange light.

"There!" Hank said and pointed at Wolverine, who was in front of a tree and pacing furiously. "Whoever attacked him must be in that tree."

"What's wrong?!" Narya suddenly asked behind them and she, as much as the man next to her looked drowsily than ever. They had just been about to fall asleep as their room had been lit up by orange light.

"Logan was attacked by someone called Wade," Bobby shrugged. "Shot him in the head…"

"Wade?!" John asked suddenly completely awake and made a step forward.

"That's what Logan said," Ororo shrugged and looked up at him. "Do you know who that is?"

"Deadpool," he growled, his eyes narrowing. "Where's that bastard?!" About to join his brother he felt Jean's hand touching his bare chest. Looking at him, she shook her head.

"Never intervene when Wolverine's really angry," she warned him. "And trust me….he IS really angry."

"Don't underestimate Deadpool!" her brother-in-law warned her in return and switched his eyes back to the now roaring Wolverine, who had enough of playing hide and seek. Taking a good swing, he cut right through the tree in his berserker rage and the X-Men could see how something red jumped out of it before the tree crashed to the ground.

"Come here, kitty, kitty…," Deadpool mocked and fired another shot that went right through the angry mutant's chest. "Booya! Owned!"

"Kill...ya…," Wolverine growled furiously, not feeling the pain at all, and took a good swing at his enemy.

"Uh…Wolvie's a bad doggy!" his opposite said and pointed to the ground. "Sit!" he ordered and tilted his head when nothing happened. "Doggy, sit! Oh, no, no, no, wait! Play dead! That's it. Doggy, play dead!"

Roaring, Wolverine leapt at the man, who made quick use of his two guns and watched in satisfaction how the bullets ripped through his opponent's body.

"Gottcha! Now play dead. Be a good doggy, Wolvie!" Deadpool demanded and evaded the next attacks before he pointed his guns right into the X-Man's face. "I think doggy has to be put down," he said and tapped his lips that were behind his mask in the end. "Do you think if I threw a ball, you'd retrieve it?! You know like dogs usually do?" Evading the claws he sighed dramatically. "C'mon! I'm willing to give ya a reward!" He evaded again. "But thinking about it, I'd be fine with sit up and beg too!"

Roaring, Wolverine leapt at him, used his weight to knock his adversary off his feet and buried his claws deep into the body. Using his speed, he was quickly on his feet again, grabbed Deadpool and threw him against the wall nearby before he started another attack.

"That…hurt!" Deadpool complained and rubbed his back, his eyes growing wide when he saw the feral mutant approaching at inhuman speed. "And that sucks!" he added and jumped over Wolverine to kick him in the back of his head. "But that was nice," he chuckled after he'd landed on his two feet again and turned once more into Wolverine's direction. Surprised that the mutant only glared at him he cocked an eyebrow. "Hey! No claws? Why no claws? Where are the claws?!" he complained and crossed his arms.

"Piss off, Wade!" Logan growled and turned around to go back into the mansion, having enough of this game. "Stop waistin' my time and get off the grounds!"

"Oh no, no, no, no, no!" Deadpool made and punched Logan hard before he grabbed his opposite's wrists with a firm grip and glared at him through his mask. "C'mon! Snikt me!"

"Are ya fuckin' nuts or somethin'?!" Logan growled.

"Snikt me! SNIKT ME!" Deadpool barked at him and twisted the arms.

"Wade," Logan hissed, his eyes darker than usual, "get yer fuckin' hands offa me or I swear t'God I'll…"

"Yeah? YEAH? You'll what, Wolvie? Cut me open, gut me, show me my intestines and make me eat'em?" Deadpool cut him off and held onto Logan's wrists. "So what? C'mon do it! DO IT!" Waiting, he prepared himself for a fight but groaned when nothing happened. Frustrated he let go of his adversary and ran both hands over his mask. "What the fuck is wrong with you?! Where's this crazy Canuck, who wouldn't wait to fucking gut me?! WHERE is the psychopath?!"

"Right in front of me…," Logan grunted. "I say it again and it's my last warnin'. Piss off before I remember that I owe ya big for guttin' me!"

"You know? I actually liked you more when you where all crazy and acted like wolf man and howled at the moon every time you had a chance to do it," Deadpool replied and pointed a finger at Logan. "Just lemme know what kinda act you pull off so that I know what we're playing right now. Or wait! Noooo, lemme guess! I'll guess, okay? Just wait!" Critically, he encircled Logan once and clicked his fingers. "I know! I knoooow it!" he laughed and acted as if he wiped his tears away, which wasn't possible since his face was still covered by his mask. "Someone cut off your balls and they didn't grow back and now…" He stopped and bent forward a bit to have a better look. "You're not a eunuch now, are you?" he asked a growling Logan and pointed at this one's crotch. "C'mon, sing _Not the Boy next Door_, will you?" Before he even realized it Logan had taken Deadpool's head and bumped it into the wall, which made his adversary groan and clutch his top in both hands. "Man…never start with the head," he complained and received a cocked eyebrow while he shook his head. "The victim gets all fuzzy, you know? He can't feel the next punch." He's hardly said it when Logan took a good swing and sent his head flying. Waiting a moment for the pain to come, Deadpool pointed at his jaw. "See? That's what I'm talking about."

"Shut up!" Logan barked and grabbed him. "What the fuck do ya want, Wade?!"

"Hm…didn't sound like a eunuch…," Deadpool nodded approvingly and waited, and waited, and… "C'mon, say it!"

"Say what?!" Logan growled and pushed him back against the wall.

"Well what you always say. C'mon! Say it!"

"Jesus…," the X-Man groaned and ran a hand over his face in frustration. "How fucked up are ya by now?!"

"Hey, I'm not the one who's fucked up here!" Deadpool complained. "Who is the big bad Wolverine who goes like _I'm the best there's at what I do and what I do ain't nice _all the time, huh? Do I keep on saying it? Noooo! I'm not depending on such crappy one liner shit."

"I never said it in my whole life," Logan grunted and crossed his arms.

"No?"

"No."

"You sure?!"

"Positive."

"Hm…," Deadpool made and cocked an eyebrow. "But I'm sure I heard it somewhere…"

"Maybe ya read it somewhere," Logan sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Could be… Anyway, now snikt me, c'mon!" his adversary said and pointed at his chest. "Right here! C'mon!"

"Just go home," the X-Man growled and turned around to leave because he just had enough of it, as something ripped right through him. Looking down, he saw the end of a katana sticking out of his abdomen and a growl began to form deep in his chest. Seeing red, he extracted his claws with an angry roar that made his adversary jump up and down in joy.

"Yay! Now is fighty time, fighty time, blood, blood, blood!" Deadpool sang and grabbed his katana quickly before Wolverine leapt at him and the brawl was really on.

"Goddess," Ororo said and looked away as both men decided to make ground meat of each other. "Jean… Can't you just stop the fight?!"

"I agree!" Bobby nodded.

"I can't read his mind…," the redhead said instead and a frown was visible on her face. It became even more noticeable when Deadpool laughed hysterically.

"That guy's become even more nuts…," John grunted and watched how his brother buried his claws deep into his adversary's lungs, while Deadpool cried out in pain.

"That hurt!" he complained and drew a knife that he pushed into Wolverine's lung, twisting the blade. "See? It hurts! Lesson learned!"

Becoming even more furious, the X-Man used his head and knocked it against Deadpool's, who let go of the blade and dropped to the ground.

"I thought tonight wasn't starlit…," he mumbled and shook his throbbing head. His hand pulled his mask up again a bit so that he could spit blood once more. "And what did I say? NOT the head. Jeez…" He rubbed it quickly as Wolverine was about to take another swing and reached quickly out. "Noooo, I don't think so, wolf man!"

"Think ya can pull the trigger that quickly?" Logan growled and still held his fist under Deadpool's jaw, while this one held his gun right under the X-Man's jaw. "I pop, yer brain's fried."

"Uhhh, now I'm scared, hairdo!" Deadpool mocked. "What do you think what that is, huh? A plastic gun or that water comes out of it? What do you want with those forks anyway? Toss my salad?"

"I could toss yer fucked up brain, how about that?!" Logan growled and still remained in the same position.

"Heeaaaaling factor, remember?"

"Same here, bub," he grunted. "What's yer fuckin' problem anyway, Wade?!"

"What MY problem is?!" Deadpool asked mockingly. "What is YOUR problem? I mean what is this here? First, you ran around the globe acting like an asshole and now you're an all good Red Cross Samaritan or what? I mean I am still a world class mercenary, but you…"

"World class?" Logan chuckled.

"I sure as hell beat the fuck outta you just now, didn't I?" Deadpool asked angered.

"Want me t'clap my hands?" the X-Man mocked.

"Yeah, that would actually be very nice," his adversary nodded. "But a deep bow would do too."

Still watching the scenery from afar, Jean sighed. "Logan, I don't care if Wolverine's mad with me for interrupting his fight but I have enough. Either you'll end it now or I'll do it," she said and waited.

"Where do you know him from?" Narya asked and looked at John next to her who still had a sour look on his face.

"That fucker was after me for a while for whatever reason," he snarled and still glared at Deadpool, who hadn't moved an inch. If he was Logan right now, he'd sure as hell pop his claws right there and then, even if it meant catching a bullet.

"And you don't know why?" Scott asked.

"No. He chased me throughout the US and lost interest or got a different order when I moved back to Canada."

"Strange…"

"For how much longer are they going to do that?!" Bobby groaned since neither Logan nor Deadpool had moved and both were still staring each other down, the X-Man's fist and his adversary's gun still glued to the opposite's jaw.

"Not much longer…," Jean said and was about to use her powers on Deadpool as another gunshot echoed through the night. Shocked they watched how Logan dropped to the ground at the same time as his adversary and started running towards them, but didn't reckon with Deadpool disappearing in the next moment.

"Where did he go?!" Scott asked and touched his glasses to be ready for any other attack, while Jean and John knelt down next to Logan to check on him.

"I'll take a look around," Narya announced before she changed into a snowy owl and flew off.

"Same here," Ororo said and used her power to levitate herself into the air, while Bobby helped Scott.

"Logan?" Jean asked worriedly and searched for a pulse while she watched how blood began to pour out of his nose and mouth.

"Why didn't you react sooner?!" John snapped and glared at her. "You need to turn him around."

"I know that," she snarled back and returned the glare she was given, which he commented with a growl of his own.

"Then do it!"

"Hey!" Scott intervened. "Do you really think it's the right time to fight now?" he asked them angrily but turned his head as the owl returned and Narya landed next to him, followed by Ororo. "And?"

"No one's in sight," the blonde told him.

"My guess is that it was a diversion," Ororo added. "He was probably sent to keep us occupied."

"Our enemies are going on my nerves and I mean REALLY on my nerves by now," Bobby said.

"Not only on yours," Scott mumbled and watched how Hank and Moira joined Jean's side.

"His heart is beating again," the fury mutant said after ten more minutes and kept his fingers attached to Logan's throat until ten more minutes had passed. "Do you hear me, boy?" Hank asked when Logan began to stir helped John to support him. "Do you know where you are?"

Coughing, the feral mutant spit out the bullet and heaved several deep breaths before he glared at his teammates. "Where…is he?!"

"Gone," Scott said. "And you will go with Hank, Moira and Jean and do a check up." Seeing that Logan was about to protest, he added: "And NO is unacceptable! It's an order!"

"I don't need a fuckin' check up!" Logan grunted and swayed a bit after he'd finally managed to get up on his own.

"You were just shot into the head twice and have at least 15 holes in your body…," Moira tried to convince him but received a look only. "Fine… But if Jean calls us for help at night because you have a fit or anything…"

"Do a check up," the redhead cut her off and took Logan's hand. "We'll make it quick."

"I'll be fine. I don't need one," he now grunted tiredly and tried to ignore the strong throbbing of his head. "Just lemme sleep…"

Sighing, she held his look. "Fine… Your decision…"

"What would have happened if she had intervened earlier?" John asked and walked back to the mansion with the others. "She said we can't intervene, so what would have happened if she had done it?"

"Easy answer," Bobby replied. "Wolverine versus Phoenix round…what? 6 or 7?"

"She once intervened and they wrecked a room," Ororo told him. "You don't want to be near their negatives when they fight for dominancy, trust me."

"Fine, whatever…," John waved off.

"I'll go and talk to the Professor," Scott announced when they were back inside. "Oh, and please check on Raven, will you?"

"Of course," Hank nodded, left with Moira to go and visit the shapeshifter, while Ororo and Bobby secured all windows and doors with the help of Narya and John.

In the meanwhile Jean helped Logan upstairs and dragged him into the bathroom where she pushed him gently down on the toilet and pulled his shirt over his head to examine his wounds. "We need to get the bullets out…," she said while her hand stroked over a just healed wound.

"They'll work themselves out…," he said drowsily and rested his head against the wall.

"Fine…" She sighed and got up to wet a towel with which she began to clean his skin. "I don't care if you'll attack me but next time I'll intervene, Logan."

"Too dangerous… Ya know how furious he gets."

"I don't care." When she was done and after toweling him off she led him over to the bedroom.

"How come the kids are still sleepin'?" Logan asked, wondering why apparently no one had awoken during and after the noises on the outside.

"I blocked out the noises. I didn't want the children to be scared," Jean told him and touched his cheeks after lying down. "You're feverish…," she noticed and tucked him in even if he hated to sleep with sheets in summer time. Absently she stroked over his cheek until he fell asleep and placed a kiss to his lips. Her mind switched off the lights and she cuddled up to him, her hand resting on his evenly heaving belly.

* * *

In the infirmary Hank put the screen aside and took the chart that Moira handed him. His eyes quickly read through the new information and he nodded approvingly. "You were right, Raven," he said to the woman, who still lay on the bed in front of him, her blue eyes looking to and fro between the doctors. "You are about 3 ½ weeks in. After the information you gave me you should be due around March 18."

"No…," she sighed and covered her face with both hands, which earned her a look of both mutants.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Moira asked and laid a hand on her shoulder worriedly. "I thought Scott and you wanted to have another baby…"

"Yes, but not now…," Raven said desperate, making it obvious that she didn't like the situation at all. She waited for Hank to wipe the gel off her belly before she pulled her shirt down again and sat slowly up to run both hands over her face.

"What do you mean with not now?" Hank asked and put his glasses aside. "I thought Scott and you were fine again? And Kurt has forgiven you too…"

"No, I mean the whole situation we are in," she replied angered. "Our enemies might attack us any minute, we can't tell. What if they do it when I'm 7 or 8 months pregnant or in labor?! I can't have a child now!"

Seeing how desperate she was, Moira sat down next to Raven and hugged her. "You'll be fine," she promised her and looked at her husband for confirmation.

"That's right," Hank nodded. "Think about Rogue. She had Isa during our battle against the Brotherhood. You know we protect each other."

"And Scott will be fine with it," his wife added reassuringly when the woman got up, still looking upset as ever. "He'll be happy, trust me."

"Go and talk to him about it. And make sure you sleep tonight." Reaching out, Hank handed her a small bottle. "If you feel sick again and it doesn't get better take one of those. They won't harm the baby and ease your stomach."

Raven only nodded and left the room. On her way upstairs she could only think about what this news meant for their current situation. Of course Hank and Moira were right. Scott and she were fine again and Kurt had forgiven her, but she couldn't imagine having a baby now. When she reached her rooms she figured that Scott was still not back and walked over to make sure that Alex was still sleeping. After she had tucked him back in and stroked over his brown hair she went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. Her stomach began to protest again the longer she stood and she felt tired as hell. Slowly she changed into one of Scott's shirts and lay down in bed, just to hear how the door opened and he entered the room.

"Hey," he whispered as not to wake their son and made a sign that he would quickly get ready for bed too.

Waiting for him, Raven felt how her heart began to beat faster. She wondered how he would react to the news. The leader he was he would agree to her opinion. The moment was wrong…

"What did Hank say?" Scott suddenly asked next to her and lay down on his side. Seeing her sad look, he began to fear the worst. "It's something serious, isn't it?"

Only able to nod she moved over and wrapped her arms around him, cursing her hormones that a strong woman like her just wanted to cry.

"What did he say? What's wrong with you?!" he asked, fear echoing in his voice.

"I'm….," Raven began but he cut her off.

"Seriously sick?!"

"No… Not really…" For this vague answer she received a frown and closed her eyes to heave a deep breath. Now was the moment of truth… "I'm pregnant…," she finally admitted and kept her head lowered as he suddenly cursed.

"Shit!"

She watched how he ran both hands trough his hair and knew they had the same opinion about it. "Thanks… That's what I said too, "Raven replied and sighed. "I know the moment is wrong… It's too dangerous and if we're attacked… It's my fault anyway… I was too busy with caring for you and Alex that I forgot to take the pill. I can understand that you're mad now."

Scott just gave her an incredulous look. "No! God, Logan will throw a party because he was right and I was too stupid to read the signs…"

"Scott?!" Raven said and now it was her who gave him that look. "I said the moment to have a baby is wrong!"

"The moment to have a baby is never right! We'll manage," he assured her and smiled after realizing what the news meant. Reaching out, he cupped her face lovingly before he hugged her tightly. "A baby…," he said in awe and kissed her neck.

"So you're fine with it?" she asked him insecurely after a moment, enjoyed how soothing his arms around her were. "Despite everything that's going on at the moment? What if we're going to be attacked when I'm in labor?"

Scott sighed and looked at her. "Raven, you worry too much," he said and tried to smile at her reassuringly. "Hey, we're going to have another baby! We both wanted a baby girl. Maybe we're lucky. Now stop pulling that face, okay? You'll be fine." To make his opinion clear he kissed her.

Since she felt at least a bit better Raven gave him a weak smile. As happy as he looked she couldn't help it anyway. "I'm tired…"

He nodded and placed a kiss on her forehead after tugging her in, then reached out to switch off the lights. "If you wake up and feel sick again wake me, okay?"

"I will…," she mumbled sleepily and turned around so that he could cuddle up. "Night."

"Night," Scott said, kissed her neck and rested his head on her back.

* * *

In his slumber Logan smiled pleasantly and enjoyed the dream he was having clearly. To him it seemed real that he lay on the bed while Jean was on top of him, naked of course since it was a manly dream and he was the Wolverine in the end. A purr escaped his lips and he shifted when his dream-Jean sat down on his back and began to nib and lick on his neck. Growling satisfied, he turned around, smiled when his dream-Jean kissed him and reached out to pull her closer. Nevertheless, he couldn't remember that she was that hairy but forgot about it as soon as she was placing wet kisses on his neck, lips and cheeks again. "Mmm, Jean…," he sighed and cracked an eye open with a smile, wondered what has gotten into her that she wanted sex that early in the morning. He blinked drowsily at her, asked himself why she was dressed in white when she had worn black briefs and a tank shirt the night before. If he thought about it, he couldn't remember that her tongue was that big either…or that she made those sounds. "Oh, you freakin' dog!" Logan cursed and sat up in a rush. While he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, he glared at Miloh, who had jumped aside and now sat on Jean's side of the bed, still wagging his tail happily. "Damn ya…," the mutant grunted and gave his watch a look, noticing that it was already 2 p.m. "Fuck ya Wade…," he growled and ran both hand through his messed up hair, pulled a face since drool was clearly also in it. "You…," Logan said and pointed a finger at the white wolf next to him, "will get a very soapy bath later. Mark my words!"

Hearing the word bath, Miloh gave a disapproving low _wuff_ and jumped off the bed quickly.

"Ya can't hide!" the mutant called after him and looked at the mess his dream-Jean had left. "Great…," he cursed when the sheets still formed a tent and of course his wife was nowhere nearby to do something about it. From what he picked up on the others were at the pool and of course his children screamed and laughed the loudest. Still being pissed about not being awakened by his dream coming true, he went into the bathroom to take a shower.

His mood got even worse as Logan left the bathroom and nearly fell over a pair of old shoes that Miloh's and Callie's cubs used for playing, just to fell for good after he slipped on an old shirt that belonged to the cubs too. Growling death curses, he grabbed his trunks and quickly checked if there were still bullets in his body before he left his rooms to join the others.

* * *

"Look at that," Ororo said and pulled down her glasses a bit. "Your husband is finally up and looks pissed off as ever…"

Switching her attention to the right, Jean pushed her sunglasses down a bit and began to frown. Logan looked angry, pissed even and strangely as it was he walked straight up to her. Her mind quickly began to think about everything she could have done that would cause the look on his face.

"The last time he looked like that…," Scott mumbled and handed Raven a new bottle of water, "was the morning after you got up without waking him…"

_Sleep drunken and feeling like being captured in a strong trance, Jean walked down to the kitchen and yawned. To her surprise Scott, Ororo and Hank were gathered in the room for a late way-past-midnight snack and sat in front of a huge pack of Ben & Jerry's. _

"_Wow!" Scott said and watched how the redhead stumbled over to the microwave to heat a bottle. "Someone just woke up from a deep coma as it seems…"_

"_Not…funny!" Jean mumbled and leant her head against the fridge while she held her two week old daughter on her arm. Closing her eyes, she waited for the microwave to finish its job._

"_I really feel sorry for you…," Ororo said and licked the spoon clean. She knew what kind of a hard time Rachel gave the couple and that Jean was as much on the edge as Logan. Both hardly slept for more than two hours a day, since the girl asked for their fullest attention. Since the baby was born the couple functioned on automatic and arguments happened at least 3-5 times a day, since both were suffering from a great amount of sleep deprivation. "Why don't you let us babysit tomorrow and Logan and you take a serious nap?" she offered, but Jean laughed._

"_Nap?! If I close my eyes, I'll sleep for days…"_

"_As Logan is doing now?" Hank asked and received a nod._

"_I didn't want to wake him," Jean said and got the bottle out of the microwave. "He's getting up to feed or change her so often, he needs a break."_

"_Too late…," a gruff voice said from the door and a very tired and very drowsy looking Logan leant against the frame, his head resting against the cool surface and he looked like someone, who was close to drop dead to the ground. "I missed ya next t'me…"_

"_Wow!" Scott said once more. "You look at least twenty years older just without the gray hair!"_

_Flipping him off, Logan went over to take his daughter and the bottle and sat down on one of the stools to feed her. Jean sat down next to him, watching them, while her head rested in one hand. It felt too heavy and was throbbing mercilessly by now that she was incapable to keep it straight. A look into his face told her that he felt the same way, if not even worse. She had at least gotten two hours of sleep each night, while he went mostly without or with one hour only. She closed her eyes briefly just to feel how he leant over to rest his head on her shoulder._

"_So tired…," Logan mumbled and she had hardly taken Rachel and the bottle from him before his arms went limb. While she fed their girl, he bent forward and rested his head on the table. A hollow thud echoed through the room as adamantium met stone._

"_Go to bed…," Jean said softly and yawned again._

"_Mh…," he made and now used an arm for a pillow._

"_I never believed he could ever run out of energy," Hank said with a look at the man. Since there came no reaction at all, he gave the redhead a surprised look when she got up to put the empty bottle away. "He's fallen asleep already?!"_

"_We'll take care of Ray and the twins tomorrow, okay?" Scott said. "If Logan's already that done, I don't want to know how you feel."_

"_Would you really…?" Jean asked, sounded desperate and pleadingly at the same time, since the actual thought of getting some sleep sounded like heaven to her._

"_Of course," Ororo nodded. "You have enough help here."_

"_Thank you!" Jean whined and gave her husband a look. "Would you mind waking him up? I don't have the power left in me…"_

"_Sure, just go back to bed," Scott nodded and got up as she left the room to wake his opposite. "Hey, Logan!" he said and began to shake the man, but there was no reaction at all._

"_She once told me he's hard to wake up when he's really sleeping," Ororo let him know. "And he obviously is…," she added since even shaking him harder didn't have the desired effect._

"_Logan!" Hank tried a bit louder and gave his friend a hard push, but this one only growled and buried his face in his arm, which still rested on the counter. _

"_Come on! Get up or I'll strip you from your briefs!" Scott said and poked his teammate into the ribs, since Logan was wearing black briefs only. _

"_Good, since you managed to do that, you can be so nice and bring him back upstairs!" Hank smiled and helped Scott to pull Logan up. He watched how a disoriented Wolverine, who was still half asleep and looked right through anything that was in front of his eyes without even seeing anything for real, nearly ran into the fridge. Being nice, Scott pulled him away from it._

"_No, that way. Come on," he said and wrapped Logan's arm around his shoulder before he began to lead the way back to the man's rooms. "Oh, don't make yourself so heavy, Logan! I can't carry your sorry ass all the way upstairs!" he cursed and groaned under the dead weight of the man._

_Upstairs he helped him to the bed and watched how Logan just dropped onto it and was already asleep again. Only shaking his head, since also Jean was out cold once more, he closed the door calmly behind him and went back downstairs. _

* * *

"_Do you think they are still alive?" Scott asked while feeding Jack and gave the clock on the wall a look. Not that he was worried, but it was always better to ask, wasn't it? "You are one greedy little boy!" he added and held up the bottle for everyone to see. "Look at that!" _

_Looking up, Jack reached up and tried to get his bottle back, but since his arms were not long enough he relayed on what he was best in and began to cry._

"_Scott!" Ororo scolded him and he quickly handed the bottle back. "If Logan hears him, he'll wake up!"_

"_Well, then he can see that his son is a glutton!" the man replied. "Lily's bottle is still half full!"_

"_And yours is half empty!" Jubilee teased him._

"_Mhm, sure!" he mocked. "It is empty and he's still hungry. What a glutton! You know what? If a mutant child with similar powers to Logan's shows up here, then we don't need a paternity test. If the child eats a lot, it's Logan's!"_

"_You're mean!" Rogue said and smiled at Ray next, who was peacefully sucking on her bottle in Kitty's arm. "And Logan doesn't eat a lot!"_

"_No, of course not. He eats all the meat!" Scott scoffed. "And the veggies, and the fruits, and so on…"_

"_Yes, because his healing factor needs lots of proteins," Hank lectured him and looked at the clock. "How long are they already sleeping?!"_

"_They went to bed the night before at… Was it around 2 a.m.?" Ororo asked._

"_Something like that," Scott nodded._

"_So that would mean…," Jubilee mumbled and began to calculate, "…yes, I think they are dead indeed!"_

_Rogue sighed. "Let them sleep. They haven't gotten much and Logan hasn't gotten any at all. He teaches his classes, took over Jean's, he does the household, takes care of the children… He was dead beat lately," she listed and sipped on her coffee. "AND," she added, "I caught him too often napping wherever he stood or sat!"_

"_Once he even fell asleep during classes!" Jubilee giggled and covered her mouth quickly when Scott and the Professor looked at her. "I mean…accidentally… We wrote a test and were obviously too calm…"_

"_He fell asleep during a test?!" Scott asked and stared at her in shock. "How can he do that?!"_

"_Now I know why all students mysteriously had A's," Charles nodded, but smiled. "I don't blame him."_

"_Still…," Hank said, "they are sleeping for over 24 hours by now…"_

"_Their bodies claim the rest they obviously need," Ororo shrugged and put the bottle away. She began to pat Lily's back and smiled at her. "Right, sweetheart? And as soon as daddy is awake you can drive him nuts again."_

"_Don't let Logan hear that!" Hank chuckled and turned a page of his newspaper._

_Upstairs the man with the unruly dark hair sighed in his sleep, stretched his muscles and rolled over; his hand instinctively reaching out and pulling the body next to him close, whereas Jean smiled and sought his warmth. Cuddling for a while, the redhead slowly awoke and opened her eyes a bit. The headache was gone, she was finally able to think straight again and felt relaxed for the first time in weeks. She looked up, a smile reaching her lips as she noticed that he was still deeply asleep. Jean knew that his subconscious told him that she was close by, that everything was fine. Otherwise Logan would never allow himself to drift off so far. He usually was on alert, even more so since Rachel was born. _

_Reaching out, she traced his features and placed a gentle kiss onto the tip of his nose and lips. He pulled a face and buried it into her shoulder, but was still deeply asleep. Jean rolled her eyes after she had taken a look at her watch. It was 7:30 a.m… She had gone to bed around 2 a.m., which meant she hadn't slept for more than a couple of hours…She took her watch and groaned, just to widen her eyes next after she realized that she had in fact slept through a whole day and two nights. She really had to get up…_

_Carefully and trying not to wake Logan, Jean sat up, felt him moving and stroked over his cheek. "Go on sleeping," she whispered and placed another kiss onto his temple, before she got up, got some clothes and went into the bathroom for a shower. A whole day… She couldn't believe it… _

_When she slipped back into the bedroom she smiled at the sight of him. His head was buried in her pillow, which he held as close as possible, and was still sleeping peacefully. She knew he was picking up on her scent. He always pulled her pillow close when she was gone, even if she just went to the bathroom for a couple of minutes. As soon as she would lie down again, he grabbed her instead and cuddled up to her. It was just his need to make sure that she was there, that he wasn't alone._

_Jean then left their rooms and descended the stairs. On the lower level she entered the door to the kitchen, which was right next to the one that lead to their apartment. "Hi."_

"_Wow, she's back under the living folks!" Scott said impressed. "And hubby is still sleeping, hm?"_

"_He'll notice in a couple of minutes that he's in fact cuddling with a pillow," Jean replied and gave each of her children a kiss._

"_Feeling better?" Hank asked, the smile he received was answer enough. "As I thought. Before you ask, they were sweethearts!"_

"_And your son is a glutton! Just like his father!" Scott added and smiled at Jean when she pulled Jack up from his lap, after the boy had reached out to her smiling._

"_Has he eaten so much?"_

"_You have no idea!"_

_She kissed her son's temple and smiled. "Daddy's boy, hm?" Jack smiled and reached out to touch her cheeks. "I can't believe we slept that long…," she said as she sat down._

"_You needed it," Scott shrugged and handed her a cup of coffee._

"_Thanks."_

_They had breakfast in peace, chatted about different subjects and watched how Lily and Jack stumbled over the floor. They heard how a door was closed and it didn't take long before a grumpy and drowsy looking Logan appeared. "Back under the living folks!" Jubilee grinned. "And still looking dead beat. You're getting old, Wolvie!"_

_He snorted and pulled his twins up when they had walked over to hold onto his jeans. With them on his arm he sat down on his casual stool, kissed Ray and glared at his wife._

"_What?" Jean asked, not knowing why he was mad with her._

"_Ya showered without me!" he grunted._

"_So?"_

"_And I look like a sissy because of ya."_

"_Why?!"_

"_Because you as the wife let him sleep longer," Bobby explained and received a silent nod from Logan._

_Groaning, Jean rolled her eyes. "Men…"_

_Grunt._

"_Logan!" she warned._

_Grunt._

"_Would you stop it?!" she asked and returned the glare she was given. _

"_Wolvie is just disappointed that he wasn't able to cuddle with you," Jubilee teased and ignored the growl she was given. "So, yeah… You're a sissy!"_

"I doubt it is because I didn't wake him, Scott," Jean said more to herself and put her sunglasses aside, still eyeing her approaching husband. "What's wrong?" she asked and didn't have to look back to know that her friends stared at her, when he just grabbed her hand and pulled her back to the mansion with him. "Logan! What the hell has gotten into you?"

"What the hell has gotten into him?!" Kitty asked at the same time.

"Who knows…," Ororo mumbled. "Are they playing or fighting?" she asked John with a nod at Callie and Miloh, who both were jumping at each other and mixed it with growls or barks while their teeth were bared.

"Just playing…," he replied and kept on stroking over Narya's waist absently.

"If you say so…," the weather goddess said and watched how the two animals chased each other around while their cubs were occupied with an old towel. "Is that Logan's towel?!"

* * *

"You are out of your mind!" Jean said while putting her bikini back on and turned around to give the man on the bed a scolding look. She could only roll her eyes as he still lay sprawled over the whole bed with the same satisfied grin on his lips. "What are you looking at?" she asked after getting her bikini top from the ground, since he licked his lips and had this predator look in his eyes again.

"Yer butt," Logan said without beating around the bush and chuckled when she groaned. "C'mon. Be happy that ya have a partner who still loves lookin' at it."

"Jerk," the redhead said and finished getting dressed. "The bullet to your head yesterday must have done some good damage, you know?"

Logan chuckled again and still feeling completely satisfied. His day was definitely saved. "Why?"

"First, you scare me by giving me this murderous look, then you just drag me away from the pool in a way that everyone thought you'd beat me up…"

"They did?" he laughed and turned around so that he now lay on his belly, his eyes still fixed on her curves.

"Yes, they did," Jean replied and rolled her eyes. "And then, after dragging me up to our rooms, you just throw me onto the bed with the words _Sex. Now…_. Mind to explain what's gotten into you?" she asked and crossed her arms.

"Blame Miloh," he shrugged and now Jean seriously began to give him a look as if he was nuts. He sighed. "I dreamed we were in bed together and you were kissing me, but in the end it was that freakin' wolf, who sat on top of me and thought it was a nice idea to clean my face."

"And a cold shower didn' help, huh?" she huffed while straightening her hair again, just to squeal next as he suddenly stood behind her, wrapped his arms around her body and attacked his neck. "Logan!"

"No, it didn't," he growled into her ear and kissed her neck once more before he let go of her to put his trunks back on.

Jean only shook her head. "It's not even spring…," she mumbled and he chuckled. "And thanks for thinking I'm Miloh."

"Yer pretty bitchy today," Logan remarked and cocked an eyebrow at her. "Somethin' wrong?"

"No…," she grumbled and sighed. "I didn't sleep well that's all."

"How come?" he asked and followed her down the stairs and then to the backdoor. He wondered why she gave him that kind of look.

"Someone got pretty clingy at night."

"Why didn't ya just push me back?"

Jean sighed and opened the fridge to drink something, handed him an iced tea next. "You had a bad dream or something… I don't know."

This caught his attention and Logan leant back against the kitchen isle to cock an eyebrow at her. "What makes ya think that?!"

Jean mirrored his move and shrugged. "You were whimpering and as soon as I made the tiniest move you said _No_, as if you were terrified, and held onto me for dear life. I couldn't read your mind because you blocked me out, so I don't know what it was about." She looked at him, saw his furrowed brows. "You don't remember?"

"No…," Logan grunted and felt embarrassed. He hated if she thought of him as weak.

"I don't think about you like that," she assured him and put the bottle away to wrap her arms around his waist and lean into him. "I was just worried…" Snuggling up to him, she compared their skin color. "It's so mean, you know?"

"What?" he asked softly and cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Here," Jean said and put her hand onto his belly, "look at that. You lie in the sun for 5 minutes and have a tan that's inhuman and I have a sunbath for hours and look like snow."

Logan looked at the difference for a moment and shrugged, his hands still tightly wrapped around her slim waist. "I like snow."

She groaned in frustration but smiled and leant back into him. "I love you."

"Why the sad undertone then?" he asked since he had noticed it and tilted his head a bit to have a better look at her from aside. He instantly became worried when she glanced up at him with tears in her eyes first and pulled him down into a firm embrace next. "Darlin'? What's wrong?" he demanded to know and began to feel really worried when she sniffed into his neck and tried to pull him even closer. "Jean?"

"It's just…," she sniffed and heaved a deep breath in a futile attempt to get herself under control again. "I…I just can't forget it. What it felt like…"

Logan furrowed his brows. "What?" he asked softly and kept his eyes on her, notice that she swallowed hard.

"The…funeral…," Jean whispered and avoided his eyes, instead she stared at his arm through a blurry vision. "I just can't forget what it felt like… What watching you die felt like…" She sniffed. "I know I'm being stupid but," she croaked and thought the pressure in her chest would crush her any minute, "I still wake up at night and have to make sure that you're there. And I feel terrible because you had to go though this so often… I still don't know how you could endure this. It felt like hell. Like living without really being alive…" Letting out a desperate laugh, she waved off after wiping her tears away. "I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me…"

Not knowing what to think or say, Logan just stared at her for a while longer before he pulled her close and rested his head on hers, hearing her still sniffing weakly. "I'm here, 'kay?" he said after a moment and stroked through her long hair. "And I know how much it must have cost ya t'do what ya did. Ya did the right thing…"

Jean closed her eyes and listened to his heartbeat, felt how her own began to slow down and enjoyed the warmth his body was radiating. "I'd just like to know why you woke up while your body wasn't ready for it…"

"Coz ya brought me back." He shrugged and cocked an eyebrow when she shook her head and looked at him.

"I didn't. Phoenix neither and that's the point. I only picked up on you when you began to panic."

"What else was I supposed t'do? I woke up in a fuckin' coffin," Logan grunted and shuddered at the thought. He hated being locked in, especially in a small room without any light or air to breathe. A situation like this or being about to drown were the only things that really freaked him and Wolverine out. "If it wasn't ya, who was it?"

"We don't know," Jean shrugged and hugged herself. "Maybe I messed your mutation up… I don't know."

"Hm…." He thought about it for a while longer but dismissed his ideas rather quickly. "Let's go back outside," he suggested and wrapped one arm around her, a gesture she mirrored, before he walked back to the pool. He let go of her at the pool to join his children, while Jean sat back down on her lounger and picked up Jamie, who was sleeping on it.

"Is everything all right?" Scott asked her since he could tell that she'd been crying.

"Yeah," the redhead nodded and pulled her son closer to rest her head on his.

"Sure? Why did you cry then? Did you have a fight?" Ororo asked worriedly and sat up to have a better look at the woman.

"No, we hadn't. Everything's fine." She ignored the looks her friends gave her and watched how Logan was chased around by his children, who had somehow gotten their hands on water balloons and water guns and were now trying to get their hands on their father, followed by Callie, Miloh and their cubs. While the children threw the balloons or used their guns the dogs caught up with Logan, who nearly fell over Miloh as the wolf jumped at him and landed on the ground. His children used their chance and bounced on their father, who raised both hands.

"'kay, I'll give up," Logan said, since it was safer to surrender for the moment with 4 kids sitting on him and pointing their weapons at him.

"We want ice cream!" Jack demanded and his siblings nodded quickly.

"'kay… What else?"

"Lots of ice cream!" Lily added.

"And iced tea!" Laura demanded, which earned her a cocked eyebrow from her father, who looked at Rachel next.

"And you have to play with us every game we want to play!" the little redhead said.

"Ya do know that I can just grab ya and throw ya into the water?" Logan grunted to return the threat he was given.

"And you do realize that we will make use of our weapons?" Jack said in a cocky way.

"Ya lil' rat…," his father growled and grabbed his son quickly, a move with which the boy hadn't reckoned. Squealing aloud, he was lifted into the air, flew through said one next and landed in the pool. "Ha!" Logan smirked proudly and grinned when Jack reappeared to give his father a playful glare. "Wanna blackmail me again, kiddo?" he asked and was hit with a water balloon from behind. Growling, he turned around, but his daughters were already running away squealing. Not thinking twice, he began to chase them and grabbed a water balloon from the ground with a smirk. "Yo, John?" Logan called.

"Hm?" his brother made lazily and was hit with the balloon square in the face, the water splashing into every direction. Narya, who had rested against his chest squealed as the water dropped onto her and heard how a low growl began to build in his chest. "You…," the man grunted and jumped up to get after his brother. "Come here!"

"Jean?" Ororo asked and gave her best friend a serious look. "Can a man have PMS?"

"No… Why?" the redhead asked and cuddled with Jamie, who had awoken and still looked half asleep.

"Because Logan has serious mood swings…," the weather goddess said and watched how the brother threw water balloons at each other, while Jack tried to get his revenge on his father with the help of his siblings. "Men are truly children…"

"No!" Scott corrected her. "Old men are truly children!"

"That means you," Ororo teased him and evaded the water he was spilling into her direction. "Still, Logan has mood swings.

"When is that not the case?" he mumbled and watched how his son was playing with Tommy in the small pool that Xavier had built for the children last summer. The boys obviously had a lot of fun with their toys in the water and didn't take notice of the water balloon/gun fight at all. This was obviously coming to an end since there were no balloons left and Logan retreated to the inside, probably to give his children the required ice cream.

"Here," the feral mutant said after handing each of them one and took two more pops out of the box. "Give these t'mommy and Jamie."

"Okay," Rachel replied and stormed out of the kitchen with her siblings.

"Stop!" Logan said aloud and chuckled when his children bumped into each other. "Take the three bowls here too. Miloh, Callie and the cubs need somethin' t'drink." He handed Lily, Jack and Laura the bowls and nodded. "Now off ya go." He watched how they left and took a bottle with juice out of the fridge for himself. He just wasn't a fan of ice cream. Thinking about it, he wasn't a fan of sweets at all, not with his enhanced sense of tasting. He had just brought the bottle to his lips as a familiar scent reached his nose and his eyes narrowed.

"Logan?" Charles asked carefully and noticed how the man narrowed his eyes, even if he wasn't looking at him. "Can we talk, please?"

"Why? So that ya can go on lyin' t'me?" Logan grunted and kept his eyes on the garden.

The Professor sighed and leant back in his wheelchair. "I would like to explain myself to you. Would you please come with me? If you want Jean can be present too…," he tried once more and received a glare from the mutant. "Please?" He expected Logan to just go back into the garden and ignore him as he had done in the past weeks since his mother had reappeared. The bigger was his surprise that he shrugged in the end and followed him back to his office, where he remained at the window and stared into the garden. Charles guessed that it was Jean's or Scott's doing, because he knew that if Logan held a grudge against someone he held a real grudge against that person. "I know that you believe that I only wanted you to stay here so that I could make sure you wouldn't be sent to kill us one day."

"And it's true," Logan grunted, still glaring at the garden with his arms crossed in front of his bare chest.

"No, it's not!" Charles assured him. "You might want to sit down. It's a longer story."

"I'd rather stand…"

"As you wish…," the Professor nodded and tried to figure out where to begin. "My father was a part of the Weapon X project. He was overlooking the project next to Hines and Cornelius and he took me with him when my mother didn't have the time. He hated mutants. He saw them as…the disease of the planet, a failure of God…" He shook his head as he remembered the time. "One day I overheard him talking with Cornelius and he mentioned you. I think it was the day before the adamantium bonding. I was too young to really understand what they were doing, but I knew that it was wrong. I got lost in the compound on that day and ended up in the room where they kept you," he said and looked at Logan, but the man still remained solid like a statue. "My father got furious when he found me, even more so when I asked him what they were doing to the man in the tank. He just said you weren't a man, you were an animal, a failure of God like the rest of this mutant scum." Charles paused and folded the hands in front of his mouth, his eyes remained on the mutant and he had noticed how his eyes had darkened by the word animal. "When I became older, I understood the whole process and what my father actually did. I began to hate him for his radical thinking… Especially when I figured out that I was exactly what he despised so much…"

"Did I kill him?" Logan grunted and still refused to look at the man.

"No, he wasn't at Alkali Lake when you escaped," Charles replied. "He had a car accident…"

"Hm…"

"Anyway… I don't know when exactly I met Elizabeth Howlett for the first time, but I didn't make the connection to you. I knew you under your test subject name Weapon X and later, when you joined the team as Logan. I recognized you instantly as the man in the tank when I picked up on Rogue years ago. But I didn't know your real name," he explained and waited for a reaction of Logan, but there was none. "I made the connection after Kurt found your file in Sinister's lab. But when you told me about your childhood in our sessions, I wasn't sure if I should tell you about it since I knew that she hated you… I made the wrong decision and I'm sorry…"

"She should have stayed dead…," Logan growled full of hatred and narrowed his eyes further. "Why didn't ya tell me sooner what ya knew about me?"

"I told you before that the mind isn't a box you can just open. I've never met a scattered mind like yours before and the risk that telling you something about parts of your past that you've forgotten about would trigger a mental shutdown, was too great as that I could risk it," Charles said. "You've experienced it yourself when your subconscious was forced to remember your past after reading the Weapon X file. The risk that your healing factor would erase your memory again was too high. How would you have felt to not remember Jean or your children?"

Logan remained silent for a moment, his mind recalling and thinking about everything the Professor had said so far. "Why did ya want me t'stay here in the first place?" he grunted after a moment and turned for the first time to meet the man's gaze. "That's somethin' I've always asked myself. Why someone with a brain would want a killer t'stay in a school with children…"

"To give you back what my father and those men had taken from you," the Professor simply said.

"Which is?"

"A home, a family, a place to belong, friends…," he listed and held Logan's gaze. "When you came here to us I read your mind to make sure you hadn't taken any damage by the attack. And despite all the hostility and violence or anger that met me when I first encountered it, I also saw how lonely you were. I still don't understand how someone can live all by himself for 15 years in total…" He paused and lowered his gaze. "I just wanted to offer you the chance to have those things that you longed for again. Even if you believed that you don't deserve them or could never have them." When he noticed the still visible mistrustful look on his opposite's face, he sighed. "Logan, I am sorry. You can tell that I am not lying… I'm aware that I disappointed you and I know that you gave me a last chance last time… But I assure you that it is the truth and that I knew neither about John and Daken still being alive. I don't know what else I'm supposed to say."

"But I do," Logan replied and stopped right in front of him. "Did ya ever manipulate me in any decisions I made, put blocks into my head or manipulated me in any other way?"

Frowning, Charles shook his head. "No! What makes you think that?"

"Because Jean said it when she awoke in the lab before Alcatraz and it made me think."

"What did she say?"

"_Are ya sure he's not in your head too. Look at ya, Logan, he's tamed ya_," Logan grunted. "And somehow she's right, don't ya think, Chuck?"

"Logan…," the Professor sighed and leant back. "The decisions you made were yours. You decided to stay here, you also made the decision to come back each time you left and it was you who changed during your stay," he said. "Think about it. Ask yourself if you had been capable of having children years ago, as bitter and frustrated as you've been! You changed for Jean. You grew into your role here as a member of the team, as a teacher, husband and father. It was your decision alone to stay and be a part of us, to marry Jean and have children."

Logan let the words sink in for a moment and thought hard while his senses were focused on the man in front of him. Charles wasn't lying, but he couldn't be sure that the man wasn't somehow manipulating him.

"Besides, I wouldn't be able to manipulate you anyway," the Professor added, picking up on the battle the man fought. "Your mental blocks are too strong for me. Weapon X made sure of it." He waited. "Do you accept my apology?" he asked and offered Logan his hand, the mutant looking at it for a long moment.

"Yer lucky that I'm in a good mood today, Chuck," he growled and took it.

"Thank you…," Charles smiled and nodded, receiving one in return before Logan left.

**Thank God the writer's block was suddenly gone and I somehow knew what to write, even if I think it's crap, but at least I managed to finish this chapter. I know what's going to happen in the next one, so hopefully it'll be easier to write it than this one here was. My main problem was to write Deadpool (that guy talks waaaay too much lol) and write him from a 3****rd**** person POV and not from his perspective like in the comics. Due to the writer's block I even thought about starting the chapter with "Dear diary, today I'm going to kill Wolverine" (like Deadpool's entrance in Wolverine Origins), but thankfully I had Mystique. Then there was the problem: How do I write Deadpool's dialogue? The Snikt-me and fighty time part actually DID happen in one comic. I used the text after I was lost. lol I have a dialogue between him Sinister, Sabretooth and Daken pre-written on my hard drive since at least January and hopefully, I can use it in the next chapter. I decided to write him a bit like The Joker in Dark Knight. That is: Crazy without a plan, while he has a plan (even if he thinks he hasn't). Sorry to all Deadpool fans if I screwed up! The next chapter will be a bit funnier and the requested "Daddy, did we look like that when we were born"-talk will happen too. I haven't forgotten about the other wishes, they are all written down on my computer. Don't worry! I also haven't forgotten that one of you wanted a flashback in which Logan saves young Erik. I keep such things in mind. ; ) Enough talking! Thanks to all reviewers!! Please let me know what you think. See ya!!**


	43. Chapter 40

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!! : )

**!! I finally found my teen Jack actor. : ) I watched 3.10 to Yuma yesterday (or better said early this morning) and the boy that played the oldest son of Christian Bale's character is exactly how I pictured Jack to look as a teen. Funny thing is: The boy's name is…Logan in real life. LOL So the kid's name is Logan Lerman. If you google for him in the picture section of Google, it is the 3****rd**** pic in the 2****nd**** row. (At least that was the case when I looked him up)**

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** Joy: I added your wish in here. ; ) Hope you'll like it that way.**

** Descena; I hope you got my mail regarding Vows. If not, the explanation is at the end! **

**X**

**By now I'm really asking myself if Marvel has some spies here. Oo There are so many things in the Wolverine comics lately that are similar to things I've written or pre-written for months. Oo Scary…. Especially when it comes to Daken. Oo**

**X**

**Edit: I had to delete the first update since FF(dot)net (yeah, I wasn't allowed to write it with a real dot either...) deletes all the seperation lines I made. Don't ask me why but the stupid thing posted the whole story as one text. I will leave the X's as a sign for seperation. Sorry for that! I'll fix it as soon as it works correctly again.**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 40**

The day was way too hot for his liking, so Logan had decided to stay inside and spent some time with things he wanted to do in the past days. And that was mainly doing nothing, watching hockey on TV and drink cool beer. Equipped with the latest TV Guide he made a brief stop in the kitchen to grab a beer and headed back upstairs, where he was instantly greeted by Miloh and Callie and their whining cubs. He patted their heads and sat back down on the couch, swallowing the cool liquid nearly at once in hope to escape the heat for a moment. His fingers quickly went through the TV program and he sighed. No hockey for him today.

"Hey," Jean suddenly said from the door and his eyes analyzed her body from head to toe when she entered the living room. She was not wearing his favorite bikini as he had immediately noticed and much to his dismay. "Why are not at the pool with us?"

"Coz it's too hot," Logan grunted and put the empty beer onto the table in front of him.

She sighed and sat down next to him with a playful pout. "As you'd say…the water's nice," she said and ran down his bare chest with one finger down to his black shorts. "And I already had to ask Scott and Remy to put sunscreen on my back…" He growled. "If you had been there, you could have done it!" Jean said and rested her head on his chest to look up at him and pout further. "Come outside…"

"It's too hot," he said and disliked the fact that he could smell Remy and Scott on her clearly. "Why didn't ya ask 'Ro or Raven t'put sunscreen on yer back?!"

"Raven isn't outside with us. She's not feeling so well."

"'Ro then?!"

"Was inside to get more iced tea," she shrugged and remained in her position.

He huffed. "And from all the men at the pool it had t'be yer ex and the Cajun, huh?" Logan sulked and glared at her.

"I can't ask my former students to do it, right? And Kurt was occupied, while Hank always leaves fur behind. So..."

"Ya could've asked John," he grumbled and she snickered.

"So smelling your brother on me isn't as bad as my ex?!" Jean asked and shook her head in disbelief. "Sometimes your logic is weird." She added and got up. "You're really not coming?"

"No." He shook his head. "Yer not even wearin' my favorite bikini…"

She laughed. "I can't wear it every day, Logan, can I?"

"Told ya t'buy two of'em," he grunted and watched her disappearing in the bedroom, just to reappear shortly afterwards again.

"You're really determined to stay in here and just sit around, huh?" Jean asked and looked at him.

"As I said…too hot," Logan replied and tilted his head with a smirk. "Actually it's the same in here, don't ya think?"

Rolling her eyes playfully, she gave him a kiss and opened the door again. "If you change your mind, you know where to find us."

"Or…," he said and grinned slyly, "ya just stay here'n we get sweaty in the bedroom."

"I doubt that." She smiled and he cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Did ya just reject me?!"

"Yes, honey, I think I did," she shrugged and left, leaving him sulking on the sofa.

"Women… If it ain't headaches, it's somethin' else…," he grumbled and Miloh gave a low _wuff_. "See? Ya get my point! Us men have t'stick together!"

Not knowing what to do, he remained on the sofa for a while longer until he had an idea. "Ya know what, pal? I still owe ya a bath." Smirking, Logan grabbed Miloh quickly before the wolf could get away and dragged him over to the bathtub. As soon as the fur was wet he started howling to show his displeasure with the treatment. "Aw, c'mon. It's not that bad," Logan grunted, heard how the cubs answered their father's howl and made quick work of his task before he did the same with Callie and cleaned the bathtub afterwards. "See? Yer still alive," he added and sat back down on the sofa, thought about what to do next. He was utterly bored…

X

"Why is daddy not coming outside?" Jack asked his mother for the about third time and Jean sighed.

"He said it's too hot for him." Seeing how he began to pout, she could only shrug. "I can't change it sweetheart," she added with a look at her watch. "Laundry's ready anyway."

"Daddy taught us how to do the laundry last time," Lily said proudly and followed her mother back inside with her siblings, Jamie holding onto Rachel's and Laura's hand.

"Did he?" her mother asked skeptically.

"Yes, he did," Rachel nodded.

"I hope he also told you that you can't put red and white underwear into the same machine as he once did," Jean said and Lily giggled.

"He actually told us that it was you who ruined his favorite shirt, mommy."

Blushing, the redhead cleared her throat. "I don't know what he is talking about. Why don't you go upstairs and see what daddy's doing?" she asked and disappeared through the door, while the children went upstairs and found Logan in Jamie's room, where the cubs still had their place. They watched how he combed through one cub's fur and sat down next to him, when Rachel popped the question.

"Daddy, did we look the same when we were born?"

Cocking an eyebrow at her, Logan shook his head. "No, human babies don't look like animal babies, ya know. Or do ya think ya think ya had fur?"

"But we were as small as them when we were born, right?" Lily asked next and he began to ask himself what was wrong all of a sudden.

"No, ya were about that size," he said and showed her how big the twins had been with his hands, before he changed the gap between his hands and said, "and Ray was about that size."

Jack frowned at this. "Why were we smaller than Ray?"

"Coz yer twins and they are usually smaller than a single baby," his father explained and began to comb through the fur of another cub. "Twins have t'share the space in their mother's womb, ya know?"

Thinking about it, the little redhead looked at her father from aside. To her it was a great mystery… "But how do babies get into there anyway, daddy?" she asked bluntly and received a cocked eyebrow from him, wondered what she had done to deserve that look from him or why he paled a bit.

"Ask mommy, she's the doc," was all Logan said and put the cub back down to the ground where it wagged its tail happily and gave them a good view on its pink tongue.

"And your daddy's much more experienced so he'll explain it to you," Jean suddenly said behind him and Logan turned around, just to see how she put the folded laundry away. He didn't like her smile at all. That smile of hers never meant anything good.

"Why?!" he therefore asked her mentally. "I don't wanna do sex talk with'em!"

"Parent's duty, Logan. Live with it!" she replied through their link and went on with her work after receiving a roll of his eyes from him.

Clearing hid throat, Logan looked at the big eyes of his children and cursed them for being so curious. "Ask again in about…10 years or so, 'kay?"

"Why?" Lily frowned and crossed her legs on the ground, still keeping her hazel eyes on her father.

"Daddy's joking, sweety," her mother said and closed a drawer.

"No, daddy's not!" Logan replied and glared at his wife.

"They want to know, so explain it to them," Jean gave back in sheer annoyance and crossed her arms.

"Why me?!" he demanded to know and looked at the cub that tried to get onto his lap. "Yer the doc."

"Logan!"

He winced. The tone always meant trouble and mostly for him. He knew she was annoyed.

"Just explain it!"

"I don't wanna explain IT!" he sulked and both adults stared each other down, while their children looked to and fro between them and each other. While Jack only shrugged and pulled one cub up and into his arms, Rachel began to tug on her father's hand to get his attention again.

"Logan!" Jean warned and now he knew that she really began to be pissed off, which again wasn't good for him. Narrowing her eyes further as a last warning, she left the room again to get the rest of the laundry.

"Jeez…," Logan cursed silently and wondered when her mood had switched from sweet to devil woman, even more so how it had changed that fast…

"Daddy?!" Rachel asked and pulled stronger on his hand, wondered why he sighed dramatically and ran a hand over his face.

"Babies grow inside of a mother's womb," he simply said and hoped he could leave now, but of course his eldest daughter thought differently about it.

"But how do they get in there?!" she demanded to know.

"They…," Logan said and mentally began to beg Jean to come back into the room and help him out. He didn't want to explain it, didn't want to be in that room at the moment and especially wished that the children would just go and bug Jean about their questions. But of course as mean as the redhead was at the moment, she threw an even meaner _No!_ back at him through their link and shut it down next.

"Daddy?!" Jack asked and looked at him.

"Can't ya just ask again in 10 years?!" Logan asked back and received puzzled looks.

"Why?" Laura asked and wiped the hand that was wet with cub-drool on her father's shorts, since there was nothing else available at the moment. When he glared at her she gave him her best and most innocent smile.

"Coz you'll know by then and don't have t'ask," he grunted and leant back against the wall, his arms and legs crossed and hoped he was done with answering any questions for today. He hated answering questions anyway… But his children of course had to give him the looks that always worked on him and he groaned in frustration. "Okay, fine!" he said in the end and took one of Jamie's papers and wax crayons. "Look… Ya need a woman'n a man," he quickly explained and his children tilted their heads to decipher what their father was actually drawing. "The woman produces an egg…"

"A woman lays eggs?!" Rachel asked shocked and stared at her father with big eyes, while he gave her his best _are-ya-serious-look_. "Like a chicken?!"

"No…," Logan said as calm as possible and swore that a specific redhead would suffer later. "They produce tiny eggs inside of'em. And a man produces sperms. So when a sperm'n an egg meet, they…combine…'n a baby's produced." Hoping that this would do its job, he watched how his children frowned at what he had drawn and knew it was far from being over.

"But how do an egg and a…sperm meet?!" Laura asked.

"Jean!" Logan cried out mentally but figured that it was in vain. "When a man and a woman sleep together…," he mumbled and began to ask himself, if his intimidating looks were too old fashioned by now that they didn't seem to work with anyone inside those walls anymore…

"But Lily and I sleep together in the same room too!" Jack said rather shocked. "I don't wanna have a baby!"

Logan sighed. In the end that was the only thing he could do, wasn't it? "No, not like that…"

"Then how?!" Rachel asked completely confused by now.

Scratching the back of his head, her father looked for the right words, words that would ensure he could get out of there afterwards. "Look…," Logan began and their big eyes were back on him. "If a couple loves each other a lot…"

"Like mommy and you?" Lily asked and he nodded.

"Yeah, like mommy'n I… Even if I'd love t'strangle her just now…," he grumbled. "Well, if they love each other a lot, they like t'be close t'each other'n…make love. And when they do that…there's a chance that a baby's produced. AND…," he said and raised a hand, "…no more questions, coz I won't go into details!"

"But I still don't get it, daddy!" Jack sulked.

"What does making love mean?" Laura asked bluntly and Logan cocked an eyebrow at her next.

"Do ya have t'be as straight forward as me?!" he asked her and looked aside when Jean's head appeared in the door.

"Here!" she said and a book floated into his lap. "I'm downstairs in the lab and then I've kitchen duty," she told him while Logan stared at the book. "Jamie's playing with Tommy and Alex in the living room. So please keep an eye on them, okay?"

"Jean!" Logan called after he had read the title of the book for at least 5 times. "Come back in here! Now!"

She groaned and walked back to Jamie's room door. "Logan, stop being so childish! The book was written for children, so read it with them and answer their questions. It can't be that hard, can it?!"

"Why don't ya test it and I'll do kitchen duty?" he grunted and held her glare this time. No way was he, the Wolverine, losing the fight against here! He wouldn't back down, not even when his life was at risk. "I'll cook, you'll do the talkin'!"

"No! You won't," the redhead insisted and crossed her arms. "Why do I always have to do such things anyway?! You can do them as well!"

"Women nag about havin' t'do the cooking all the time, so lemme do it!" Logan replied and was about to get up as he noticed that she was holding him back with her powers.

"No! I gave birth to them, I usually explain things, so no discussion about it!" Jean insisted and he rolled his eyes in sheer annoyance. "And besides…I have work to do. See you later!" Having said that, she closed the door and left the rooms, while he grumbled under his breath and quickly thumbed through the book.

He knew she had thrown him right into hell. And now he was stuck in it… The drawn pictures made him sick and nervous. He just wondered what he had done to deserve THAT kind of punishment…

"Daddy?!" Lily asked since her father didn't say one word all of a sudden and she wanted to know what kind of book her mother had given him. She heard him heaving a deep breath and watched how he laid the book on the ground and changed his position. When he lay outstretched on the floor, supported only by his arms and with the cubs using the opportunity to climb up and down his legs, he looked at them. After he told them to sit down in a way that they had a good look at the book, she began to sulk when Jack was faster than her and climbed onto Logan's back to lean against him and have a look at the book over their father's shoulder. "I wanted to sit there," she pouted. As an answer Jack stuck out his tongue and wrapped his arms around his father's neck, before he began to listen.

X

"June? Why June?!" Jubilee asked and looked at Bobby, who sat next to her on the bed, from aside. "That's in 10 months!"

"That means still enough time to plan it," he shrugged.

"You mean still enough time for you to think about your proposal!" she corrected angered. "I don't wanna wait that long!"

He sighed and leant back a bit. "A wedding is something big, Jubes. You can't plan it within a week," Bobby disagreed and looked at the couple that sat opposite of them. "Help me out here, will you?"

"I don't want to wait that long either…," Rogue shrugged, feeling embarrassed that she practically stabbed him into the back by sticking to Jubilee. "I mean I know that a wedding needs planning and everything, but I'd like to marry this year as long as it's still warm outside."

"But chérie…," Remy said and turned to have a better look at her while he was holding her hand. "Remy dinks dat we need a bit more time, non? We 'aven't planned anyding, yet."

"He's right," Bobby nodded. "How do you want to do it, Rogue? We've August already. So if you want to marry him as long as it's still warm, you would have to do that within the next 8 weeks. How do you want to do that?"

"We have help here, Bobby. Everyone has helped to prepare Logan's and Jean's wedding too, or Kurt's and Ororo's, Hank's and Moira's… They will help us with it, so it is possible."

He snorted. "I doubt they will be happy to plan two weddings next to teaching. School starts soon again and they will be pretty occupied then, don't you think?!"

"Oui, 'e 'as a point 'ere," Remy nodded and Bobby was grateful that his male counterpart was on his side. "'ow do you want to do dis?"

"Easy solution, guys!" Jubilee said and both men didn't like that smile on her face at all. They knew it too well by now.

"Do I want to know it?" Bobby mumbled and gave her a skeptical look from aside.

"What do you have on mind?" Rogue asked her and took Remy's hand when he wrapped his arm around her waist.

"A double wedding!" Jubilee said proudly and her smile indicated that she was convinced the others would agree on it. "That way we can both marry this year, we can share the planning and preparations AND Wolvie will have to wear a tux only for once and not twice. So? What do you think?"

"That you're nuts!" Bobby replied. "A wedding is something special, something…special for a couple, a day for them and only them. I don't want to share that experience. Sorry."

"But it can still be special for us if we share it with our friends," she disagreed. "I don't want to wait 10 months for it, Bobby. If you want to chicken out, do that now!" Jubilee said hurt and crossed her arms while she gave him an angry look.

"Hey! Now you're being unfair!"

For the next minutes the room was filled with silence. Bobby looked into one direction, Jubilee into the other one, while also Rogue and Remy were too occupied with their own thoughts.

"I dink it's not such a bad idea, mon amis," the Cajun shrugged after ten more minutes of silence and all eyes fixed on him next. "We don't 'ave dat much money, non? And I don't want de profeseur to pay for it… So sharing is a good solution."

Rogue shrugged. "I wouldn't mind it either… And Remy's right. We don't have that much money as that we could afford something big. And I wouldn't want the Professor to pay for it either…"

"See?" Jubilee said to Bobby, who sighed. "What's so bad about a double wedding?! Whether we marry alone or with them together won't change that we have a special day. So why are you sulking now?!"

"I'm not!" he snapped and rolled his eyes. Even if he wanted a wedding for himself and Jubilee alone, he knew that they were right. They couldn't afford a big wedding anyway… "And when do you want to have your…double wedding?" he asked after a moment and she shrugged, her eyes instantly switching to the couple opposite of them.

"Mid September would be nice…," Rogue suggested. "It's usually still warm by then and the teachers don't have that much to do. What do you think?" she asked with a look at Remy, who nodded. "Mid September then?"

"Isn't that a bit rushed?" Bobby asked skeptically, but quickly raised his hands in defense when Jubilee's head jerked into his direction. "Okay, okay…"

Excitedly, she clapped her hands. "Aw, this is going to be sooooo cool!" Jubilee cheered and hugged him firmly. "And Wolvie will walk us down the aisle, threaten you guys to treat us well for the rest of your lives and…"

"Does 'e even know what you've planned for 'im, petite?" Remy smirked and played with his cards. "Coz Remy doubts it."

"Ah, Wolvie will be fine with it!" she waved off, convinced about it. "I'll just send Rogue ahead and as soon as she starts begging, he'll agree anyway."

Bobby nodded ironically. "Sure. I bet he'll agree on being your flower girl next…"

"Oh, you!" she sulked and gave him a light slap on the shoulder.

"Peut-être, 'e will also sing for them," Remy joked and Bobby grinned for the first time since their meeting had started.

"I would have so LOVED to see him drunk, I swear!"

"Not only you!" Jubilee added. "Scott and Wolvie being drunk must be true eye candy. Hey, maybe we can arrange something and make them drunk again!"

"Yeah, sure, because Logan doesn't have heightened senses and wouldn't smell or taste it," Bobby mocked her.

Rogue got up and stretched. "Well, if we want to get hitched in a couple of weeks, we should better go and talk to him…" Nodding, Jubilee got up and Rogue turned to gave Remy a kiss. "You guys can spend some time with your children," she smiled at the men and joined her friend at the door.

"Isa's got a date, so I'm free," Bobby smirked and received a questioning look. "Wow! Don't tell me Jubes hasn't noticed it yet."

"What?!" said person asked in confusion and he grinned. "Bobby! Who does she have a date with?"

"Some guy…," he shrugged.

"Bobby?!" Rogue asked and crossed her arms, used her best _tell-me-now-or-you're-dead-look_.

"You're in trouble, mon ami," Remy laughed and went on playing with his cards.

"Actually, don't you think it's some odd incest if she dates him?" Bobby asked Remy, who still grinned, since the girls were completely clueless. "If he's her _father_ and all…and my daughter dates his son… Isn't that prohibited?"

"Remy?" Rogue asked her man now.

"Remy won't tell, chérie."

"Ask your daddy," Bobby joked and leant back while laughing. "Tell him that I think it's a weird form of incest!"

"You're weird!" Jubilee rolled her eyes, took Rogue's arm and led her to the outside. "Where do you think Wolvie is?"

"Probably in the garage," her friend shrugged and they walked downstairs, just to stop in front of the door that led to said room. "And he's not alone."

"What's with all that male bonding between them?" Jubilee asked aloud.

"Logan can hear you," Rogue whispered.

"What's with all that male bonding between them?" Jubilee whispered back and her opposite rolled her eyes. In the end she opened the door. Inside the garage were Logan, who was currently underneath a car and talking to Scott, who was working on the car next to him and chatting back.

"Here they are," he said without looking up and Logan chuckled.

"Done standin' in front of the door?"

"Well…yeah…," Jubilee replied and watched them. "What are the two of you doing here anyway?!"

"Male bonding," Scott smirked and once more there was a chuckle from underneath the car.

Both women exchanged a look. "Since when do the two of you like each other that much anyway, huh? Did we miss something?!"

"Yeah, ya did," Logan grunted dryly. "We just had hot sex on the car. Too bad that ya missed it.

"Logan!" Scott warned but smirked.

"Do Jean and Raven know?" Jubilee challenged and crossed her arms.

"Sure. They just went out of the door before you came."

"Uhhh, Slim made a joke," Logan mocked.

"Well, yeah…"

Once more Jubilee gave Rogue a look. "You know what this makes me think of?" she asked loud enough for both men to hear. "_Gay bar_!" She laughed when Scott whined and Logan cursed after cutting himself. "Hit a nerve?!"

"What do ya want?!" Logan grunted and came back into view. His face, hands and shirt smeared with oil.

"We need to talk to you," Jubilee said and gave Rogue a push, saying with it that it was for her to pop the question.

"'n what?!" he asked while he wiped his hands on a towel.

"Well…," Rogue began and couldn't look at him. She was at a loss of words. "We talked about the wedding…"

"So?" Logan crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow at them.

"We want to get hitched in September!" Jubilee blurred out and now even Scott raised his head.

"That soon?!" he asked.

"Yeah, that soon!"

"Anyway, we need to talk to you," Rogue said and gave Logan a look that spoke volumes. Sighing, he pushed himself away from the car against which he had leant and followed them outside. "What?"

Nervously, Rogue kneaded her hands and exchanged another look with the woman next to her, who was suddenly very still. "Well… As I said we talked about the wedding…"

"Yeah, 'n ya wanna set a new world record with getting' hitched within 8 weeks only," he nodded, crossed his arms and leant back against the wall. "What does this have t'do with me?"

"We still need gowns," Jubilee told him and received a cocked eyebrow.

"'n once more I ask, what does this have t'do with me?!"

"We want you to buy them with us," Rogue said calmly and was the next to receive the eyebrow. "You'll say if we look like crap and we don't want the others to see the gowns…"

"Whatever…," Logan sighed. "That's all?"

"No…"

"What else?"

Rogue looked at Jubilee and the girl cleared her throat, suddenly feeling very nervous. "We…we want you to…"

"To?!" Logan asked waiting and his eyes switched from one woman to the next. He began to ask himself why he was picking up on fear all of a sudden. "I won't strip!" he therefore said. "So don't bother t'ask!"

"That's not it…," Rogue replied and looked at her hands, anywhere but him. "We agreed on a double wedding…"

"And what does this have t'do with me now?" he asked since he was confused and got even more confused with every minute that passed.

Heaving a deep breath, Rogue finally looked up and directly into his eyes. "We want you to walk us down the aisle…," she said and his jaw dropped. "You did it for Kitty too…"

"Yeah, coz she was buggin' me for weeks and cried a fountain," he grunted and ran a hand through his hair.

"We will cry an even bigger fountain if you say no," Jubilee pouted.

Feeling touched, Logan scratched the back of his head and was unsure of what to say. When Kitty had asked him years ago if he was fine with her marrying Piotr that had already surprised him, even more so that she wanted him to walk her down the aisle. He couldn't understand why the three girls were so fixated on him when it came to things that usually a father should decide. "I told ya before… I ain't yer father, I'm yer friend…"

"And we told you before that you are like a father to us," Jubilee replied, not willing to give up. "And a father's supposed to walk his daughter down the aisle…"

"Logan, please…," Rogue begged and took his hand into hers while her eyes looked into his.

He wasn't sure what to do. Requests like this always made him feel uncomfortable and insecure. He'd never understand why others became so attached to him and asked him to do things that he shouldn't be doing, that he didn't deserve to do… "Rogue…"

"Marie!"

"Marie…," Logan corrected himself and looked down in embarrassment. "I…"

"Don't say no, please!" Jubilee begged and was attached to his other arm in the next second, while also her eyes gave him their best puppy dog eyes look and he sighed.

Looking at them for a long moment, he finally averted their eyes, made them believe that he'd say no. "When do ya wanna go and buy those gowns?!" Logan asked in the end and his back hit the wall as they threw themselves at him, cheering happily.

"Thank you!" Rogue smiled and both kissed his cheek after squeezing him hard.

"Just one thing though!" Logan said and made them stop as they were walking down the corridor. "I won't shave'n cut my hair! Live with that!"

"I think we can," Rogue nodded and he winked at her. "Thanks, Logan. We'll see you later."

"Yeah," he grunted and returned to his work in the garage.

"Made some girls happy again, Logan?" Scott asked without looking up from his work. "What did they want this time?"

"Asked me t'go buy gowns with'em."

He laughed. "Seriously?" Scott asked and looked up, flashing him an evil smile. "Maybe you buy one for you too. God, I'd love to see that."

"Funny, Scooter!" Logan grunted and took his tools. "How about proposin' t'Raven, huh? In the end ya knocked her up twice by now." He went back to work, not thinking that he would actually get a reply to his rhetorical question, but Scott stopped working and leant back against the car next to the one his teammate was working on again.

"I was considering it…"

"But?"

"Come on, Logan! Raven's not a woman that would get married," Scott said and Logan gave him a questioning look after reappearing from underneath the car.

"So ya don't ask her coz ya afraid that she'd say no?!"

"She will say no," Scott replied and looked at the ground.

"How can ya be so sure?" his opposite asked and got up to lean against his car.

"You don't understand! You never had to be scared of being rejected. It was a sure thing that Jean would say yes to you back then," Scott said a bit annoyed.

"Jeannie said no t'me first," Logan grunted and received a surprised look. "And I was scared that she'd say no."

Not saying anything first, Scott looked at the man opposite of him. "She really said no?!"

"Don't push it!"

"I don't," he said and raised both hands quickly. "She really said no?!"

"Slim…," Logan warned.

"Okay, okay… I got it," Scott replied and looked at the ground again. Neither of them said anything for a couple of minutes until he heaved a deep breath. "Would you ask her?"

"Yeah…"

"Why?" he asked and crossed his arm, now looking at Logan, who raised his head and looked back.

"Coz she's the mother of yer kids?!"

"Marrying because of children is as stupid as staying together because of them, Logan…," Scott sighed. "It'd never go well…"

The feral rolled his eyes. "Ya love her, don't ya?"

"Of course."

"Then what's yer problem?!" he asked and waited for an answer.

In the meanwhile Kurt was in the kitchen and prepared something to eat for Tommy, who sat waiting in his high chair. He looked up as he heard someone entering and smiled. "Hallo."

"Hey," Raven greeted back, looking exhausted and tired. She instantly went over to the kitchen and took a bottle of water out of it.

"Are you not feeling vell?" he asked concerned and sat down next to his son to feed him. He had noticed in the past days that she looked rather pale and tired all the time. He couldn't even remember the last time she had actually sat on her stool while they ate together.

"No, not really," she mumbled and sat down on one of the stools, watched her grandchild eating with a weak smile. "He's getting big. I can't believe how much he's grown in the past months."

"Ja," Kurt nodded proudly. "Did you ask Jean or Hank to check on you?"

"I'm not sick, Kurt…," Raven said without looking at him and could tell that he frowned.

"Then vhy are you…"

"I'm pregnant…," she said, waited for a reaction of him. When she looked up she saw how he just stared at her. She knew that he still had difficulties with Alex, who was his half-brother, and with the knowledge that she was his mother. In the end he looked as old as she was and there was an over 40+ year gap between him and Alex. "The heat and the morning sickness is really getting to me. That's why I look like shit…"

"Then you should better stay in bed," Kurt suggested to her surprise. "'Ro was feeling the same vhen she was pregnant vith TJ. She stayed in bed for nearly three or four months."

"I hope that's not necessary…," Raven said and sipped on the water. "It's already enough that I can't keep anything inside…"

"It's strange…," Kurt said after a moment and wiped his son's mouth with a tissue.

"What?"

"Talking to each other vhile knoving that ve're mother and son…"

"Yeah…," she nodded and looked down.

"Do you think I'll have a baby sister?"

Surprised Raven looked up, saw his sheepish smile. "I don't know… That's what we hope too. But actually the saying is that it's a boy if the woman feels like shit." She shrugged.

"There can alvays be exceptions, nein? Just have faith," Kurt replied and pulled Tommy out of the high chair. "I need to put him to bed. You should better go and get some rest to."

"Mind if I join you?"

"Nein," he smiled and walked back upstairs with her.

X

"Food!" Jamie demanded and slammed his hands onto the small table that was attached to his high chair.

"Just wait a second, okay?" Jean said and waited for the microwave to do its job.

"Food, mommy!" the boy begged and added a long whine, which earned him a look.

"You're worse than your daddy, you know that?" she said and smiled at Scott. "Hey."

"Hi."

"Did you need an as long shower as Logan?"

He laughed. "Why? How long did he need?"

"Thirty minutes."

"I beat him by two minutes then," he said proudly.

"Food!"

"Baby, in a minute, okay?" Jean asked and shook her head. When the microwave was done she took the small bowl out of it and sat down next to her son to feed him. "Is Raven feeling better?"

"No, not really," Scott said and sat down. "But she's sleeping now."

She nodded. "And I already thought that 'Ro was feeling bad back then."

"Hank said it's the heat. It makes her feel worse than she already should feel."

"True…"

"How did you and Logan explain to your children that you were expecting Jamie?" Scott asked after a moment and she looked up.

"We just told them that I was expecting a baby and that they would have a little brother or sister in a couple of month, if everything went well," Jean said and shrugged. "Alex knows what a baby is. I heard Hank explaining it to him when he was on baby duty and had Nick on his arm. So Alex should understand it."

He nodded. "We want to wait a bit longer… You can never tell in the first three months."

"That's right."

Scott watched for a moment how she fed Jamie and sipped on his juice from time to time. "Did Logan talk to the Professor by now? Or is it still a cold war between them?"

"No, Charles did talk to him actually."

"And?"

Jean shrugged. "Logan forgave him but he doesn't trust Charles as much anymore as he did before."

He nodded.

"But I'm not so sure since he doesn't want to talk about it. You know what Logan can be like…," she sighed and smiled at her son.

"Yeah, who doesn't…," Scott said and noticed that she gave him a serious look. "What?"

"Did he really slash his wrist before you found him?" the redhead asked barely audible and he knew who _he_ was.

"Yes, he did," Scott replied truthfully. "And as soaked as his sleeves had been he must have nearly cut his hands off…"

Jean sighed and shook her head before she filled another spoon for Jamie. "He scares me when he's depressed like this…"

"Well Hank said that Logan has suicidal tendencies. "

"Yes, but the scary thing about him is that he doesn't hesitate or fear it," she said and looked back at him. "Usually, people hesitate and need several attempts before they commit suicide. But Logan just does it…"

"Probably because he knows that he can't die…," Scott said and noticed his mistake. "I mean…that he just heals after some time. Sorry!"

"But he doesn't heal from the inside," Jean mumbled sadly and looked back at her son.

Scott nodded. "That's what I told him," he said. "I told him that his tough-guy-image is faked. I believe that deep down inside he's still the vulnerable boy, who had to watch his father being murdered. He paused for a moment to sip on the juice once more. "Such a trauma never goes away. And Logan had several ones."

"I know that he's pushing painful memories back," she said and pulled Jamie out of the highchair and onto her lap. "He has this scary ability to detach from emotions completely. In fact he just can't deal with pain and loss. He's afraid of it… And his self-destructiveness scares me…"

Scott gave her a worried look and watched how she pulled her son close. "Did you talk t him about what's going on in your head?! He usually listens to you…"

Jean gave a brief, sad laugh and shook her head. "I even begged him to talk to me. He refuses to do it."

"You just have to push him and confront him with the trauma directly."

"Won't work. He'll only get aggressive."

"It will work!" Scott said self assured and she gave him a questioning look. "I did it at the lake and he broke down completely," he explained and shrugged.

"He did?!" Jean asked and put Jamie to the ground. "Why did you not mention it when you told me about how you found him?!"

He sighed and turned more into her direction. "He asked me not to… But, yeah, Logan had a complete mental breakdown. He told me everything about his childhood and how he grew up… I just had to push him far enough."

The redhead shook her head in disbelief. "That was dangerous, Scott…"

"I know," he nodded and began to frown when she gave him one. "What…?"

"Since when are Logan and you getting along so well anyway?!" Jean asked and crossed her arms, wondered why he hesitated.

"We…just figured out that…we have a lot in common… A shitty childhood…," Scott replied and hoped that she wouldn't figure out that he was hiding the truth.

"Yours was good," she reminded him.

"I meant loosing ones parents and brother. And growing up all alone…," he corrected himself. "And we have similar interests…" He shrugged and didn't like the smile that Jean gave him all of a sudden.

"I told you so!" she teased him. "I said over and over again that the two of you could be really good friends, if you just talked about it."

Scott shook his head. "We're not friends, Jean!"

"No matter how much the two of you want to deny it, Scott, but you are best friends," she disagreed and he shook his head again, which made her roll her eyes. "Logan and you are just too fixated on wanting to hate each other… You're like two brothers!"

"No…way!" he insisted and she laughed.

"Come on!" She winked and leant further over the kitchen isle. "You even stripped for him in a gay bar."

Gasping, he had to hold onto the edge of the isle before what she'd said would have knocked him off his stool. "He…he TOLD you?!" Scott asked shocked and felt how his face began to burn. Once more she was laughing. "I'm gonna kill him," he swore and got of his stool, which earned him a look from Jamie. "Where is he?!"

"Scott…," Jean tried to soothe him but was still giggling.

"NO!" he cursed and walked out of the room, muttering, "I'm going to kill him for this!" Angry, he stopped down the corridor and looked into every room that he walked by, asked every student that he met until he heard the TV running in the rec-room. "You! Are so dead!" he announced and even without seeing his target, he heard Logan chuckling. Scott knew that he had heard his outburst in the kitchen.

"You'll be if ya don't lemma watch my game!" Logan grunted since Scott stood directly in front of the screen. He growled warningly.

"You told her?!"

"Move…aside!"

"How could you tell her?!" Scott demanded to know and didn't care that Logan was performing some odd gymnastics on the sofa in hope to get a look at the TV.

"Fuckin' move aside, damn it!" Logan cursed and swore even more when the man moved around to look at the television himself. "Ya still need yer head?!"

"What are you watching anyway?" Scott asked and sat down next to him, rolling his eyes when he saw the amount of beer bottles in front of him that waited to be drunk.

"Hockey…," Logan growled annoyed and sipped on the beer he was holding.

"Canada vs. USA, huh?" his teammate asked and leant back, smirking at him. "So…who are you cheering for?" he mocked and received a deadly look. He knew that Logan didn't understand any fun when it came to his homeland playing hockey. He couldn't even remember how many TVs the feral had destroyed after his team had lost a match… "Why are you not watching in your rooms anyway?"

"Kids are watchin' somethin'," Logan grunted and handed him one of his beers. "Now shut up'n lemme watch it!"

Scott was about to sip on it as he noticed something. "Why is the couch so warm where I'm sitting?!"

"I peed on it," Logan growled and didn't bother to turn his head.

"Logan!" the man next to him warned and used his hands to check if the spot he was sitting on was wet. Thankfully it wasn't.

"Do ya really believe I'd pee on the couch?!" Logan mocked him with a cocked eyebrow. "Jean sat on it. Got a problem with it?"

"The same way she _sat _on it last week?" Scott mocked back and looked back at the screen. "Be happy that not all students are here for the summer break, otherwise you couldn't have been doing it."

"Shut…up!"

"You still owe us strawberries by the way…"

"_What's wrong?" Moira asked and watched how Ororo entered the room with a look on her face that was a mixture between shock and amusement. "Did you see Charles dancing in the shower or what happened?"_

"_Ehm…no," the woman shook her head and poured herself a coffee. "The rec-room's restricted area."_

"_Why?" Scott asked and put the papers down he was reading. _

"_Wolvie's making out in the rec-room!" Jubilee said, loud enough for everyone to hear, when she entered the room and before Ororo could answer._

"_He's what?!" the man asked and his jaw had dropped. "He can't do that in the rec-room!"_

"_He can," the weather goddess shrugged. "You know he can!"_

_Only rolling his eyes, Scott began to read the papers again. "Since he's back and they are together again they don't do anything else…"_

"_Jealous?" Moira teased him and earned a glare. _

"_No, but younger students also live in this house…"_

"_Well, the smooching's loud enough for them to be aware of the danger that lies within," Jubilee joked and wobbled her eyebrows. "And Wolvie isn't aware of his surroundings anyway…"_

_In the rec-room Jean had her hands buried in Logan's hair and, with her eyes closed, enjoyed the caressing he gave her. While his lips were attached to her ones and his tongue fought gentle fights with hers, one of his warm hands stroked up and down her back and the other kneaded her butt teasingly. When goose bumps began to spread on her body and she felt him once more rubbing against her, she couldn't help but smiling against his lips. What had begun as just spending time together without the children, who were playing with their friends, and watching a movie, had soon turned into hands and lips everywhere and declaring the public rec-room as a restricted area._

"_What?" Logan grunted against her neck and pulled her closer to nib on it and suck on the sensitive skin. _

"_Worked up, hon?" she teased and ran her hands down his abs under his shirt, which made him growl._

"_Whose fault is that?" he mocked and bit into her naked shoulder. He gave a sly grin when his hand had finally found a way under the front of her tight top and he chuckled when she squealed. "Sensitive, too, darlin'?" he asked her huskily and wobbled his eyebrows._

"_You can't do that here…," Jean said, cheeks flushed and she looked briefly up to make sure no one had seen it. _

"_What?" Logan asked playfully and ran his thumb over the fabric of the front of her bra again, which earned him a hiss from her. "Ya mean that?"_

"_Logan!" she warned in a hushed voice and silenced his chuckle with a mental squeeze of his family jewels. "Stop it!"_

"_Ya know what?" he growled and pushed her off him. "I'm done playin'…"_

"_What's that supposed to mean?" she asked confused and pulled the strap of her top up again. Thinking that he was suddenly mad, the more surprised she was when he grabbed her hand and began to pull her with him. _

"_Kid's are occupied, we have our rooms for ourselves," Logan listed and stopped in front of the kitchen with a sly grin on his lips. _

"_What?" she asked and furrowed her brows but gasped when he pulled her into a hard kiss._

"_Ya go upstairs, dress nicely…," he purred into her ear, which made shivers ran down her spine. _

"_And then?" Jean asked in barely more than a whisper and held onto him._

"_Ya see…," he smirked and kissed her neck once more before he gave her a gentle push towards their door. Waiting for her to disappear behind it, he entered the kitchen with the same smirk on his face and walked directly over to the fridge where he began to rummage in it. _

"_Can we finally use the rec-room again or do we need to buy a new couch?" Scott asked and watched how Logan stole whipped crème and strawberries. "I guess that means we have to occupy the children?"_

"_Nah, they're occupied," Logan waved off and closed the fridge to walk back to the door._

"_You shouldn't eat so much, Wolvie," Jubilee teased. "Your jeans's a bit too tight… Especially at the front don't you think?"_

"_Shut up, Jubes!" he growled and retreated to his rooms, where a smiling redhead already lay on the bed. Smiling back, he locked the door behind him and put the two bowls onto the bedside table, when Jean wrapped her arms around him from behind and kissed his neck._

"_Hm…," she purred and began to pull on his shirt. "You're definitely wearing too much, hon."_

"_Really?" he asked huskily and turned around, one eyebrow cocked and receiving a nod from her. "Well, I can change that…" Smirking, he pulled his shirt off and got rid off his jeans. When they were later feeding each other with strawberries and he watched how she wiped a rest of the whipped crème from her lips, Logan smirked and received a confuse look from the redhead._

"_What?" Jean asked and licked the white stuff from her fingers. The glint that was clearly visible in his eyes told her that he was up to no good._

"_Ya know…," he said and took the bowl with the crème from her. "I actually didn't get it for ya t'eat…"_

"_No?" she asked and saw that he shook his head. When she picked up on the explicit imagine that he sent her, she blushed. Before she could say something he had already straddled her with a sly grin on his face and took the bowl into his hands..._

X

"Has anyone seen my husband?" Jean asked after entering the kitchen with Jamie on her arm. By now she had checked their rooms, the gym, the garage, even the Dangeroom and garden, but Logan was somehow gone.

"You won't believe it anyway," Jubilee replied as Mystique entered with Alex on her hand.

"Where is Scott?!" she asked, since her man wasn't in this room either.

"He's gone too?" the redhead asked her and Raven met her eyes.

"Why? Is Logan untraceable too?"

"Well I can't find him and it's time for the children to go to bed."

They watched how the others were cleaning the kitchen and threw the leftovers from dinner either away or put them into the fridge, as Moira suddenly stood behind them. "You won't believe this!" she announced dramatically and earned questioning looks. "Logan is watching hockey!"

Jean shrugged, asking herself what was so unusual about it. In the end everyone knew that Logan and hockey went hand in hand together. "So? That's nothing unusual…"

"I need glasses…," Hank mumbled and put the empty bottle, with which he had fed Nick before putting him to bed, on the kitchen isle.

"Why?!" Raven asked and pulled Alex up when the boy began to whine and rub his eyes tiredly.

"Your boyfriend and her husband are sitting peacefully together on the couch and are watching a hockey game," he told them. "And Logan even shares his beer!"

"What?!" both woman asked, their jaw dropped and exchanged a look with each other.

"Yes, yes," Moira nodded quickly. "That's what I thought too. As I said….you won't believe it!"

"No fighting?" Mystique asked skeptically since she had heard both men bitching against each other only two hours before dinner.

Hank shook his head and leant back against the kitchen isle. "No! They even talk to each other like civilized people. And when I stuck my head into the room Logan even handed Scott one of his beers!"

"Uh, Jean…," Jubilee said teasingly and made a waving motion with one hand. "Better be careful! He's cheating on you!"

Rolling her eyes, since she heard these kind of jokes too often, Jean pulled Jamie higher. "I have to see this with my own eyes…"

"Same here," Mystique said and followed her to the rec-room where, before they had even reached it, they already heard loud cursing.

"Damn!" Logan barked and glared at the television, while Scott shook his head.

"What an idiot! How can he have missed the goal?!"

The women stopped next to the couch and exchanged a look with each other. "What are you doing here…?" Jean asked.

"Watchin' a game…," Logan grunted without looking up and kept on glaring at the television. His team was losing and he didn't like it at all. He swore that he'd track the player down if that guy ever missed the goal again. And then he'd have a nice chat with him…

"Together?!" Raven asked, still not believing it.

"So?" Scott asked, not really listening to her. In the end he was a man and men were incapable of doing two things at once, so he chose what was more important to him at the moment and concentrated on the game.

"Well,…despite the fact that the two of you actually…can't…stand…each other?!" Jean asked rhetorically and received a very brief look of Logan.

"Said who?"

"You?!" Raven replied incredulously. "And the deaf guy next to you, who was bitching about you only 2 hours ago?"

Scott groaned in annoyance. "Would you stop talking, please?!" he complained. "We're watching a game!"

Once more the woman exchanged a look. "Well…," Jean shrugged and noticed that Jamie had fallen asleep in her arms, "wonders obviously really never cease…"

"Shush!" both men made in unison and their eyes were glued on the telly again. They didn't hear how the women left and Logan only stopped watching the game for a minute when his children came downstairs to say good night. Afterwards he paid fullest attention to his team again.

"They have a hockey special tonight?" Scott asked after looking into the TV Guide. "Do you plan to watch all of it?"

"Sure."

"Do you actually play hockey yourself?"

For that question Scott received a look that spoke volumes.

"Well, you never joined us on the lake in winter…," he shrugged and now Logan was cocking an eyebrow at him. "What?!"

"Do ya like the infirmary so much?"

"Well you don't have to play like a complete asshole, you know?" Scott asked and leant back with his arms crossed behind his head. "There's no need to tackle us… Does the ice even withstand your weight?" he asked out of interest and received a growl. "I go and order some pizza."

"A big one!" Logan grunted and sipped on his beer again.

"You're a glutton! Seriously!" Scott said and left the room to find a phone, hearing how Logan began to curse loudly again.

When Jean and Raven woke up in the morning they had to realize that the side next to them was untouched. Even in the kitchen their men couldn't be found and also the others shrugged when being asked about the mutants. "The only thing I know is that the fridge looks way emptier than in the evening," Ororo shrugged when Jubilee entered snickering and had a huge grin on her face. "Do I want to know what has gotten into you?"

"Ohhhh, I think Jean and Raven should just go and look for themselves," the younger woman grinned and waved her camera. "That picture will be a nice Christmas gift!" She giggled again when both women left the room. "I bet Raven starts yelling first!" she added and watched how Moira and Ororo left the room next out of curiosity.

Confused they exchanged a look since both Jean and Raven were staring at something in the rec-room. Cautiously, they walked around the couch and froze on the spot. On the table lay two empty, large boxes from their favorite pizza service, around it stood at least 25 bottles of beer, accompanied by empty coke bottles and other things that the men had found in the fridge. On the couch lay Logan, still deeply asleep and sprawled all over the place. They watched how he heaved a deep breath and rolled onto his side, his hands pulling the pillow his head rested on closer. At the same time there was a protesting sound and Scott followed the motion, just to wrap his arm around Logan's waist and cuddle up. While Ororo and Moira quickly left the room to burst out into laughter in the kitchen, Jean and Raven still stood on the same spot and looked to and fro between the men and each other.

"What's wrong?!" Rogue asked since the weather goddess and doctor were still laughing. The grin Jubilee still had on her lips didn't help her either.

"Nothing!" Ororo waved off and wiped her tears away. "Except that Logan and Scott play Brokeback Mountain."

Confused, Rogue exchanged a look with Kitty, who shrugged and Jubilee, who nodding grinning while she wobbled her eyebrows. In the end she walked over to her and showed them the pic she had taken. The others were still looking at it and made comments as they heard Logan yelping aloud first and barking next. "Wolvie obviously doesn't want to play cowboy anymore…," Jubilee said with a sigh.

"Damn it, Summers, get offa me!" Logan snapped, not noticing that he was being watched. As soon as he did he froze and his eyes switched from Jean to Raven and back. Swallowing, he began to think about a good explanation, especially one that would explain why Scott had his arm still around his waist. "This…ain't what it looks like…," he said and wanted to slap his forehead in the next moment.

"You know…," Jean said and began to pick up some of the bottles. She could only shake her head about the amount of beer the man had drunken at night. "I should already have gotten suspicious after the two of you went to a gay bar together… Somehow I knew that if you ever had something with a man…it would be him…"

"W…what?!" Logan stuttered aghast and stared at her, while Raven reached out to give Scott a hard push.

"Wake up!" she said loud enough for the man to hear, but Scott only groaned and squeezed Logan harder in protest, which made the feral growl.

Nevertheless, Scott began to slowly open his eyes and, after a moment, to frown. Somehow Raven felt odd… His hand began to feel, wondered why she growled and especially asked himself since when she was so bulky and muscular… With a start he sat up and retreated into the opposite corner of the couch, his finger pointing at the glaring Logan. "W…what did you do?!" he demanded to know.

"What did _I _do?!" Logan growled. "It was ya who became all touchy!"

"Sure! Who knows who touched first," Scott gave back sourly.

"Fuck ya, Scooter!"

"Fuck yourself, Logan!"

"Please…," Jean groaned and ran a hand over her face with a sigh. "Would you watch your choice of words? There are children around here!"

Both men went silent but continued glaring at each other.

"It's amazing," Raven noticed and the redhead nodded.

"Yes, it is."

"What?" Logan and Scott asked at the same time.

"You get along when you watch a game or when you're drunk," the shapeshifter listened and began to help Jean with the bottles. "But as soon as you realize that you actually can get along just fine, you start bitching about each other again."

"She's right," Jean nodded. "Instead of just saying that you like each other…"

"I DON't like him!" Logan instantly insisted.

"I don't like YOU either!" Scott snapped back.

"I didn't ask you for yer opinion, Boyscout!"

"But I give it anyway, Wolfman!"

"Wow!" Raven mocked. "How about locking yourselves into a room and work off all that tension, huh?"

"I don't want to know HOW they'd work it off," Jean said and rolled her eyes, while she also used her powers to balance all the bottles in her arms.

"What's that supposed t'mean?!" she heard Logan asking.

"Nothing…"

"Go and shower!" Raven added and followed the redhead, but stopped at the door. "Alone! Each one of you in his own shower!"

Scott groaned in annoyance. "Would you stop it?!"

"Maybe they'll stop that bitching if they do use the same one," they heard Jean saying.

"Jean!" Logan called after her, but both women were already gone. "Those fuckin' jokes are getting' old…," he grumbled and tried to find a bottle that still had some liquid in it. His throat felt awfully dry.

"I can't believe that I fell asleep…," Scott cursed and ran a hand through his disheveled hair.

"Yeah, on top of me," Logan growled and got up.

"Who says that it wasn't you who grabbed me first, huh?"

"Fuck ya!"

"Go fuck yourself!"

Staring each other down, both men didn't notice that Charles had entered the room. He cleared his throat twice before he was sure that he had their attention. "I picked up on a mutant and want you to go and check on him. So stop that stupid arguing and follow me, please," he said sternly and turned his wheelchair to head for his office.

"Great!" Logan cursed and buried his hands in his pockets while he stomped out of the room. "That means with ya…"

"I can imagine doing something better than putting up with you, too!" Scott snapped and cursed when they bumped into each other, since both wanted to walk through the door at the same time. "Move!"

"Move yerself or get new eyes, One Eye!" Logan snarled back and forced his way past him.

After being told where they had to go and what Xavier wanted them to do Logan and Scott took one of the cars, of course the feral insisted on driving, and were on their way into the city. "Great," Logan cursed since they were stuck in traffic. "We should've just taken the jet…"

"And where do you intend to land it?" Scott asked while looking out of the window. "Genius!"

"Would ya shut up?!"

He huffed and rolled his eyes. The car didn't roll one bit and even after an hour they were still stuck. "Hey, Forge," Scott said after using the comm. "Can you check on what happened on the freeway?" He listened to him and sighed. "Thanks."

"What?" Logan grunted while keeping his eyes on the front.

"He said there was an accident with at least 10 cars involved… That means we're stuck here for a couple of hours probably…," Scott told him with a sigh and leant back in the seat. "Do we have something to eat and drink here? It's way too hot today…," he grumbled and supported his head with his hand.

As he'd said they didn't make it into the city before it was already about to dawn. Following the Professor's directions, Logan cocked an eyebrow at the streets they went through and picked up on the changes in Scott. "Why did he send us here…?" the man mumbled and his heart began to beat faster. His eyes were fixed on the street walks.

"He didn't know that we'd be stuck in traffic. Otherwise Chuck wouldn't have sent ya," Logan said and noticed that Scott watched how a boy, who was maybe 13 or 14 was talking to an older man in a car. "Stop lookin' at'em. Ya don't belong t'em anymore…"

"But I did…," Scott mumbled and couldn't help but watching how teenage boys offered themselves to older men. "See that boy over there?" he asked and pointed at one of them. Logan nodded. "His drugs are wearing off."

"How can ya tell?" Logan asked and cocked an eyebrow at him.

"He's holding his mid section, which indicates that he has cramps," Scott explained. "You can also see panic in his eyes and that he's shaking… My guess I on heroin or crack…" He shook his head.

"Which drugs did ya do?"

Scott gave a brief depressed laugh. "Everything that was available… When you're a hustler, Logan, you don't care what you take. You take everything to numb your feelings. Otherwise you won't survive the day… You know that you're the lowest scum and you accept that. And without being high you can't endure those johns…" He shook his head as he watched how a teen disappeared with a man in one alley. "I hate those people…"

"Those kids or the men?" Logan asked and looked for the correct street name.

"The kids are doing this to survive or because they are forced to do it… At least most of them. I mean the johns…," his teammate replied angrily. "How can grown up man sleep with a child?!"

Logan shrugged and turned into another street. "Everyone has his kinks…"

"So you think it's okay?!" Scott asked and glared at him but his teammate shook his head.

"Never said that. What I mean is that some people just are like that. No matter how sick it is… I always wonder what their wives and kids would think…"

"It's disgusting…," Scott mumbled and sighed.

"Seems we have to walk…," Logan said after a moment and parked the car. "The street must be a side street or somethin'…"

"Great…," the man next to him cursed and got out of the car. "I just want to get back home…" Feeling uncomfortable in this surrounding, he began to scan the area, while Logan studied the map. From afar he saw that they were being watched. At least he guessed so.

"Hey handsome," someone next to him suddenly said and both turned around. They looked at the teen, who seemed to be half dead already, watched how the boy kept on checking on his surroundings, was shaking and avoided their eyes. "150 for both of you…"

"Go home, kid," Logan grunted and pulled Scott with him, hearing how the teen sent curses at them. "I think it's the building down that alley."

"I don't see a way inside…," Scott said and gave the building that rather looked like a ruin a look. "Hey, I really wanna get away from here, okay? Let's get this over with. You'll take the right, I'll take the left."

"We shouldn't split…"

"Logan, I want to get away from here," Scott insisted and the feral raised both hands quickly. "The sooner we search the whole building, the better. So let's go." Determined he went his way and disappeared in the dark alley, while Logan went the other.

His eyes constantly searched for a way in, but there didn't seem to be one and by now Logan got really annoyed by the offers he received from time to time. When another man came towards him he began to growl warningly, which sent the boy running. After at least fifteen minutes of searching he finally found a way in and saw that he had been right. The building served as some kind of brothel and drug centre. The stench hurt his senses, cause his eyes to water. Inside Logan felt an incredible rage becoming stronger as he walked past middle aged or older men that were occupied with those teens. All he wanted was to bury his claws into them and cutting their dicks off, but he knew he had to find the mutant they come for.

"Hey!" a voice behind said and he turned, his eyebrow raised. One look was enough to see that the boy was a drug addict. "Whatcha doin' here?!"

Remembering what Charles had told them about the mutant, Logan shrugged. "Some guy told me 'bout a kid, 10 years old or so. He said he was good and that I'd find him in here," he lied and his eyes were fixed on the sweating teen that looked like ghost.

"He might be…," the boy said and wiped his nose. Logan knew that he probably took cocaine. "What's his location worth for ya?"

Sighing, Logan searched his pockets and held up a twenty dollar bill. "First the room."

The teen snatched the bill from him. "Mike's room's upstairs. 6th to the left…"

Nodding, Logan went that way and had to climb over some teens that lay on the stairs or grounds in their drugged state. He followed the direction he'd been given and stopped in front of a door that wasn't fully closed. Carefully, he opened it and went inside, looked at the sparsely equipped room that had a dirty mattress and an even dirtier floor on which different empty packages, used condoms or syringes lay. Shaking his head in disgust, he made sure that he didn't step on anything when he saw him. "Shit…," Logan cursed and went over to the boy that lay on the ground with a needle still stuck in his arm. Kneeling down, his eyes scanned the body and he knew that he couldn't help him anymore. The boy was only skin and bones, his eyes sunken and tired and he was convulsing heavily. "Damn it, kid…," Logan sighed and reached out to stroke over the boy's dark hair, held his tired look. Knowing that his son was of the same age than the kid in front of him, he couldn't help but think what he would do if his child had to lead such a life. At the same time he cursed the Professor for not finding the boy sooner. If he had, they might have been able to save him. Now, he knew, was too late… The kid was already dying and that miserably. Picking up on the pain the boy was in, Logan swallowed once and placed his fist right above the boy's fast heaving ribcage while his free hand kept on stroking the kid's head. "It'll be over soon…," he promised in a calm voice and gave him a sad look before a _snikt_ could be heard, which made the boy's eyes grow wide and every muscle in his body tense. Nevertheless, he went completely still afterwards. "I'm sorry, kid…," Logan grunted, reached out to close the child's eyes before he got up to use his headset. "I found him. Let's meet at the car'n get outta here," he said, not waiting for a reply and left.

X

The first thing Scott noticed was the throbbing of his head and the pain that shot through it as soon as he moved it a bit. He tried to remember what happened. He had been looking for an entrance, then there had been pain and blackness, but… Had he slipped? Had he hit his head on something? He groaned as his senses came slowly back and stiffened instantly next.

He wasn't able to open his eyes. Trying to reach out to them he noticed next that he couldn't move his hands either and his heart began to hammer in his chest. Why was he naked? Where were his clothes and his glasses? Why wasn't he able to hear anything but felt at the same time that he wasn't alone? His breathing became heavier as fear kicked in. Something was terribly wrong and he knew that…

"It's been a long time, hasn't it?" a gruff voice said right next to his ear and made Scott jump. His heart was instantly in his throat as he recognized the voice. A voice he would never forget, a voice he feared and that triggered nightmares. The man chuckled and watched how his prisoner desperately tried to get away. "You looking for those?" he asked and Scott heard a noise that indicated his glasses were crushed by a foot.

"What…what do you want?" the X-Man asked panting and could stop the tremor that took over his body. The fast and strong _thump thump thump_ of his heart vibrated against the floor and he could feel the beats in every inch of his body.

"What I want?" the man asked chuckling and did something Scott could barely hear. "You owe me money, Scotty… A lot of money. And I want it now!"

"I don't owe you anything, Aaron!" Scott snapped and all air left his lungs as a foot stomped hard onto his ribcage. He was sure that at least two ribs were broken. Like a fish on the shore he tried to suck in fresh air but his lungs refused to work first.

"You owe me, you son of a bitch!" Aaron barked and after another hard kick watched how Scott tried to protect himself by rolling onto his site and into a fetal position. "You owe me and you'll pay for running out on me and taking my money with you!"

"I didn't run out on you! The man you sent me to gave me not enough and I looked for someone who'd pay me and this one and his partner gave me and overdose and nearly killed me!" Scott replied angered in a hoarse voice and coughed.

"That doesn't change the fact that you owe me money," Aaron shrugged. "And I'm not interested in your lies either."

"It wasn't a lie!"

"Sure…" The man nodded and knelt down next to the X-Man. "So, what's it going to be, hm? How do you intend to give me my money?" When Scott snorted Aaron smirked. "How old is that little boy of yours, hm? 3? He can work for me as soon as he's 5 or 6."

"You son of a bitch!" Scott barked and tried to leap forward but hands pushed him down and something cold was pressed against his temple. A _click _made him freeze.

"Easy there, pal. You're in no position to do anything but submit to what I want and you know that, don't you? Once a whore, always a whore. Still…" Aaron asked in a cool, collected voice. "You're too old to work for me, so think about something. What's your life worth for you, hm?"

"You won't get my son that's for sure!" Scott hissed while the gun pressed harder against his head. "I don't care if you'll kill me…"

Chuckling, Aaron shook his head. "Oh, I will do far worse, Scott. You know me. When I'm done with you, you'll wish that you were dead and even then I won't grand it." He got up and nodded at someone. "You know the rules. You're my property, I own you, you have no mind of your own and you'll do as I say or you'll pay! Understood?"

Hearing how there were suddenly more footsteps, Scott tried once more to free his hands or open his eyes. But the tape was too strong and didn't move at all. A gasp escaped his lips as he was grabbed by four strong arms and pressed face down to the ground, one arm holding him down and pressing against his neck, nearly cutting off any air, a hand covering his mouth and the other man doing something he couldn't yet feel.

"Last chance, Scott…," Aaron said nonchalantly and sucked on his joint, "tell me where I get my money from or Steve here will have to take care of you…"

"How much?" the X-Man asked through gritted teeth as the hand disappeared briefly from his mouth and tried to ease the pressure on his neck.

"Well… Including the interests from the past years…," Aaron sighed and made a dramatic pause, smirking at his two men. "I guess you owe me about 2.5 million by now…"

"What?!" Scott asked shocked. "Never!"

"Steve!"

Hearing the order, the X-Man fought off the hand that was about to cover his mouth again. "I don't have that much!"

"That's not my problem," Aaron shrugged. "I'm sure while Steve shows you that I'm serious here you will think very hard about a solution." He sucked on his joint again and watched smirking how his former employee tried to fight off his attackers. "It's useless. I'd save my strength, if I were you. The more you'll fight, the more it will hurt." He smiled. "You still know how it works, don't you? Relax your muscles, _Jack_…"

The X-Man wasn't as relaxed as Aaron at all. His heart had kicked into overdrive and everything in him began to scream in agony. While he desperately tried to get away, his mind screamed for the Professor to help him…

X

"Damn it, Slim…," Logan cursed and sucked on his cigar while he leant against Scott's car and waited. He was unable to reach his teammate at all. And it pissed him off. If he hated something, then it was waiting and by now he was already waiting for 40 minutes in total. He had enough of getting offers, being asked for drugs and was in a desperate need for a shower. He already felt dirty by just being there…

"_Logan?"_

"Chuck, I told ya before not t'startle me like that," the X-Man growled and glared at a man, who gave him a funny look.

"_Scott is in trouble. You need to find him quickly!"_

"Trouble?!" Logan thought and put his cigar away, ready for some action. "Where's he?"

"_I don't know. But his mind is crying out in pain. You have to find him!"_

"I will, don't worry, Chuck!" Sniffing, Logan tried to locate Scott's scent in all the ones he picked up on. He let go of his control while walking down the street Scott had disappeared on and used his full hearing ability to pick up on him…

X

"And?" Aaron asked while using a tissue to clean his hands. He still leant against the wall, had done so the whole time through while his two men had done their job. He gave the broken and whimpering man a delighted smile and threw the tissue aside. "When will I get my money?"

"I…don't have…that much," Scott sobbed and felt how a gun was once more pressed against his temple. He was hurting and that badly and he knew that he was bleeding. The pain he'd experienced by the man called Steve was nothing he had ever known before. His body was shaking in combination with the mortal fear he went through.

Aaron sighed dramatically and the X-Man heard how something metallic dropped to the ground close by. "Cut off one of his balls then, Steve," he ordered.

"Gladly!" his man smiled and grabbed the knife that his boss had thrown.

"Wait! No!" Scott yelled and fought against the hands that held him down, ignored the pain that rushed up his spine and that his lower wounds were tearing further. "I swear I don't have that much!" he begged and began to pant.

"Scotty, Scotty, Scotty…," Aaron sighed and shook his head, rolled his eyes as the X-Man screamed when the cold metal touched his skin.

"I swear!" Scott sobbed in despair. "I'll give you everything that's on my account, but I don't have _that_ much!"

"I'll tell you how this is going to work, okay?" he heard Aaron saying and followed his footsteps around the room. "Steve here will cut off one of your jewels, I'll ask you again and if your answer is still the same, he will have some fun with you again. Then I'll ask you once more. If I still won't get a satisfying answer, he'll cut off the other one and the whole fun process begins all over again. Understood?" he asked after explaining what awaited the X-Man slowly. "And if you still refuse to give me what I want, I will hand Jim your wallet and send him to the address in it with a picture of your cute little baby. And he will bring him here and then Steve will do the same to your baby," he went on, chuckled when Scott's scream was muffled by Jim's hand again and watched how Steve held the knife ready. "Did I make myself clear?"

"Yeah, ya did!"

Confused, Scott felt how the hands let go of him, heard curses and muffled, gurgling sounds before bodies fell to the ground, making a hollow _thud_. He began to pant heavier and backed off when hands touched him. He hated it to not being able to see anything at all, to be completely vulnerable and helpless, wanted to know what happened around him and how bad he looked.

"It's me," a familiar voice said close by and his hands were soon freed. "Keep your eyes closed."

"L…Logan?" Scott asked, not believing his luck and hissed as his teammate pulled off the tape from his eyes.

"Yeah," Logan grunted and his eyes quickly scanned the exposed body in front of him. "Is that Aaron guy the same Aaron who did this t'ya when ya were a kid?" he asked and received a weak nod after a moment. "Be right back."

"What…are you going to do?" his teammate asked sniffing and whimpered as the adrenaline rush became less and the pain returned. He couldn't control a single muscle in his body due to the fear and shock. That hard he was shaking. And he felt terribly cold from the inside…

"Just stay here, will ya?" Logan growled darkly and grabbed the unconscious man next to the door. He pulled him into a room and closed the door, before he used the same tape Aaron had used on Scott on the man and patted the face roughly until he stirred.

"W…what?" Aaron asked confused, his head still spinning from the blow he had received. He was sure that someone had hit him with a metal bar. He blinked several times until a grim looking face became visible above him. "Who the fuck are you?!" he barked, realized all of a sudden that he was tied to a chair and couldn't move.

"Your worst nightmare!" Logan growled and his eyes darkened. "So you're the fucker who sells lil' kids t'perverts, eh?"

"None of your fucking business, asshole!" Aaron snapped and pulled on the tape. "My men will kill you if you don't let me go! Slow and painful, understood?! And they will do the same to your family and friends, you son of a bitch!" He frowned when the stranger just chuckled and lit a cigar.

Logan blew the smoke into the air and smirked. "Ya have 15 men, right?"

"So?"

"I doubt they'll kill me…"

"What makes you think that?" Aaron spat and gave him a glare back, still not liking the smirk on the stranger's lips.

"Coz I killed'em," Logan replied calmly as if he had just ordered a pizza. "And guess what, bub!" he said, grinned darkly as Aaron screamed when the burning cigar was pressed hard onto his neck. "Ya wanted t'cut off my pal's jewels? I think I'll do this t'ya…" He threw the cigar into a corner and blew the smoke into Aaron's face. "But first…," he growled smirking, "I'm gonna test if I'm still the best there's in torture. How about that, hm? Wanna feel what those poor kids are feelin' every day?"

"Who…are you?" Aaron panted, beginning to shiver since he could tell the man was serious. Deadly serious…

After putting his leather jacket onto a stool, Logan rolled up his shirt sleeves and cracked is neck smirking. "I'm your reaper, bub," he grunted and his eyes darkened… "Better start prayin'!"

X

"Logan?" Scott asked as he heard heavy footsteps coming closer.

"Yeah."

"What did you do?" he asked, still unable to stop his tremors and tears.

"Doesn't matter," Logan grunted and helped Scott to get dressed. "Can ya walk?" he asked and helped him up, but had to support him. "Ya need a doc."

"No!" Scott instantly said and shook his head, kept his eyes closed due to his powers and lack of control. "No doctors!"

"Ya need one, Slim!" Logan insisted and carried him more than the man was walking on his own. He tightened his grip on the man's waist as this one stumbled and heard the gasp.

"W…what was that on the ground just now?" Scott asked, his voice shaking and his face almost as pale as snow.

"Nothin'…"

"Was that a body, Logan?"

"Maybe," the other X-Man grunted and dragged him down the stairs and out of the building. As soon as they had reached the street Scott toppled over and began to vomit so hard that Logan feared his friend's stomach would come out of his mouth next. He didn't have to be a doc to know that the man on the ground was in a bad shape. They had to get out of there soon before someone saw them. "C'mon," Logan grunted, pulled Scott back up and dragged him over to the car where he put him down on the backseat. His face twitched briefly as his teammate whimpered. As soon as he sat in the front seat he looked for a second pair of ruby glasses and handed them to the man behind him afterwards. "Ya need a doc!" Logan said once more while starting the engine and gave him another scrutinizing look when Scott held his ribs with a painful look on his face. "Broken?" he asked and pulled on the street.

"Guess so…," Scott replied hoarsely and closed his eyes. He felt like vomiting again… "You killed him, didn't you?" he asked after a long silence and met Logan's eyes in the rear mirror. The look he gave him was answer enough. Strangely as it was, he didn't mind. Usually, he would have given the man a sermon on rule #1 of the team: X-Men do not kill. But he neither felt angry nor disappointed, he was kind of glad that his nightmare couldn't hunt him anymore. Alive that was… "Thank you…"

"Don't mention it," Logan grunted darkly. "And ya still need t'see a doc."

"Did you…?"

"Did I what?"

"Did you see if…," Scott began anew but had to swallow hard. Again he was shaking. "Did that guy use…" He couldn't bring himself to say it.

"Yeah, he did," Logan replied, knowing what he was about to ask. "Don't worry. Ya can't have caught anythin'." When he heard the odd noise Scott made upon this, he turned his head alarmed. "Hey, ya alright back there?!"

"Yeah…," his teammate sobbed and buried his face in the seat while one hand pressed against his ribcage and the other against his stomach. He was hurting badly. He knew Logan was right. He needed a doctor… When his body suddenly began to burn from within he opened his eyes and was surprised that his vision was flickering rapidly. He turned his head aside and tried to reach out to Logan, but his arm refused to obey. Somehow his brain wasn't in control of his motions anymore. "L…Logan?" Scott slurred and began to breathe heavily, thought that his body was on fire and air unable to reach his lungs.

"What?" his teammate grunted and turned his head briefly to give him a look.

"S…somethin's wrong…"

Alarmed by the odd sound in Scott's voice, Logan stopped the car and turned completely around, watched how the man grabbed his chest hard and breathed faster than he even thought was possible. "Slim? What's wrong?!" he asked concerned and his eyes searched for any wounds that he might have missed. "Is it yer ribs?" he said next, thought that one of them might have punctuated the lung and was the reason why Scott seemed to be unable to breathe. "Scott?"

"M….my…. he…art," Scott managed to pant and rolled over as he had to throw up again.

"Shit!" Logan cursed and got out of the car to pull the man onto solid ground. "Did that fucker give ya drugs?! Do ya remember it?!" he asked and searched for his cell phone, while his free hand was attached to Scott's neck and followed his racing pulse. "Scott, do ya remember?!" he asked once more and picked up on an inaudible _No _before his teammate went completely limb. "Fuck!" Logan cursed and kept the cell phone between his shoulder and ear, while his hands opened Scott's shirt and tilted his head carefully.

"Xavier's school for the gifted, Ororo Munroe speaking," the speaker of the cell finally announced.

"I need the fuckin' jet t'be here in two minutes," Logan said urgently and desperately tried to find a pulse. "I need Hank and Jean here and that quickly!"

"Logan? What happened?" Ororo asked and a growl escaped his lips.

"Just do as I said, Storm! Get Hank and Jean onto the fuckin' plane and be here in two minutes!" he barked and threw the cell aside before he began to perform CPR. "Don't ya dare'n die on me, Slim!" he warned and pressed his mouth onto Scott's to fill the lungs with new air. "C'mon, ya bastard!" he cursed and pressed his hands down on the ribcage again, keeping his eyes on his teammate's face, waiting for the tiniest reaction…

**The last scene with Aaron was pre-written since chapter 33 in which he appears for the first time. One of you asked what would happen if Scott's past ever caught up with him and I had the idea to let it happen. I also wanted to show that Logan still has a dark side in him and doesn't have scruples to kill if he has to or feels like it.  
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**The funny thing is that this chapter was supposed to turn out completely different and not even that long. I actually wanted to add a shopping scene with Jean/Logan and their kids after the rec-room scenes, but the previous scenes have been too long, so I cut those scenes, the introduction of a new character, the Cap and Spider-Man from this chapter. It would have turned out to be way too long, since the rest was planned to happen too. I will add those things in the next two chapters.**

**Another thing that I wanted to say (except that I thank all reviewers for leaving one again!!) is that my schedule at college is packed with courses. I'm not at home before 8 p.m. on two days and 6:30 p.m. on three days a week and only have one free day on which I have to read a lot. I think I never had to read that much for college ever. I still don't know how to do it. Since I still have Weapon X going too, I might have to drop Vows for a while. At least until I have finished WX. I really don't have the time to write this time, which sucks, since I love writing. So my current plan is to finish WX first, then go on helping Descena with Vows while going on with Changes too. I hope that will work out. Just don't wonder if there won't be that many updates in the next weeks. I'll try to type and update as fast as I can. : ( Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Please let me know and review! Suggestions are always welcome! Well, good night from my side, since it's 2:30 a.m. here and I really should go to bed now. lol See ya!!**


	44. Chapter 41

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

**!! The chapter includes a mentioning of chapter 34 !!**

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**CONGRATS TO ALIASSPYCRAZY WHO HAD HER BABY GIRL A COUPLE OF DAYS AGO !!!**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 41**

The sun was already getting up behind the mansion when Raven was still sitting at the pond and watching the water in it. The rays of the still red sun made her hair appear to be rather brown than black, her blue eyes looked tired and she pulled the leather jacket that was drapped around her shoulder closer, while she was waiting.

"Scott said yer as old as I am?" Logan asked to distract her a bit and met her eyes when she looked up.

"Yeah…"

"Why did ya never say anythin'?" he asked and crossed his arms.

She shrugged. "I don't remember much anyway. Only the most important parts…"

"Head injury?"

"Yeah, thanks to Creed and…some others," Raven spat and sighed. Her head felt too heavy by now. She only wanted to sleep, but knew that she wouldn't find any.

Seeing how tired she was, Logan moved closer and nodded. She gave him a thankful smile and began to lean against him. "He also said somethin' about…ya bein' 17 in 1917 or somethin'…" She nodded. "I was…"

"19…," Raven said to his great surprised. "And in the army…"

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "How come ya know?!"

After opening her eyes, she smiled sadly. "So you really don't remember, huh?"

"We met before?!" Logan asked surprised and felt her nodding once more. He sat up a bit straighter to have a better look at her. "Where and when?!"

"In a small town in Austria. Your company stopped by and stayed for a week while you waited for new orders," she told him and he furrowed his brows. "I worked in that tavern and we met there. You spoke some broken German and told me to be careful with your comrades. I taught you some German and you taught me English during your stay."

Logan thought very hard about what she had just told him, but all that was left to do for him was to shake his head. "I can't remember…," he grunted, sounding angry and depressed about it. "What happened then?"

Raven pulled her legs close while she was still leaning against him. "You've received the order to move to Germany… So you left…"

He nodded. The whole story meant nothing to him. He couldn't remember one bit she had just told him and moments like these angered him. Still, there was a question that he needed an answer to. "Ehm… Did we…," Logan asked and pointed back and forth between them, which earned him a frown.

"Yeah, we did…," Raven nodded, surprised about the fact that he wasn't as straight forward as he usually was with that subject. She watched how he sighed and ran a hand over his face. "In fact you were actually my first and, if what you've told me was true, I was your first too," she added and noticed his dumbfounded look. Unsure of what to do she just shrugged and didn't like the odd silence that spread next.

After some endless minutes Logan sighed. "Lemme guess…," he began and cocked an eyebrow at her. "Ya kicked me into the balls on Liberty Island coz my performance was bad."

This made her smile a bit. "No, I kicked you into your balls because you promised me to come back and never did," Raven replied and looked at him. "I didn't know that you'd lost your memory…"

"When exactly did it happen anyway?"

"Summer 1917… I think it was August…," she said and he nodded.

"The whole time around World War I's still pretty dark," Logan grunted and his eyes scanned the grounds.

"But I thought you had your memory back?"

"Bits and pieces, but not everythin'…," he said and paused. "Ya really waited fer me?!" he asked and cocked an eyebrow at her when she avoided his gaze. Still she nodded in the end. "Why?!"

"Isn't that obvious?!" Raven sighed and shook her head. "You men can be so dense sometimes…"

He huffed. "Is that why ya pulled this stunt in the tent back then?"

"You were the first men who didn't treat me like a whore or some kind of things. And we had a nice time back then…" She shrugged and pulled his jacket closer when she shivered. "I was just angry with you breaking your promise…"

"I probably didn't do it on purpose," Logan shrugged and received a look from her that spoke volumes.

"Of course not…," Raven mocked. "You were _19_!"

"So?"

"Boys of that age hardly think about relationships, Logan!"

He rolled his eyes, knew what she was hinting at. "It's bee a different time back then, Raven! People got married with 18 or 19…," he grunted, watched how the mansion was slowly completely covered in the sunlight. "We probably got the order t'return to Canada or were sent somewhere else. Or maybe I did come back'n ya were gone. Who knows…?" Logan shrugged and gave the woman that still leant against him a look.

"Yeah…," he heard her saying with a hint of regret in her voice, but before he could ask he felt Jean approaching.

"Hank needs to talk to you," she told him.

Nodding, Logan got up but waved off as Raven wanted to hand his leather jacket back to him. "Don't want ya'n the squirt t'freeze," he said with a wink and buried his hands in his pocket before he left the two women alone.

"How is he?" the shapeshifter asked and heard Jean sighing. "That bad?!"

Without looking at her Jean sat down next to her and hugged herself. "Scott's alive if that's what you mean," she told her and watched Logan disappearing. "If Logan hadn't known what to do, he'd be dead…"

Lowering her gaze, Raven nodded. "Will he pull through?" she asked, fear echoing in her voice.

"We think so. He's still unconscious, so we can't tell if he has taken any damage, yet, but…" Jean sighed. "It doesn't make any sense…"

Frowning, the woman next to her gave her a look. "What? People get mugged every time on the streets, Jean…"

"Logan was lying about that, Raven," the redhead said in a stern voice and met her gaze. "Scott wasn't mugged. Far from it…"

"What are you talking about?!" Raven asked and turned to not miss any changes in the woman's mimic. "What happened to him?!"

* * *

"I'm tellin' ya again, Furball, I can't tell ya!" Logan grunted and looked away, which angered Hank even the more.

"Logan, I know that you know the truth and I want to know it now!" he growled and stopped right in front of the other feral, who glared back at him.

"Not…gonna happen!"

"Fine!" Hank snapped and turned around to get the chart. "Then let me tell you what we found out first and then I'll let you know what this means. Maybe you will remember then."

"Hank…," the Professor sighed but the furry mutant already began to read what stood on the chart.

"Three ribs are broken, one nearly, his right wrist is sprained, cuts on his neck, wrists, arms, legs, private parts and abdomen, bruises on said parts, left cheek and jar too, which indicates that someone has put massive pressure on them, probably to hold him down," Hank said angrily and exchanged a brief glare with Logan, who stood in front of him with his arms crossed and stared him down in exchange. "Crushes on several parts, heroin mixed with something that we still have to find out in his blood, we had to do a surgery on his liver, which is NOT looking good, and…. And here it comes," he went on and threw the chart on his desk, "…on a severe tearing on his rear, which is a 100 percent indication that he has been brutally sexually abused!"

Logan gave the usual so calm diplomat a surprised look when this one grabbed his collar and slammed him into the wall, holding him there while their noses nearly touched.

"And now…I want you to tell me what happened, why it happened and who is responsible for this, Logan, or I swear to God…!" Hank growled deep in his throat and narrowed his eyes.

"Hank…," Charles tried once more in a soothing way before the situation would escalate.

"What happened?!" the diplomat demanded to know once more, but Logan shook his head.

"Can't tell ya…," he growled back and pushed his opposite off him. "I've promised him'n it's gonna stay that way!"

Noticing that Hank was about to reply to that, the Professor quickly raised his hand. "No! That's enough!" he silenced him. "If Logan has promised Scott to not tell anyone else, we need to accept that."

Hank gave him a suspicious look. "You know something…"

"I do and I can't tell you either," Charles said and turned his head when a weak groan could be heard.

Immediately Hank went over to the bed and wrote down what the screens told him. "He's waking up…," he mumbled with a look at his patient. "We were sure he'd sleep for a couple of hours…"

"Scott?" the Professor asked and came to a halt next to the bed, watched how the man in it turned his head slowly and reached out to cover his hand with his own. "How are you doing, my son?"

The pale figure in the bed swallowed several times, wondered why his throat felt so awfully dry. "What…what happened?" Scott croaked and looked from the bald man to Hank, who was still taking notes, to Logan. "Did you beat me up because I fell asleep on you?"

"That's the last thing ya remember?!" Logan asked, his eyebrows raised in surprised. "Us watchin' hockey?!"

"Are you in a lot of pain, Scott?" Hank asked concerned and received a weak nod. "I'll raise the painkillers then." While he was paying attention to the medical equipment, his patient still tried to figure out what had happened.

"Why am I here?" he whispered but Charles shook his head.

"You need to rest first. We'll talk later."

"And I need to talk to you!" Hank grunted and pulled Logan with him to the outside and into his lab.

"I told ya before…," the feral began but was cut off.

"Logan, I _need_ to know how many men did this to him!" the diplomat insisted, anger clearly audible in his voice. "If only one of them was seriously sick, the chance that Scott has been infected is more than high and I'd need to put him onto medication to lower that risk! So tell me already!" Glaring at him impatiently, he waited for a reply, saw that his opposite was torn between keeping his promise and telling the truth. "Do you want him to suffer from hepatitis or maybe even HIV? I need to put him on medication as soon as possible to lower the risk of an infection!"

"I dunno…," Logan finally grunted and looked away.

"What do you mean with that?!"

"There was one naked guy behind him, the other two were fully clothed… 'n that naked guy still had a condom on when I arrived. I dunno what the others did, but I don't think they touched him."

Hank gave him a skeptical look. "How can you be so sure?"

"Coz one guy was occupied with holdin' him down'n the other one gave orders," Logan grunted and watched his opposite for a moment.

"Did you see any syringes they might have used to drug him?" Hank asked after a moment, but Logan shook his head. He sighed. "If they used one and it has been used by someone else before, I'll still have to put him onto medication…," he cursed and began to think hard about it. "Why did they do that to him?!" he asked and looked at Logan. "That doesn't make any sense! Why would someone beat a man up, rape him and drug him next?!" Hank looked up to scrutinize his teammate. "I know that you and Charles know the answer to that!"

"And I know that I promised him not t'tell anyone," Logan gave back and glared at him.

"What can have happened that is so bad and needs to be kept a secret?!" Hank asked but knew he wouldn't get a reply. "You act as if it was some kind of…government secret." Noticing the glare he was given, he knew that it was all he'd get. With a sigh he went over to the cabinet and pulled out different bottles.

Having watched him, Logan buried his hands again in his pockets. "Am I done here?" he grunted and didn't wait for a reply. He just left the lab and headed towards the elevator where he bumped into the Professor. He sighed. "Can a man have some alone time in this place…?!"

"It was a good thing of you not to tell them the truth," Charles said after the door closed.

"I always keep my promises," the feral grunted and leant back against the wall. "But the truth can no longer be kept."

The bald man nodded with a sigh. "I know…"

"The boy ya sent us for t'find is dead."

"How did it happen?!"

They stepped out of the elevator and walked down the corridor towards Charles' office. "He's a drug addict and probably a hooker, too. When I found him he's already dyin' from an overdose…" He cocked an eyebrow at the Professor when this one came to a halt.

"You killed him?"

"He's dyin' miserably, Chuck. That kid was sufferin'."

"I didn't say that I accuse you of anything, Logan," Charles said with a shake of his head. "It's a shame that those children have to go through this…," he added and looked at his opposite in a thoughtful way for a moment. "You thought about Jack, didn't you? You saw him in that boy."

Logan nodded slowly. "What will ya do about, Slim?"

"I really don't know, Logan…," the Professor sighed. "It was so hard for him to go through all of this back then. His biggest fear was that his past would catch up with him again, that his friends would get to know about it… I don't know how to protect him from that…"

"He can't remember the attack. He doesn't have t'know…," Logan suggested.

"He will start asking questions as soon as he becomes aware of his condition," his opposite disagreed. "I can't lie to him about that even if I wanted to…"

"Ya can still alter his memories… Erase what happened."

"Logan…"

"Ya did it t'protect my kids from the pain. It's the same with him. It'll destroy him," Logan cut him off. Before they could go on he heard a noise and turned his head just in time to see his son. Smiling weakly, he lowered himself a bit to pull Jack up and into his arms. "Hey, pumkin."

"Where have you been?" the boy asked after returning the kiss he was given.

"I had somethin' t'do. Did somethin' happen?" Logan asked.

"Yeah, Uncle Bobby made the pancakes…," his son said and pulled a face, which made both adults chuckle.

"We'll talk later," the Professor said and waited for a nod before he disappeared in his office.

"Did something happen, daddy?"

While he carried him Logan thought about what to say. He knew the boy could tell when he was lying, but on the other hand he didn't want him to worry too much either. "Just an accident. Nothin' ya should worry about, 'kay?" he therefore said and began to smirk next. "So how was yer date?"

"It wasn't a date!" Jack complained and glared at his father. "Why's everyone saying that?!"

Chuckling, his father opened the door to the West Wing with one hand. "So ya had fun with Isa on yer not-date?"

"Dad!" the boy said and stretched the word angrily. "It wasn't a date!"

"That's why I said not-date, ya know? Coz ya were with yer not-date on a not-date."

"You're mean!" Jack sulked and glowered at him, but Logan only grinned. "We want to go and watch a movie today, can you drive us?"

"Which movie?" his father asked while ascending the stairs with the boy still being on his arm.

"Shrek 5."

Logan cocked an eyebrow. "They're still makin' those movies?!"

"Yeah! Can we go and see it?"

"So that's again a not-date with your not-girlfriend?" he teased his son, who began to growl. "When do ya wanna go see it?"

"It starts at 2:30," Jack said and his father cocked an eyebrow at him.

"That's in less than an hour."

"So?"

"So I actually wanted t'shower'n eat somethin'," Logan said and put Jack back to the ground.

"Well it was you who wasn't there when we decided to go and see it."

"Wiseass," he mocked and looked up.

"We wanna see that movie too, daddy, but Jack keeps on saying that we can't go and see it," Rachel complained.

"You can't go and see it because Isa and I wanna go and see it!" her brother said and they began to stare each other down.

"We can go and see it if we want to!" Laura said and joined her sister's side. "You can't just decide and tell us what to do!"

"I can, because I'm older than you."

"Guys!" Logan groaned and ran a hand through his hair, one night with a hangover and one night without sleep beginning to catch up with him.

"TJ and Anna want to come too, daddy," Rachel said and ignored her brother's growl. "Jack can't just decide and tell us what to do."

"But I wanna go with Isa, daddy. It was our idea!"

"Just because it was your idea, doesn't mean we can't come too," Lily now said and crossed her arms.

Listening to the fight a bit longer, Logan finally raised his hands. "Either all go or all of ya stay here, got that?" he said and saw that his son was about to protest. "Ya don't have t'sit with'em, 'kay? I'll go'n take a shower 'n when I'm done, I wanna hear a decision. Understood?" he added with finality in his voice and left the room to get fresh clothes to wear. "'n no more fightin' or yer all stayin' here!" he warned before he closed the bathroom door behind him. Inside he could still hear them fighting over the movie and sighed. If they came to an agreement somehow, he hoped that someone would accompany him….

As he'd been right the kids were staring each other down and Jack only reluctantly agreed on accepting the company of his siblings, but only under the threat that all of them would stay at home. To Logan's luck no one really had the time to accompany him, which only lowered his mood to some point far below the degrees of the North Pole had. So in the end he sat in the car with his children, Isa and TJ and ended up at the nearest mall. His inner beast growled at the looks he was given by some people, who probably thought once more that he was a child molester or something similar to it. When he stood in-line for the tickets with Jamie on his arm his eyes watched over the children, who were still arguing from time to time. "Ya know what I said, right?" he warned them.

"Jack's mean, Uncle Logan," TJ, who was once more wearing the device that gave her the look of a "normal" girl, complained and pouted.

"We can still go home," he replied and earned a united "No!" in return. "Then behave!" While he told the guy in the ticket booth how many tickets he wanted to have, he heard how Jamie began to giggle and realized that the two women behind him were obviously still fascinated with the boy. "Flirtin' again?" he mumbled to his son and joined the children again to give them the tickets. "Ya behave'n I don't wanna hear any complaints, got that? Or it's the last time ya go'n watch a movie alone!"

"You're not coming with us?" Rachel asked surprised.

"No, Jamie won't sit still that long," her father said and kissed her cheek. "I'll wait right here for ya, 'kay?" Watching how they bought some popcorn and something to drink, he sat down on a bench next to a small playground. "'n ya can go'n play a bit," he said to Jamie, who chose to watch the other children for the moment instead. Logan only hoped that he wouldn't use his powers on anything that was out of his reach.

After he already sat on the bench for about an hour and was bored beyond limits, someone suddenly sat down next to him.

"Hey!"

Surprised, Logan turned his head and smirked. "Hey, yourself," he greeted Elektra and Mary-Jane. "Watcha doin' here?"

"What does it look like?" the redhead asked and pointed at dozen bags next to her.

Shaking his head with a sigh, Logan cocked an eyebrow at her. "What's with women and shoppin'?"

"What's with men sitting on a bench next to a children's playground?" Elektra countered and nodded at the children behind him.

"I'm waitin' for the darn movie t'be over," he grunted and turned his head briefly to make sure that Jamie was still there, just to see how the boy was rubbing his eyes and looked at him. "Be right back," he said to both woman and got up to pick his son up who commented it with a dramatic whine. "Tired, baby?"

"Yeah…," Jamie sniffed and hid his face in his father's shirt.

"So it's really true then, huh?" MJ asked him with a surprised look and looked at the boy as soon as the feral had sat back down. "I thought Peter was joking when he told me that you had a son and are married."

Logan chuckled. "Then you'll drop dead t'the ground as soon as the movie's over."

"Why?"

"Just wait."

"Tired, daddy…," Jamie sniffed and rubbed his face in his father's shirt while trying to hide it.

"I know, pumkin. Just wait until the movie's over, 'kay?" he tried to soothe him and leant back so that his son could rest against him. "Is that okay for now?"

"No," Jamie mumbled and both women giggled since they thought it was too cute how the boy tried to get comfortable on his father's chest. Wondering why those women were looking at him, he looked at them with his green eyes and enjoyed how his father's was cuddling with him.

"Where's yer boy?" Logan asked.

"Peter's on baby duty," MJ said and he nodded. "Is your wife shopping?"

"No, she's home."

"So the big bad Wolverine is all alone?" Elektra smiled and nudged him gently.

"Yeah. Havin' dirty thoughts, darlin'?" Logan asked and smirked at her, which made her laugh. "Coz I'm sorry, I'm off the market."

"At least you still know how flirting works, Logan," she smiled and looked at the now sleeping boy. "What's his name?"

"Jamie."

"And how old is he?" MJ asked next.

"He turns two in a couple of days," he grunted and tried to get more comfortable with the boy sleeping on him.

"And why do you expect me to be surprised as soon as the movie's over?" she asked curiously and pushed her red hair back, wondered why he grinned. "Do you know more?"

"No," the woman next to her said and shook her head for emphasis. "I think some of the Avengers are pretty happy that you're off the market."

Logan huffed. "I doubt that."

"No, really."

"Yeah?" he grunted unconvinced and shook his head. "I know exactly what they're thinkin', darlin'."

"Which is?" MJ asked and gave him the same expectant look as Elektra.

"That I'm probably cheatin' on my wife with who knows how many women, that I don't care fer my kids, that I'm lyin' t'em. Pick one," he growled and looked at his watch, wondering why the movie wasn't over yet. Concentrating, he could clearly hear that the credits were already on and sighed. As far as he knew those movies always had bloopers at the end or in-between and he knew that his kids always watched them.

"Then you're wrong, Logan," Elektra said. "Not all of them do."

"I don't give a shit anyway," he grunted and looked up when the door was finally opened. "So, here comes the surprise," he said to both women with a nod at the approaching kids. "Had fun?"

"Yeah, can we have pizza, daddy?" Laura asked and wondered who the two women were, why they were sitting next to him and especially why they were staring at her. "Who are they?"

"Let me guess…," MJ said and looked at the children more closely. "The boy and those two girls are yours?"

"No!" Rachel complained and pouted. "Just because I've red hair doesn't mean that he's not my daddy, too!" she complained and grabbed her father's leg for emphasis.

Logan chuckled. "True. Jack, Lily, Laura and Ray are my kids. TJ'n Isa are from two friends of mine." He commented their looks with an amused smile. "Told ya so."

"You've five kids and no one told us?!" Elektra asked shocked but MJ shook her head.

"Better said who is the woman that tamed him?!"

"My mommy," Jack said and pulled on Logan's jeans. "Can we have pizza?!"

"We've barbeque today, kid. So no pizza fer ya," Logan said and knew what would come next.

"But I don't like barbeque. We just had one," his son groaned and received a cocked eyebrow.

"Since when don't ya like barbeque?!"

"I like it," Lily said and the other girls nodded. "Jack only wants to impress his girlfriend, because Isa wanted pizza."

"She's not my girlfriend!" Jack growled and turned to face his sister.

"She is, daddy! They were holding hands in front of us!" Rachel giggled and ran around the playground chased by her brother.

"I'm fine with barbeque, Uncle Logan," Isa assured him.

"Good," Logan nodded and called for Jack and Rachel to stop it and come back over to them. "'kay, gotta go. He needs t'go t'bed," he told the two women with a nod at Jamie and accepted their hugs and kisses on the cheek. "If ya want ya can come over for dinner. We usually start around 6."

"I'll keep that in mind," MJ smiled and linked arms with Elektra again. "Bye!"

"Bye, Logan!" the brunette added and smiled at the children before they left.

"Who are they, daddy?" Lily demanded to know and followed her father to the outside.

"Friends of mine. Ya liked the movie?"

"Yeah, it was okay," Laura said and climbed into the van. "Why were those women looking at us as if we were some kind of animals in a zoo?!"

After he had made sure they were all buckled up, Logan started the car and drove from the parking lot. "They were just surprised. That's all."

"Why?" Rachel asked next and he sighed.

"Because they didn't know that I had so many kids, that's why."

"Can we at least have an ice, daddy?" Jack asked and added a whine, knowing that this usually worked.

"Yeah, ya can," Logan grunted. "But that's all ya get before dinner!" he added before the kids could get too excited about it.

* * *

"I just don't understand why you lied to me," Jean said and used her hands to fix her wet hair. She had just gotten out of the shower, the children had gone to bed 4 hours ago and she had helped Hank to care for Scott, who had been asleep throughout the day due to the heavy painkillers he was given. Now she knew Logan was watching her intently from his position on the bed.

"I did it t'protect him and coz I promised Slim," he grunted and licked his lips unconsciously while she was still occupied with toweling herself off.

"Still you could have just said that you promised him not to tell anyone about it. Instead you lied to me," she complained, heard him grumbling a _sorry_, before she walked over to the drawer and let her towel fall to the ground. Jean could tell that his eyes were practically burning into her backside. They always did…

"Yer so fuckin' beautiful…"

Freezing in her motions and with her hands still in her drawer, she felt her face beginning to burn. "W…what?" she managed to whisper and turned her head to look at him. He still lay on the same spot, but supported himself with one arm, his dark eyes fixed on her.

"I said yer so fuckin' beautiful…," Logan replied bluntly and smirked seductively. She was clearly blushing and feeling embarrassed. "It's damn hot tonight, Jeannie, ya don't need t'wear anythin'. Just come t'bed."

"I don't feel like sex today, Logan," she said and went on with her search. He groaned.

"Did I say somethin' about fuckin'?! I said just come t'bed…"

Jean gave him a scrutinizing look. She knew his little traps… But in the end she closed the drawer with a sigh and went over to join him in their bed, knowing that his dark eyes were not looking at her green ones. "Your hand wanders lower than my navel and I'll kick you out of bed," she warned him.

"I can't even touch yer legs?!" Logan asked playfully outraged.

"My legs and everything above my navel," she insisted and rolled her eyes as he began to sulk.

"Ya know…," he grunted after she'd kissed him and switched off the lights, "in some cultures the body of the woman belongs t'her husband…"

"I can still get up to get a shirt, Logan," she warned him, earning a displeased growl from him. "Night." With a sigh she rolled onto her side and pulled her pillow closer. When he still didn't do anything after 5 minutes she became suspicious. "What's wrong now?"

"I ain't allowed t'touch my wife, that's wrong," Logan grunted and this time it was Jean who groaned.

"The only thing I said was that I don't feel like sex today!"

"And I never mentioned sex t'begin with," he grumbled, glaring at her from aside. "I only wanna have a bit skin t'skin!"

"Then what are you waiting for?!" Jean asked and heaved a deep breath. "You are such a big child sometimes…" Hearing him grumbling something, she soon heard the bed moving and squealed. "Jerk!" she cursed and switched on the lights with her powers, just to look right at his cocky grin. "You know I'm ticklish."

Logan shrugged. "Ya said I was allowed t'touch yer legs, darlin'," he defended himself and wobbled his eyebrows.

"Then I'll add my _feet_ to the taboo-list!" she replied and gave him the same smug smile in return. "AND my legs!"

Once more he shrugged and settled for her shoulder, his right arm wrapped around it, his left hand resting on her belly and stroking lazy circles. "Still got plenty t'touch up here," he whispered huskily and nuzzled her neck.

"Ah, ah, ah!" Jean said and grabbed his hand. "No touching my breasts either!"

"Why not?!" he sulked.

"Because I know what you're up to that's why!"

"Which is?" he challenged and returned to stroking in lazy circles.

"You want to talk me into having sex with you! And since I know what kind of sneaky bastard you can be, I'll add my breasts and neck to the list next!" Jean said determined and smiled evilly, while Logan's eyes narrowed. "Good night!" she added and switched off the lights again before she settled on her side once more. In her head she counted from five backwards, already knowing what he'd say next…

"Not even a quickie?"

She knew it! "No, Logan, not even that!" she said matter-of-factly, began to count from five backwards again and waiting for him to start whining.

"Jeannie…"

There it was. "My answer is final, Logan!"

"Please?"

"No!"

"Darlin'…"

"No!"

"Baby, c'mon…"

"No, Logan!"

"Ya can't do this t'me, Red!"

Yes, she had waited for that one… "I can, honey, and now good night!"

She heard him grumbling. "I hope ya know that ya make me suffer! Badly!"

"This won't work either," Jean sighed. By now she knew him too well and could tell what else he'd say to make her feel bad about rejecting him. "And before you'll start telling me how sexy I am and that you just want to touch, or before you'll go over to telling me that you have a healing factor and need it more often than a normal man, let me tell you that it's no sex for you at all in the next 3 weeks, if you don't let me sleep now!"

"3 weeks?!" Logan asked and sat up straight.

"Yes, 3 weeks!" she replied and pulled her pillow closer. "Make it 5 if I hear another word than good night from you now…" She waited, but it was in vain. Nevertheless, he neither touched her nor said one word either. "I'm just tired, Logan, okay? Are you mad with me now?!" she asked and received a grunt. "Oh, come on, Logan!"

"Night!" he grumbled and turned around, away from her.

"You big grouch," Jean huffed and did the same.

When she woke up on the next morning he was, of course, already up and gone. As she figured he had woken up the children and left with them, which gave her the time to dress without stress and get down to the kitchen for a cup of coffee. "Morning," she greeted Narya, who was still sitting at the kitchen isle and was sipping on her cup.

"Hi," the blonde greeted back and watched how the redhead looked for her mug.

"Is Logan grouchy today?" Jean asked.

"No, actually not…"

That surprised her. "Really?

"Yeah. Why?"

"Doesn't matter," the redhead smiled and sat down, wondered why Narya was acting so weird. Usually the woman liked to talk. "Something wrong?"

Jerking her head up, the blonde looked like a rabbit that had been caught by the wolf. She didn't reply first, which earned her a confused look from the telepath, who already knew that something was wrong. "Can I ask you something?" Narya asked in the end, looking rather uncomfortable.

"Sure, what's wrong?"

"Well, it's about Logan…and John actually…," the blonde said and kept her eyes downcast.

Confused and beginning to ask herself what her husband had to with it, the redhead began to frown. "Sure… Go ahead!" she shrugged and wondered what she might have missed in the morning that her opposite looked so embarrassed.

"Ehm… Well…"

"Is something wrong between John and you?" Jean asked concerned and once more Narya's head jerked up, her blue eyes wide.

"What?! Oh, no! No! Everything's fine!" she assured her. "It's just…"

Jean waited. "Just what?"

There was a dramatic sigh before the blonde put her cup down. "God, this is so embarrassing…"

Okay, so I was right, Jean thought. "So it's something serious?" she asked knowingly and held Narya's gaze for a moment. In the end her opposite nodded.

"Actually,…yeah. Yeah, I guess it's serious…"

"Okay…," the telepath said and waited once more, watched how the blonde heaved a deep breath and cupped her mug with both hands. "Okay…so… Well…"

"Narya, what's wrong?" Jean sighed.

"Is Logan's…"

"Logan's what?"

"Well…," Narya gesticulated and ran a hand through her hair nervously. "Is his…drive equally…strong?"

"His drive?" Jean asked confused and received a nod. "Which drive? Ferals have many drives…"

"Well his…," the blonde said and pointed at something under the table.

"Oh…," the redhead made, getting the point and leant back a bit. She had reckoned with a lot but never with that question.

"So?" Narya asked and now it was her, who waited.

Jean shrugged. "Depends on…what you mean with…strong."

"Let's say…every…third day, rather every second…?" her opposite said and wondered why Jean pulled the face she did all of a sudden.

"Oh, I forgot!"

"What?" Narya asked, fearing the worst.

"You haven't been with John during spring, right? I mean…as his mate?"

"No… Why?"

Jean waved off and gave a brief, amused laugh. "Oh, nothing…"

But the blonde had already figured it out. "Don't tell me it's getting worse in spring?!" she gasped in shock. Jean's silence and look were enough. "How _much _worse?!"

The redhead shrugged and looked at her cup. "Pretty much everyday and all night long…" There was no reply. "They have a healing factor and animal senses." She shrugged once more, but again there was only silence on Narya's end.

"Every…day?!" the blonde stuttered. "And…all night long?!"

"Pretty much," Jean nodded and sipped on her coffee, while her opposite sat frozen on her stool. "Even more so when they figure that you're fertile on a day. Then their drive kicks really in." When there was no reply she added, "Just put him into his place and he'll leave you alone. Their animal side might try, but… Something wrong?!"

"Do you think John will notice if I spent spring alone in Canada?!" Narya asked, looking paler than usual.

"I don't know," Jean laughed. "If they want sex, they'll track you down. Trust me!"

"Oh God…," the blonde whined and buried her hands in her long hair. "Why me?"

"Just put him into his place," the redhead tried to soothe her with a smile.

"How?!"

"Tell him you don't want it and that if he goes on trying he can forget about sex for the next weeks."

"That helps?" Narya asked skeptically, but Jean nodded.

"It worked with Logan just yesterday. He can really become annoying, and I mean REALLY annoying, if he wants sex and I don't," she told her. "Just threaten him with no sex for 3 weeks and he'll shut up instantly. The only thing he might do is starting to whine like a little boy and tell you how bad he feels and that you can't do that to him…"

This caught the blonde off guard. "Logan whines?!"

Jean nodded. "He starts with stretching my name like a little boy that wants something from his mother, then comes the stretches please, then he goes over to using all nicknames he has for me, then come the compliments, followed by an offered massage or that he'll do the laundry on the next day… I think you get my point."

"That bad?!" Narya asked impressed.

"Yes, he is THAT bad," Jean nodded with a sigh and began to wonder where Logan actually was. "But what's really bad about a situation like that is, if the man knows how good the sex with him is and Logan knows that the sex with him is great. So they use that knowledge to keep the upper hand."

"How true. John probably knows it too…," her opposite sighed.

With her powers Jean placed the cup into the sink. "Where is Logan anyway?"

"I don't know. I haven't seen John either since breakfast," Narya said and got up to put her cup away too. "Maybe they sit somewhere are sulk together?"

"Maybe," Jean nodded and got up to follow her out of the room, but both stopped dead in the track as soon as they had reached the corridor. While Logan leant against the wall to the right of the kitchen door, his brother did the same on the left and both smirked at their women.

"So the sex with us is great, eh?" Logan said self assured and kept his arms crossed.

"And yeah, we've heard everything," his brother added, mirroring his opposite's position on the other side.

"And I think ya know what this means for ya, right?" Logan asked and his eyes darkened while his grin widened.

"I think they do," John nodded.

"I think I don't…," Narya said and looked to and fro between both men, feeling like prey between two predators.

"Oh, I think ya do," Logan nodded and left his wall with a nod at his brother.

"Jean?" the blonde said and backed off a bit.

"Logan!" the redhead warned but as soon as Narya let out a squeal, she did the same. "Put me down!"

"Oh, I don't think so, darlin'," Logan disagreed.

"This is not the way to the bedroom," Narya said as she realized that both men were running towards the garden. "What the…?"

"Don't you dare!" Jean suddenly said aloud and began to struggle against the fireman's carry she was kept in. Cursing, she gave her captor a slap on his behind. "Don't you dare, Logan!"

"Oh, I think we dare, darlin'!" was all both women heard him saying before they flew briefly through the air and landed in the pool. "That's what ya get for denyin' us!"

"Definitely!" his brother agreed and chuckled when both women reappeared. He knew if looks could kill they'd be pretty dead by now.

"That's 4 weeks for you, Logan!" Jean snarled as she climbed out of the pool. "Stop laughing! I mean it!"

"No, ya don't!" Logan gave back and was still smirking after she had thrown both brothers into the pool with her powers. "And ya know why it won't be 4 weeks?" he asked casually after walking past her. "Coz ya love lookin' at that," he said and pointed at his wet jeans that clung to him like a second skin and left nothing to imagination. It was too easy for him to pick up on the changes in her heartbeat. "Oh, yeah. Ya love it, baby!" he chuckled whereas Jean blushed despite her effort to glare at him.

"Jerk!" she said instead and turned around to leave, followed by the blonde. "Stop laughing!" she added a bit louder, since they could hear both brothers cracking up. "He is so going to pay for this," she snarled after they had reached the kitchen and left traces of water behind them.

"This is so embarrassing that they heard everything," Narya cried and ran a hand through her wet hair. "How do you intend to punish Logan besides the 4 weeks."

"Oh, I know how to punish him, trust me!" the redhead said and walked back upstairs to change into dry close.

* * *

"What do you mean I can't see him?" Alex asked Hank enraged who was still blocking the door. "Why not?!"

"It's Scott's wish, Alex, I'm sorry," the diplomat tried to explain and his opposite huffed with a shake of his head. "He said he doesn't want you to watch over him because the two of you would start arguing again and he needs the rest. I'm sorry, but as his doctor I have to accept this."

The blonde man let out a laugh and turned to face the furry mutant once more. "Is this a joke?!" he asked sourly. "He doesn't want _me _to watch over him at night, but Logan is fine?! As far as I know the two of them hate each other." He waited for a reply but there was none. "Fine. Whatever!" he growled and stomped off into the direction of the elevator.

Sighing, Hank entered the ICU again where Logan was sitting in a chair next to Scott's bed and read an old book. "I thought it was a joke when you said you'd go to get Shakespeare."

"Why?" the feral asked without looking up.

"Well…I'm sorry, my boy, but you don't look like the type to read such books," Hank replied truthfully and wrote something down on a chart before he met Logan's eyes. "Actually you don't look like someone who reads at all."

"Typical prejudice," Logan growled and turned a page.

"So you read all of his works?"

"Yeah."

"Hemingway, Joyce, Kant, Woolf, Stein…?" Hank listed.

"All of their works…," came the reply. "Also Goethe, Schiller, Lessing, Sidney, Defoe, Wordsworth, Wells, Dickens, Wilde…" Logan made a short gesture with his hand that indicated he could go on with the list but wouldn't bother to do so.

"I'm impressed… Really…," Hank said and looked at his opposite a while longer thoughtfully.

"Why? Coz the dumb animal can read?"

"I know that you're not a dumb animal, Logan. It's quiet the opposite and you know that," he said and made sure that the IVs were still fine. "No, I just never thought you'd be interested in such works."

"Better than the shit some authors write nowadays," Logan grunted while he went on reading.

"What's your favorite play?" Hank asked out of interest since he too read Shakespeare.

"Hamlet."

"Really? I'd thought Macbeth or Othello."

"They're okay too."

"Well Scott should be fine. If anything happens just call me," Hank said and received a nod. "Thank you for watching over him."

"Sure," Logan waved off and waited until he heard the elevator going up. "He's gone."

"Good…," Scott mumbled and opened his eyes a bit.

"Ya can't keep it from him forever, ya know? He ain't dumb," Logan grunted and looked at the shaking man.

"I don't want them to get to know."

"I know. But there's no way that they won't get t'know about it." He watched him for a moment, saw the sweat and heard the rapid heartbeat. "Ya could have at least told him t'raise the pain killers."

Scott managed a weak snort and gripped his mid section tighter. "So that he'd figure out I was an addict? No thanks." Seeing how Logan shook his head with a roll of his eyes he coughed. "You still don't want to tell me what has happened?"

"No," the feral grunted and looked back at his book.

"Why not? Think I don't know what those meds are for?" Scott asked rather aggressively.

"Well if yer so smart why do ya need me then?" Logan snapped back and glared at him.

"Because I'd like to know why I'm given those fucking meds!" his opposite suddenly barked.

Scrutinizing him, he pointed at the phone behind him. "If yer withdrawals get worse I'll call Hank," Logan warned him. "So ya better behave!"

"I'm sorry…," Scott whimpered and heaved deep breaths, the pain he was in clearly mirrored on his face. "I can't help it…"

"I know," Logan grunted and put the book aside. "The Furball said ya need t'drink a lot."

"I'm happy that I haven't thrown up in the last thirty minutes, Logan…," Scott grumbled and tried to control his cramps. He felt hot and cold at the same time and couldn't remember that he had ever felt that miserable. Gritting his teeth, he rolled onto his good side and pulled his legs as close as possible without injuring his broken ribs further. "Can we talk about something?" he begged in hope to get distracted from the pain he was in.

"'bout what?" Logan grunted and crossed his arms.

"You telling me what happened to me and I'll tell you what happened to you when Apocalypse attacked the city."

He cocked an eyebrow. "That's blackmail!"

Scott snorted. "I don't care," he panted and paused for a moment when the cramps got worse. "I want to know what happened to me, Logan!" When he heard a sigh the pain he was in mixed with anger, but before he was able to explode his opposite began to talk.

"I don't think ya can handle the truth…," Logan said truthfully and looked at Scott, who was even paler than before.

"What…happened?!" the man said instead and made clear that he wouldn't stop asking before he had his answer. Both didn't say anything for a while, Logan remained frozen on the chair, arms crossed and watched how Scott was sweating and shaking, while the X-Man looked back at him through his glasses. In the end Logan gave in and told him roughly what had happened that night, or better said the parts he knew. He could only guess about the rest.

When Scott did nothing else than staring at the ceiling he knew that he had been right. "Told ya so… I told Chuck that it was a bad idea t'tell ya the truth."

Scott in the meanwhile didn't know what shocked him more. What he had just been told or the fact that he couldn't remember anything of it. Still he was well aware of the fact that his past had caught up with him, that his nightmare had become real…

"Slim?" Logan asked concerned and got up when he saw that the man was crying silently.

"So they know now…," was all he heard him mumbling.

"No, they don't. I told'em ya were mugged while we looked for the boy. Of course Jeannie figured out that it was a lie due t'yer injuries, so did Hank'n Chuck knew from the beginnin' what really happened. But no one of'em knows the whole truth," Logan told him but still there was no reaction at all. "Do ya need a doc?"

Scott shook his head slowly, even of he had to heave deep breaths by now. "What did you do to Aaron?" he asked barely audible and raised for the first time after hearing the truth his head.

Logan only shrugged. "Some stuff…"

"You tortured him?" his opposite asked tiredly.

"Ya should sleep."

"Even if I wanted to, Logan, I can't sleep," he mumbled and ran a hand through his sweaty face. "Did he suffer?" he asked next but once more there was only a look and no reply. "You're not going to tell me, huh?" He nodded and wondered if it was the pain that caused him to feel emotionally numb, or the adverse effects of the strong PEP medication Hank had put him on, or if it was the shock of knowing – but not remembering – what had happened. On the other hand he was surprised that Logan hadn't told anyone about the truth, that he had even lied to Jean about it…

"Yer shakin' like a leaf," Logan grunted and brought him back to reality while spreading another blanket over the man's body. "Scott, ya really should talk t'Jean or Hank. I don't intend t'do CPR on ya again. It was enough that ya were dead for 6 minutes last time."

"I don't want them to know…," Scott mumbled between another fit of strong cramps and tried to get as much air into his lungs as was possible with his broken ribs and bandages. Looking up, he wondered why the dosage of the painkillers was so low. He at least felt like being torn apart, his body and mind couldn't take it anymore… "Can you tell Hank that the painkillers aren't working?" he said through gritted teeth and heard from far away how Logan picked up the phone. It didn't take long and he could feel how furry hands touched him, but his mind was too dazed with pain that he could react to it.

"I can't raise the dosage without him turning into a zombie," Hank mumbled and went through his notes with a shake of his head. "I don't understand why he reacts that strongly. He shouldn't have such strong withdrawals at all…" Looking up, he gave Scott a thoughtful look before he turned to Logan. "Could you do me a favor and heat some chicken soup and get some water? He needs nutrition and liquids."

"Sure…," Logan shrugged and left, knowing full well why Hank wanted him to leave.

"Okay…," the furry mutant said and gave his patient a stern look. "And now we have a serious talk. I know Logan must have told you what happened to you and I want to know now."

Scott shook his head while he kept his eyes closed.

"Scott, I need you to tell me what happened to you," Hank insisted and moved closer to the bed. "You shouldn't react that strongly to the drugs. Not even after a higher dose. Moira analyzed your blood and figured out what your attackers mixed into it. It was actually two additional drugs. One that had a delaying effect. That was the reason why your body shut down minutes after they must have given you the drugs. The second one caused your heart failure in combination with the heroin," he explained and still looked at Scott. "But all of them together are not the reason why someone like you would react that strongly with withdrawal symptoms. Care to tell me what has happened?"

"No," Scott grunted and began to hug himself more tightly. The pain was becoming unbearable for him to endure by now. "Bucket…"

Hank had the bucket hardly in his hands as Scott already began to throw up violently. "Do you intend me to tell the truth or do you want me to guess?"

"I wouldn't even care if you thought that Logan and I did and it got to rough…," Scott spat and fought against the urge to throw up again.

"I know that it is the pain you're in which makes you talk this way," Hank said a bit sourly and scrutinized him. "Scott, we practically grew up together and you're like a brother to me… So why don't you trust me?!" he asked, sounding almost desperate, saw how his friend shook his head with a tensed looking face. "Scott…"

"No!"

"Why not?! What happened to you that Charles, Logan and you make such a secret out of it?!" Hank said and shook his head. "Do you think we would think any less of you, if we got to know about it?!"

"I won't…tell you!" Scott sobbed through gritted teeth and clenched his fists. "I need stronger meds…"

"I can't give you stronger meds as long as you are on PEP medication," Hank replied and checked on the different IVs. "And you need to eat and drink, Scott. You'll feel better if you do, trust me," he added. He wondered where Logan was and guessed that his friend wanted to give him enough time to talk some sense into Scott. As a doctor he had of course a guess why his patient was reacting that strongly, but either he was too credulous or too blind to admit it. He just couldn't imagine it… "Where you a drug addict sometime in your life?" Hank finally asked and was sure that Scott had tensed up a bit. "Because that's the only explanation why the trigger substance that was worked into the drug affects you. If it was the first time with drugs for you…," he went on and was cut off by an enraged Scott.

"Yes, fine! I was a drug addict and a whore for years, Hank! Give yourself a pat on the shoulder for finding out!" he barked and panted even heavier.

"Hey, if ya wanna kill each other then why did ya send me t'get soup?" Logan suddenly grunted and neither man had heard him coming. The feral walked over to the bed and placed the tray onto the bedside table. He looked to and fro between both men, saw Scott glaring at the tray, while Hank looked rather expressionless. He sighed. He had seen it coming…

"You could have told us, you know?" Hank said calmly and gave his friend a sympathizing look. "We wouldn't have thought any less of you or treated you differently, Scott. We're family and you know that." Reaching out, he gave Scott a gentle squeeze and sat down on the second chair, knew that Logan was still observing the whole situation critically. In the end the feral mirrored his move and sat down on his stool once more.

"I can't go through this again, Hank…," they heard Scott mumbling into his pillow, noticed the desperate undertone in his voice. Logan smelled the tears before they became even visible.

"You can!" Hank assured him. "You're on PEP for four weeks. It's only a precaution, Scott! It doesn't mean that you're infected. And you don't have to go through a whole withdrawal. You're not addicted to heroin."

"I feel like being addicted!" Scott cried. "I feel like needing the drugs…"

"It's the trigger they've worked into it. You don't need them!"

"You don't know how I react in such a situation, Hank," he said through gritted teeth and still tried to control his tremors.

"We'll manage," the furry mutant assured him and looked briefly up to meet Logan's gaze, wondered what the feral was thinking. "You'll be fine. I promise."

"And if ya get too annoyin' I can still knock ya out," Logan shrugged nonchalantly. "'n now eat the soup I made while riskin' my life!"

"Why is that?" Scott asked weakly.

"Some idiot put the pot at the edge of the cupboard," the feral growled and could still feel the bump on his head where the pot had hit him.

"Eat it, Scott. At least a bit," Hank said and helped his patient to sit up a bit, while Logan took the cup and the spoon. "I can do it too," he offered after figuring out what his opposite was about to do, but Logan only gave him a look.

"I practically kissed him while performing CPR on him, Furball, so I think can feed him too!"

"Fine, go ahead," Hank said and sat back down while holding both hands up. He watched the two mutants for a moment, tried to think about anything that he could say in order to take at least a bit of Scott's fear away. "You know that we're always here for you. No matter what the outcome you're one of us and we're family."

"I know…," Scott nodded and fought against the urge to throw up the bit he had already managed to eat….

* * *

It was one of the rare times that he didn't have a nightmare. It was rather a dream or memory of his past, the years he had grown up in that Japanese village, the experiences he had made, his "parents", those villagers that had treated him like an outcast because of his mixed heritage and the constant teasing he had had to endure because of it… Suddenly, he remembered how one of those village boys had made fun out of him because to them he was neither Japanese, nor whatever else ran in his blood, to them he was only the mongrel that had no real place any where in this world, especially not within that village. And he remembered too well how that particular boy had paid for it. He was still surprised that he neither felt regret nor bad about killing the boy when he himself had hardly been 10, maybe 12 years old…

Picking up on changes in his surroundings, Daken woke up with a start just to find a grinning Sabretooth standing next to old cot he had to sleep on. "What…," he began, angry about not having picked up on the danger, and was about to lash out, as the taller mutant already grabbed him easily and pressed him face down onto the stony ground.

"Ah, I doubt that," Sabretooth chuckled and pinned the mutant with his whole bulk to the floor.

"Get off me!" Daken snarled but tried to control his inner beast. His master had taught him how to keep the animal locked up and he had never lost it before. He knew the feral wanted him to do exactly that: lose control. But he wouldn't give him the satisfaction. He knew how his master would punish him for showing weakness…

"Ya still dunno where yer place is, eh?" Sabretooth growled back and buried his sharp nails into his victim's arm until he drew blood. "Ya worthless piece of shit! Yer a nothin', ya hear me?" Waiting for a reply, he grinned and clenched his hand on the man's wrist until he heard the _crack_ he was waiting for. He knew there wouldn't be one no matter what kind of insults he would throw at the man or how many bones he would crush. "How 'bout bein' nice t'yer uncle, huh? I haven't heard ya screamin' in a while."

"Fuck you!" Daken growled and glared back at him as good as he could.

Sabretooth chuckled. "I see ya got my point, _mongrel_," he said with as much mockery in his voice as possible and twisted the broken wrist, which was healing under his hands, sharply. When Daken let out a brief whimper out of surprise the taller mutant grinned and showed his canines. "Coz I intend t'do exactly that."

About to get to work Sabretooth was grabbed all of a sudden and slammed into the opposite wall. First enraged about the interruption, he began to whimper as soon as he realized who was the cause of it. Still whimpering, he tried to protect himself in the corner.

"I told ya t'stay away from him!" Romulus barked furiously and he grabbed the feral once more to throw him through the door, which burst due to the impact.

Having watched the scene, Daken was about to look up as a fist connected with his jaw and broke it with one blow only. He still saw stars as he was pulled up by his neck and thrown back onto the cot. "So I raised ya t'be the same fuckin' weaklin' as yer father?!" Romulus asked and focused his rage now onto the still dazed mutant. "Is that how ya thank me? All the energy and years I spent on ya?" Due to his need to heave deep breaths, his sharp canines became visible. When he realized that he was not sticking to the shadows anymore, he quickly retreated to them. "Ya should better show me the same loyalty ya did in the past, Daken!" he warned him with a low growl and watched how the mutant still fought against the upcoming blackness. "Only with my help ya can get close enough t'yer father. Only I know how ya can beat him'n ya need t'beat him in order t'be free from yer heritage. As long as he's still alive yer nothin' more than a worthless copy of him and the world doesn't need copies," he spat and noticed that Sabretooth had twisted Daken's wrist hard enough to cause a compound fracture. Growling, he went over and, without caring if it was painful or not, pulled on the hand until the bone was set. He saw that the mutant had lost consciousness and left him the way he was to go looking for Sabretooth. He found him in another room and made sure he stack to the shadows this time. "Cut out that whimperin'!"

"That's exactly what I told him but he never listens to me, you know?" Deadpool complained and went on cleaning his already clean guns and knives. "If he was meowing, it would be fine. But nooooo! He has to whimper! Whimpering hurts my ears. They are very sensitive and…" He shut up when a loud roar echoed through the room. "THAT hurt them too! What's with you people and all that roaring, growling, snarling, grunting?! You almost sound like Wolvereen." Deadpool stopped, cocked an eyebrow and scratched the back of his masked head. "No, no, no, no, no! That was wrong. It's with an 'I', you idiot," he scolded the voice in his head aloud. "So it's Wolverein. You got it? W-O-L-V-E-R-E-I-N. Not Wolvereen. Stupid jerk!" Noticing the silence, he looked around. "What?"

"It actually is W-O-L-V-E-R-I-N-E, but never mind!" Wildchild corrected him without looking up from staring at the five tanks with equally looking boys inside. "What's Sinister doing with them?! How many stupid clones does he still need?"

"Shut up!" Romulus growled and his eyes that were glowing in the dark switched to Sabretooth, who backed off whimpering. "Ya'n him," he said with a nod at Deadpool, "will do somethin' fer me. 'n don't ya dare t'screw up again!" he warned.

"Fighty time?!" Deadpool asked excited, jumped up and clapped his hands. "I'm in! Who am I supposed to kill?!"

"No one."

"Okay, fine. I'll think I'll use my knife here, it's so shiny," the merch replied happily and froze. "Hold on! No…killing?!"

"No, ya gonna get somethin' fer me," Romulus grunted and his eyes narrowed. "'n I need it alive'n unharmed. Screw up'n I'm gonna make ya watch yerself die!" Having said this, he got a picture out of his pocket and threw it at Deadpool, who caught it. "Make sure no one sees ya!" he added before he left the room.

**Personally, I think this chapter sucks. I started to write it right after I updated my last chapter. I planned for it to be completely different again and yet again it didn't work out. BUT I know and I can promise that the next chapter will have a shocking cliffhanger! Feel free to speculate about what it is. ; )**

**Thanks to all reviewers and I'm terribly sorry for not replying sooner to those, who I can reply to. Unfortunately, I have no means to write back to them that are not members here. But be assured that I'm grateful and always happy to get feedback from you. ; )**

**The chapter was supposed to end with Scott and the soup, but right now while typing this here I have another idea for an ending, so I'll add it quickly. LOL I really hope that Marvel doesn't have the same idea for who exactly is Romulus as I do. The idea of who he is, of his connection to Logan and his role in Logan's past and present came to my mind the first time I read about Romulus in the comics. Those of you that are familiar with Wolverine Origins know what Marvel is currently doing with him and Daken. I plan it (hopefully) to end in a different way than they do.**

**Please let me know what you think. Suggestions are always welcome. ; ) See ya!**


	45. Chapter 42

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

**This here is a happy/funny chapter. And you know me. ; ) Happy/Funny stuff always leads to disaster. Just a thought… lol**

**It's funny that Hugh Jackman admitted that he slept naked until his daughter was born and now he wears briefs at night. Sounds familiar, don't you think? ; )**

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**Jeff, Logan's gay fan, is mentioned here again. I think the first time I mentioned him was in chapter 9 of sequel 2 during the coffee-talk between Jean and the girls.**

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**And I'm sooooo excited!! Hugh will be in Berlin on Dec 12 and I'm going there on that day. So wish me luck that I'll see him. I'll put pictures online in case I manage to make some of him. : )**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 42**

"Ya wanna do what?!" Logan asked and held onto the kitchen isle before he would have dropped from his stool.

"You've heard me the first time, right?" Jean sighed, since it was the second time he had asked it and emptied her cup. He didn't know that she tried hard to hide her smile and enjoyed seeing him suffering. She had sworn revenge and now it was her turn to have fun.

"And again…," he already began and leant forward a bit, his eyes still widened and his jaw dropped noticeably. "Ya wanna do _what_?!"

"Logan…."

"Yer kiddin', right?" he asked and still stared at her in shock.

"Gods…," Jean cursed and turned to look at him. "What's your problem?!"

"Three words!" he said. "Five kids, Jean!"

"Logan…, don't go on my nerves, okay? We'll go shopping with the children at exactly 9:30 a.m., if you like it or not!" she insisted and went on eating her breakfast whereas he stared at her from aside and still had trouble to digest the news. "Jamie turns 2 soon, we need to prepare this and the children need new clothes."

"Their clothes are fine!" Logan grunted and ignored that the others enjoyed the show they gave them. "Ya can't go shoppin' with all of'em!"

"Why not?!" she groaned and stopped eating to look at him.

"5 kids, Jean!" he replied matter of factly.

"So?" she shrugged and he rolled his eyes.

"Lemme try again, 'kay?" he said ironically. "_Five_ kids, Jean!"

"And once more my answer is so what, Logan?!"

"F-I-V-E kids!"

She shrugged. "So? What's your point?"

"What my point is?!" he asked as if she was nuts. "Ya can't go shoppin' with all five of'em at the same time. It'll be hell on earth, we'll argue, the kids will start t'annoy us, one of'em wants t'go into that shop, the others don't, one of'em wants t'eat at Mc D's, the others at Pizza Hut…"

"I'm not listening!" Jean mumbled and went on eating.

"Yer nuts! Seriously! Have ya ever gone food shoppin' with'em?!" Logan asked and thought about every possible way to get out of this situation. From the moment he had woken up he'd known the day would be a very bad one. He didn't want to go shopping. He hated the mall and all the people in it, he hated to look for new clothes, since he considered his as fine. He hated waiting for her and go back and forth between getting new clothes and bring them to the changing cubicle, so that she could have her fun. He hated shopping, and shoes, and handbags, and finding the right clothes for that handbag, and finding the fitting jacket for the shoes and the handbag, and… Someone like him didn't need new clothes every now and then, he was able to get along with two shirts and two pair of jeans just fine. He already had more than he used…

"You could need some new clothes too, Logan," Jean said. Of course she had picked up on his thoughts and had only said it to annoy him further. He would suffer for throwing her into the pool fully clothed. She had vowed on it…

"My clothes are fine!" he snapped.

"I need new clothes too," she went on, smiling inside.

"Yers are fine too," came his reply immediately. "Ya can't seriously want t'go shoppin' with all five of'em?!"

"I do!"

"Then go shoppin' with the twins and Jamie today'n go with Laura and Ray tomorrow!" he suggested and she knew she had him exactly where she wanted him to have.

Of course she had to shatter his hopes with a simple word: "No!"

"No?!" he asked and she nodded.

"We'll GO shopping with all five of our children at 9:30! End of discussion!" Jean said, got up and left the room, leaving Logan behind to stare at the door in shock. He knew that was the end, he was trapped, there was no way out and he'd go straight to hell…

"God no…," he cursed and buried his face in his hands.

"Well, my boy… Have fun!" Hank said and tried to stay serious. In the end a chuckle escaped his lips. The look on his friend's face was worth risking to be gutted by a furious Wolverine. "If it helps you, my friend, I'll show sympathy for the next…five to six hours."

"She's nuts!" Logan said and shook his head. "She's out of her mind!"

"Logan, it's just shopping," Ororo tried to soothe him. "Your children are not little monsters and you know they listen to you."

For that stupid comment she received a deadly look. "Have ya ever been food shoppin' with just three of'em?!" he growled and she shook her head. "Ya don't know shit, 'Ro! It's hell!"

"Sounds like fun," John chuckled and earned a glare from his brother.

"My claws rippin' through ya's fun too!" he growled.

He was about to add something as Laura could be heard shouting for him to hurry up. "Mommy said 9:30'n before it ain't 9:30 I won't move from my stool!" he growled and glared at the door while sipping on his juice.

"Daddy, come on!" Jack shouted next and appeared in the room. "Hurry up!"

"9:30!" Logan grunted once more and remained where he was. If his wife had decided to start a war, he would fight back with everything he still got.

"I hate to disappoint you, Logan," Bobby said with a nod at something behind him, "but it actually is 9:30 already…"

"What?!" the feral said and turned his head just to groan. "You've gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me…"

"Would you finally get going?!" Jean asked after reappearing in the door, now wearing a tight black top and blue jeans. "The children are waiting!"

Growling and muttering curses under his breath, Logan got up and followed her reluctantly. His day had just gotten worse… He'd woken up in hell…and the devil looked like his wife…

"You can clearly see who wears the pants in their relationship, huh?" Bobby laughed aloud and started when a clearly pissed Logan barked _"I heard that!"_ from somewhere down the corridor.

"Great… I'm a widow before I actually got hitched," Jubilee sulked and earned questioning looks from Peter and her fiancé. "You don't really believe that you'll survive the day after saying this about Wolvie, do you? If so, then you're dumber than I thought!"

* * *

"Hey…," Raven said and leant forward a bit when Scott turned his head into her direction.

"Hey yourself…," he mumbled drowsily and noticed for the first time that she was holding his hand. "Where's Alex…?"

"With your brother. He watched him while I stayed here."

"You spent the night here?!" he asked shocked and sat up a bit with great effort. "I told you I don't want you to sleep in a chair in your condition."

Raven waved off. "I came down after breakfast. Hank and Charles watched over you tonight."

Scott nodded and hissed when his movement was too quick and his ribs began to hurt again.

"Are you alright?" she asked worriedly and got up, ready to call for help if necessary.

"Yeah…," he nodded and eased his grip on her hand again. "How's the baby?"

Automatically, Raven looked at her stomach and pressed one hand against it. "Good, I think… I'm just tired most of the time."

"That's why I don't want you to sit in that chair all the time," he replied and watched how she sat down on the edge of his bed.

"How are you doing?" Raven asked worriedly and reached out to stroke through his hair. "At least your fever is gone…"

"I'm glad that this hellish week's over…"

"So you don't feel the need to take drugs anymore?" she asked, remembering how bad he'd been in the past week.

"I'm still thinking about it," Scott said honestly and hated himself for those thoughts. "But I don't feel like needing them anymore. I mean… I know that I don't need them, you know? It's just the head telling me otherwise…"

"That's good." She nodded and occupied herself with stroking over his hand.

He could tell how awkward the whole situation was for her. In the end, it had been him who had been an asshole due to the withdrawal he'd gone through. "Look, I'm sorry for the things I said…"

"It's okay. I know that wasn't you talking," Raven said, but still looked at his hand. "You warned us that you'd react that way."

"No, it's not okay," Scott disagreed with a heavy sigh. "If Logan and Hank hadn't held me back from breaking the cabinet open, I'd have hurt you… I know that. And I'm sorry…"

"Scott, I know that wasn't you, okay?" She looked up to meet his gaze. At least she believed that he was looking at her through his glasses. "You weren't yourself and suffering from the pains of withdrawal. You said you'd react that way… I'm not mad at you!"

"But you should be… ," he mumbled and stared at the blanket. "Did anything happen?" he asked her after a long silence and she nodded. "What?"

"Jean forced Logan to go shopping with her and the children."

After failing at suppressing a laugh, Scott held his side and tried to ease the pain. "What did he do to deserve that?"

"I don't know. He threw her into the pool fully clothed and she'd sworn revenge. So I guess that's it." Raven shrugged.

"God, I'd loved to see that…"

"Him throwing her into the pool?!"

"No!" he said and shook his head, thinking that it should have been obvious he wasn't referring to that part. "Jean forcing him to go shopping. Are they already back?"

"No, it's still early."

"I bet the first thing Logan will do is drinking at least three beers." Scott grinned weakly and leant back against the pillows, encouraged to pull her hand closer and onto his chest. "Anything else?"

Thinking, Raven watched how it was now him that stroked over her hand. "Charles said that we're getting an addition to the team today. Someone from Canada…"

"Really? Who?" he asked and had his brows furrowed. "And why?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. He received a phone call after breakfast…"

When she yawned he patted her arm. "Go back upstairs and try to sleep."

Instead she pulled the blanket aside and slipped under it with him. "I'd rather stay here…," Raven mumbled into his shirt and rested her head on his chest, while her arm was lightly wrapped around his waist. "Is that okay for you?" she asked since he'd tensed up.

"Yeah…"

"I don't make you think about the attack, right? If so, then…"

"No… It's okay," Scott waved off and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I just don't like being touched in general lately. It has nothing to do with you. I know it's you, so it's fine…"

"Okay…," she said and yawned again before getting comfortable on his chest once more.

* * *

"Oh, what a cute little boy!"

Logan's eyes narrowed. If he heard that sentence one more time, he'd go onto a killing rampage… They were in this damn mall for one hour already, he gave Jamie a piggy back ride and no, it wasn't enough that his youngest constantly raked up his hair or left drool on it, no, every second woman had to say the same sentence. Everyone thought of his boy as pretty or cute, but did anyone of them have mercy with him? No! And from the corner of his eyes he could see that his devil woman already began to drag Lily and Ray into the direction of another shop, while Laura and Jack reluctantly followed. He wished he had never gotten up at all today… Well, at least the two women behind him just commented on how good his butt looked in those jeans. At least one thing he could enjoy today.

"Daddy? You still wanted to buy me a new shirt," Jack said and waited for him to take his hand. "Mommy ruined mine."

"I know…," Logan sighed and looked around the store. Lots of people, lots of noise and scents… Result: He hated it. "Jean?"

"What?" she asked and looked at a shirt first, then at him.

"I'll go with'em to the boys' section," he announced with a nod into said direction. "That woman's perfume's drivin' me nuts," he added with a grunt and had barely turned around when someone protested.

"I wanna go with you, daddy!" Lily pouted and he cocked an eyebrow at her, just to see how Laura nodded.

"Mommy will pick skirts for us again and we hate skirts!"

"You won't find anything in the boys' section, sweetheart," Jean replied.

"But we don't wanna wear skirts, mommy!" Laura complained and crossed her arms in a very Wolverine-like manner, so that the redhead began to wonder if a gesture like that could be passed on through genes.

"Then you don't have to."

"Anyway, I'm off…," Logan grunted and took Jack's hand again to take him over to the boys' section of the store. "What kinda shirt do ya wanna have?" he asked and pulled Jamie off his shoulders and into his arms.

"No, daddy!" the boy whined and tried to get back up there.

"Hold on a sec, 'kay?" Logan grunted and helped Jack to go through all the shirts they had, then through the jeans and looked over to Jean and the girls from time to time. With Jamie on his arm he waited for Jack to try the clothes on and watched how his youngest looked around in awe of all the colors and light and people. He only waited for him to start crying because all the noises and scents were too much for the little boy, but to his surprise it didn't happen. "What are ya lookin' at, huh?" he asked when Jamie stared into one direction only for quiet a while and rolled his eyes. "Television…," he groaned and shook his head. "That's the reason why yer not allowed t'watch it…"

"Terrible, isn't it?" a woman next to him asked and he cocked an eyebrow at her. "I can hardly keep my son away from it. If it's not the TV, it's his Xbox…"

"Well…ya need a telly for an Xbox, ya know?" Logan grunted and rolled his eyes.

"Yes, but he still spends too much time in front of it!" she complained and tucked on her hair nervously.

"Yer his mom, ain't ya?" he asked and gave her an annoyed look. "Then yer the one t'make the rules. Not yer kid."

She snorted. "You can't tell me that it's any different with your children, sir!"

Logan got up when Jack came out of the stall and nodded. "They ain't allowed t'watch telly for more than one hour a day'n two on the weekend'n they keep t'it," he grunted and placed Jamie back on his shoulders. "Done?"

"I wanna have this shirt," Jack said and held up a black one with a hood and some weird thing on it.

"What's that supposed t'be?" Logan asked and looked at the shirt more closely.

"I like it and you promised!" the boy pouted, which made his father sigh.

"Fine, whatever. What about the rest? Does it fit?" he asked and received a nod. "Good. Then let's find yer mom'n get outta here."

After they had paid for everything and were in the middle of dozens of people once more – much to his annoyance -, Logan gave Jamie a piggy back ride again and let his eyes wander around. There were really way too many people for his liking and he could often only shake his head about how many dragged their children around or how many couples were arguing over the most stupidest things, like if the lamps on their tree should be blue or yellow this year. It was August for Christ's sake! When he turned his head and saw how a blonde came closer and smiled at him, he automatically smiled back and his eyes traveled from her front to her backside.

"_If you weren't so occupied with staring at her ass, you'd have heard what I've said!"_

He startled and turned his head again just in time to see Jean glaring at him. "Huh?"

"Forget it!" she grumbled and aimed for another shop. "I said I need new clothes and that I want you to watch over the children while I look for some."

"Think ya can do it under two hours this time?" Logan asked and already began to look for the nearest bench in the shop, knowing that she was glaring at him again. Of course it was the same in this store and everyone stared at them. As he guessed either because of the children or because of him. Probably the latter… So while he sat down and occupied the children, the redhead began looking for some clothes and he knew it would be Christmas before that woman was done with it…

"Daddy, I'm bored!" Laura complained after five minutes only and he nodded.

"I know. Me too…," he said. He'd never understand why it took a woman so damn long to look for some stupid clothes…

"Can we play that word game, daddy?" Lily asked and he looked at her. "You know the one where you pick things or say sentences and we either have to find the French or Japanese word or reply in that language?"

Logan shrugged and put Jamie on his lap. He was about to begin as Jean waved him over from one of the changing cubicles. "Make sure he stays here. I'll be right back," he grunted and put his youngest on the bench before he trotted over to her. "What?"

"Stop pulling that face, okay?" Jean said annoyed and handed him two shirts. "Can you get them in a bigger size?" she asked and handed them two him.

Logan cocked an eyebrow. "Why do ya women always pick clothes knowin' full well that they won't fit?!" he asked. Yeah, he'd never ever understand them…

"I know that I'm fat, thank you very much, Logan!" she snapped and stared him down.

"Ya ain't fat!" he answered with a roll of his eyes.

"Oh really? It wasn't me who'd stared at _her _butt!"

Sighing, he left to get the shirts for her. At least he wasn't alone, as he figured, and there were more unhappy looking husbands and boyfriends that were sent back and forth like him. He'd bet women did it to either annoy the shit out of them or they really believed men loved to do it for them. They couldn't be more wrong… Annoyed he went through the shirts until he had found the right sizes and turned to go back, as something caught his attention, Smirking, Logan went over, picked the right size and went back to the changing cubicles.

"What took you so long?" Jean asked and took the clothes from him, but frowned next. "What is this?" she demanded to know and rolled her eyes as his smirk widened. "It's a corsage-like top, Logan."

"So? I like it!" he shrugged and crossed his arms.

"I can't wear something like that," she insisted and his head tilt announced that he didn't believe her at all. "I can't wear it in a school."

This made Logan chuckle. "'Ro wears stuff like that nearly all the time'n yer way sexier than her, darlin', so yeah! Ya can wear it'n ya will wear it." He pushed her into the cabin and closed the door. "Try it on'n lemme see." While he waited he watched the children from afar and heard that they were playing the game to keep themselves occupied. He smirked since Jamie was sitting on Rachel's lap and the girl fed him cookies. When he compared his children to others he really had won the jackpot…

"Logan, this is a no-go," he heard the redhead saying and sighed.

"Lemme see!"

"No!"

"C'mon, lemme see," he insisted and Jean finally opened the door a bit, her eyes giving him an annoyed look. "Step out, I can't see it," he said and pulled her out. Tilting his head, he looked at her front and nodded approvingly. "Turn around!" he demanded and she narrowed her eyes, but did so. "I like it!"

"It looks horrible on me…."

"The hell it does! Ya look gorgeous!"

"Don't get too excited," she said and rolled her eyes.

"Already am, darlin'," he replied and licked his lips. "I love it!"

"But I don't!" Jean replied and noticed the jealous look some women gave her, since their men were looking at her. It didn't help either that Phoenix enjoyed the attention and especially not the thoughts she picked up on. A look at him and it was more than obvious what Logan thought about the top. "Logan… This looks terrible!"

"Are ya kiddin' me?!" he asked her and crossed his arms. "That looks damn hot! Ya gonna buy it!"

"No!" she insisted and turned her head when a woman began to drag her partner out of the redhead's sight. "It makes me feel uncomfortable…"

"Well, my jeans at the moment too…," he mumbled and tilted his head when she gave a roll of her eyes.

"Can you think about something else?!"

"With ya wearin' that? No!" Logan said bluntly and smirked. "If the place wasn't so crowded'n the kids were at home…, I'd know what t'do…" He wobbled his head and eyebrows.

Jean sighed and shook her head at his dirty grin and thoughts. "Men…"

"Ya buy it, or I do'n that's final! I love it!" he insisted and smirked until she gave in.

"Fine… But I'll pick some clothes for you that _I _like!" Jean replied and he shrugged.

"Do what ya want, darlin'!" Having said this, he pushed her back into the cubicle and joined his children again. While he played the game with them and waited for Jean to fulfill her threat, his mind already began to picture what kind of clothes she'd come up with. As he guessed a suit, shirts he wouldn't even dream of wearing and some other weird stuff. He sighed and looked at Lily when she addressed him. He chuckled as she made fun of a man that was waiting for his wife on Japanese. "Don't be rude!"

"I wasn't rude!" she replied. "If I'd been rude, you wouldn't have laughed."

Her father nodded. "Touché…"

"Daddy, I'm hungry!" Jack complained.

"And I need to pee!" Rachel joined her brother.

"I'm hungry too…," Logan grunted and pulled Jamie on his lap.

"I need to pee too, daddy," Laura said and he sighed.

"Anyone else need t'go`?" he asked with a look at Lily, who nodded.

"Fine…" He got up and took the bags. _"Jean, the kids need t'pee. Be right back,"_ he informed her mentally and beckoned the children to follow him. "Ya gonna wait right here after yer done, got that?" Logan told them and nodded at the water spender. "I've t'change Jamie's diapers, so wait here'n don't run off!" He waited for them to disappear in the toilets, before he walked straight towards the baby change and growled. "Just my luck…," he grunted after reading the _Under construction. Please use the Ladys' room_ sign. He'd barely entered this one and placed his boy on the table as a woman spotted him.

"Excuse me?" she said, her eyes looking angry and he knew what she was thinking about him. One look in strangers' eyes was always enough for him to read their thoughts… "This is the ladys' room!"

"So?" he shrugged and went on with his work.

"_Ladys'_ room!" she insisted, her voice getting louder. "Men are not allowed in here!"

"Tell that the fucker who closed the other room. My son needs a new diaper!" he growled back and returned the glare he was given. "Mind yer own business!"

"I don't care what you have to do and what not, mister! Get out of this room or I call for security!"

Logan shrugged. "Do whatever ya want, I still have t'change my son's diaper. Get lost, scarescrow!"

"Then do that in the men's room!" she went on and watched him throwing the old diaper in the trash bin, before he dressed Jamie again. "I know men like you…"

"Yeah?" he growled and pulled his son back up, took the bags next and turned to look at her. "Well, then ya should know that I don't get a hard-on by lookin' at yer old, fat ass," he spat and left, still hearing her curses after he and the children had joined on the outside again.

"You cursed!" Lily had noticed and took his hand.

"'n ya will forget what I just said, got that?" Logan replied and stopped at the bench again, where Jean was already waiting with a whole bunch of clothes for him. "You've gotta be kiddin' me…," he said when she handed them over and gave him a gentle push to the changing cubicles.

"No, I'm not!" Smiling at him, while he rolled his eyes, she sat down on the bench and pulled Jamie on her lap. She gave him a kiss on his head and watched how Logan disappeared behind the curtain. "When daddy's done we go and get something to eat, okay?" She looked up when Logan beckoned her to come over and did so with Jamie on her arm. "What?"

"The jeans are fine, but…"

"No, this one is not," she disagreed with him and he looked down on himself with a cocked eyebrow.

"Why not?!" he asked and received a slap on his butt.

"It sits too lose here," Jean said and set off to get two other pair of jeans. "Try them on."

"Women…," Logan grunted with a shake of his head and disappeared again. "Better?!" he asked and rolled his eyes as she wanted him to turn around.

"Much better," she nodded.

"Good… Then back t'my question," Logan said and pointed at the black shirt. "What the hell is this?!"

"A plain black shirt…," Jean said and he nodded.

"I can see that. But what am I supposed t'do with it?!" he asked and cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Wearing it. I like it." The redhead nodded at something behind him. "What about the sweatshirt? Does it fit?"

"Yeah…," he grunted.

"Come on! You look good in shirts with a hood and it's gray!" Jean said. "Hurry up, the children are hungry!"

Logan huffed and closed the curtain again. At least she hadn't picked a suit or worse, so he should be happy…

After they had paid and were about to leave the shop he could already hear a well known voice. Jean, of course, picked up on the woman too and gave him a look. "What did you do this time?!" she asked.

"She started it!" he growled and began to glare at the woman, when she pointed her finger at him.

"That is him!" she said in her usual shrill voice and dragged a man with her.

"Oh, c'mon!" Logan groaned as he recognized the man next and began to ask himself what he had done to deserve this treatment today. First the shopping tour, then being forced to buy new clothes, then that woman and now…him. Of course that guy recognized him and his eyes got all shiny and happy. Yeah, that was just his luck…

"That is the guy, mister! He was in the bathroom for women!" the woman instantly said and dragged the man over to them.

"Logan…?" Jean asked and gave him a look that spoke volumes.

"I had t'go into it!" he snapped and narrowed his eyes when both enemies stopped in front of him.

"I want you to arrest him!" she demanded and crossed her arms.

"He's a salesman…," Logan grunted and cocked an eyebrow at him. "'n I wanna see him tryin' it…" Seeing how his children looked at all of them in confusion, he tilted his head and gave the man called Jeff a warning glare. "What now?!"

"Well… She said you went into the ladys' bathroom… Is that true?"

"Yeah, t'change my son's diapers coz the baby change was closed!"

"You didn't say that," Jeff said with a look at the enraged woman.

"He's a rude person, who had no business in the bathroom!" she snapped and Jeff sighed.

"The baby change is closed and I know that the changing table is in a corner, so he wasn't really _in_ the room."

"Are you protecting this rude animal now?!" she shrieked and didn't see how the redhead's eyes narrowed at the same time as Logan's.

"Excuse me? Who are you to call my husband an animal?" Jean demanded to know and the woman turned to look at her.

"He's a rude person!"

"The only rude person I can see here is you!" the redhead gave back and her opposite huffed. "And I suggest you get lost now!"

Logan cocked a surprised eyebrow at her and watched how the woman's nose rose as far up as possible in hope to be at least on eyelevel with the tall redhead. In the end, she turned and left, muttering curses under her breath.

"I'm sorry. Since the room is under construction we have such problems everyday," Jeff excused and smiled at Logan, who only nodded and suppressed a long roll of his eyes.

"Never mind…," Jean replied and smiled weakly.

"Do you need help in picking clothes?" Jeff asked and smiled at Logan hopefully.

Before this one could reply, Jean put a possessive hand on this one's chest and smiled. "No, we actually have everything we need, right, hon?"

"Definitely. Kids are hungry. See ya!" Logan grunted and dragged the children to the outside with him, leaving the man to sigh heavily.

"You are one lucky woman, you know that?" he said while his eyes watched the feral's behind intensely and the redhead nodded at him before she joined Logan in front of the store.

"Can we just…go'n grab somethin' t'eat?!" he whined with a pained expression. "Preferably somewhere without people around?"

"Daddy, look!" Jamie said before Jean could say something and the feral looked up to see what his son had spotted again. To his luck it was a man dressed up as Bob the Builder and the look his wife gave him made clear that he had to be a good daddy and walk over to the man in the stupid costume.

"I hate this day…," Logan grunted but obeyed.

* * *

"I think you will make yourself at home," Charles said and smiled at the young men next to him. He led him down the corridor towards the kitchen. "It's dinner time, so the school staff eats in the kitchen. The students that remain at the mansion during the holidays or breaks eat with us or in an additional room. During the term we eat together in the dining hall, which is also used as a party room on holidays like Christmas." He looked up and saw that the man looked around in curiosity. "You don't need to be nervous," the Professor smiled since he picked up on his feelings. "We are like one big family."

After they had reached the kitchen he went inside and instantly all heads turned into his direction. He noticed the curious looks his X-Men gave the newcomer and smiled at them. "This here is Jean-Paul Beaubier, also called Northstar. He's a former member of Alpha Flight and will stay with us from now on. I'm sure you will welcome him here," the Professor said and looked to and fro between them. "Peter, if you'd be so nice to show him to a free room after dinner?"

"Of course," the giant nodded and met the stranger's eyes.

"Hey!" Narya smiled and got up to hug her old teammate. "It's good to see you again."

"Good to see you too," Jean-Paul smiled and let go of her again.

"Why did you leave the team?"

He shrugged and his smile faded. "Needed a change of scenery…"

"Did something happen?!" Narya asked worried, but he waved off.

"You can sit over here," Ororo offered with a nod at an empty stool.

"Thanks," Jean-Paul said and dropped his back in the corridor before he joined them at the table. He could feel their eyes on them and really felt uncomfortable between all those strangers.

"How are James and the rest of the team?" Ororo asked him after a moment and handed him the vegetables.

"They are fine. Told me to greet you."

"Thanks. We should invite them for Christmas."

"Did the Professor give you the tour already?" Peter asked him next and received a shake of the head. "Good. I can do that later." He looked up when Ororo suddenly laughed aloud.

"Oh my God… What happened to you?!"

"Don't ask!" Jean said and put Jamie into the highchair.

"So much to seeking revenge, huh?" John smirked and chuckled when she glared at him. "It rather looks like he'd turned the tables."

"Give me food!" Jamie demanded and the redhead sighed.

"In a minute, baby," she said and stroked over his head. "And what do you say when you want to have something?"

"Peaaaaaase?"

"Cute, boy," Jean-Paul chuckled and noticed the look she gave him. "Jean-Paul."

"I'm Jean. Nice to meet you," she replied and shook his hand, watched how the rest of her children arrived and sat down on their stools. "Where's daddy?"

"Taking the bags upstairs," Jack said and began to fill his plate with the veggies.

"Did you buy a lot?" Hank asked with a look at Jean.

"Don't even ask!" she waved off and took the bowl from her son. "Thanks, baby."

"That much?" the furry mutant laughed.

"Let's say I don't want to know the total amount." She filled the plates of her children and her own before she turned to give the clock a look. "What's he doing that long?!"

"Next time ya make me carry that stuff, make sure the car's empty!" Logan growled and entered the kitchen, just to stop in surprise as blue eyes met his.

"Oh my God…," Jean-Paul gasped and got off the chair to hug him tightly. "They didn't tell me you lived here! So good to see you again!""

"What…are ya doin' here?!" Logan asked, confused that his old teammate suddenly sat in their kitchen.

Letting go of him, the dark haired man smiled weakly and shrugged. "Long story…"

Seeing from the corner of his eyes how Hank gave them an odd look after exchanging one with Ororo, Logan looked down and withdrew his hand from his opposite's one. He cleared his throat and buried his hands in his pockets. "Fair enough…," he shrugged. "So yer stayin' here now?"

"So it seems," Jean-Paul nodded and smiled at Logan once more before both man sat down on their stools.

"Daddy, can we watch the movie after dinner?" Lily asked while her father was occupied with filling his plate.

"Only if it ain't getting' too late," he replied and noticed her pout.

"But it's Friday, daddy!" her twin came to the rescue.

"And we'll get ready for bed before we're going to watch it!" Rachel added. "Promise!"

"Maybe!" Logan grunted.

"Mommy!" Laura whined and gave her her best puppy-dog eyes look. "We'll go straight to bed afterwards, promise!"

She sighed. "You heard what daddy said. Only if it's not going to be too late."

"But it's only 7:30!" Jack said.

"Yeah, and it'll be 8 when yer done eatin', 'n it'll be 9 when yer done getting' ready for bed," Logan said. "Watch it tomorrow."

"Pleaaaase!" Lily begged and pulled on his arm, which made the rest of the group giggle.

"The more ya goin' on my nerves, the more it's no!" From the corner of his eyes he saw how Jack bent into Jamie's direction and whispered something into the boy's ear.

"Peeeaaaaase, daddy!" Jamie said and the feral groaned.

"I don't wanna hear a word of ya at night 'n ya go straight t'bed after the movie!" Logan grunted and went on eating. "Got that?"

"Yeah," his children replied all at the same time and he nodded.

"Good!"

"All of them yours?" Jean-Paul asked impressed and whistled when Logan nodded. "They didn't tell me that either…"

"Where do the two of you know each other from?" Ororo asked and looked to and fro between them.

"Long story," Logan grunted and went on eating without looking at her.

"Care to share it?" Hank asked and noticed Jean-Paul's hurt look after the feral had said _No!_.

After dinner Peter and Ororo showed the Canadian around and explained everything that usually happened in the mansion, told him their routines and when things took place. "Well, that's pretty much it," Peter said when they reached the room they had picked for Jean-Paul.

"Really impressive…," this one said. "Did anyone ever got lost here?"

Ororo laughed. "Yes, once. It happened to me actually when I came here."

He smiled. "I can assure you, I'll be the next. I suck at memorizing things… It took me about two months with Alpha Flight HQ and this place here is way bigger."

"We're here to help you."

"Thanks!" he said.

"I'm sorry, but Kitty is probably waiting for me. We wanted to watch a movie," Peter excused himself. "Have a good night!"

"You too," Jean-Paul replied. "And thanks for the tour!"

Watching her teammate leaving, Ororo crossed her arms. "So… How come you know Logan?" she asked out of curiosity.

"Alpha Flight," he said and she nodded. "Me and my sister joined the team when he'd already been on it."

"Oh, okay." She nodded and looked at him for a moment. "Are you close friends? You seemed quiet happy to see him again."

He gave a brief chuckled and smiled. "Who wouldn't be?" he asked and she frowned. "He's damn hot."

Ororo blinked and stared at him in shock, asked herself if she had just heard right. "You…," she began and made a movement with her hand. "You're…"

"Gay?" Jean-Paul finished for her and crossed his arms with a cocky grin. "Yeah." He laughed as she seemed to have paled. "Got a problem with it?"

"No, no!" she quickly said and waved off. "I was just surprised." Unconsciously, she rubbed her arm. "So…you're into Logan?"

"Shame he's married…"

"Well, even if he wasn't," Ororo shrugged, "he's straight," she said and frowned for real at the strange smirk she received upon saying it. "Anyway… My room is five doors down the hall on the right. Just knock in case you get lost."

"I will. Thanks," Jean-Paul said and went into the room. As soon as the door was closed he sighed and leant against it. He looked around the unfamiliar room and let go of the door to walk over to the bed. He felt terrible and lonely… With a sigh he let himself fall backwards and stared at the ceiling.

* * *

"This looks gorgeous!" Ororo said and looked at the top from all sides. "I bet it looks good on you."

"That's what Logan said to me too…," Jean said with a roll of her eyes and put the empty bag on the ground to the others. "I think it's not my style."

"It looks great! Trust me!" her best friend assured him and turned her head when Logan entered the bedroom, a towel around his waist and another in his hand.

"See?" he said and wobbled his eyebrows at Jean.

"It doesn't…," the redhead replied and put the top to the rest of her new clothes.

"I think it does," Ororo said once more.

"See?!" Logan said and sat down on the bed.

"'Ro!" Jean cried playfully. "Stop feeding his ego, it's already big enough."

"Aww, come on," the weather goddess laughed. "That's what you love about him!"

"Yeah, but she won't admit," he sulked. "Instead she drags me around 'n enjoys t'see me sufferin'!" He caught the top before it would have hit him.

"Anyway, I like it!" Ororo said again. "Good night!"

"Night!" Jean said and closed the door behind her.

"I still think ya look hot in it!" Logan mumbled after a moment and watched how she put the clothes away and began to undress herself. "That's hot too…," he smirked and let the towels fall to the ground.

"Forget it, Logan…," she replied and put her clothes on a stool before she came over to the bed and began to comb through her long hair. Hearing his movement, she soon felt his hands brushing her hair aside and his lips on his neck. "Again… Forget it!"

"Why?"

"Because I told you it's no sex for you!" she said and turned to give him a look. "You threw me into the pool and that fully clothed!"

"'n ya made me suffer 'n that twice!" Logan shot back.

"And you stared at her ass!" Jean replied, still feeling jealous even more so when he just shrugged.

"I like yers more anyway." He wobbled his head and reached out to stroke down her spine. "C'mon, darlin'…"

She sighed when he pulled her around and on top of him, tried to suppress the shudder that ran through her body as he began to lick on her neck and to resist his touches and sweet murmurs. "You're one evil, manipulative bastard!"

Logan chuckled and rolled them over. "Busted!" he mumbled against her neck and caressed every spot of her that he could reach. When he began to kiss her he felt how her hands tried to pull him closer and smirked. "Sex with me's great, huh?" he teased and was about to kiss her as she turned them around with her powers and straddled him.

"Still it doesn't mean that you always have to be on top, hon," Jean smiled and brushed her hair back.

"Well, if ya wanna do the work…" He shrugged and crossed his arms behind his head. "Go ahead!"

"You wish!" she replied and pulled him into a sitting position with her powers, seeing the dirty smirk he gave her. She knew it had been exactly what he had wanted. In the end his senses gave him a head start, but she was the mind reader and he could be like an open book to her, depending on how much he let his guard down. Jean made use of the situation and surprised him this time…

* * *

Daken had his hands buried in the pockets of his leather pants as he walked down the corridor. He wondered where everyone was, since usually Sabretooth waited for him around every corner to mock him or to beat him up out of boredom, or to do worse, but today the corridors were silent. He could pick up on the growls of the Devils that were somewhere in the underground, heard how Wildchild snored aloud in a corner, while Sinister's tanks made the same bubbling noises. He stopped in front of one and looked at the boy in it, knew what he would look like as soon as he'd grown up…

"What are you doing in here?"

Daken turned just to face Sinister, who gave him his usual hatred and arrogant look through his red eyes. He hated that man… "I'm standing here…"

"Why were you looking at him?" the pale man demanded to know and crossed his arms.

"I was asking myself what you want with all of them," his opposite said, gave him a cold look and crossed his arms too. "How many more of them do you need anyway?"

"Well, if you weren't that useless…"

"Ouch… That hurt!" Daken mocked and rolled his eyes. "I'll go back into my corner and start crying…" He's barely turned around as Sinister grabbed his arm and pulled him close, his eyes blazing with anger.

"You shouldn't risk that big mouth of yours! You're a nothing, a waste of air and my clones of your father are of far more value than genetic trash like you," the man spat and pushed the mutant away. "And now get out of my rooms!"

Glaring at him, Daken turned and slammed the door shut behind him. "Son of a bitch!" he cursed and turned around a corner just to hear a movement in the dark behind him. "What?"

"I want ya t'do somethin'," Romulus grunted and stack to the shadows once more.

"And what?" Daken leant back against the wall, his arms crossed and looking at where he thought he was in the shadows.

"I want ya t'kill that woman'n that kid."

He watched how an envelop was thrown at him and retrieved it from the ground. The picture in it showed a woman with red hair, who held a baby with dark hair on her arm that was maybe two years old.

"Make sure t'kill everyone who might've seen ya. Ya can't be seen, understood?" Romulus growled.

Daken remained silent and still looked at the picture in his hand. He felt nothing, like always. He knew he would do what he was told to do without asking questions, he would kill them and everyone that would get into his way. He never asked why, he never questioned his actions or felt anything while taking lives. This time wasn't any different, but something in him told him that he should care... When he looked up again, he could tell that Romulus had already left. After he'd put the picture in his pocket, he went to his room to get his jacket and left.

* * *

"So…," Logan said and sat down next to Jean-Paul, who sat on the stairs of the terrace and looked at the garden, "why are ya really here?"

The man watched how the feral sat down next to him. "As I said…I needed a change of scenery…"

"All of a sudden…," Logan commented knowingly and looked at his former teammate for a long time. "What happened? Ya usually never go somewhere without yer sister…"

"She's dead…," Jean-Paul muttered and stared at the ground, being able to tell that the man stared at him.

"How…?" Logan asked shocked and had his brows furrowed.

"We ran into some mutant haters. I didn't see a guy coming after me with a knife and she stepped between him and me…" Jean-Paul heaved a deep breath and shrugged. "She died in my arms…"

"Shit…," Logan cursed and felt incredible angry. He knew how inseparable the twins had been, how one never was without the other. Now he understood why the man needed a change of scenery. "I'm sorry…," he added and gave him a pat on the shoulder.

"I just couldn't stand staying at the HQ anymore with everything reminding me of her. When I wanted to leave James suggested that I come here. He said it was safer…"

Nodding, Logan withdrew his hand. "Under the current situation… I doubt it's safe anywhere at the moment. But yer probably better off with us than on yer own."

Jean-Paul shrugged and turned to look at him. "So you settled down, huh?"

"Yeah…"

"And with kids," he said impressed. "I've never taken you for the fatherly type of guy…"

Logan chuckled. "Me neither…"

Jean-Paul shrugged and looked away again. "If it makes you happy…"

The feral sighed. "Look, I've told ya…," he began but the man next to him already waved off.

"I know… Told you before that I got it…"

"Yeah… 'n still ya givin' me those looks," Logan grunted and he let his eyes travel around the garden.

"Can't help it, "Jean-Paul replied. "You know how I feel about you…"

"And ya know the same, Paul!" The X-Man gave him a look and held the one he was given in return.

"You can't switch off feelings just like that, Logan. I'm sorry, but I'm a man with eyes and needs. And you know that you're not bad looking too!"

"Then get yerself a boyfriend…," Logan grunted and leant back against the banister, saw how the man shook his head.

"Easier said than done…," Jean-Paul mumbled and looked away, felt how hazel eyes stared at him.

"As if it was hard for ya t'find one…"

"You of all people should know how hard it is to find someone who wants something real, Logan," he reminded the X-Man, who nodded.

"Touché…"

"Daddy?"

Turning around both men saw how Jack stood in the backdoor and looked at them. "What is it, pumkin?" Logan asked.

"Would you play soccer with me? The others don't want to…," the boy said and held the ball close to his chest, hoped that his father wouldn't say no too.

"Sure," he said to Jack's surprise and returned the smile his son gave him. "Excuse me," Logan said to Jean-Paul and got up to follow the boy into the garden.

After a couple of time in which Jean-Paul had watched the two mutants in the garden, he was awoken from his daydream as someone suddenly sat next to him.

"Dreaming?" Narya asked smiling and he nodded. "Why are you really here? I know that something must have happened."

"Uncle John!" Jack suddenly barked and beckoned him to come over to them.

"He means you," the blonde smiled and giggled when the man behind her sighed heavily. "Come on, your nephew wants attention, baby."

"I suck in sports…," John grunted and handed her his iced tea before he jogged over to Logan and Jack.

"So that's your new guy, huh?" Jean-Paul asked and Narya nodded. He began to smirk since the blonde still stared at the backside of her boyfriend. "Stop drooling."

"Hm?" she asked and gave him a questioning look. "Did you say something?"

Laughing, he waved off but frowned next. "Did you say the boy is his nephew?!"

"Yes."

"Why?"

She smiled. "Because Jack is John's nephew," she said and he frowned. "John is Logan's older brother."

Staring at her, Jean-Paul gave the man that was now trying to free himself from Logan's grip, while Jack was sprinting towards the goal, which consisted of two branches that had been put into the ground. "Really?"

"Yes. He's 12 years older than Logan," Narya told him. "And not that feral…"

"Same powers?"

She nodded. "Claws and a healing factor. Plus he can turn himself into some kind of…ghost."

"Cool," Jean-Paul nodded.

"Go on drooling over Logan, John is mine!" Narya teased him and elbowed him gently.

"So… If his brother has claws too…"

"Logan's were bone claws before they were coated with adamantium. He didn't know about it first…," she concluded and he nodded.

"I'll stick with Logan," he announced teasingly. "Your guy is way too tall for my taste…"

She laughed. "What am I supposed to say? I have to kiss him."

"You girls always need it big, huh?"

"As if you men are any different!" she teased back and returned the smile she was given. Reaching out, Narya put a hand on his leg. "But now tell me. What happened that you left your home?" she asked and began to feel worried for her friend as his smile faded and he looked away. For a while Jean-Paul remained silent but then he began to tell her and she was shocked to hear what happened to her friend. "Jeanne-Marie is dead?" she stuttered with tears in her eyes and thought her heart would burst in her chest. "No…"

"I just…couldn't stand being there anymore…," he said barely audible and leant into her when she hugged him.

"God, I'm so sorry… I know how much you've loved her," she said and rocked him slowly. They remained like that for a moment before he let go of her and wiped his eyes. "It was good of you to come here. With Sinister out there no one is safe on his own…"

"Yeah… I come here to see the big bad Wolverine playing soccer and being childish…," Jean-Paul said to change the subject again and shook his head.

Narya smiled weakly. "Yes, Logan is like that around his children. He's really changed…" She saw how said man gave her a look from afar and waved, smiling embarrassed. "He's heard that…"

* * *

"Can we pick a good movie next time?" Bobby complained and rested his head in one hand. His eyes were fixed on the screen in sheer annoyance.

"It's a good movie!" Jubilee replied and stuck out her tongue at him. "You just have a bad taste!"

"Oh really?" he mocked and looked around the room. "As far as I can see all guys look bored!"

"Guys…," Scott sighed and sighed. "Please. Just watch the movie." He shifted when he tried to get comfortable again, his right hand pressed against his bandaged rips and he fought to keep his eyes open. The movie was bad, he had to admit that. But at the moment he couldn't care less about it…

"Yay for commercial break!" Bobby cheered and got up to use the bathroom.

"Jerk!" his fiancé cursed and crossed her arms.

"Sure you want to marry him?" Kitty teased her and, to emphasize it, hugged Peter firmly. "I was lucky, you know?"

"Oh, shut up!"

"Hey!" Logan grunted and stopped kissing Jean for a moment. "Cut it off!" Lazily he stroked through the redhead's hair and pulled her closer with the other arm. "Wanna go t'bed?"

"No…," she mumbled against his chest and wrapped her arm further around him.

"Yer half asleep, darlin'…," Logan said and kissed her forehead. "C'mon, let's go t'bed."

After making a protesting sound, since he had pulled her into a sitting position, Jean rubbed her eyes tiredly and looked at the screen. "Something happened in the city…," she noticed and turned up the volume with her powers a bit. As the others, she stared at the screen with a frown and hoped that it wasn't Sinister's doing.

"…_as the police has reported the bodies of 16 men were found in a house in that area, the body of an approximately 10 year old boy in another building close by…"_

Shocked, Scott sat up a bit straighter, the pain forgotten as his heart began to pound strongly in his chest. He turned his head to exchange a quick glance with Logan, whose face was tensed.

"_So far the body of the boy has been identified as the one of 10 year old Mike Winter, who had been reported missing two years ago. Fellow reporters told us that three stab wounds to the chest were the obvious cause of his death. We later learned that the 16 men were murdered by the same killer and on the same way…"_

Slowly, Jean turned towards Logan after noticing the blocks he had suddenly put up in his mind and she could also pick up on the stress Scott was in. A look at the Professor told her that something was definitely not right…

"…_so, Susan, it is true then that the man, who was found bound to a chair in additional room, was brutally tortured and then murdered on the same way as those men and the boy?"_

"_As far as I've been told, yes, but the latest news I received was that the man was known as the head of a child-prostitution ring and went under the name Aaron. I spoke to one of his victims only minutes ago and as far as it seems the whole murder seems like an act of revenge."_

Logan had begun to frown as Jean had paled drastically after the mentioning of Aaron's name.

"_Did anyone see the murderer, Susan?"_

"_So far there's no telling. The coroners first have to find out for how long those men have already been dead, but currently the police are working hard on finding as many victims of that ring as possible. From what I know so far this shady business had been going on for decades and up to know the police think that thousands of children, mostly young boys, have been forced into prostitution by this so called Aaron."_

Not hearing what else was said on television, Scott stared at the screen in shock and felt how his stomach began to make violent turns. He knew someone must have seen them, someone would remember them, if not some boy then at least the teen, who had offered his services to them… He didn't notice how his breathing came in short rasps or that Mystique was talking to him in a worried tone.

"Logan…," the Professor suddenly said, his face stern and tensed, "on a word, please!"

Not listening to him, the feral had turned to Jean, who was staring at the ground in shock, completely pale and not reacting to his touches. "Jean?" he said for the at least fifth time and turned her head to look at her. "What's wrong?!" he asked, not caring that the others gave him and Scott confused looks. "What's the matter, darlin'?"

"How did you find out his name?" she asked him in barely more than a whisper and tears began to form in her eyes. "How did you find out that it was him…?"

"What do ya mean?!" Logan asked in total confusion, had his brows furrowed.

"Aaron," Jean cried. "How did you figure out that it was him, who had picked me up on the streets?"

He leant back in shock, remembered what she had told him after they had accidentally run into her parents in Hershey Park years ago… "That was _him_?!" Logan asked, the shock fading and turning into rage. "He did this t'ya?"

"You murdered him, Logan, so you should know!" she replied, tears streaming down her face.

"You killed those men?!" Ororo asked and stared at the feral in shock.

"Who killed whom?" Bobby asked after entering the room with a big bowl of popcorn.

"The circumstances not regarding," Hank said and gave Logan an indefinable look, "I still can't believe what I just heard…"

"Why did you kill them?" Ororo asked. "And that boy? Did you kill him too?!"

"Yeah, I did," Logan said dryly and the room felt silent. They all, except for Mystique and Scott, stared at him in shock and couldn't believe what they had just heard. "'n I ain't sorry."

"Have you lost your mind, Logan?!" Kitty asked him, her eyes wide and her jaw dropped.

"If he was the fucker who did this t'ya," Logan said towards Jean and his eyes darkened, "then I ain't sorry 'n he deserved every bit of it!"

"How can you say that…?" she replied in a whisper and looked at him as if he was some kind of stranger.

"Coz I mean it!" he growled and glared at her.

When the discussion turned into a fight between all of them, Mystique still looked at Scott, who had his face buried in his hands and was in his own world. It wasn't before Logan was arguing back that he looked up and realized what was going on. The others believed the feral had been sent on some black-ops and had murdered in cold blood, but he knew better. "Stop!" he shouted after two fruitless attempts and instantly regretted it. The pain that shot through his bones nearly made him topple over.

"Careful!" Raven said and supported him.

"It wasn't a black op," he told the group through gritted teeth and held his stomach.

"He killed them, Scott!" Ororo said aloud. "Logan murdered 17 people!"

"No, he didn't. At least not in the way you think he did," Scott replied and heaved deep breaths in hope to be able to ease the pain. "He saved my life…"

"What?!" Jubilee asked, now in complete confusion.

"If you want us to believe that you got mugged by 16 men and a little boy…," Kitty said, but broke off when she noticed the pained look on his face and wondered why Raven reached out to take his hand.

"I…wasn't mugged," he said calmly and stared at the ground.

"Slim,…don't!" Logan said, realizing what the man was about to do.

"No, Logan…," Scott said and shook his head. "I won't let them accuse you of cold blooded murder. I've been lying and hiding my whole life. It's enough…"

Shaking his head, Logan crossed his arms and looked away.

"I don't understand anything here," Ororo said. "You say Logan saved you, he said you were mugged, you say you weren't… What's true?!"

"Charles sent us to bring that boy to the school. When Logan found him he was already dying from a drug overdose. So you see, he didn't kill him without a reason. He just ended his suffering," Scott explained.

"And the 16 men?" Moira asked. "According to the news one of them was tortured! And he murdered them!"

"He did it to safe my life," he replied without looking at anyone of them. His heart was racing, his voice and body shaking in fear and it was too much of an effort for him to think about what to say and how to explain it…

"Doesn't make any sense…," Ororo said and shook her head. "What justifies Logan's doing here?"

"I worked for Aaron, 'Ro…," Scott finally admitted and heard the shocked gasps, felt the stares but didn't see that Jean's head jerked up. "He turned me into a drug addict to make sure I depended on him and I prostituted myself to get enough money for the drugs. That was the way he did it. He or one of his men must have seen us and recognized me. They attacked me and when I woke up I was blindfolded and tied up in a room… Aaron demanded from me to pay my debts and he threatened that he would go after Alex, if I didn't do what he wanted… If Logan hadn't shown up, they would have killed me." He refused to look at anyone of them after having said it and felt terribly cold from the inside. Shame, embarrassment and hate ran through him at the same time.

"Goddess…," Ororo muttered and shook her head, unsure of what to think or say. She looked up when the redhead suddenly sobbed. "Jean?"

Watching her, Scott's eyes suddenly grew wide as he figured why the woman was crying into Logan's neck. "You've worked for him too?!" he asked, shocked. "Why did you never tell me?!"

"You said you hated such women!" she cried and gave him an accusing look. "And you never told me either!"

"I said it because I hated myself for letting it come so far. I was afraid that you might notice something," he replied and buried his face in his hands with a shake of his head. He couldn't believe all of this… "God, Jean…," he sighed.

"Has anyone seen you?" the Professor asked after a long moment of silence, his question directed at Logan.

"A teen had offered himself t'us 'n another one has seen me in that building with the boy in it," this one grunted and still held Jean close.

"Are you sure no one else has seen you?"

"I don't know, Chuck! When ya told me that Slim needs help I went lookin' for him 'n those goons attacked me as soon as I'd stepped into that buildin'."

Charles sighed. "Do you remember the faces?" Logan nodded. "Then open your mind for me, please," he said and concentrated on it until he had what he was looking for. "Thank you."

"What are you up to?" Scott asked tiredly, cringing as his stomach still hurt.

"I will try to find them and erase it from their memories," the Professor replied and began to wheel out of the room. "We can't afford the police coming here and arresting you."

"It was self-defense!" Jubilee said. "They can't arrest them for that."

"Explain 17 dead bodies with self-defense, kid," Logan grunted, his eyes dark as ever and the more feral side of him wanting to protect his devastated mate. As if her wasn't enough, Lily stormed crying into the room next.

"Jack's gone!"

"What?" Jean asked and wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.

"What do ya mean 'gone'?" Logan asked and got up.

"He…he wanted to get a glass of milk and now he's gone, daddy," the girl cried and ran over to him to hug him.

"He can't be gone," he tried to soothe her and handed her over to Jean before he left to look for his son.

"He's probably strolling around," the redhead tried to soothe her daughter and pulled her close.

"Why were you crying, mommy?" the girl asked but Jean waved off.

"Not important, baby." Pulling her close, she began to rock her gently and looked up as Ororo got up to sit down next to Scott for a hug.

"You could have told us," the weather goddess mumbled into his neck and stroked through his hair. "I'm so sorry you had to go through all of this…" She let go of him just to see how Logan returned, his face sheer panic.

"He ain't here!" the feral announced and Jean's eyes grew wide.

"He can't be gone," John said and got up too.

"I pick up on his scent, but not on him. He ain't here!" Logan repeated and gave the redhead a look.

After a moment she returned it with the same fear and panic in her eyes. "I can't pick up on him either…," she whispered and her heart changed its rhythm.

* * *

Daken looked up at the door was opened and Deadpool made his dramatic entrance. "Guess what!"

"What?" Daken asked annoyed and felt how Romulus shifted in the shadows behind him.

"We did it! Mission fulfilled, but no fighty-time," Deadpool said proudly and pointed at the man's chest. "Fighty-time would have sucked anyway because no one was really there, but hey,… Did I already say that we did it?"

Rolling his eyes, Daken slapped his opposite's hand away. "You're annoying as shit," he spat.

"Thanks!" Deadpool said proudly.

"Where's it?" Romulus growled excitedly and waited to see what he had wanted them to do.

"Here," Sabretooth growled and threw something that was wrapped into a dark blanket right in front of Daken.

"Did anyone see ya?"

"No, they were occupied." Coming closer, Sabretooth gave the bundle a kick and chuckled when it whimpered.

"You brought a dog?" Daken asked and crossed his arms while he looked at the thing in front of them. "Don't tell me you actually stole that wolf my old man has…?"

"No, this is waaaaay better!" Deadpool cheered and reached down to pull the blanket away. "We got him _this_!"

Daken watched how he shook the blanket and saw how something fell to the ground. As terrified and red from crying hazel eyes met his, his jaw slightly dropped and he stared at the scared boy in what others would consider as shock. "What…?" He turned to give the shadows behind him a look. "What do you want with him?!"

"What do ya think?" Romulus growled and watched how Jack tried to protect himself from Sabretooth. "I'm gonna send that boy back t'his father in lil' pieces…"

Turning around, Daken watched how the boy sought protection in a corner and tried to cover himself. "Why…?" he said more to himself than to the others.

On a sign, Sabretooth grabbed Jack, who was crying and whimpering heavily, roughly and threw him into a small cage that stood in the middle of the room. "I bet he tastes sweet…," the feral growled and licked his lips. "The young always does…"

"Hey, if ya eat him, he can't send him back in pieces, right?" Deadpool asked. "Except…" He tapped his mouth with his finger. "Do you intend to throw him up afterwards? Because…" He turned to the shadows. "Hey, if you wanted _that _little pieces, why not putting that kid into a shredder in the first place?!"

"Shut up!" Romulus roared, ignoring Jack's sobs and gave them a sign to leave.

"Me'n ya… We gonna have fun, runt!" Sabretooth said and chuckled darkly. "Bet mommy'n daddy are happy that yer gone, dwarf." Using one finger to poke the terrified boy, he growled in pleasure as his prey uttered a whimper. "I'll take my time with ya…," Sabretooth promised and left the room next, leaving Daken to stare at the cage thoughtfully.

In the end the man turned to leave too.

"Help me!" Jack begged him crying and the man turned to meet his brother's desperate gaze. His sobs became even louder as Daken just left and the door went shut behind him…

**Whew, that was typing. I typed about 20 pages today and now it's 6 a.m. in the morning. LOL I was quiet busy with college and wanted to finish the chapter before I have to type my essays for college. I hope you liked the chapter. Please leave a review after reading it and let me know what you think. I noticed that some author hardly get any reviews for their stories. Please keep in mind that typing is really work, especially long chapters. This here has 38 pages in word, so please take your time and review after reading. No matter of you like it or not. Reviewer 450 can wish for something again. Oh and the top I descried for Jean is actually a real one that Famke wore on a picture! I'll put a link up next time. Northstar will play an important role in the following chapters. Feel free to guess. ; ) I also want to thank all reviewers and I'll try to update soon. I'm so happy that I can finally work on the subplot that I have pre-written about half a year ago already. LOL See ya!!**


	46. Chapter 43

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

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**Here's the link to the top I promised. A friend of mine sent the pic to me months ago and I came up with the idea of Logan liking it:**

**http:(slashslash)i488(dot)photobucket(dot)com(slash)albums(slash)rr245(slash)Otasune(slash)top(dot)jpg**

**Since still doesn't allow links, you must insert the slashes and dots on your own. Sorry for that!!**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 43**

"He bit me!" Deadpool complained and rubbed his but with a gloved hand as he entered the room in which Sabretooth lay lazily on a couch, Daken was thumbing through a book and Wild Child once more occupied in staring at the tanks that stood in a corner.

"Bit ya?" Sabretooth asked uninterestedly and used a claw to clean the spots between his sharp teeth.

"Hell yeah! Right here!" The Merc pulled down his pants to give them a good view on the non-existent bitemark. "See? It hurts!"

From his desk Sinister sighed loudly and began to rub his temples.

"You've got a healin' factor, yer idiot. It can't hurt!" Sabretooth growled and watched how Deadpool pulled his pants up again to give him a surprised look through his mask.

"Right…," the man nodded and tapped crossed his arms, thinking. "Now that you're mentioning it…"

"You actually paid money for him?" Daken asked Sinister without looking up from the book in his hands.

"Well, I at least got _this_!" Deadpool said to him and held something right in front of the feral's eyes. This one cocked an eyebrow at the thing and let the book sink to his lap.

"A plush wolf…," Daken commented dryly and twitched his eyebrows in disbelief how stupid or crazy his opposite was. "Oh goody…!"

"Hey! It belongs to Wolfman junior, okay?!" Deadpool sulked and looked at the wolf from all sides. "Good catch, eh?" He chuckled.

"Perfect!" Daken nodded, smiling sarcastically and gave him a thumbs up. "Why didn't you steal a pacifier or diaper too? God, they must be so devastated now… You're so evil!"

"Thanks!" Deadpool said happily and dropped the wolf in the feral's lap, receiving a growl from the man. "Sooooo? What now?" he asked Sinister, who gave him an annoyed look. "This Rome-guy wants Wolfman Chop Suey, right? So, what will we use? Knives, chain saws, axes…?"

"Can I ask you something?" Sinister asked and leant back in his chair.

"Sure," his opposite shrugged and crossed his arms.

"When I pay 5000 extra…will that make you shut up for at least an hour?"

Deadpool turned as Sabretooth chuckled and watched how the feral got up. "Hey, where're you going? If there's fighty-time, I wanna take part in it!"

"Bein' a good uncle 'n checkin' on my nephew," Sabretooth grinned darkly and noticed how Daken looked up.

"Can't you leave the kid alone just for a second? He'll dehydrate as much as he's crying…"

"He's as good as dead anyway, so who cares about a lil torture?" He left the room and walked down a corridor to another door. The sobs and whimpers he heard made him smile. He loved to hear the fear of others and even more so to see it in their eyes. His hand reached out to open the door and instantly the whimpers became louder, the fear stronger. Sabretooth chuckled darkly and closed the door. "Hey, there fella…," he growled and approached the cage that he had put in the middle of the room to prevent the boy from feeling "safe" in a corner. Being in the middle meant threats from all sides and he loved to pace around the cage just to see his nephew being miserable. "Aw, what's the matter, dwarf?" he cooed and chuckled darkly as Jack covered his head with his arms and curled up. "Think doin' that will help ya?" he mocked and slammed his hand against the cage, which nearly toppled over, and smirked when Jack's sobs became stronger. "Think daddy'll come 'n safe ya? I bet he doesn't even miss such a weaklin' as ya."

Sabretooth began his pacing around the cage, knew that the boy was watching him and smelled the strong fear that the child radiated. He enjoyed it, every moment of it and his head began to picture what he could do to him, how he could make him and his father suffer the most… Grinning, Sabretooth opened the cage and pulled Jack roughly out of it, chuckled when the boy began to scream for help and pushed him into a corner. "How 'bout a lil game, huh?" he asked and cracked his knuckles. "If ya manage t'survive five minutes without the tiniest scratch, I'll let ya go…" Licking his canines, he laughed deep in his chest. "But a weaklin' like ya won't survive a minute anyway…"

"W…what do you want from me?" Jack sobbed and backed off against a wall.

"What I want?" Sabretooth asked and faked a step to scare the boy further. "What I wanna do with ya's completely different matter than what we're gonna do with ya." He chuckled as Jack tried to run past him and even more so when the boy started screaming in fear. "But lemme sum it up," he whispered into the child's ear and held him close. "We gotcha 'n now yer fucked!"

* * *

On the roof Logan turned into every direction and pushed his senses to their limit. In the kitchen had been a weak trace of oil, same went for the twin's bedroom, but he couldn't make anything out of it. He watched how his brother came out of the wood and shook his head, waited for a sign from him. Cursing under his breath, Logan jumped off the roof and landed in the garden. "Nothin'…," he grunted.

"I picked up on the oil in the woods, but the trace leads to nothing," John told him and followed him inside. They remained in silence until Logan turned.

"I'll drive around…," he announced and walked back inside, followed by the man. "He can't be just gone…"

"Anything?" Jean asked and looked at him hopefully, but buried her face in her hands when he shook his head. "I can't pick up on him either. Not even with Cerebro…," she sniffed and Logan embraced her from behind.

"I'll drive around 'n try t'find him," he mumbled against her neck and rocked her gently.

"What if Sabretooth has him? Or Sinister?" she asked in despair and looked at him with swollen eyes.

"Then they're gonna regret that," he growled and let go of her. "Keep on tryin' t'find him, 'kay. I probably won't come back tonight, so don't wait for me."

"You don't really believe that I'll find any sleep with Jack being out there somewhere?" she asked and ran both hands over her face.

"Can I borrow your bike?" John asked and looked at Scott, who sported the same tensed look on his face as the others.

"Sure. Logan can give you the keys."  
"Thanks," the feral nodded and waited for his brother at the door, who hugged the redhead tightly.

"We gonna find him, 'kay? He'll be fine," Logan promised and held her gaze. He hated to see her crying and to feel the fear she was in. "Try t'get some sleep," he mumbled against her lips after kissing her and left.

"Logan will find him," Scott tried to reassure her and reached out to pull her into an embrace. "Jack will be fine…"

"I don't pick up on him at all, Scott. It's like he never existed!" she sobbed into his shoulder and hugged him back. "You know Sabretooth and what he's capable off…"

"Maybe it wasn't him," Ororo tried to soothe her.

"Who else would be interested in our children?!"

"Maybe this Fury guy?" Scott shrugged and stroked up and down her back.

"Speaking of which…," Hank suddenly said and nodded at the door.

They turned just to see him standing there, a sour look on his face.

"Where's Wolverine?" the man asked and scrutinized every one of them.

"What can I do for you, Nick?" the Professor asked in his usual gentle voice and wheeled closer.

"Tell me where Wolverine is!" the man demanded and it was obvious that he was quiet pissed off.

"What do you want from Logan, if I may ask?"

"I think you pretty damn well know what I want from him," Fury replied. "If you can't control him, we'll control him for you. I will take him into custody."

"Under what charges?" Jean asked and let go of Scott, a frown visible on her face.

"Did you watch the news today? Three stab wounds? 17 dead people?" Fury listed bored. "He is wanted for questioning by S.H.I.E.L.D. and I suggest you tell your husband not to refuse to come with us or to start a fight. So where is he?"

"He's not here," Scott said, tired but determined.

"Where's he?"

"What is it to you?" Jean asked.

"A lot!" Fury replied arrogantly and crossed his arms. "You're a psychic. Call him back."

"No, I won't," she said determined and watched how the man's finger wandered to his comm device in his ear.

"Never mind, we got him," Fury announced and turned to leave again. He went straight for the front door where barks from the outside could already be heard, and as soon as he opened the door, he saw how his men tried to keep a more than furious Wolverine down. "If I were you, I wouldn't pick a fight!" he warned him and held the angry gaze he was given.

"What's this shit about?!" Logan barked and fought against the grip the four men held him in.

"I think you know," Fury said and stopped in front of him, heard how some of the X-Men stepped to the outside as well.

"You can't just arrest Logan!" the Professor said and stopped next to him, an angry look on his face.

"I can. He's my business!"

"The hell I am!" Logan growled. "Lemme go, Nick, or I swear t'God…"

"You are under arrest, Logan, and the order is to bring you back to HQ. So either you come with us voluntarily or well make you!" Fury warned him.

"I've t'go lookin' for my kid 'n either ya lemme go or you'll have a couple of more bodies t'count!" Logan growled back, his eyes getting darker as his pupils began to dilate, his breathing heavy. "'n ya know I ain't jokin'!"

"And you know that I'm not joking either," Fury said unimpressed. "You're in a lot of trouble already, so don't make it worse!"

"Nick, Logan didn't kill those men in cold blood…," Charles tried to explain but could tell that the man wasn't listening. "You're on my property and I advise you to let go of my staff member or I can't guarantee…"

"Are you blackmailing or threatening me here, Xavier?"

Both turned their heads as a yell could be heard and watched how Wolverine jerked his right arm aside all of a sudden, which sent two soldiers flying through the air. Roaring, the furious mutant extracted is claws when the two remaining soldiers took the safety off of their guns.

"Stand down, Wolverine!" one of them barked and started when claws cut easily through their rifles, before a fist hit them hard. Like dolls they dropped to the ground.

Jean watched how the feral then aimed for Fury and saw out of the corner of her eyes how the man took a stun gun. "Oh, no you won't!" she hissed and pushed him against the wall with her powers. "Go, I'll take care of them!" she said with a look at Logan, who retracted his claws and jogged towards his bike again. "And you…," she went on with a look at Fury, stopped in front of him and kept him immobile, "you will take your men and leave my husband alone or I can assure you that he isn't the only one capable of killing people!" For emphasis her eyes flashed black and her body was covered in psi-flames.

"Just a note, sweetheart," Fury replied, unimpressed by her actions, since his remaining soldiers had already begun to point their rifles at her. "I'm not alone here, alright?"

Phoenix raised an eyebrow and turned her head to look at the men, also unimpressed. "Oh really?!" she asked bored. "Let's see…" A psi-wave erupted from her body while she looked him right in the eyes and the S.H.I.E.L.D. soldiers crashed against the wall that surrounded the mansion. "You're a fool to believe that weapons can stop me!" she snarled and threw him to the ground with her powers. "Leave my family alone!"

Despite being impressed of her powers, Fury kept his cool and chuckled. "Do you even know how much Wolverine is wanted by the authorities, how much some people are willing to pay for his head?" he asked her and got up from the ground, his hands getting rid of the dirt on his clothes. "If _we _wouldn't keep it a secret where he lived and wouldn't get rid of the people finding out about it, especially if _we _wouldn't keep it a secret that he has a family… What do you think would be going on here if it wasn't _us _protecting him, hm?"

"You are only doing that so that you can keep on blackmailing him!" Phoenix snarled enraged.

"If you knew him better, you'd know why!" Fury said darkly and returned the glare he was given. "Tell him that we're not done!" he added and turned around, giving his remaining men orders to carry the knocked out soldiers to the cars.

"Jean?" Charles asked after S.H.I.E.L.D. had left and stopped next to her. "It's alright, child. Calm down."

"Why can't he just mind his own business?!" Jean snapped and turned around to get back inside.

"You know what he's like," Ororo shrugged and closed the door behind them. When the redhead stopped to hug herself, she went over to put an arm around her. "I'm sure Jack is fine… Logan will find him, you know that," she tried to soothe her and was close to start crying as she saw the tears in the redhead's eyes.

"What if he's already dead…?" Jean whispered and bit her lip hard.

"Don't even start saying that! He's fine, you hear me?!" her best friend said and hugged her. "He's fine…" Leaning against her, Ororo pulled her closer and shed tears as much as the redhead did. She only hoped that she was right and the boy really was still alive…

* * *

Many hours later, Logan stopped his bike to refill the tank at a gas station and scanned the area. Up to now there was nothing, no traces of the oily scent, nothing on his son, it was as if he didn't exist at all. After he was done, he straddled his bike again and started the engine. His mind knew that it was useless to go on looking for his son without any traces at all, but his heart told him otherwise. A vibration inside his pockets announced a call and he reached for his cell. "Yeah?"

"Anything?" John asked and Logan leant back on his bike with a heavy sigh.

"No. Nothin'…," he grunted and squeezed the back of his nose.

His brother replied with the same sigh. "Same here… I don't pick up on anything. No oil, no Jack, nothing…"

"Whoever it was covered his scent 'n knew how t'do it," Logan said and clenched his fist in anger, his eyes narrowing.

"Yeah…," he heard John replying and for a while there was nothing. "It doesn't make much sense to go on looking, Logan… Maybe we can find some hints at home…"

"Then go back 'n check on it, I'll go on lookin' for him."

There was a pause. "Alright. See you later then," John said and there was a _click_.

After he had put the cell phone away again, Logan drove down the street again, determined to find at least one trace tonight…

When Jean turned around in her bed after a sleepless night she looked directly into Lily's face. The girl was still sleeping, about which the redhead was glad. In the end the girl had come to her crying because she missed her brother and had clung to her sobbing, until she had finally fallen asleep. The twins had never been separated since birth and being without the other was terrible for the little girl. Reaching out, Jean stroked over Lily's cheek and placed a gentle kiss to her temple before she tucked her back in. It had just turned 5:20 a.m., her head was and hurting due to the lack of sleep and she felt dizzy when she got up. Her hand grabbed one of Logan's worn shirts and she put it on on her way to the kitchen, was surprised to see that she wasn't the only one up. "Can't sleep?" she asked and began to make more coffee.

"No…" Scott shook his head. "The news won't get out of my head…"

"News?" she asked, not knowing first what he was talking about.

"Yeah, they had another news mag on the killings about two hours ago," he told her and she broke eye contact. "Logan must have done quiet a number on this son of a bitch…"

Jean cringed at the mentioning of the name and had noticed how much hate he had put into that single sentence. With shaky hands she reached for her cup, not noticing how he stopped behind her.

"He…didn't drug you too, did he?" Scott asked, his voice calm and collected, but inside an emotional storm was raging.

"No…he didn't…," she said and forced herself to look at the cup. Still her heart was racing in her chest.

"How did he make you do it then?"

"Scott… I don't want to talk about it, okay?" she begged, but he turned her around.

"How, Jean?" he asked and cupped her face with one hand.

"He threatened to inform the authorities of me being a mutant…," Jean whispered. "That they would lock me away or kill me. And he kept on reminding me that I had nowhere else to go, that I had to thank him for giving me food and a bed to sleep in…"

He nodded and leant carefully back against the counter. "Yes, he had his ways…," he mumbled and couldn't look at her. "I guess he gave you to the highest bidder too the first time?" he asked after a moment and she nodded, rubbing her right arm since she felt uncomfortable like hell. "God…" Scott ran a hand through his hair and shook his head before he pulled her into an embrace. "I'm so sorry you had to go through this too…," he mumbled into the crook of her neck and Jean leant carefully into him. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to make you feel bad by saying I hated whores. I hated myself that was all. I was afraid of you leaving me because of it or that Ororo and Hank would hate me… I'm sorry…""

"It's not your fault…," she said and could tell that he was crying. "Please, don't cry now, Scott…," Jean begged. It was already enough for her to keep her cool with her emotions being already out of control due to her missing son. When his grip tightened around her she couldn't stop her tears anymore and pulled him closer. "I'm so sorry for what he did to you…"

"Wasn't the first time…" Scott rocked her slowly while he had his eyes closed and sniffed. "But the last… I'm free now."

Letting go of him, she wiped his tears away and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek as the backdoor opened and Logan came back in. Seeing it, he cocked an eyebrow at them.

"It's not what it looks like!" Scott said and let go of Jean, who turned and stared at Logan with widened eyes.

"Did you find him?!" she asked hopefully and lowered her head when he shook his. "Me neither…"

Scott watched how Logan went over to hug her and left the kitchen, knowing that he shouldn't be there at the moment.

"I'm so scared for him…," Jean cried against the feral's chest, who rested his head on hers.

"I know…," Logan said and sniffed while blinking rapidly.

"What if he's dead or they're hurting him? He must be so scared…" Pulling him closer, she buried her face in his chest, her body shaking due to her strong sobs. "I can't lose him too… Not another child…"

Not saying anything, he rocked her slowly and began to pull her with him afterwards. Upstairs, he closed the door to their bedroom calmly and pushed her gently down on the bed. He knew she was beyond tired from the way she allowed him to do all of it without any complaints. After she lay flat next to their daughter, curled up and her swollen eyes staring into nothingness, he got rid off his shoes and shirt and lay down next to the redhead to pull her close. While she still sniffed into his chest and had her arms wrapped around his waist, he looked at Lily in the dark and began to hate himself. He hated himself for not being able to do anything, for not knowing where his son was or how to find him. He asked himself what kind of father he was to let someone take his son away from him, why he wasn't able to track their enemy and son down like he was usually able to do. Logan prayed to every higher being that his son was well, but he knew if Sabretooth had him that his son was as good as dead…

Closing his eyes briefly, he swallowed hard and pulled the sleeping redhead closer, not caring that a single tear ran down his face and dropped onto her cheek…

* * *

"But is there nothing we can do?" John asked and looked at Charles, who was slowly sipping on his tea. "What about Cerebro? I thought that machine could find anything? You even found Anna with it! Can't you find him with it too?"

"Jean and I both keep on trying to find him," the man replied calmly and shook his head, his eyes looking sad. "I'm afraid no. It's the same problem we have with locating Sinister. They seem to have found a way to block any telepathic powers…"

"What if he works with Magneto?" Raven asked. "His helmet prevents telepathic attacks too."

"No, I don't think so, Raven," Charles said and shook his head as suddenly a grim looking Logan stomped into the kitchen, tore the fridge open and slammed it shut again after grabbing the orange juice.

Before anyone could asked what him what had happened, Jean, looking angry as ever, arrived next and it was more than obvious that they were fighting and that badly. "I am talking to you!"

"Talk t'the wall!" he growled and slammed the juice on the counter.

Seeing that he aimed for the backdoor, she kept it closed with powers. "Of course you're running again!" she yelled and Logan returned the glare he was given. "Don't talk about your feelings, Logan, it might make you human! Running is way easier. You're a coward!"

"Coward?" he asked and crossed his arms, his face grim and his eyes hard. "Why? Coz I don't spent my day cryin' wherever I go?"

"What did you just say?" Jean hissed and her eyes blackened for a moment. Angrily, and feeling a strong urge to punch him she walked over to where he stood and faced him. "He's your son!" she said, emphasizing every word, her body shaking in anger.

"Oh, right, how could I forget about it," Logan grunted arrogantly and didn't move an inch.

"How dare you making fun in such a situation?!" she hissed.

He sighed and shook his head. "What the _fuck _do ya want from me anyway?!"

"I want you to talk about how you _feel_!" she replied angrily and heaved deep breaths. "In case you do know what this word even means…."

"Right…" He nodded sarcastically. "So just coz I don't sit on my ass 'n cry my eyes out I'm an emotional moron again, huh?"

"I'm NOT talking about that and you pretty damn well know it!" Jean snapped, never taking her eyes from his. "I said yesterday that I can't lose another child and you sat NOTHING! And you know what I meant!"

"So?" Logan shrugged and watched how a cup crashed against a well. "He's dead Jean! Talkin' about it won't make him alive again! So stop livin' in the past!"

Her green eyes widened by his harsh words. She could clearly feel how hear heart skipped a beat first and even gained speed next. Not thinking about it she raised her head and slapped him hard. "Jake is _not _a thing, he's our _son_!" she hissed, green eyes blazing with fury, while he rubbed his cheek. "How dare you!"

"Guys, that's enough!" Ororo said and pulled the redhead away with Raven's help, while John and Hank did the same with Logan. "You're both on an emotional rollercoaster right now with Jack missing, so stop this before you really say something you might regret, okay?"

"He already did," Jean said darkly and held the glare Logan gave her easily. "You've already forgotten about him, haven't you?" she asked provokingly.

Spreading his arms and shaking his head at a loss of words, Logan sighed in annoyance. He wanted to get out of there before he really did or say something he'd regret…

"You haven't even been at his grave last year!"

"Jean…," the Professor said and put his hand on her arm. "Calm down, please!"

"No, I won't!" she snapped without looking at him. "You always take the easiest way out, Logan! You're a coward when it comes to your emotions, instead of facing them, you run!" she went on and Logan raised his head to face her once more, his eyes narrowing. "Your own mother said the most horrible things to you and you just turned your back on her and ran!"

He looked at her and waited, but it was obvious that she wanted a reaction from him. "Done bitchin' aroud?" Logan grunted with an arrogant look. "Good." Pushing the hands that were holding him away, he reached for the doorknob.

"Where are you going?" Jean demanded to know after he had torn the door open.

"Lookin' for my son!" he barked and slammed the door shut with a force that made it fly back open again.

"Jesus Christ, what happened?!" Ororo asked and turned to look at Jean, who, with him gone and realizing what they had done, buried her face in her hands and leant back against the wall. "What happened that the two of you behaved like that?!"

"Mommy!"

Jean looked up as Lily suddenly stormed into the room and clung to her crying aloud. "They're hurting him!"

"What?" the redhead asked and knelt down to have a better look at the devastated girl. She didn't understand what her daughter was referring to. "Did you have a nightmare, baby?"

"No!" Lily sobbed into her neck and wrapped her arms further around her mother's neck. "The bad man wants to hurt him. He's a knife."

"Calm down…," Jean whispered and rocked her gently while she stroked over the head and back.

"Jack's scared, mommy…," the girl cried and buried her face further into her mother's neck.

"If she knows that, did she also see where he is?" Narya asked, but the Professor shook his head.

"They are connected through emotions. She can't see where her brother is. Only what he feels and flashes of what he sees, but not everything that he can see," he explained and watched how Jean tried hard not to start crying to prevent the girl from feeling even worse than she already did. "Unfortunately…," he added.

"Did you tell Rachel and Laura already?" Hank asked and Jean nodded weakly while she stroked through Lily's nearly black hair. He looked up when John got up and aimed for the back door, then left. "Did you find any traces in your rooms? Did you check for hairs or fingerprints or…"

"Logan checked for everything, Hank. Whoever kidnapped him didn't leave any traces," Jean replied tiredly and noticed that Lily had fallen asleep against her.

"You should try to go back to sleep," Narya suggested worriedly but the redhead shook her head and got up.

"I need to go looking for him."

"No, Jean. I won't let you use Cerebro in your condition," the Professor said. "I'll go on looking for Jack. You'll go upstairs and try to get some rest." He waited for a nod before he watched her leaving and sighed.

"Why would someone be interested in Jack only?! Kitty asked and looked into the round. "I mean Jamie is far more powerful. Or Rachel. But why Jack?"

"Maybe they came for Jamie and couldn't get their hands on them, so they took Jack," Bobby shrugged.

"Maybe dey 'ave another plan," Remy suggested.

"Tat could be possible," Kurt nodded. "But vat could tey want?"

"Better ask," Hank said grimly, "what are we supposed to do when Jack's dead? No one of us is able to stop Wolverine or Phoenix in that case. They will both go on a killing rampage."

"I know that Hank," Charles replied. "And I don't want to imagine that case…"

* * *

While he lay curled up on the ground and stared at the door in fear of seeing it being opened again, Jack sniffed and trembled. He wanted to be home again, to be with his family and feel safe. He had never experienced a fear as strong as now. He couldn't sleep at all, was hungry, tired and felt miserable, even more so since he couldn't use a toilet and was forced to wet himself. When he picked up on a noise from afar, he started and grabbed his legs tighter, drew them closer to his body and didn't take his eyes away from the door. His heart began to race as heavy footsteps came closer. The boy didn't know who was worse. The guy dressed in red and black, whose face was disfigured and looked like the killer with the pizza-face from those movies he wasn't allowed to watch, the smaller guy with the fangs and wild nature, who kept on threatening him, the voice from the shadows or the big guy that was supposed to be his uncle. If he had to chose, he'd say his "uncle", since he definitely scared the shit out of him and enjoyed torturing him. He was afraid of what he would do to him the next time he'd visit. Sniffing, Jack rested his head on the ground again after the noises went past his door and shed some tears. He asked himself where his parents were and if they were looking for him, if he'd ever see his home, family and friends again…

As the door was slammed open and the big guy was back, a sadistic grin on his lips, Jack shrieked aloud and covered his head again. His whimpers turned into a full scream as he was roughly pulled out of the cage and dragged out of the room. "Let me go!" he yelled in a panic attack and desperately tried to free himself from the grip he was held in.

"Stop that or ya gonna regret it!" Sabretooth growled, disliking the way the boy was behaving. When claws left scratches on his arms, he used his free arm to slap the child hard, not caring that it landed hard on the floor.

"My daddy's gonna kill you!" Jack barked, still crying heavily and his screams got even worse when Sabretooth grabbed him roughly and pulled him close.

"If ya don't shut up yer daddy can set yer pieces back t'gether!" the feral growled, his eyes black in rage. He continued to drag the desperate boy with him and threw him roughly into another room. "Here."

"Ohhhh, he's crying again?" Deadpool asked and knelt down next to Jack, who tried to get quickly away from him, but was grabbed. "No need to cry, kiddo," he cooed and pulled Jack up. "We're just going to cut of a hand or leg. That's not so bad." He drew one of his knives. "No… That one's too shiny. I don't wanna have Wolfman jr blood on it," he mumbled and drew another, longer one. "Hm…. Nice."

"What are you doing?" Daken asked and entered the room, saw how Jack was held down by Wildchild now and Deadpool went through every weapon he got. "What is this?!"

"We gonna send mommy and daddy a piece of their baby," Sabretooth grinned, a joyful glint in his eyes and chuckled. "How 'bout cuttin' of one finger after the next 'n then the rest of his arm? Makes a nice puzzle." He went over to Wildchild and extracted the 4 claws on one hand. "Lemme do it!"

"Noooo! I wanna do it!" Deadpool said and got up, holding an axe that he had gotten from the wall. "I wanna cut him into pieces."

"You can't cut him into pieces! We need him alive!" Daken said and pushed Wildchild away.

The room went silent.

"I see…," Sabretooth nodded after a while, retracted his claws and took a knife from the ground where Deadpool had left it. "Yer gonna do it!"

"What?!" Daken asked and began to frown.

"Ya don't want us t'hurt yer lil bro'? Then ya gonna do it yerself," the feral growled and forced him to take the knife. "Ya gonna prove that yer on our side. I think that's what ya owe the master after stealin' the cure, don'tcha think?"

"Goody, goody!" Deadpool said and clapped his hands in excitement. "Cutty time! How about the ears? Or no, no, no wait!" He gave the crying and scared boy a look. "The leg! Cut off him leg!"

"He wetted himself again…," Wildchild complained and covered his sensitive nose. "I'm outta here."

"So what do ya say, hm?" Sabretooth asked and grabbed the back of Daken's head hard to force him to look at him. "Answer me!"

Looking from the knife at Jack and back at the knife, Daken still frowned. "What do you want me to do?" he asked calmly and met Sabretooth's eyes, saw the joy in them.

"Let's see…," the feral growled and grabbed Jack roughly to have a better look at him. "He's Jamey's eyes," he growled full of hatred and threw the boy onto the couch. "I hate'em. Cut out his eyes!"

"His…eyes?" Deadpool asked and tapped his mouth. "That's no fun when he can't see what we're doing… No, wait! That's perfect!" he said and nodded. "Cut out his eyes! That's a good thingy!"

Sabretooth went over to the couch and held Jack down with his hands, not caring that the boy was struggling first. "Grab his legs, Wade!"

"Gladly!" Deadpool replied and did so.

"C'mon, watcha waitin' for, mongrel?" Sabretooth asked and grinned at Daken. "He's yer daddy's eyes. Cut'em out'n we gonna send'em back t'yer daddy!"

When he saw how Daken came closer, the knife ready in his hand and the eyes dark, Jack freaked and began to scream, cry and struggle as good as he could. His heart was bursting in fear and his mind cried out for help. "No, lemme go! LEMME GO!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, but Sabretooth grabbed his head hard to keep it steady.

"Take a good look, kiddo. It's the last thing yer gonna see," he chuckled and watched how the boy's eyes widened in terror as Daken placed the knife right next to Jack's left eye. "I think I'm gonna put yer eyeballs into a nice box'n leave it in front of yer daddy's home," he grinned and didn't bother to prevent the boy from crying out loudly…

* * *

In a rush Jean sat up, her breathing coming in rags and her heart beating strongly against her chest. She felt the cold sweat on her finger as she ran a hand over her face and brushed her hair back and tears away. She had clearly heard her son in her head, had heard him begging for someone to help him and he had been in pain. As she drew her legs closer to her body and leant forward to rest her head in her hands. It was then that she noticed that it was already dark on the outside and that she wasn't alone. As soon as she had switched on the lights and stared right into Logan's red and swollen eyes, her heart sank.

"I can't find him…," he told her in a desperate and broken voice, one that she had never heard him using before. The fact that he sat next her on the bed with one of Jack's shirts in his head and was crying openly, didn't help her either to ignore the bad gut feeling she had. "I looked everywhere 'n I can't find him…"

Jean swallowed hard, her eyes filling with fresh tears. "I heard him in my head…," she whispered and he met her gaze. "He was calling for help. He sounded so scared, Logan…"

His jaw tensed and he stared at his hands that stroked over the fabric. "I'm sorry…," he whispered and she gave him a confused look.

"For what?" Jean asked and knelt down next to him, noticed how lost he seemed to be.

Logan refused to look up. "What kinda father am I that I let'em take our son?" he asked her and clenched his fists in self-loathing. "I'm supposed t'protect my family…"

"No," she said and moved so that she sat on his lap and could hug him better. "This is not your fault!"

"I should've heard'em comin', I should've protected him 'n now he's gone," he grunted and leant into her. "I failed…"

"Then I failed too. I'm supposed to be the most powerful mutant and I can't even find my own baby," Jean said and cupped his face, tried to speak with a steady voice despite her tears. A look into his eyes was enough to tell her that this wasn't Logan or Wolverine in front of her right now, that he had dropped his mask completely and his tortured soul lay bare in front of her eyes. Right now he was the man he tried so hard to bury and protect, he was the weak James and not the strong Logan. The fact he was still crying was proof enough for her. "It's not your fault, Logan. You didn't sleep for almost three days and went looking for him. You did everything you could...," she whispered and but her lip hard while she stroked over his face. In the end she pulled him closer and felt how his hands went around her, but refused to let go of his son's shirt. Both, as lost as they were, leant into each other.

"If Creed has him he's as good as dead, Jean," Logan said and sniffed. "He's gonna hurt him 'n torture him 'n when he's finally through with him, he's gonna kill him slowly'n painfully… He always does…"

Understanding perfectly was he meant, Jean buried her face in his neck and began to sob. It got even worse when he did the same and his emotions began to hit her with their full force through their link. His thoughts expressed so much self-loathing and hatred for himself, but at the same time he felt so lost and scared for his son that she didn't even recognize the man he usually was. Instinctively, she pulled him closer and began to rock him slowly, feared what he would do to himself if their son was really dead…

She didn't hear how their bedroom door was opened and didn't turn her head before Ororo said her name a tad louder. "What…?" she sniffed and didn't bother to wipe her tears away, since new ones would follow right afterwards and noticed the sympathetic look her best friend gave them.

"You should come…," the weather goddess said with tears in her eyes and Jean exchanged a scared look with Logan, whose eyes were even redder by now than before. The lack of sleep, food and the fear for his son were taking a toll on him by now. "It's about Jack…," Ororo added and she watched how both got slowly up.

"What about him?!" Logan said, his voice barely more than a horse whisper and looked into her eyes.

"You need to see for yourself. You'll be shocked," she replied and led the way downstairs. "We can't believe our eyes either."

"Who's we?" Jean asked and held onto Logan's arm in fear.

"The others. They're at the front door," Ororo replied and wiped her tears away once more.

Looking up at Logan, whose face looked as scared as hers, Jean grabbed his arm tighter. She knew something horrible must have happened from the way her best friend was acting, felt how her heart began to beat faster with every step they made towards the front door, but nothing could prepare either her or Logan for what they would see after reaching the group…

"Oh my God…," Jean whispered, her eyes wide and her mouth covered by a hand. Next to her Logan just stared ahead of him, a frown visible on his face, while his mind tried to process what his eyes saw. He had expected everything, but not this…

**I know this chapter is way shorter than usual, but I think it's a good way to end here. And now I want you to start guessing what they see. If you paid close attention and did in between lines reading here and there, you might know it. ;) I couldn't make it to write back to every reviewer, but I will get back to you as soon as I came back from Berlin. Can't wait to see Hugh. (yay) I hope the link works. Please leave a review and see ya!!**


	47. Chapter 44

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

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**Did the link in the last chapter work btw?**

**I saw Hugh in Berlin and damn, that man is even hotter in person than on pictures. I also saw Deb, Oscar and Ava, but Hugh definitely made it worth to travel all the way over to Berlin. I didn't sleep for 40 hours in total, since I had to be back at 10:15 a.m. on Saturday to help my mom with something and afterwards I was invited to a birthday of a friend, then Hugh was on German telly on the evening, so yeah… I slept for 18 hours in total afterwards. LOL I was only mad with Fox. They took our cameras, mobile phones and MP3 players, so there was no way in taking any pics of Hugh. : ( **

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**I freaking love the Wolverine Origins trailer (even when they messed up his origin…)!! Did you guys see it already? It's just funny that the US got a not-so-violent version. Ours includes blood.**

**After seeing it, I definitely have to write a Sabretooth vs Wolverine scene again. LOL**

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**Oh, and I hope the double meaning in the Forge scene becomes obvious. Please let me know. ; )**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 44**

Without thinking twice, Logan ran forward and landed on his knees as he reached the group at the end of the corridor to pull his son close as fast as possible. With closed eyes, he held him and listened to the desperate sobs Jack uttered, while the boy clung to his father as if he was drowning. Overwhelmed, Logan pulled him even closer and stroked through his son's hair, rocking him and himself slowly, whispered soothing words and had completely forgotten about the others watching him. He couldn't care less about them or what they thought at the moment, or that he shed tears in relief. He was just glad to have his boy back and that his baby was alive. "Ya okay?" he asked in a hoarse voice and sniffed, cupped Jack's face briefly to look at him.

Instead of saying something, the boy wrapped his arms around his father's neck again and tried to get as close as possible. When his plush wolf, which had been dropped by him after his father had embraced him, touched his cheek, Jack turned his head briefly. Through a blurry vision he saw how his mother looked at him in disbelief and relieve, also crying heavily and felt her arms wander around him next, before he was pressed against both of his parents. While he calmed slowly down and was relieved to be back home and in safety, Jack pulled his wolf closer and closed his eyes, felt how his father wrapped an arm around his mother too to embrace both of them.

"Where have you been, baby?" Jean asked him sniffing and kissed his forehead gently before she pulled him close and against her chest. "We were worried sick…" She leant her head on her sons's and kept on stroking through his hair. "And how did you get back here?" she asked and looked down.

"He…he saved me," Jack sniffed and earned a confused look from his parents.

"Who?" Jean asked and followed the direction into which Jack was pointing, just to feel how her heart stopped beating and her face lost all color. Her head jerked aside to exchange a look with Logan, who seemed to be as surprised and confused as she was.

"What are we supposed to do with him?" Hank asked and still held Daken in a strong grip, not caring that the man looked pissed off.

"Let him go!" Logan demanded and got up to pull Hank's arms away from his son.

"Logan, he's the enemy!" the furry mutant tried to talk some sense into his friend. "Have you forgotten what he has done?!" He looked at Daken angrily and snarled when the man began to stare him down.

Not knowing what to do or say Logan looked at his son for a moment. The first thing that he noticed was the cold look he was given and once more he noticed that his son had no scent. He rubbed the back of his head and looked at Jean, who had gotten up and held Jack close. It wasn't hard to tell that the gathered X-Men wanted to jump his son and lock him away, so he tried to find a way out. "Did they hurt him?"

"Does he look hurt?" Daken replied coldly, crossed his arms and glared at his father full of hatred.

"I doubt you're in any position to risk a big mouth!" John snarled.

"Think you can stop me?!" his opposite growled back and both men made a step towards each other.

"Hey, stop!" Logan instantly said and stepped between them.

"How can you be so sure that it wasn't him who kidnapped Jack or that he is supposed to bring him back?" his brother asked him angrily. "Maybe the rest of them are only waiting for a sign of him!"

"Oh please…," Daken sighed and rolled his eyes before he shook his head. "Think, okay? Do you really believe they would tell me to bring him back and then lure you to the outside? How pathetic are you?"

While his eyes turned red John extracted his claws, uttering a low growl at the same time as Daken extracted his to defend himself. Seeing it, Jack pushed his mother away and ran over to hug his brother's waist. "No!" he begged and looked at his uncle pleadingly.

"He's dangerous, Jack!" John grunted and held the glare Daken gave him.

"He saved me! Leave him alone!" Jack barked and wrapped his arms tighter around the man's waist, who gave him a confused look.

"Jack," Hank tried it and raised a calming hand. "I know you're in stress and that you…"

"Daddy!" the boy begged and gave his father a pleading look.

Logan sighed and looked from him to Daken and back at Jean, who shook her head. In the end, he knelt down and looked at Jack. "Why don't ya go upstairs with mommy'n get ready for bed. Ya look tired."

"No!"

"Jack… C'mon!" he said and got up again. "They won't hurt him. 'kay? I won't let'em."

"Promise?" Jack sniffed and received a nod, before he allowed his father to pull him carefully away and over to Jean.

"Yeah, promised. Go'n get ready for bed."

Jack watched how Logan went back to Daken while Jean pulled him up and kissed his cheek. "I'm hungry…," he mumbled and leant against her shoulder.

"I'll get somethin' for ya," Logan assured him and noticed the look the redhead gave him before she carried their son over to their rooms. He felt her relief but also her nervousness and fear because of Daken. When he was sure that they were gone, he gave the man a look. "Who had him'n what did they do t'him?"

Daken sighed and faked boredom. "Who do you think had him?"

"What did Sinister want with him then?" Logan growled and held the glare he was given easily.

"Who said Sinister had him?"

"Sabretooth?" he demanded to know.

"He wanted to cut him into little pieces and send him back in said ones," Daken replied nonchalantly and looked around the hall while his hands were buried in his pockets.

"What?!" John asked and looked at him angrily.

"Let me guess the next question… _Why_?" Daken mocked and smirked when the man growled warningly. "Out of fun. To set him off." He nodded at Logan, who cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Why did ya help him?"

Daken switched his attention back to him and narrowed his eyes. "Coz my business is with you, not him!"

Logan nodded and crossed his arms, felt the tension in the room getting stronger. He knew his brother and Hank wanted to jump his son and that Ororo didn't look so happy about him being here either.

"Can I go now, daddy?" Daken said mockingly and was about to turn around as a hand grabbed his arm. Snarling, he turned around. "Take your hand off me or I'll cut it off."

"I wanna see you trying it," John snarled and turned himself into fog before claws would have hit him. He chuckled as Daken tried to cut into him and get his arms free again. "Won't work, kid."

"Stop it, both of ya!" Logan growled and pulled his son free. "Would ya just leave us alone for a sec?" he asked his teammates annoyed, but they shook their heads.

"No way we're leaving you alone with him," Ororo said with a nod at their enemy.

Sighing, Logan shook his head and grabbed Daken's arm in the end, much to the man's protest. "I need t'talk t'ya!"

"But I don't want to talk to you, old man!" the man snarled and pulled his arm free.

"Why did you help him?" Logan asked once more and turned to face him. "I know it's Creed's and Wade's blood on yer shirt. What did ya do t'em?"

Snarling, Daken brought a distance between them again. "I cut their throats," he growled and narrowed his eyes at the others when their looks changed from angry to surprised. "But of course I could have cut Jack's eyes out as they wanted me to, right? Creed was dying to make you a present…" He tilted his head and watched his opposite's reaction. "I guess I'm done here," he added after no one said anything and turned to head for the door.

"Ya can't leave!" Logan said aloud and reached out to grab his son's arm, angering the man with it even ore.

"Don't you dare to touch me!" Daken swirled around and extracted his claws again, which again alarmed the X-Men.

"Ya can't leave!" Logan tried once more and raised both hands to show that he meant no harm. "By helpin' Jack ya betrayed'em. They're gonna kill ya!"

"What do you care?" his son hissed and his eyes became even colder.

"Logan is right, Daken. You can't leave, they'll hunt you down," the Professor suddenly said and wheeled closer. "By helping Jack you became their enemy. They won't rest before they got their revenge on you."

"Charles," Hank protested but was silenced with a look of the bald man.

"It was your choice to help your brother, you didn't have to do it, but you did it out of impulse," Charles went on and shook his head. "They will kill you for this."

"So?" Daken asked arrogantly. "They can't do worse than usual, old man."

"You don't have anywhere to go," the Professor reminded him as the feral reached for the doorknob. "No one will protect you or come for your help. Stay here where you're safe."

"But Professor!" John said and shook his head in disagreement. "He tried to kill Logan more than once, he tried to kidnap Jamie and you offer him to stay?!"

"I'm with John here," Ororo nodded. "That's crazy!"

"Ya can stay with us," Logan grunted while he had his eyes lowered, arms crossed and knew all eyes turned to him. "Ya can have the couch for tonight. We don't have a free bed at the moment…"

"Are you out of your mind?" Hank asked him, his mouth standing far open in shock. "Your son has sworn to kill you, my boy, and you invite him to…"

"Yeah, I do'n I didn't ask for your opinion, Furball!" Logan growled. "He saved Jack, somethin' he didn't have t'n with Jack he had the perfect opportunity for lurin' me into a trap. But he came here. He knows he can't go back." His eyes switched from the X-Men to Daken, who looked at him suspiciously. "C'mon, ya look beat," he said and turned to retreat to his room. Waiting a moment, Daken let slowly go of the doorknob and followed him.

"If you touch him, Jean or the kids, you're dead!" John warned him, but the man only huffed and went on with glaring at his father, who went into the kitchen first to get something to eat and drink for Jack, before he led the way to his rooms.

Inside, Jean looked up and her eyes widened in shock when she saw that Logan wasn't alone. Before she could say anything, he raised his hand and begged her not to say anything. "But…"

"Please, Jean!" Logan insisted and put the tray on the table, before he knelt down to hug Jack again, who had just come out of the bath and sat on the couch with Lily attached to his neck. "Ya alright?" he asked concerned and received a weak nod, saw the tears that the boy must have shed before and reached out to wipe them away. "Here." He handed the tray over and sat down on the table to watch him eating, knew that Jean was still staring at Daken. "Wanna stay with mommy'n me tonight?" he asked and received another nod.

"Me too," Lily sniffed and had her arms still wrapped around her brother, while her head rested on his shoulder.

"Sure," Logan said and got up to get their pillows and stuffed animals.

"He can't stay here!" Jean said in a hushed voice after she had followed him to their bedroom.

"Jean, he has nowhere else t'go! Creed will kill him for this!"

"How can you be so sure that this isn't a trap? That he didn't plan it?"

He sighed and ran a hand over his tired face. He needed sleep and that fast, his head was throbbing mercilessly by now. The problem with his healing factor was that he could go without sleep for days, but not if he hadn't eaten properly and his body was missing fuel. This was the case just now. He was drop-dead tired. "Coz Chuck said the same. He cut their throats t'save Jack, they'll kill him for this."

"I'm not fine with it," she replied and shook her head.

"Just for tonight, 'kay?" he asked.

"Tonight can already be too late, Logan," Jean said and turned to get her clothes out of the drawer.

Not knowing what else to say, he left the room and went over to check on Rachel and Laura, then on Jamie before he told the twins to go to bed. With a brief look at Daken, he went into the bedroom again and reappeared a minute later.

"Think ya will be fine on the couch?" Logan asked and put down two pillows and a blanket. "We just don't have a free bed at the moment…" He looked at Daken, who had watched him the whole time through. Holding his gaze for a moment, the older man scratched the back of his head. "Wait here." He went into the bedroom again and returned only a moment later. "Here. Should fit."

Daken eyed the sweatpants and the shirt for a moment just to look back at Logan.

"Towels are in the bathroom. Ya can use the stuff in there," Logan said and received another distant look. He was unsure of what to say or how to act, so he buried his hands in his pockets. "Well then…," he said and shrugged. "Ask if ya need somethin'. Good night."

Watching Logan closing the bedroom door behind him, Daken gave the clothes another skeptical look. In the end he went into the bathroom to change and sat down on the sofa first, as something caught his eye. Curiously, he went over to the windows and looked at the pictures on the wall. Something began to boil within him when the happiness on them practically slapped him into the face. Uttering a brief snort, Daken turned back around and lay down on the couch, his arms crossed behind his head and stared at the ceiling.

"I don't think it's a good idea," Jean continued their mental discussion and sighed. She kept on stroking through Lily's hair, while the girl was sleeping next to her. "He's here with us, with the children… I can't read his mind, Logan. He could be up to anything."

"I have t'try, Jean," Logan thought and looked at her in the dark, watched how she looked back, her head supported on one arm. She was clearly worried. He sighed and pulled Jack closer when the boy cuddled further up to him. He was unable to express his relief in words…

"I know… But there's no guarantee for us that he doesn't fool us."

"Still, I have t'try… He's my son." He looked down as she took his hand.

"I know, Logan. But maybe we're endangering _our _children," she said. "I'm not saying that it's not worth trying, but…" She sighed once more. "He hates you and wants to kill you! He's dangerous…"

"So am I 'n ya," Logan thought back. "I have t'try it. I'd never forgive myself, if I never at least tried t'save him. I owe Itsu that much…"

"Still, there's a chance that he's just fooling you. I just don't want you to get hurt again…," Jean said through their link and held his gaze as there was a knock on their door.

"Yeah?" Logan said and switched on the lights, watched how the door was opened and Daken appeared.

"He was walking around," the man said and nodded at Jamie, who was in his arms.

Sighing, Logan got up and took his youngest from him, earned cooing noises from the boy. "Will ya ever listen?" he said in a hushed voice and carried Jamie back into his room. "It's late, kiddo! I want ya t'stay in bed and sleep, 'kay?"

Daken watched full of hatred how his father cradled the boy until he was half asleep, spoke softly to him before he kissed Jamie and tucked him back in after the boy lay in bed again.

"Thanks," Logan said and closed the door to Jamie's room after making sure that his son was really sleeping this time. "He keeps on doin' that." He looked into Daken's eyes for a moment, saw the hate in them and distant look. "Ya tired?"

"Why?" his son asked and crossed his arms.

"Ya in for a beer?"

Daken shrugged and watched how Logan went over to the bedroom to tell Jean he would be downstairs for a while and that she shouldn't wait for him. He then beckoned his son to follow him and led him towards the kitchen, where he grabbed two beers out of the fridge and handed Daken one. After they had sat down, they remained silent, the tension becoming unbearable. Logan thought about what to say, but figured that he probably had never felt at such a loss at words. It was odd to sit in front of a man, who was his grown-up son, who he didn't know at all except that the man hated him.

"How old are they?"

Logan started a bit when he heard the voice unexpectedly. "Who?"

Daken rolled his eyes. "My siblings… How old are they?"

"Jamie's born August 15 2015, Ray February 15 2010 and the twins were born May 10 2008. Laura's birthday is on November 5," his opposite listed.

"Do I have more?"

"More what?" Logan asked and cocked an eyebrow at him, received a cold look from his son in return.

"Siblings," this one snarled.

"No."

"You sure?" Daken mocked. "Because I've heard you've been around the block quiet a lot…"

Growling, Logan put his bottle back onto the table. "What is that here, huh?" he asked and held the glare he was given. "I don't have any other children, 'kay?"

"Better say…not that you know of," Daken spat and sipped in the beer.

"Would ya stop it?! I told ya before…"

"Yeah, yeah… If you had known that I was alive, you would have come looking for me, yadda yadda. I got it the first time you said it, okay? You don't have to say it three times a day, you know?" he mocked. "I'm not dumb, even if you might think that."

Logan rolled his eyes and sighed. This cold war between them was eating at his nerves by now. "Look, I know yer pissed off at me, can't change that," he began and leant forward a bit, "but son or not, touch my kids, wife or any one else here just to tick me off and…"

"As I said, my business is with you, not with them!" Daken growled and Logan quickly jerked his head aside when his opposite threw the bottle at him, hitting the trash can behind him perfectly. "I don't give a shit about you!" Still glaring at Logan, he got up and left the room, adding, "You never gave one about me either."

Sighing heavily, Logan shook his head and emptied his beer. He heard how Daken went back upstairs and decided to remain in the kitchen for a while longer. His mind was too occupied with his thoughts now anyway. He didn't know what to do, how he could make sure that his oldest wouldn't touch his family or friends, what kind of trauma Jack has suffered was a completely different matter and that the X-Men were against Daken being here… Shaking his head, he threw the bottle away, switched off the lights and returned to the bedroom, where he lay carefully down next to Jack. Logan reached out to stroke over his son's head and pulled him into a protective embrace, felt how the boy shifted and sighed in his sleep. His eyes switched over to Lily, who slept next to Jean and he couldn't really feel happy even if he was. He could only hope that the whole situation wouldn't escalate in the next days. In the end, the feral closed his eyes too and allowed his tiredness to overwhelm him…

* * *

Forge concentrated hard on his work and typed in command after command, while the man in the machine got impatient by now. "How much longer?!" Northstar asked and sighed when there was no reply. "It can't take that long… I'm already in here for hours."

"Five minutes to be precise," Forge said and pressed a button that opened the door to the machine.

"Done?!"

"Yeah, I think so…," the X-Man said and went over the results, just to shake his head next. "What's with you young men and being all buffed up?" he asked jealously before he created a new file in the folder. "When I was your age, I had to study, study and study… I never had time for sports or other stupid things… I mean look at Logan. That guy is ridiculously fit!"

Jean-Paul chuckled and went over to him. "Well that's Logan for you… It has a reason everyone stares at his ass first and then at his eyes." He looked over the man's shoulder and noticed the look he was given. "What?"

"I don't look at Wolverine's hairy ass!" Forge said and shuddered. "Ororo's is much nicer."

Jean-Paul shrugged and scratched the back of his head. "Can't say… I'm not into hers."

"Really? She has the finest butt in the mansion, trust me!" Forge replied and kept on typing in his commands, not understanding the man at all. "How can a man not like her butt? Are you blind or something?!"

"No… As I said, I'm not into _hers_," Jean-Paul said and put on his jeans again before he grabbed his shirt from the ground. It was then that he noticed the look he was given and believed the man had gotten his hint.

"Ohhhh, I see…" Forge nodded.

"Good. I just like it if things are clear from the beginning, you know?" Northstar said and ran a hand through his nearly black hair.

"Yeah, yeah… I got it. I mean…it's nothing wrong with it, just don't let yourself be caught, okay?" Forge warned him and Jean-Paul smirked.

"I don't intend to. Feelings are not mutual anyway in my case, can't change that." He shrugged and watched how Forge got up to put something huge that looked like leather into another machine. After the fabric was in it, the door closed and he went back to the computer to type in another command. It didn't take long and the machine started to cut it's way through the leather.

"Marriage does it to you. It's the same with Ororo. Back then we got along pretty well, but now she only has eyes for that demon…," Forge sulked and sighed, looked up at Jean-Paul and waited for a reply.

"It's been the same before in my case…"

"Terrible, isn't it? I mean…how can they be sure they have married the right partner?!"

Northstar crossed his arms and leant back against the table. "If they feel that way," he said and shrugged. "As long as they're happy with each other, it's fine. Being happy and loved is the most important thing."

"Yeah, whatever," Forge mumbled and typed in another command. The machine switched sides and was now working on the backside of the leather. "As I said… Don't let yourself be caught. Logan can get pretty nasty… As far as I've heard."

"He's totally cool with it," Jean-Paul smiled and shook his head.

"He is?" Forge asked surprised.

"Yeah… He knows."

"Really?!"

"Yeah!"

"And he's…cool with it?!" Forge asked shocked and received a nod. "Wow… Who would have thought… I'd have thought he'd go berserk on you."

Northstar laughed. "No, he wouldn't. Trust me. He knows for years, he has set the rules and it's working out. Even when we stayed together for nearly three months…"

Impressed, Forge nodded. "Who would have thought he's into…this kind of..._thing_…," he commented and leant back in his stool before he gave the man next to him a look. "So…what's it like?" he asked curiously.

"What's it…like?" Jean-Paul asked confused.

"Yeah… The _thing_ I mean. What's it like?" Forge asked again. "I never did something like that before and always wondered… Is it good?"

Thinking, Jean-Paul broke eye contact and shrugged. He had never been asked this question before. "It's… It's different. More intense I'd say, but I can't really compare, you know? Always depends on who you're with…"

Forge nodded. "So you did it before?!"

"Sure… I'm 32 in the end. Of course I did it before," Jean-Paul said half laughing.

"I must say… I'm impressed, really…"

"I thought it was rather normal by now…," he said and turned to look at the machine. "Obviously it's not…"

"Of course not!" Forge said aloud. "We're talking about the Wolverine here! I'd never thought he would do…this." He shook his head and watched the machine working. "Think he would let me do it too?" he asked after a moment and received a surprised look from Northstar. "What? If he allows you to do it, why not me?!"

"You're…bisexual?" Jean-Paul asked surprised and watched how Forge dropped from his stool in shock.

"W…what?!" the man asked shocked and got slowly up again.

"Okay…," his opposite said and raised a hand. "Either you are or were completely not talking about the same here…"

"I'm definitely NOT bi!" Forge insisted and typed in another command. "What makes you think that?!"

"Well you talking about wanting to do it with Logan…?" Jean-Paul said and again Forge nearly dropped to the ground.

"I did NOT say that!"

"You did… But as I said, I think we're NOT talking about the same here…," Northstar replied. "What did you talk about?"

Forge crossed his arms. "About Logan sharing Jean of course. You said you didn't like Ororo's butt, so there's only Jean left and you said Logan was cool with it and that he knows and all those…" He gesticulated with his hand. "Kinky… Yeah, that's the word! All those kinky things you said, like doing her too or whatever you implied with it."

"Kinky…?" Jean-Paul asked and received a nod. Nodding too, he chuckled. "Okay, then we weren't talking about the same obviously…"

"What did you mean then?" Forge asked confused and watched the man intently.

"Actually about me being gay and not into women's butts."

"Oh…" the scientist made and nodded slowly, wile making a step back. "Oh, I see… Yeah… We obviously didn't talk about the same…"

Jean-Paul nodded in agreement. "As I said… I like people to know to prevent exactly a situation like that from happening!"

"Well… Yeah…" Forge scratched the back of his head, unsure of what to say and went through the whole conversation again. "So… Logan's cool with you _liking_ him, I got that right?" He received another nod. "Good for you…," he said as something caught his attention. "Three months…? Well, surprises really never cease… Who would have thought…," he mumbled and got up after stopping the machine to get the uniform out of it. His eyes went over the material critically and he nodded satisfied. "Looks good. Try it on."

While he watched how Northstar obeyed, he thought about what he had learned and could only shake his head. He'd expected a lot, but not this…

"He done?" Logan suddenly asked next to him and the man jumped.

"Jesus… Do you always have to sneak up on people like this?!" Forge snapped and received a cocked eyebrow. "And yes, your sweetheart's done."

"_Sweetheart_?!" Logan asked, but shook his head and went over to Jean-Paul. "Does it fit?"

"Perfectly. Feels like a second skin," the man said and looked himself up and down. "How does it look?" he asked and watched how his friend did a thorough search for any flaws the uniform might have, but he couldn't find any.

"Lookin' good. Seems to be fine," Logan grunted and cocked an eyebrow at Forge, who was watching them intently. Every time the X-Man looked up, Forge seemed to be occupied and as soon as Logan looked away again, he could feel the man's eyes staring in his back. His hand traced the X on the front of Northstar's uniform. "What color ya want it t'be?"

Jean-Paul shrugged. "I don't know… Which color's still available?"

"Hm…," Logan made, crossed his arms and kept his eyes on the X. "White… 'Ro's is silver."

"White's good. Reminds me of my old uniform with the black," his opposite said and looked at the X.

"Be happy that he made that machine by now," Logan grunted with a nod at Forge. "It took forever until we got those new uniforms… Ya wanna test it in the Dangerroom?"

"Sure," Jean-Paul said and shrugged. "Why not."

Forge watched how the man walked over to the door.

"Any chance you'll join me? I hate doing it alone," he heard Jean-Paul saying and his jaw dropped.

"Why not. I could need a good workout today and Jean didn't want to do a session," Logan replied and the scientist had to support himself on the table, while his eyes watched the men leaving in shock.

"Oh…my…God…," Forge said and fell back into his stool. He couldn't believe what he had just witnessed.

* * *

Charles sighed and ran a hand over his forehead. The conversation was giving him headaches by now and a look aside told him that they were already on it for nearly an hour.

"What I mean is…," Scott said and Charles looked up, "he shouldn't be here! He is dangerous, he's our enemy and he has tried to kill Logan many times before. He hates him and who says that the whole situation wasn't planned by Sinister?"

"I agree with Scott," Hank nodded and switched his attention from said man to the Professor. "Neither Jean nor you are able to read Daken's mind and we don't know why he helped Jack at all. Sinister could have planned to capture Jack and then to send Daken back with him in order to fool us. What if his mission is to kidnap Jamie or to kill us? Or gather information on us? It's too dangerous to keep him here, Charles…"

Both men began to frown and exchanged confused looks with Jean and Ororo as the Professor smiled all of a sudden. "I don't understand what's so funny about it, Charles," the redhead said. "I told Logan that I'm against Daken being here…"

"It is funny that I heard the same arguments a couple of years ago when a specific Canadian feral was brought here and invited to stay by me," the Professor said with a smile and looked at them. "You said the exact same things about Logan year ago. That he was dangerous, that he couldn't be trusted and was a risk, that he shouldn't be here and was maybe sent by Magneto to fool us or trick us into a trap. As far as I can remember it didn't happen, am I right?"

"You can't compare this!" Ororo disagreed. "Logan wasn't our enemy, just a mutant that we found. Daken was with our enemies for years and he worked for them. How often did he come here just to attack Logan? He tried to kidnap Jamie, he nearly killed Logan in Canada and in the garden, he attacked Hank and Raven, he…"

"…was proven not to have been the mutant that attacked them in the end, Ororo," Charles said and received confused looks. "Moira found out that it wasn't Daken who attacked you in Sinister's facility, but one of the Wolverine clones Sinister has created. We were tricked into believing that it was Daken, but a genetic analysis showed that it wasn't him."

"When did that happen?!" Hank asked surprised. "The genetic analysis I made has proven that it was Daken."

"I don't know how Sinister did it, but it was a clone. Not Daken. I think Sinister wanted Logan to know that he had a son," Charles replied and began to steeple his fingers. "Daken was trained into being the same dangerous killer Logan was made into. I doubt Sinister would throw him into the frontline without a specific plan…"

"There it was," Scott said and held his stomach, "dangerous. You said it yourself."

"I can assure you, Scott, that Logan is as dangerous as Daken is. It only needs a well timed psychic attack on him and he can be tricked into killing us all. We wouldn't even notice him coming before it's too late," Charles said sternly. "I don't know much about Daken, but I doubt he's as dangerous as Logan is. Logan is too skilled and well trained in black-ops as that we should underestimate him. You haven't seen at all what he's really capable of… So don't make the mistake of thinking that he's not a threat anymore…" He met Jean's gaze briefly. "Daken's guard was down for a brief moment and I can assure you that he's confused about his own actions. He doesn't know himself why he's helped Jack…"

"But how do you want to make sure that he doesn't attack us?" Ororo asked him. "I hardly sleep at night, since I'm scared for my children's life…"

"What am I supposed to say?" Jean asked and looked at her. "He's in our rooms… I create blocks on each door before I go to sleep…"

"I wanted to ask him if he would mind moving into the free room downstairs. I think it would be better for him too," the Professor said and saw how his X-Men shook their heads. "Daken trust us as much as we trust him… Don't forget that he's alone, he has nowhere else to go. And think about how Logan feels." He looked up when he felt someone approaching the door. "You can come in, Daken," he said and the door was opened only a second later.

"What do you want?" the man grunted and crossed his arms, took his time to give all of them a mistrustful look before he stepped aside to let the Professor through.

"I'd like you to follow me, please?"

Clearly unhappy about being bossed around, Daken followed him and buried his hands in his pockets. "Follow you where?" he asked after a moment.

"First of all, I'd like to give you a tour," Charles said with a kind smile and wheeled down the corridor, "and then I'll show you to your room."

"Who said I'm going to stay?" the man behind him growled and looked at the man with cold eyes.

"Where else would you want to go?"

Daken rolled his eyes and continued to follow Charles, as he heard noises behind him and turned his head. To his surprise Jack stopped next to them and grabbed his arm.

"Where're you going?"

"I just show him around, Jack, but perhaps you want to join the tour?" the Professor asked kindly and watched how Daken tried to pull his hand free to which the boy held onto.

"Don't you have anything to do?" the feral growled annoyed, displeased with Jack clinging to him.

"No. Mommy and daddy are gone and I'm scared alone," the boy sulked and grabbed the man's hand even tighter.

"Nothing to be scared about…," Daken mumbled and followed the Professor again, as Jack held up both hands. "What?!"

"I assume he wants to be carried," the Professor said and tried to hide his smile.

"He can walk, can't he?"

"He's just suffered a trauma and needs to feel protected, Daken. It's a normal reaction…"

Rolling his eyes, the man pulled Jack up in the end and growled when the boy wrapped his arms around his neck. "Don't choke me!" Daken grunted and, looking pissed off as ever, continued following the bald men, picturing what he could do by just extracting his claws at the right moment. "You know that I could kill you right here and now, right?" he asked.

"Yes, I do," Charles nodded.

"And that doesn't scare you?"

"No, it doesn't…"

"Why?" Daken asked, his face expressionless.

"Because I know that you won't do it, Daken. As I said…you don't have anywhere to go," the Professor replied calmly.

"Why would you want to kill grandpa?" Jack asked and raised his head that had rested on Daken's shoulder.

"Everything's alright, Jack. Don't you worry," Charles said and smiled at him soothingly. "The room over there is yours, if you want to. I doubt the couch is a permanent solution. It has an own bathroom and you'll find some clothes in the wardrobe. The kitchen is right down the hall and…"

"Our rooms are close by," Jack noticed and the bald man nodded.

"Exactly," Charles went on. "Let's continue, shall we?" he asked and wheeled down the corridor. "We have a gym that can be used to work out or for martial arts. Logan wanted specific mats for this so that he can give his classes. You are free to use the room and the showers of course. The garden has several sports fields for soccer, baseball, basketball and rugby and track and field. The pool and volleyball field can be reached through the backdoor in the kitchen. On the east side of the mansion are stalls with horses. You are free to use them too. The third floor has a library with international books, the playroom and rec-room are on the same floor we are on now. We usually eat together with the students each Sunday and on holidays in the dining hall, on Christmas we use it as the ball room." The Professor smiled since it was too easy for him to pick up on Daken's annoyance. "You're not used to be treated like this, am I right?" he asked him and the man looked away. "Logan was the same when he arrived here, you know. He wasn't used to people welcoming him or caring for him, preferred to be alone and stay away from others."

Daken gave a brief laugh. "You think you can change me into my old man?" he asked and noticed that Jack had fallen asleep against him. "You can't change me, because I neither care for your lot here or for my old man!"

Charles stopped and turned his head to look at him. "Then why did you help Jack? It was your chance to take revenge on Logan and to lure him into a trap, but you didn't do it. Why?" he demanded to know, but there was no reply. "You protected Jack instead, you also didn't make use of your chance in the wood to kidnap him months ago… And you know that you could have used the children to lure Logan away from us. You know he would do anything to protect his children and even give himself up, but you failed to use your chance, still you claim that you hate all of them. Strange, don't you think?"

"What the hell do you know, old man?" Daken growled and narrowed his eyes.

"I know that you had the same hard life than you father and that yours was built upon the same lies as his. Logan didn't murder your mother, Daken…"

"Yes, I know… And he also didn't know that I existed and all the other stuff that you keep on saying," Daken mocked. "Time to change the disc…"

Charles heaved a deep breath and held his opposite's gaze. "I hope you realize your chance here…"

"Chance?" Daken asked arrogantly. "What chance? There's no such thing as chance."

"I meant the chance to have a home, Daken, friends, a family…"

"I don't need such things!"

The Professor nodded sadly. "I see… Anyway, feel free to use the kitchen when you're hungry. I asked Kitty to drop everything you might need in your room. I hope to see you at dinner, you already skipped breakfast and lunch."

Daken watched how the man turned around. "Hey, what about him?" he asked with a nod at Jack, who had his arms still wrapped around his neck and was deeply asleep.

"Since he has trouble sleeping, I think it would be best for him to be put down in a bed," Charles replied while he was heading down the corridor, much to Daken's displeasure, since he was stuck with the boy.

"Great…," he cursed and thought about where to put Jack, as he decided to go to the West Wing. The rooms were empty and he guessed that the dogs were on the outside with the others. He went straight for the twins' room where he put the boy into his bed and turned to leave again.

"Where are you going?" Jack mumbled and looked at him tiredly.

"Back downstairs, why?" Daken asked annoyed and looked back at him.

The boy sat up. "Stay here…"

"Why?!"

"I don't want to be alone… I'm scared!" Jack said and held onto his pillow.

The man shrugged. "Then go to your mom or to some friend or whatever…" Daken shrugged and went to leave, not reckoning with Jack following him. "What do you want?!" he asked in complete annoyance and glared at him, whereas the boy looked back at him pleadingly. "Go to someone else and leave me alone! I mean it!"

"But what if they come back?!" Jack sobbed when Daken was already half on his way downstairs.

"They won't!" the man grunted.

"How can you be so sure?!" the boy asked angrily and slumped down on the ground to pull his legs close and began to cry into his arms in despair. He woke up every night since four days because the beast was back with the knife and wanted to cut him into pieces. It didn't help either that he could sleep in his parents' bed or that his father had come over into his room and had fallen asleep in his bed. The fear was too strong as that he could forget about it. He hated to be alone and hadn't left the mansion during the last days, except his father was with him… Sniffing, he looked up when a wet snout nudged him and Jack wrapped his arms around Miloh, who licked over his head and waved his tail.

"Did you hurt him?!" Jean asked angrily and ascended the stairs quickly to check on her son.

"No, he's crying because he's scared," Daken spat and pushed himself away from the wall against which he had leant. "I guess I can finally go…," he added and went downstairs.

"Did he hurt you, baby?" Jean asked her son concerned and looked for any injuries, her hand stroking through the boy's hair.

"No…," Jack sniffed and pulled his head away. "Why are you always so mean to him?!" he demanded to know.

She sighed and got up again. "He's dangerous, Jack!"

"No, he's not! He helped me!"

"Just because he did, doesn't mean he's not dangerous," she tried to explain. "You shouldn't forget that he tried to kidnap Jamie and hurt daddy… He's not your friend."

"But he's my brother!" Jack replied and gave her an angry look, while he was still crying. "Daddy said a family has to stick together and you're always mean to him, you don't like him!"

Jean shook her head at a loss of words. "You look tired… Why don't you try to sleep a bit?" she suggested, but he shook his head. "Baby, you haven't slept for more than a couple of hours in the past nights… You must be tired."

"No…," he snapped and glared at the opposite wall, while he still held onto Miloh.

Jean sighed. "Are you hungry then?" she asked, but once more he blocked off by turning his head away from her. She knew it was useless to talk to him right now. "Why don't you go and play with Isa or your siblings?"

"No…," Jack growled and got up, calling for Miloh to come with him.

"Jack, stay away from him!" Jean called after him, but the boy was already gone. She ran a hand through her hair and went back into her rooms to get some work done. She smiled as she reached the bathroom and saw the note attached to the mirror, which said:

_Floors and bathroom are clean. Need a work-out. Will be back for dinner. Love ya. L_

_PS: Make sure the cubs don't pee on the floor again, or I'll skin them alive!_

Stroking over the note lovingly, Jean put it into her pocket and went into the bedroom to do the laundry, just to find another note attached to the wardrobe.

_Laundry's done too, darlin'. Love, L_

"I know what you're up to, mister…," Jean mumbled smiling and put the second note away too, as there was a knock on the door. Frowning and hoping that it wasn't Daken, she went over and opened it just to widen her eyes in surprise. "Dad…?" she asked and was completely taken aback.

"Sweetheart," John Grey said, dropped his bag and embraced her tightly. "God, I'm so, so sorry… I got your letter three weeks ago and we didn't have a phone nearby," he told her and cupped her face with a sad look. "I'm so sorry for what happened. It must be horrible for you…"

Jean frowned and confusion was mirrored on her face. "What are you talking about?" she asked and beckoned him to sit down on the couch.

"Your letter," he said and pulled it out of his pocket. "We were working up in the mountains in China. I didn't get it sooner and couldn't contact you right away."

When she saw the letter, she covered her mouth with her hand in shock. "Oh God…"

"I know," he nodded and took her hand, his eyes full of sympathy. "I'm sorry, Jean… I really am."

"No, dad…" Jean got up to walk a bit before she turned back around, her hands in her hair and her mind still trying to deal with the shock. "I totally forgot to call you…"

"Call me?" John asked in confusion and held up the letter. "You've written…"

"Yes, I wrote the letter after the funeral…," she replied and gave him an apologetic look. "So much has happened afterwards that I totally forgot to call you and tell you about Logan…"

"But I already know that he's dead…," he said, frowning. "What else did you want to tell me?"

Jean sat back down next to him and took his hand. "Logan was dead for a month and when he came back…"

"Came back?!" John asked.

"His healing factor prevents him from dying. I thought he had died for good because our enemy drained him completely from his mutation and he was human when he died," she explained, but knew he was confused. "I still don't know if his mutation has kicked back in or what else was responsible for it. It usually does to keep him alive…"

"So…" He looked for the right words. "You…exhumed him? How did you even know that he was alive when you buried him?!"

"I heard him in my head… He woke up in the coffin and panicked, so I used my powers and got him out of there with the help of Scott and Hank," she explained and he leant back with a shake of his head.

"I can't believe what I hear…"

"I know…" Jean nodded and kneaded her hands. "I was shocked too…"

"How is he then? That must have been a trauma for him," John asked concerned and she shrugged.

"He doesn't want to talk about it. But he still doesn't sleep well at night…"

He nodded. "Why didn't you call me then? I felt horrible since I couldn't get away from work that fast to help you here."

"I'm sorry, but there was too much going on…," Jean replied and lowered her gaze. "Logan was the carrier of a virus that our enemies created and since he was too weak after coming back, he got sick and infected all males in the mansion, except for the ferals."

"A virus?" John asked and she nodded.

"Our enemies called it Legacy and it wouldn't have made him sick, if he hadn't already been so weak," she said and turned the rings on her finger. "We lost two students and if we hadn't gotten our hands on the cure, I don't know if anyone of them would have survived. Well, and afterwards…Logan and I needed to work on the problems we had…"

This caught his attention and he bent forward a bit to have a better look at his daughter. "You had problems?"

"Yes, pretty serious ones, but they were based on a misunderstanding. I can't explain it, since we still don't know what has happened, but we talked and we're completely fine again," she assured him and John nodded.

"Good to know that," he said and brushed her hair back, returned the smile she was given. "Well, after the short visit last time when I heard you were suddenly alive again," he went on and she smiled in embarrassment, "I actually packed enough for three weeks…" They looked at his bag.

"Then you're here for Jamie's birthday," Jean smiled and he nodded.

"On the 15th, right?" John asked and she nodded. "That's in three days already… Time surely flies…"

"Yes it does…"

"So where's everyone and what else has happened since the last time I visited?" he asked. "Usually a whole bunch of things happen around here…"

"How about a tea or coffee downstairs and I'll tell you?" she offered and he nodded smiling.

"Sounds good to me."

* * *

"Why don't you understand me?!"

"Because I don't!" Narya shot back angrily and gave John a desperate look. "What is so bad about it?!"

Groaning in frustration, he ran both hands through his dark hair and squeezed the back of his nose. "I just don't want it, okay?"

"And I don't have a right to know why?" she asked aloud. "I just don't want it is not a reason!"

"What is wrong with you lately?!" he asked and tried not to sound too angry. "It worked before, why do you come up with that all of a sudden?!"

She got up to face him and wiped her tears away angrily. "Because I always wanted to have a baby, that's why! And to me it's natural to want one with the man I love, I'm sorry if it's different in your little, male universe!" she shouted and received a warning growl from him.

"Now you're being unfair!"

"I'm not! It's you who behaves like a moron!"

"Because I don't want a baby?!" John asked, his face a mask of anger.

"Yes!" Narya yelled and he heaved a deep breath.

"Would you stop yelling, please?!" he asked through clenched teeth and glared at her. "Just explain for a second why you come up with it now? I don't get it!"

"Why?" she asked provokingly. "You don't give me a reason, so I don't owe you one either!" She turned to look out of the window. Crying, but determined not to make a noise, she bit her lower lip hard, tears streamed down her face and she used the back of her hand to wipe them away once more.

John watched her for a moment and tried to calm his nerves before he would say or do something he'd regret. He still didn't know when their good mood had made such a drastic and wrong turn… "Look, I just don't want another child. I already have one…," he said after a long moment of silence.

"But I don't have one," he heard her saying and closed his eyes.

He knew it had been the wrong approach… "Narya, look…"

"I'm 36, John, I don't have that much time anymore in case you don't know, but women can't have children forever in contrast to you men," she sniffed and swallowed hard. "And I want a baby before it's too late for it…"

He held her gaze. "But I don't…," John said once more and watched in silence how she came closer to look at him with tears in her eyes, felt a stitch in his heart by seeing how sad she was.

"Then I can't stay with you…," was all Narya said and reached out to touch his cheek before she turned around and began to pack her things without saying another word.

He just stood there and watched her in shock. "You can't be serious…"

"I am…"

"Narya…," he said, but was at a loss of words. Speechlessly, he watched how she took the box with her things and walked over to him to open the door.

Reaching it, she shed more tears and it hurt her to see the look in his eyes. "I'm sorry…," she whispered and was out of the door before he was able to reach out to her.

John remained on the same spot and stared at the door in shock for minutes, he then walked over to the bed and sat slowly down on it. He couldn't believe what had just happened and still waited for her to come back, but knew she wouldn't… Cursing aloud, he threw the first thing he could grab against the opposite wall.

* * *

"Hey," Ororo greeted Forge briefly while she was cooking dinner with Hank's help. She was glad that she didn't have to cook for all students thanks to the break. Now she could try some harder receipts and didn't rely on noodles. "How was work?"

Forge huffed and sat down on a free stool. "Surprising…"

"How come?" Hank asked and clearly enjoyed the cooking.

"Probably one of his machines again…," she mumbled and read through the receipt again to make sure they hadn't forgotten about anything. "Hi Scott, feeling better?"

"No…," the man grunted and almost sounded like Logan by doing it.

"I told you not to get up," Hank said and looked at him.

"Well, one of us has to…"

"So Raven isn't feeling that good either?" Ororo asked worriedly.

Scott shook his head and had to sit down for a moment. "We took turns in emptying our stomachs…," he mumbled and pulled a face. "Do you have any painkillers?!"

"She is not getting any from me with the baby being inside of her," Hank said determined and heard Scott sighing.

"I need them!" he said and the furry mutant looked up, a frown visible on his face.

"I hope you stopped taking them after I told you…"

"Of course," Scott said shocked. "Hey, I'm not an addict, okay? My stomach just feels as if I'm torn apart and I need sleep!"

"Alright, I was just asking!" Hank said and went over to check on his friend as Forge blurted out the news of the day, as he thought.

"Did you know by the way that Logan is playing both sides of the fence?" he asked and all heads turned into his direction.

Ororo didn't know whether to laugh or throw something at him. "Who told you that shit?"

Forge leant back and crossed his arms. "I got it right from the source itself!"

"Logan told you he was bisexual?" Scott asked and noticed by saying how ridiculous the two words in the same sentence actually sounded.

"No, not he did. That new guy did."

"Jean-Paul?" Ororo asked and took over Hank's work while the man was doing a quick check-up on Scott and stirred in the pots. She saw how Forge nodded. "This is ridiculous, Forge, really!"

"Hey, Roro, he said it himself, okay?" the man said. "Jean-Paul said that he was with Logan for three months and didn't make a secret out of it that he was into his butt. And THEN…," he made a dramatic pause, "came Logan and he was quiet taken with seeing that new guy in the leather suit, his hand stroked over Jean-Paul's chest and then they both left, saying they needed a good work-out together since Jean didn't want to! So, who is making up things here, huh?" he asked and smiled when the other three exchanged looks in disbelief. "Who would have thought, hm? In the end it's Logan we're talking about here…"

"And you're sure you heard right?" Hank asked.

"Absolutely!"

"I doubt it," Ororo said but Scott shook his head. "What?"

"It actually explains why he handled Cherry and Angel so well… I told you he was flirting with them!"

She groaned. "Scott, Logan runs away as soon as Jeff is in close proximity and he hates how that guy comments on how good his butt looks in those jeans!"

"We were there with him, so it doesn't mean anything!" Scott replied and hissed when Hank accidentally touched his ribs, received an apology right afterwards. "Maybe Jeff is not Logan's type? Who knows…"

They looked at the door in silence when Logan came into the room and aimed for the fridge. His hair was still damp and he hadn't bothered to put on a shirt either, his jeans hanging dangerously low. "What?," he grunted as he noticed the staring contest.

"Where's Jean-Paul?" Forge asked and smiled sweetly at him, which earned him a cocked eyebrow.

"Still in the shower, why?" Logan asked and emptied half of the orange juice at once. His eyes switched from Hank to Scott to Ororo to Forge and back to Hank. "What?!"

"So how's the suit?" Forge asked next, still smiling.

"Okay, except for one thing."

"Which is?"

"Ya have t'change the fabric," Logan grunted and threw the empty bottle away.

"Why?" Forge asked, frowning.

"I couldn't grab him with my gloves from behind'n holdin' him the whole time through gets pretty tirin' after a while," the feral replied and once more his eyes scrutinized each one of them. He really wanted to know why they gave him the odd looks. In the end he decided to go looking for Jean and just left.

"See?" Forge said after he could hear a door closing and someone walking upstairs. "I told you so!"

"I'm actually too shocked to say something…," Ororo mumbled and shook her head. "Did he just hinted to…"

"…doing it in leather? Yeah!" Scott nodded and swallowed the pills Hank gave him. "Thanks."

"I wonder if Jean knows…," Hank only said and retreated to his pots again when Northstar entered next. He watched how the man rubbed the side of his head.

"Don't you have a shirt either?!" Forge asked, since the man too was wearing his jeans only.

"It's soaked," Jean-Paul mumbled and took a Coke out of the fridge to cool the side of his head.

"What happened?" Ororo asked out of interest and her eyes scanned his body for any signs.

"I banged my head on the floor…"

"During the _work out_?" Scott asked.

"Of course during it," the man replied and closed his eyes for a minute. "And remind me to tell Logan not to grab me that hard the next time," he added while walking back to the door. "My hip still hurts…"

Speechless, Ororo's jaw dropped a bit and she exchanged a look with her friends. "I don't believe that…"

"Believe what?" Jubilee asked and entered from the backdoor, waited for Miloh, Callie and their puppies to follow her. "Did something happen?"

"Yeah, Logan is playing both leagues," Forge said before anyone could stop him.

"No way!" she said and slammed her fist into the other hand. "I got him a shirt from his favorite Canadian team. It was so hard to get and now he likes the US hockey team, too?! That sucks!" She started sulking but noticed the looks. "What?"

"I meant…," Forge began, but he was cut off by Ororo.

"…nothing!"

"Of course I did," he replied and ignored the warning look she gave him. "Why are you looking at me like that?!" he asked and shook his head. "Logan's…"

"…upstairs," Scott finished, knowing that if Jubilee knew what they were talking about the news were only one step away from being aired on NBC worldwide.

"You…are weird. Seriously!" Jubilee made a disgusted face. "I wonder how I can be so normal with my former teacher being nuts," she mumbled and went over to the fridge to grab something to drink. "Hey Wolvie!"

"Hey, kid," Logan grunted and dragged Jean-Paul over to the fridge. "Usin' a Coke won't do," he said and rummaged in the fridge until he had found what he was looking for. He pulled the tin out of the man's hand and pressed the ice pack against his head. "Here."

"If you hadn't grabbed me that hard…"

"Ya would have hit yer head on the wall," Logan cut Jean-Paul of and pushed the hair away to have a look at the wound. "Let the Furball check on it."

"It's not that bad, Logan!" his opposite said and leant back against the kitchen isle, not seeing how Jubilee had her eyes fixed on Forge, a frown visible on her face, and how the man pointed at Logan first, then at Jean-Paul and made a heart with both hands next.

Her eyes instantly scrutinized both mutants and she shook her head, but Forge nodded and made another sign that indicated he swore he told the truth. "How did that happen?" she asked Jean-Paul out of interest and he turned to look at her.

"Work-out with the mean guy over there."

"Oh, c'mon! Ya wanted it!" Logan huffed and his friend chuckled.

"Yeah, I did. And it was good, but you have a tendency to switch back into brutal habits." He patted Logan's back briefly. "I'll lie down a bit. See you later!"

"Brutal…," Logan sulked and left the room next to check on his children, since he hadn't seen them since breakfast.

"See?" Forge said to Jubilee, who was still frozen on the spot. "And I got proof!"

"This is…," she said and walked slowly to the door. "This is…dooms day! Yeah, that's it! The apocalypse is coming! How can Wolvie do this to me?!" she asked and pulled a face. "Especially with him! My bet was on the Boyscout…"

"Hey, leave me out of it!" Scott warned her.

"It was you who dragged Wolvie into a gay bar, so it's your fault!" Jubilee accused him and left to spread the news.

"Forge… I'd like to kill you!" Ororo said in a very slow voice and received a confused look from the man. "Do you have any idea what you've done by telling her from all people?!"

"Ehm…no?!" he said and shrugged.

"I'll go and switch on the telly. The news should be on NBC already," Scott said and got slowly up, still holding his stomach. "Don't wait for me with dinner, I'll skip."

"You sure?" Hank asked.

"Yeah. I already now the insides of my toilet by heart. I don't need to see any more of it today," Scott replied and left.

Forge had his arms crossed and frowned. "Why NBC?!" he asked and, while Hank sighed, Ororo groaned aloud. "What?!" he asked.

**I actually planned a different ending, but the chapter would become too long, so I'll stop here. I hope the double meaning of the sentences in the Forge scene were obvious. A friend of mine came up with the idea after she found an article that stated what Chris Clearmont had planned with Logan and he had intended for Logan to really be into both genders, but Marvel was against it. So she asked if I couldn't write a scene in which this is mentioned. I hope she'll like it.**

**I wish all of you a great NEW YEAR!! I can't believe it's already over. It sure was over too fast… I hope you liked the chapter. Thanks to all reviewers!! Wishes, suggestions are always welcome. Please review!! See ya!**


	48. Chapter 45

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

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**I don't know if the problem is on my site, but I keep on getting Alerts that the chapter has been posted, but then it sometimes shows up, then again it doesn't. Oo**

**I hope you guys don't have the same problem. :(**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 45**

When Logan awoke he felt unusually rested and was, which was also most unusual for him, in a good mood. He ran a hand over his face and stretched, did what he always did afterwards and turned around to look at his wife, just to frown. Compared to how he felt she looked like the exact opposite.

"Don't even dare to ask…," Jean said in a husky voice and opened a tired eye.

"Sick?"

"I said don't even dare to ask…," she growled when he reached out to touch her cheek and pulled the blanket over her head.

"No wonder… Ya hardly slept'n ate, ya were in stress…," he listed and she pulled the blanket down again to glare again. "What?"

"Start with your healing factor and you'll fly through that window…," she grunted and pulled the blanket aside, but he grabbed her arm quickly.

"Where exactly do ya think yer goin', darlin'?"

"Jamie's birthday is tomorrow, Logan, I still have…," she began but he cut her off and shook his head.

"Ya don't have t'do anythin' besides lyin' down'n sleepin'!" he insisted, pulled her back down and wrapped her into the blanket again. "The others will help'n the kids can do somethin' too, they're old enough."

Jean watched how he got up and pulled on some pants. She sniffed and began to rummage in the nightstand for some tissues, thought her head was about to explode. "You can't bake…"

"No, but I can read, right?" Logan replied and threw a new package of tissues over to her. "Don't ya dare'n get up!" he said before he went downstairs to get something to eat for her.

"Morning, Logan!" Hank greeted him cheerfully and placed a plate with fresh pancakes on the kitchen isle. He watched how the man began to make tea and fill a plate with food. "Breakfast in bed?"

"No…," Logan grunted and stole some pancakes for himself. "Jean's sick."

"She is?" Ororo asked surprised and saw him nodding.

"Well I actually thought this would happen after the stress of the past days…," Hank said. "She gets sick pretty fast when she's in too much stress and doesn't sleep a lot." He noticed the look Logan gave him. "What?"

"I'm her husband…"

"So?"

"Why do ya tell me somethin' I know? I didn't marry her yesterday, ya know?" Logan said and gave the tea an annoyed look since it was still not ready. When his children entered the room and greeted him with a kiss, he gave them the shock of the day. "I want ya t'clean up yer rooms later'n then ya gonna help me with preparin' Jamie's birthday tomorrow."

"What?" Lily asked and pulled a face, since she had other plans. "Why?!"

"We wanted to go to the pool, daddy!" Laura sulked, but her father cocked an eyebrow at them.

"Coz mommy's sick'n needs to rest'n I say so, that's why," he grunted and put the tea on the tray next before he took it into his hands. "Yer old enough'n can help with things. Do it quickly'n ya still have enough time t'play."

Watching him leaving, the children exchanged a look and went on sulking. "That sucks!" Lily growled and began to kill her pancakes with the fork.

"Still your dad is right, dear," Ororo said and stroked over her head. "Your mom is sick and you can help."

"Still it sucks!" Laura grunted and glared at her plate in best Wolverine-style.

Upstairs Logan put the tray next to Jean and reached out to touch her forehead and cheeks. "It's cold….," she said, shivered and began to sip on the tea.

"It's already damn hot outside, darlin'…," he said and got up to get two additional blankets for her. After tucking her in and sitting back next to her to place a kiss to her forehead, he looked aside when the cubs stormed into the room, barking and begging for attention. "Food… Right," he grunted and got up again. "Be right back," Logan said and told their pets to follow him to the kitchen. As usual he nearly fell down the stairs since Miloh, Callie and their cubs had to storm past him, happy about getting something to bite.

"Woah!" Bobby made and jumped aside as they stormed into the kitchen next and nearly ran him over. He watched how Logan began to prepare their food, the animals so happy about it that they kept on jumping up and down and tried to reach the food first. Bobby only waited for them to bite into one of Logan's legs next.

"Sit!" the feral said aloud and to the X-Men's surprise all of them, even the cubs, obeyed instantly.

"You have them trained well…," John Grey said impressed and watched the animals eating while his son-in-law emptied a bottle with juice. "Do you need help with anything later?"

"Yeah, wrappin' the presents."

Rogue laughed. "And you better help him with it!" she said and received a glare and growl. "In his case unwrapped gifts look way better than wrapped ones."

"It's not _that _bad!" Logan grunted but she nodded.

"It is, right Remy?"

"Oui," the man replied while chewing on his breakfast. "'e's trés bad. Remy still remembers da Christmas gift 'e made you…"

"Yeah, yeah, that's enough, Cajun!" Logan growled. "Mornin', Paul."

"Morning," Northstar greeted back and sat down on his stool, noticing the change of mood and looks he was given. "Something wrong?"

"No, why?" the feral asked and stole some more pancakes, one of which Miloh snatched out of his hand. "Ya freakin' dog!" he cursed but the wolf wagged his tail happily. "Go chew on some shoes that ain't mine!"

"Do we have to help, daddy?" Lily asked whiningly and tried her best puppy-dog-eyes look on him.

"Yeah, ya have t'!" Logan replied and swallowed his breakfast while he leant against the fridge. "'n that look won't work."

"But I don't want to!"

"'n I don't care."

"We wanted to go swimming," Laura tried to help her sister.

"'n again, I don't care," Logan said and it was no secret to him how annoyed they were. "Ya can spare an hour of yer lives, right?"

"But we…," Lily began but was cut off.

"I got it, alright, still ya goin' t'help 'n will tidy up yer rooms," he replied not hiding his annoyance.

"This sucks!" she said angrily and returned the glare she was given.

"Stayin' inside the whole day will suck more, trust me," Logan warned her. "Consider it my last warnin'!" he added, but knew she had understood it. While he remained where he was and sent the children upstairs for their work, he noticed that Daken was once more missing. "Who's at the pool later?"

"We'll be there," Kitty said and he nodded.

"We'll keep an eye on those rugrats," Peter assured him.

"Thanks," Logan replied and put some pancakes on a plate, took some juice out of the fridge and went to knock on Daken's door. It didn't take long for him to get the reply he had expected.

"Fuck off!"

"Ya need t'eat somethin'," Logan said but of course there was no reply. "Fine, I'll leave it in front of the door," he said in the end and placed the two things on the ground. Inside the kitchen he could hear the cubs having their usual howling competition and went back to let them go into the garden with their parents. "Have an eye on'em, will ya?" he said to Kitty and nearly ran into Forge. When the man made a huge step around him, he cocked an eyebrow at him. Since two days some of his teammates just behaved strangely when he was around and he really began to wonder why. They were watching him nearly the whole time through, especially when Northstar was in the same room or asked stupid questions. Not wanting to think about it, he went back upstairs to start with his work.

"So, how can I be of help?" his father-in-law asked and looked at him expectantly.

"Ya could wrap those gifts. It's no secret that I suck in it," Logan grunted and went back into the bedroom. "Ya done?" he asked Jean calmly and saw that she had already taken some medicine.

"Hey, sweetheart," John greeted his daughter and gave her a worried look.

"Hey…," she greeted back tiredly and looked up when Logan bent down to kiss her.

"Sleep, okay?" he said and cooled the cloth she had gotten for herself in the bowl again, before he put it back on her forehead and tucked her in again.

"Mhm…," she made sleepily and pulled her pillow closer, heard how he took the bag with the gifts out of the wardrobe and closed the door to the bedroom.

"Here." Logan handed his opposite the bag and went over to the desk to search for the rest.

Watching him, John Grey heard the children rummaging in their rooms and telling each other to hurry up. He looked aside when Logan handed him everything he needed to wrap the gifts and watched how he went over to Jamie's room next to wake the boy. From the way the child looked it had just woken up and was more than displeased with the interruption. That became obvious when Logan announced a bath. "Poor boy…," John chuckled and began to wrap the gifts.

"Ray?" Lily barked and waited for the redhead to come over to their room. "I can't reach the box!"

The man watched how the little redhead used her powers to get the box from the wardrobe, which flew slowly to the ground and then back up, after Lily had put the things into it. "Impressive…"

"What?" Logan asked and put a still sniffing Jamie on the couch to dress him properly. "Hold still, kiddo," he said but the boy once more managed to throw his diaper away, much to his father's displeasure.

"No diaper!"

"Fine, then pee into yer pants, I don't care," Logan grunted and went on dressing him. "Ya know where yer potty is, so use it."

"You mean, daddy!" Jamie pouted and gave him a look that spoke volumes.

"Yeah, 'n I like it!" his father replied, pulled him up so that the boy was horizontal in his arms and growled into his belly until Jamie squealed in joy. "Hungry?"

"Yeah… Give me food!"

"Give me food?" John asked laughing.

Confused the boy looked at him. "Peaaaaase?" he asked.

"Tryin' t'win the cuteness contest again, huh?" Logan asked, shaking his head. "Then c'mon." While he was taking Jamie downstairs for breakfast, John kept on wrapping the gifts and the children left their rooms after considering them clean.

"Where's daddy?" Rachel asked her grandfather and watched what he was doing.

"Downstairs in the kitchen, but he should be right back."

"Is mommy sleeping?" Laura asked and next.

"I think so," John Grey shrugged and put the second package away. "Where's your brother?"

"Sitting on the bed. He's afraid to go outside," Rachel told him and it made him frown.

"Why?"

Laura looked around and leant in as if she was about to tell the biggest secret possible. "Because he was kidnapped and some really bad men tortured him," she whispered and nodded heavily as the man furrowed his brows even further. "And now he's afraid to go outside without daddy."

"Is that so?" John asked and they nodded in unison.

"Can we go, daddy?" Lily asked impatiently when Logan came back. Seeing his cocked eyebrow, she groaned. "We tidied up and put the laundry away!"

Skeptically, since he knew his children, Logan put Jamie down and went over to their rooms to make a thorough check-up, knelt down to look under their beds and opened their wardrobe and drawers carefully, knew that they loved to throw everything inside and it was their parents that got buried underneath everything. "Hm…," he made in surprise. "Where did ya hide yer stuff?"

"We put it away!" Lily pouted and crossed her arms in sheer protest of being accused of sloppiness.

"She even asked Ray to get the box from the top of the wardrobe," John Grey assured him.

"They've their tricks, ya know?" Logan grunted, but couldn't find anything. "Fine, then go t'the pool, but yer not goin' t'swim without an…"

"…adult being close by," his daughters replied and nodded, ran into their rooms to get their things.

"And yer back inside for dinner!" Logan called after them, but the door went already shut. He heaved a deep breath and shook his head. "Kids…"

"What about Jack being kidnapped and tortured?!" John Grey asked and the feral cocked an eyebrow at him. "Where did they get that story from?"

"It ain't a story…"

"What?!"

Telling him the short version, Logan realized that his son was still in his room and went over to check on him. "Yer not goin' t'the pool?"

"No…," Jack grunted and pulled his legs closer.

"Jack, yer not alone, alright? The others are with ya, so nothin' will happen t'ya," he said and sat down next to his son, who shook his head. "C'mon… Ya can't stay inside all the time." Reaching out, he stroked through Jack's messy hair and gave him a worried look. "I'd go with ya, but I don't have the time today. Why don't ya ask yer uncle?"

"Can't Daken come with me?"

Logan sighed and withdrew his hand. "I don't think he wants ta, ya know?"

"Because everyone hates him…," the boy growled and glared at the shelves opposite of him.

"He did some things that were just wrong. And he doesn't regard us as his family." Seeing the look of the boy, he shrugged. "Ya can ask him, but I doubt he wants t'come. I just don't want ya t'expect too much, alright?" he asked, received a nod and watched how Jack got off the bed to leave. He quickly placed the pillow back and got up, thinking about what else needed to be done. He groaned when he remembered that he still needed a cake. He couldn't bake for shit…

While Logan leant over the kitchen isle and thumbed through the pages of a book on his search for a cake, he asked himself why he couldn't just buy one like normal people did. No, of course it was tradition that their children only got self-made cakes. He guessed this year was probably the last time, since they would definitely die of food poisoning because of him…

"Oh God, you're trying to bake?!" Northstar asked with a look over Logan's shoulder. "Do you want your kids to die from food poisoning?"

Looking up, Logan gave him a look. "Thanks…"

"You can't bake, Logan. That's no secret!" the man shrugged and put the ice tea back into the fridge. "What do you need a cake for anyway?"

"Jamie turns two tomorrow," Logan grunted and sighed after reaching the end of the book. "How do woman manage to use this piece of shit?" he asked and pushed the book away.

"By reading," his friend replied and frowned when he looked into the garden. "Who is that with your son?" he asked, Logan looked up and followed Jean-Paul's nod.

"He managed t'talk him into it…?" the feral mumbled and was clearly surprised.

"Who is he? I haven't seen him before…"

"Daken," Logan said and decided to go through the book again.

Seeing it, Northstar shook his head. "Why don't you make a simple chocolate cake? Every child loves chocolate and it's easy to make," he suggested and received a cocked eyebrow. "What?"

"Don't tell me ya belong t'the Scooter species…"

"To the what?!"

"Scooter species," Logan repeated and closed the book again.

"What's that supposed to be?!" Jean-Paul asked frowning.

"Men like Scott that can bake," the feral explained and his opposite chuckled.

"It's not that hard, Logan, really!"

"Well, Sherlock, then tell me how to make that chocolate cake," Logan demanded, crossed his arms and gave him an expectant look.

"That's easy. First step, buy the things you need," Northstar shrugged and was about to go to the backdoor, as Logan aimed for the other door.

"'kay, then c'mon 'n put on a shirt."

Jean-Paul froze. "What?!"

"Do I know what stuff I need t'buy? No! So yer comin' with me. Get goin'!" Logan said and waited for him to do so. "Today would be nice."

"Hey, it's you who has to bake, not me!"

"But ya know how, so yer gonna help me," the feral grinned.

Groaning, Northstar let go of the doorknob and went to get a shirt. Downstairs he joined Logan again and gave him an annoyed look. "You destroyed my plans for today, I hope you know that!"

"Aww…," Logan teased and aimed for the garage.

"Where're you going?" Ororo asked and held the post in her hand, eyed the two men curiously.

"Shopping," Jean-Paul replied and was dragged down the corridor from Logan, who wanted to hurry up.

"Shopping?!" she asked and her jaw dropped slightly.

"Who goes shopping?!" Hank asked and smiled at his adopted son when this one yawned. "Someone's tired, hm?"

"Logan and Jean-Paul," Ororo answered his question and followed him down the corridor. "They go shopping together… I really wonder if Jean knows…"

"Who knows…," Hank shrugged and pulled Nick higher. "Do you intend to visit Jean later?"

"Yes, why?"

"Give her those, will you?" He handed her a bottle with some pills. "Logan said theirs were old. Is that for me?" He nodded at a magazine and she quickly looked at it.

"No, it's for your wife. Do you think I can risk handing it out to you?" Ororo joked and he sighed.

"I don't know, Ororo, I don't know… It might get lost," Hank replied with a smile and took the magazine from her. "I see you later. Nick needs a nap."

"Mhm…," she made and went through the post, just to stop in surprise as she realized one letter was for her. Her heart nearly skipped a beat when she read who had sent it and she sat down in the kitchen to open the letter with shaking hands.

"Hey…," Narya greeted Ororo, her mood being far from being good and watched how the weather goddess read through a letter first and looked at a picture next. Thinking of it as not unusual, she began to feel worried as she saw the tears on her friend's cheeks. "Hey, what's wrong?!" Narya asked and sat down next to her. When she saw the picture, she knew what was wrong. "Oh…"

"He's grown, hasn't he?" Ororo laughed and sniffed at the same time, her eyes never leaving the picture and she bit her lip hard.

"Taylor looks like you… Except for the hair color…," Narya said and noticed the look the woman next to her had in her eyes. "You regret giving him up, don't you?" she asked carefully and wondered why the woman shook her head. "Why? He's your son!"

"I know that… Of course it hurts, but I know that he's better of with James and Heather. He's safe with them…," Ororo explained calmly and swallowed hard while she stroked over the picture. "Especially safe from his father…" She heaved a deep breath and wiped her tears away. "Why are you not at the pool with John?" she asked and met Narya's gaze, frowned when the woman looked quickly away. "Something wrong?"

"We… I left him…"

You…what?!" Ororo asked shocked and swirled around on her stool. "Why?! You were so happy with each other!"

"I know…," the blonde next to her sniffed and bit her lower lip hard.

"Then what happened that you left him?"

Narya shrugged and took the picture from her to have a look at it. "I told him that I want a baby and he blocks completely off. The only thing he said was that he doesn't and he can't even give me a reason why…," she told her and tears ran down her cheeks. "I can't be with him if he can't give me what I want… It might sound ridiculous, but…" She shrugged.

"I see…" Ororo nodded. "It's weird actually…"

"I know," Narya nodded. "He loves his daughter and likes children," she said and shrugged. "Maybe…maybe it's me. Maybe…he can't imagine having some with me."

"No, he loves you… It must have another reason…" Thinking about it, Ororo looked up when the blonde got up and walked to the door.

"It's too late for that anyway," the woman said sadly and left, leaving Ororo to sigh and look back at the picture.

She wondered how her son behaved, what being with him was like and had to remind herself not to dive onto those thoughts too much. Sniffing, she stroked over the picture once more and put it back into the envelope, before she looked up and saw in surprise that Jack was on the outside with his siblings. Curiously, she went over to the window and stopped in shock when she realized what the reason for the boy being on the outside was. She didn't like it at all that it was Daken from all people, who sat under a tree and read a book, while the children played with Kitty, Jubilee, Rogue, Bobby and Kurt at the pool, the animals chasing each other around the sunny garden…

"Hi!"

Startled, Ororo turned around in time to see Northstar dropping a bag on the kitchen isle and she let out a loud breath in relief. "Oh, you went food shopping!"

"Sure, what did you think?!" he asked confused and put the chocolate quickly into the fridge.

"Where's Logan?"

"The car died down and he's probably still pushing it down the street," he explained and it was then that she noticed he was short of breath. "He wanted me to run ahead before the chocolate would have melted. He obviously doesn't know that it has to be melted anyway…"

"Don't tell me he wants to bake…," Ororo said, the shock mirrored in her face. "Hank should have given me pills for Jean's stomach instead…" She watched how he smiled and bit her lip briefly. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure," Jean-Paul shrugged and looked at her expectantly.

"Is it true you lived with Logan for three months?"

"Yeah…" He nodded, but frowned since he hadn't reckoned with it.

"I see…," Ororo said and felt how her heart made another leap in shock. "So…," she began, looked for the right words while she walked around the isle, "why only three months?"

"The snow, you know," he told her honestly and received another nod. "Is it so unusual?"

"Oh, no! No!" Ororo quickly said, but avoided his eyes as he noticed. "I'm just…surprised. That's all."

"Okay…" Northstar scratched the back of his head in confusion. "Well, I need to change my shirt. I'm soaked," he excused himself and left.

"Goddess, I can't believe that…," she cried and buried her face in her hands.

"Believe what?" Logan grunted and furrowed his brows. "Hey, where is he?!" he asked and growled. "Damned kid… If he believes he can hide…"

"Logan!" Ororo said before he was completely out of the door and he came back.

"What?!"

"Why did you never tell us?" she blurted out and he frowned.

"Tell ya what?"

"Well…about…Jean-Paul! Why did you never tell us?!"

Logan kept his eyes on her and tried to figure out what the hell she was talking about.

"I mean…it's a shock, but…we would have understood," Ororo tried, aiming for damage control.

"Oh, that!" he nodded, believing she was talking about Jeanne-Marie's death. "Well…I didn't want t'hurt him, ya know?"

"So, he's not over it?" Her eyes grew wide on his reply.

"'f course not. He's still hurtin' pretty bad," Logan said and leant back against the fridge. "I mean…such a shock ain't easy t'get over, ya know?"

"What about you?"

"Me?" He cocked an eyebrow at her.

Ororo nodded. "Are you…" She gesticulated with her hand and looked for the right choice of words. "Over…_it_?" Anxiously, she awaited his reply, watched how he thought about it.

"No… Can't say I am," he grunted thoughtfully. "I mean it's a different thing for me, ya know? The circumstances are different for him, but… It was a shock for me too. Such a thing needs time." He frowned when she gave him a look as if he had just hit her hard and cocked an eyebrow when she hugged him firmly.

"Still, you could have told us. There's no reason in hiding it," he heard her saying into his neck. "You're still our friend in the end."

Logan chuckled about that. "Well, I wouldn't consider ya my friend, if ya ended our friendship coz of that." He let go of her and walked to the door. "Anyway, I need a shower'n then t'find that damn kid. See ya."

Only nodding, she sighed and left the room, aimed straight for Scott's. "It's true!" she said depressed after he opened it and was surprised to find Hank in the room too.

"What's true?" the furry mutant asked and let go of Raven's wrist.

Ororo sat down on the edge of the bed and reached out to stroke over Raven's hair worriedly. "Still not feeling better?"

"Don't even ask…," the woman mumbled and held her stomach.

"Why don't you ask Bobby to cool the room a bit?"

"Already tried, it's too hot outside," Scott said and came out of the bathroom with a cooled cloth. "Here."

"Thank you," Raven said and cooled her face with it. "So what is true?" she asked after a moment and looked at Ororo expectantly.

"Logan and Jean-Paul were together for three months, they even lived together, but Paul couldn't take the cold weather and left Logan," Ororo said dryly and knew Raven would have laughed, if the woman weren't feeling so bad. "And…I heard it from Logan this time!" she added. "So it's true and they are both not over it!"

Scott whistled and looked at Hank, who shrugged and concentrated on his job. "Who would have thought…"

"It's sad that he thinks he has to hide it," Hank said and checked Raven's temperature. "Especially someone as self-assured as Logan…"

"Can someone please explain what's going on?!" the shapeshifter demanded and looked at each of them. "Logan had something with the new guy?" she asked and received nods. She switched her eyes to Ororo. "And he admitted that he's bi?! Just like that?"

"So it seems…" The Weather Goddess shrugged. "Anyway, I just wanted to let you know. I wanted to see how Jean's doing."  
"Are you going to tell her?" Scott asked when she opened the door.

"Let's say I'll try to find out if she knows what her husband is doing behind her back."

"Behind her back?!" Raven asked when the door went shut. "Logan is doing him behind Jean's back?!"

"We don't know…," Hank tried to soothe her. "I'd like to do an ultrasound to make sure the baby is fine. You haven't eaten a lot in the past days."

"How when she throws up most of the time?" Scott said and received a look next.

"You need to eat too. You lost too much weight!" the furry mutant insisted. "And since you have to help her downstairs, I'll take my chance and do a check up on you too."

"Great… I was actually happy that I finally feel a bit better, you know?" Scott sulked and helped Raven up.

When he lay on one of the beds later and endured the procedure, he remained silent and watched Moira taking blood from Raven. Scott couldn't hide that he was worried about her and the baby. Since the morning sickness began she was feeling like shit and he couldn't do anything to help her. "Ow!" he cried out and gave Hank a shocked look when this one withdrew the needle.

"Sorry!"

"Sorry?! That hurt!" he complained and rubbed his arm. "I'll do a quick analysis of yours and her blood. Moira will do the scan."

Nodding, Scott remained where he was and waited for Moira to start her job. His eyes were focused on the screen while she made an ultrasound and he didn't like her look at all. "Just tell me the truth…"

She looked briefly aside and tried to give him a smile. "I'll be right back," she said, waited for the printer to do its job and left the room to follow Hank.

"Great…"

"Did she find something?" Raven asked and turned her head to look at him.

"I guess so…," Scott mumbled and looked aside, noticed the worry in her eyes. "It'll be alright, okay? Don't worry!"

"Easier said than done…"

"I know," Scott sighed and looked up again when Moira came back without the picture and without Hank. "What did you find?!"

Smiling at him, she switched off the scanner and wiped the gel off his stomach carefully. "Hank needs to talk to you. He's in the lab," was all she said before she paid attention to Raven, who looked as scared as Scott suddenly did.

"What did you find?!" he demanded to know and sat up, too quickly as his stomach let him know instantly. While he clenched his teeth hard his hand pressed against the pain and his vision blackened for a moment. "Is…is it the virus?" he asked panting.

"No, it's not. Just go to Hank and do me a favor and don't make rush movements, please!" Moira said, sounding concerned. "Scott, are you alright?"

"Just give me a sec…," he whispered and stood slowly up, feeling dizzy, but forced himself to heave deep breaths. "Is he in the lab?"

"Yes," Moira nodded and watched him walking over to the door. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Not really…," he mumbled and left the room, leaving Raven looking at the now closed door worriedly.

"He's seriously sick, isn't he?" she asked Moira without looking at her and felt how tears began to gather in her eyes. She knew Magneto and Pyro would have a great laugh, if they could see how hormonal she was. The tiniest thing was enough to make her cry rivers lately, but knowing that she had a good reason now…

"Yes he is…," Moira sighed and got ready to perform another ultrasound. From the corner of her eyes she saw how the woman's head jerked into her direction and scared light blue eyes stared holes into her. "He's very sick…"

"Don't tell me he has…"

"No! As I said it's not a virus," Moira assured her and took her hand. "Just wait for Hank to discuss it with him, okay? You can't need any additional stress, think about the baby." She let go of Raven and turned towards the screen. "Then let's do the scan, shall we?"

* * *

While sitting next to his friend Hank waited for a reaction, but up to now everything Scott did was sitting hunched over on the stool next to him, holding his head lowered and keeping his hands buried in his hair. Other than that he didn't move at all. The furry mutant gave him a sympathetic look and read through the file again. He wasn't sure of what to say, knew that nothing could help to make the situation any easier for his friend. Hank looked up when he heard Scott sniffing and realized that the mutant had looked up, but wasn't looking at him.

"So what now?" Scott asked, his voice thick with tears.

"As I said…I can't give you the PEP meds anymore. Your body won't take this," Hank said and raised his hand quickly when his opposite buried his face in his hands once more. "Scott,…I told you before…"

"That I can't have any STD's?! How can you be so sure about it?" the X-Man nearly barked and pushed the stool away on which he had been sitting before. He had to heave deep breaths, his heart and nerves were completely out of control, he was scared, afraid beyond limits… Desperate and lost he leant his head against the first wall he reached and cried.

"Logan said that only one man did this to you, he wore a condom, Scott, and I did a thorough check-up on you after we arrived here and I noticed your injuries. I told you the PEP's were a precaution!" Hank tried to soothe him once more, but knew it was in vain, that his friend's thoughts were elsewhere. "Look," he said after a moment and went over to him to lie a hand on Scott's shoulder, "you won't die of HIV or anything like that, alright?"

Scott snorted. "No, I'll die of my liver failing me, thanks for the cheer up, Hank…"

"We still have a bit time!"

"You said it's not looking good!" Scott said and turned to look at him with a tear-stained face. "Raven is expecting a baby next year!"

Hank sighed heavily. "I know…," he mumbled and went back over to his stool, beckoning his friend to sit back down too. He quickly went through the file once more, tried to figure out a solution.

"How long?" he heard Scott asking in a broken voice and looked up.

"How long?"

"How long do I have without any treatment?" Scott demanded to know and stared at the ground, didn't like Hank's silence at all.

"Considering how much your liver has degraded in the past two weeks, the increase of pain, the way you were feeling in the past days and the changes in your blood…," Hank listed.

"Just say it, damn it!" Scott said through clenched teeth and lowered his head to bury his hands in his hair.

"My guess would be…"

"Hank!" he said angrily and looked up, his face a mask of anger and despair. The look in Hank's eyes was enough to make his heart stop beating.

"A month…maybe less," the furry mutant replied in barely more than a whisper and put the file down slowly. He endured the deadly and depressing silence for a moment before he got up and put his hands on Scott's shoulders. "Don't you dare to give up yet!" he warned him and made him look up. "We'll find a way!"

The X-Man gave a brief snort, felt as if he was watching himself from a corner of the room. "How?"

"Do you have any living relatives besides Alex? Someone that could work as a donor?" Hank asked and leant back against the table.

"My aunt would rather see me dying that helping me…"

"Why?"

"Because I'm a mutant," Scott spat.

"I see…," Hank sighed and crossed his arms. "Anyone else?" he asked but Scott shook his head.

"What about Alex?" he asked after a moment.

"He…doesn't match," his opposite replied and walked back around the desk to use the computer.

"He's my brother! How can he not match?!" Scott asked in confusion and realized what this meant. "If he doesn't match, no one else does, Hank!"

"We'll find a way…," the addressed insisted and saw out of the corner of his eyes how Scott shook his head.

"Don't be a fool… Just accept that this is it," he said darkly.

"No, it's not! I won't let you die!" Hank said harshly, determination mirrored in his face. "Just don't move around a lot, rest and drink a lot, I'll find a way! I just need more time."

Scott snorted. "Do you intend to buy a liver from the black market?" he asked sarcastically and shook his head. "Mutants are excluded from donor lists, you of all people should know that…" Realizing once more what this meant, he shook his head and ran a hand through his hair. How was he supposed to tell Raven…? "I wanted to ask her to marry me…," he admitted in a monotone voice and swallowed hard. "I finally got the guts to buy that darn ring after Logan kept on bugging me about it…" He sniffed. "And now I won't even see my second child…" Not even realizing that he was crying again, he suddenly felt how he was pulled against fur.

"I won't let you die…," Hank promised once more, but couldn't stop tears from gathering in his eyes too. In the end they were like brothers and had grown up together. "We still have time…," he mumbled and pulled Scott closer.

Raven looked up and knew from the look on Scott's face that something was wrong as the man returned. His smile was too faked and forced, his lips tasted salty when he kissed her briefly and she regretted that she couldn't see his eyes. "What's wrong?" she asked, scared, but he shook his head.

"Nothing. Just something minor…," he tried to soothe her and his heart ached when he saw the latest ultrasound. "What did Moira say?" he asked to change the subject.

"She gave me something to calm my stomach. I lost too much weight," she said and looked at the picture. "And…we need a new room…"

"Why?" Scott said and frowned. He watched how she handed him the picture and pointed at two marks. He realized what she was trying to say and leant back against the wall in shock. "Twins…," he whispered, said it more to himself that to her and swallowed hard.

"Yeah… It's a shock, I know…," Raven said and looked at the picture for a while, before she noticed that he was silently crying. "What's wrong?" she asked once more and it scared her even more when Scott hugged her and sniffed into her neck.

"Nothing… Just happy..," he lied and closed his eyes for a moment while he held her close.

"Why are you lying to me?" she mumbled into his neck and pushed him gently away to have a better look at him. "What is wrong, Scott?! What did they find?" she asked, her voice trembling with fear, but he only shook his head, not knowing how to tell her and what to say. In the end, he aimed for the elevator and ignored her calling his name. He needed to get away and be for himself, felt that he was close to break down completely and he didn't want to scare her even more. He knew what a too strong shock or mental stress could do to a pregnant woman and they had been warned to not stress her further.

It wasn't before he practically ran into a banister that he realized how far he had actually ran. Through a blurry vision he looked down into the garden and shook his head while crying. The news had shocked him and Hank's words still rang in his ears. He knew there was no way out. There was no chance that Hank would find a fitting donor in time, especially not with mutants being excluded from lists. And since not even his own brother fit… Sniffing, he raised his head and watched his son playing in the baby pool with Tommy, Jamie and Jean-Luc. Once more he felt like standing next to himself and watching how he did everything like a robot, it felt too unreal, like a bad dream that he couldn't wake up from…

"Hey!" a gruff voice suddenly said next to him and a hand waved right in front of his face.

Scott turned his head slowly and knew who stood in front of him, but had trouble realizing it.

"Are ya high or somethin'?" Logan grunted and waved once more. "I said what the hell's wrong with ya? First ya run into me, then ya run up t'the roof like a maniac…," he complained and furrowed his brows. His senses were overwhelmed by what kind of emotions the men was going through and Logan began to feel worried. "Is somethin' wrong with Raven's baby?" he asked, since it was the most obvious he could come up with by seeing what a mess Scott was. He couldn't think of anything else that would make the man cry that hard. To his biggest surprise his opposite stumbled forward and began to cry into his shoulder. "Alright… What the hell happened?!" Logan demanded to know, but knew he wouldn't get an answer so soon. Not knowing what to do, he dragged Scott away from the banister and pulled him down to the ground, sat down next to him and let him cry for a while, while his hand rested on the man's back. "What happened?" he asked once more and had reckoned with a lot, but not with what Scott told him. Logan stared at the man in shock from aside.

"She's expecting twins, Logan…," Scott cried into his arms. "I want to marry her and see my children grow up…" He sobbed. "Everything's this son of a bitch's fault. If he hadn't drugged me…" Angrily, he clenched his fists.

"Is Hank sure that the trigger caused this?" Logan asked carefully, remembering how Hank had told him about Aaron mixing a trigger substance into the heroin. He received a nod. "What about yer brother? Can't he…?"

"No match…," Scott mumbled into his arms, feeling how despair turned into anger and then despair again. "Hank might have the illusion that he can find something in time…," he said and leant his head back against the wall, tears rolling down his cheeks. "But let's be honest, he won't find anything…"

"Ya don't know that!" Logan disagreed, but received a sad smile.

"I do, Logan… It's over, I have to accept that…," Scott replied and kept his eyes on the ground. "I just don't know how to organize everything in less than a month. I mean…" He gave his teammate a shocked look after receiving a good slap around his face. "What the…?! Are you fucking nuts?!" he asked angrily.

"That sounds better!" Logan grunted and caught Scott's hand before the man could slap him back. "So ya finally stop whinin'?"

"Whining?!"

"Yeah, whinin'!" Logan replied. "Yer girl's expectin' twins, ya have a two year old son 'n ya wanna give up without fightin'?" he asked angrily. "Yer an X-Men, for Christ's sake! We don't go down without a fight!"

"This isn't a fight against Magneto or Sabretooth, Logan!" Scott snapped. "I just got the news that I'll be dead in less than a month, if…"

"Exactly! _If_!" Logan snapped back. "And ya give up before lookin' for any _if_'s!"

"Then tell me what to do Sherlock!" his teammate barked and was pulled up and dragged down the stairs. "What the hell are you doing now?!" he asked, panting in anger and got even more furious when Logan dragged him further with him.

* * *

"So no other relatives we could ask?" Hank asked and looked at Alex, who shook his head.

"Our aunt and uncle wouldn't do it. For them we're dead," the man said and looked at the desk, his arms crossed, while his wife stroked his knee soothingly. "Why can't he have a piece of mine? I thought it'll grow back."

"Because you don't match, Alex," Moira said.

"How can I not match as his brother?!"

"It needs more than that," Jean said, her voice still hoarse and held her throbbing head. "Relatives usually are the closest donors, but that's not always the case. If we use a piece of your liver, we might kill Scott…"

"But there must be something you can do!" Ororo said, tears in her eyes. "You can't just let him die!"

"We won't!" Hank insisted and went through his chart.

"Someone else from us?" Raven asked and looked up, her eyes red from crying.

Moira shook her head. "We went through all files. No one matches…"

Charles, who had listened to the conversation and thought about a solution, bent forward a bit. "What do you intend to do, Hank?"

The furry mutant sighed and thought about an answer. "I don't know, yet… But I'll try anything possible…" He watched sadly how Ororo hugged Raven and cried with her, as the door opened and Logan entered.

"There ya are," he grunted and pulled a still furious Scott with him into the room.

"Let go of me!" the man barked and withdrew his hand.

"Shut up!" Logan barked back.

"Scott, please calm down!" Moira begged him before the man could reply.

It was then that the man realized the looks he was given and his heart sank as he noticed how miserable Raven was. "You told them?!" he asked shocked and buried his hands in his hair. "Why did you tell them?!"

"Jeez…," Logan sighed and gave him a look. "Would ya shut up for just a second?!" he asked annoyed and turned to Hank. "Can ya use my liver?" he asked bluntly and this made Scott shut up and stare at him, practically as shocked as everyone else did.

"Logan, you won't match…," the Professor said and shook his head, but the feral gave him a skeptical look and crossed his arms.

"I healed Jean with my blood in Canada. If I couldn't do it, because I wasn't a match, then she's be pretty dead now, wouldn't she?" he grunted. "They used my blood'n tested my organs on others durin' Weapon X. No one died'n if I understood him correctly, he has only a month left."

"Hm…," Hank made and thought about it. "You do know that you need a liver too, right?"

Logan shrugged. "It'll grow back within 5 minutes." He looked from Jean, of whom he knew that she was considering it, to Raven, who gave him a worried but hopeful look, to Moira and Hank. "So? I'd appreciate if ya could say somethin'. I still need t'bake a cake'n wanna watch hockey later."

"Cake is already baked," Ororo informed him and he cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Jean-Paul did it together with Jack, since you were somehow…gone."

"Say thank you best pal in the world," Northstar said and crossed his arms.

"Thank ya, best pal in the world," Logan copied Jean-Paul's way of saying it and looked at Hank again. "So what? Yeah or no?"

"What if it won't work?" Moira asked and got up. "What if Scott's body rejects it?"

"Doesn't matter much, I guess…," said man replied darkly. "You won't be able to find a solution that quickly… If this doesn't work, I'll be dead within a couple of weeks anyway…," he added mumbling.

"What did I say?" Logan asked him annoyed. "Remind me t'give ya a good kick in yer butt!"

"Yeah, whatever…," Scott waved off depressed.

"What if it doesn't grow back that fast?" John asked and looked at his brother.

"It does. Five minutes for the liver t'function again, three minutes for the kidneys, six for the lungs, ten for the heart," Logan listed.

His brother sighed and got up. "I better get ready for acting as a blood donor then. Am I right?" he asked and received a smirk.

"It's risky…," Jean said and looked at her husband. "None of us is an expert in transplantation…"

"Ya can use yer powers…," Logan shrugged.

"Yeah, I could, but not with my head exploding…," she mumbled and rubbed her temples. She looked up in surprise as Logan gave his brother a look. "What are you thinking about now?"

"Ya can read my healin' factor…"

"_Read_?!" the redhead asked confused and he nodded.

"Yeah. Ya used my knowledge for your leg at Alkali Lake'n…"

"How come you know about this?" Jean asked and got up, almost regretting it when the room began to turn.

"Ya told me…," Logan said confused first and remembered. "Right,…not ya did, Madelyne did… She read my healin' factor'n repaired her broken hand with it. Can't ya do it too'n repair…get rid off yer cold?"

"It's too risky with her headache, Logan," Charles disagreed.

"I don't know…," Jean shrugged instead. "I…could try."

"Jean, it's too risky! You know what a headache can do to a telepath, the impact it has on power and control," the Professor warned her.

"Try it on him," Logan said after she had come closer and nodded at his brother, who frowned at both of them. "Just open your mind t'her," he told John and watched how the redhead placed her hands on both sides on his brother's head.

"Relax," Jean said and closed her eyes. She took a deep breath and concentrated on what she was looking. She remembered how she had done it at Alkali Lake, how her leg had snapped due to the impact of Scott's powers meeting hers, how she had reached out to Logan and found in his mind was she was looking for, had used his knowledge to repair her broken leg, but this time… "It's not working," she said and lowered her hands.

"I told you…," she heard Charles saying but shook her head.

"No, it's not because of the headache," Jean replied, her eyes still on John's. "Something is missing that I need…" She turned to look at Logan, who had watched her the whole time through, his brows furrowed. "I need your mind…"

"Why?" he asked, but stepped closer.

"The link is missing," he heard her saying and a moment later he looked at her with glassy eyes, while he felt her roaming his head. As usual it felt like a pressure here and a tickle there. He was unable to do anything else but look at her like in trance, while she read his mutation and tried to use it on herself. Logan didn't see the worried look on the Professor's face, who knew the dangers of getting lost on someone's head, didn't see the curious looks of the others, the skeptical ones of Hank and Moira…

In the meanwhile Jean fought herself through his memories on the search for what she needed, tried to ignore the traumas that were buried deep in his memory and stopped after finding what she needed to know. She tried to remembered how she had done it years ago, wondered if it would work like this too…

"And?" Ororo asked after the redhead had let go of Logan's head, watched how the man shook it quickly to get his senses back to work.

Jean waited a moment and tried to figure the answer out herself. Her throat and head had stopped hurting… "I guess it worked…," she said more to herself than to the others.

"That reminds me…," Hank said and stepped forward. "You wanted to show me…"

"Oh, give me break!" Logan complained, was happy that his senses were working again when the furry mutant came up with that.

"Only for a minute!" Hank begged, received a growl but the feral gave in with a sigh. He felt how Jean touched his head with one hand, Logan's with the other and began to concentrate, her body soon covered in psi-flames as she connected all three of them and allowed Hank to hear, smell and see like Logan did; something she had done herself month ago when Logan and her had sat in the garden and he had told her about his history, Mariko and what he'd been through in his life. After less than 30 seconds Hank withdrew with a gasp and she closed the link again.

"How…can you…endure that…all the time?!" Hank panted and looked at Logan in disbelief, who shrugged and crossed his arms. "Don't you have a constant headache?!" he asked and rubbed his ears. "The music upstairs is so loud…"

"Which music?!" Moira asked since she couldn't hear anything.

"Jubilee's," Logan, Hank and John grunted at the same time, since they could hear it.

"I told her to tune it down," Jean said and had her arm still wrapped around Logan's waist, asked herself why he was holding onto her that much. "What's wrong?"

"Ya don't feel dizzy?" he asked, but she shook her head. "Tired?"

"No, why?!"

"Coz ya should…," he grunted and let slowly go of her, still unwilling to step away from her in case she began to feel as she should. "So, can we start?" he asked impatiently. In the end his hockey team had a game later that day.

"You want to do it now?" Moira asked and he shrugged.

"Ya told him he needs one soon'n I wanna watch hockey in four hours. If ya do it now, I'm up for it later'n I intend t'drink beer. So, get goin'!" the feral demanded impatiently. He watched how their three doctors exchanged a look with each other and then with Scott, Raven and the Professor. "What?"

Hank sighed. "Scott… We don't know if this will work. It might kill you."

The man shrugged. "I'm as good as dead anyway, so where is the problem?"

"Are you sure about this?" Jean asked him worriedly and he nodded. "What do you think?" She looked at Raven, who seemed to be quiet lost.

"It's his decision…," the woman said calmly and looked at the ground.

She followed Scott to the outside when he beckoned her to do so and left the others in silence. Hank looked at Logan, who was holding Jean close and rested her head on hers, thought about the risks of the decision. "You are aware of the fact that it's dangerous for you too?"

"Think it's the worst ever done t'me?" the feral replied. "I know what I can take, Furball, 'n this is nothin'."

"Still it's dangerous…," he heard Jean saying and saw the worry in her eyes.

"Yer there."

"But…"

"Trust yer powers, Jeannie," he assured her and placed a kiss to her lips. He looked up when the door opened and Raven looked inside to give Hank a nod. He could easily tell that she'd been crying and had heard what Scott had told her. He hugged her back when she embraced him and watched how she sat back down between Ororo and Kurt.

In the end they were accompanied to the infirmary by the Professor and given instructions, then left alone so that the doctors and the Professor could talk about the whole procedure.

"You don't have to do this…," Scott said while he kept his eyes on the ground and kneaded his hands.

"I know," Logan replied and tried to get comfortable on the bed. He hated the smell of sterile things, of medicine, the noises the machines made, he hated the infirmary in total. It reminded him too much of Weapon X… When he noticed that Scott wanted to add something, he waved off. "Thank me when this works…"

"I actually wanted to say something else…," Scott said in a serious voice and received a cocked eyebrow. "If this here goes wrong…," he began slowly and swallowed hard, "will you take care of them?"

Logan didn't have to ask who _them _was. "'f course… I'm Alex godfather in the end, ain't I?"

His teammate nodded and was at a loss of voice. He was too nervous and scared to think straight.

"You'll be alright!" Logan tried to soothe him and raised his head when the door opened and the others came back. He smirked at Jean and returned the kiss he was given. "Don't worry, alright?"

She didn't know whether to laugh or cry. "Easier said than done…" Reaching out, she stroked over his cheek and helped the others afterwards to prepare their patients. Her hand looked at Logan's two rings for a moment before she put them into her pocket to keep them for him. Her nervousness began to overwhelm her when she took a peak into the others head and heard their thoughts. They were as scared as she was, but she knew they had to focus.

"I hope this will do…," Hank said after giving Logan the anesthesia and waited for them to take effect.

"Scott's sleeping, his heartbeat and breathing is normal," Moira informed him and looked aside, seeing that Logan was still far awake.

"Obviously it won't do…," Hank sighed and raised the dosage. "I know what you're thinking, Logan, but we're not Weapon X. I won't lay a hand on you before you're properly anaesthetized," he said and kept an eye on the screens. Waiting a bit longer and raising the dosage once more, he finally nodded. "Alright, he's sleeping. Make sure the computer records every change in his body and that the camera works." He gave Moira and Jean a nod and began with the first cut….

**Fast update, I know. This chapter was surprisingly easy to type, probably because I didn't have a plan. LOL Thanks to all reviewers. College starts again tomorrow and I so not feel like it. It's supposed to snow a lot tomorrow too. Please let me know what you think and leave a review! I hope I can update soon. See ya!!**


	49. Chapter 46

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

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**!!!For you to decide!!!****: **The story is already waaaay longer than I had planned and I still have too many ideas. I actually wanted both sequels to have 30 chapters each. It worked with the first sequel and, yeah…I only say chapter 46. LOL

So, since I still have so many ideas, especially for the epilogue with the teen and grown up kids, I thought about doing a part three called **Changes Sequel – III. War + Epilogue**.

But it's for you to decide. If you're still interested, let me know and I'll do it, if not, then not. Just let me know.

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**Oh and reviewer 500 get 2 wishes, since it's review 500 then. ; ) **

**(I can't thank you enough for it. Seriously, that's more than I'd have ever expected!!)**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 46**

Hank was amazed. Amazed was a big understatement, in fact he was sitting in front of the screen for two hours by now and was watching the movie over and over again while he took notes and took all the information in. "It's incredible…," he said once more and looked up at Moira, Jean and the Professor. "Look at his T-cell rate! His body temperature reaches impossible heights…" He shook his head in amazement and watched how tissue knitted back together. "His mutation is truly amazing…"

"That's why Logan is already sitting in front of the television and drinks beer," Moira mumbled and did a check up on the IVs. "Scott is still out cold."

"He needs rest," Charles said and squeezed the back of his nose. He was incredible tired after the long surgery and being forced to concentrate for such a long time without a break.

"Up to now no changes," Jean informed them and wrote it down on the chart. She tried to look at Scott as professionally as possible, but it was incredibly hard. She couldn't help but worry.

"You can go upstairs. Hank and I will stay here," Moira said and gave her a smile. "It would be nice if someone could watch over Nick."

"Of course," the redhead nodded and put the chart aside. "Let me know if there are any changes or complications."

"Don't worry! We will," Charles said and smiled weakly at her before he took Scott's hand into his.

"Okay," Jean nodded and gave her ex a last look before she left and headed for the elevator. As she had guessed, Logan lay sprawled on the couch, a beer in his hands and was watching hockey, while Jamie slept on stomach. "You shouldn't be doing that…," she said and leant over the couch to have a look at him.

"I'm fine, darlin'," Logan grunted and sipped on his beer. "How's Slim?"

"Unchanged," she said and walked around to sit down on the armrest. "Do you want me to take him back upstairs with me?"

He gave Jamie a look and shook his head. "Nah, I don't intend t'watch all of it. I'm tired…"

She took the empty beer from him. "I'll take a shower and bring the children to bed then. When will you come upstairs?"

"In about 20 minutes…," he grunted and decided that it was better if she took Jamie with her in the end.

When Jean came back downstairs an hour later, her friends occupied the kitchen and waited for any news. "He's fallen asleep, am I right?" she sighed and crossed her arms while leaning against the doorframe.

"Who?" Alex asked and sipped on his juice.

"Logan…"

"Isn't he watching hockey?" Lorna asked.

"Yes, and he wanted to come to bed about…" The redhead looked at the clock. "40 minutes ago…"

"Well, he hasn't been here to get a new beer." Ororo shrugged and sighed. "Any news?"

Jean shook her head. "I don't think we will get some so soon."

"You don't happen to miss your husband?" Jean-Paul and entered the room.

"Actually I do," she said and made room for him. "He's fallen asleep, am I right?"

"You can say that," the man nodded. "His team lost by the way." He took a water bottle out of the fridge. "Does anyone mind if I use the gym that late? I can't sleep."

"Go ahead," Bobby waved off and rested his head on his arms again. "Can we go to bed now? I'm really tired and Jean said we won't get news that soon," he asked his fiancé, who was occupied with something else already and had turned towards Ororo and Forge.

"So, are they or are they not? Did you find anything out?"

"They are, or were," Ororo nodded and startled when the woman slammed her hands onto the table.

"Seriously?!" the younger woman shrieked and had gotten up so fast that the stool fell to the ground. Bobby growled.

Jean, who had watched it, frowned at them. "Who was what?" she asked in confusion and looked to and fro between them, noticed the unsure looks and hesitance. "Okay…," she sighed, knowing the source instantly. "What did Logan do this time?" she demanded to know.

"You…won't like it…," Ororo said, unsure of how to tell her.

"I usually don't like it… Just tell me," her friend replied and already looked annoyed. "What did he do?"

"Well…"

"Just tell her already!" Forge cried out and groaned. "Everyone knows already anyway!"

"Knows what?" Jean asked, confused.

"That the new guy and your dear hubby lived together for three months for example!" he blurted out before anyone was able to stop him. When he noticed her dumbfounded look, he nodded. "And…that's not all they did, but I don't want to be responsible for a divorce here!" He raised both hands for emphasis.

Jean ran a hand through her hair and shook her head briefly. "You do know that you got it all…," she began as two arms wrapped themselves around her waist and she was pulled against a warm body. A head followed and rested soon afterwards on her shoulder. "I told you, you'd fall asleep."

"Mhm…," Logan grunted and had his eyes already closed again.

"Come on. You need to go to bed, or you'll miss your son's birthday." She took his hand, wished the others a good night and dragged him with her, much to the surprise of everyone else.

"So, she really knew?!" Forge asked shocked. "She's fine with it?!"

"So it seems…," Kitty nodded.

"Hold on…," Bobby said and raised a hand. "Did you say Logan…"

"Yes, he did, dumbass!" Jubilee sighed dramatically with a nod at her fiancé. "And I agreed on marrying him… I can't believe it…"

"Did you know that?!" the man asked Peter who shook his head. "Wow…"

"It's Logan's business alone, alright?" Rogue said annoyed. "And it doesn't change who he is!"

"No one said this, Rogue," Ororo replied and looked at her.

"But you act as if it does. It doesn't matter if he likes women or women and men, he's still Logan."

"Don't tell me it doesn't shock you!" Jubilee said and looked at her in utter disbelief. "We're talking about Wolvie here!"

"So?!" Rogue replied angrily, felt how Remy laid a hand on her arms to soothe her. "It's his business, not ours! And that's final!" she insisted and left the room.

In the meanwhile Jean had managed to bring Logan to bed and was absently stroking over his belly. "You sure you're alright?" she asked worriedly and as an answer he rolled over to cuddle up to her, his hair still damp from the shower.

"Just tired…," he mumbled and tried to get closer to her, felt how her hand touched his cheeks.

"At least you're not feverish…"

"I'm healed already… The Furball just used too much…," he grumbled and wrapped an arm and a leg around her. "He gave me tummyache…"

"That's your own fault. You drank beer!" Jean scolded him and stroked through his hair. "Do you need to throw up?"

"No…," Logan grunted, but thought it over. "Dunno…"

"I put a bucket next to your bed," she said tiredly and snuggled closer. "That was a brave thing you did… You probably saved Scott's life…"

"For the 6th or 7th time…," she heard him mumbling and patted his head.

"Sleep."

"Luv ya…," Logan grumbled into her neck and had already drifted off to sleep before she was able to reply to that.

* * *

Northstar enjoyed how the water of the shower was caressing his skin. He had needed a good workout and liked the way his muscles were aching. His thoughts drifted off to the stranger that had been working out on his own. He had admired the smooth and fast moves, how every kick and punch was a sure hit, how the muscles had tensed and the tattoo that ran from the back over one shoulder to the man's chest seemed to have been moving like a dragon with every move. He wished he was as good in Martial Arts as that man Logan had told him was named Daken… He switched off the water and nearly screamed after turning around as he noticed that dark hazel eyes glared at him. He had neither heard the man coming, nor sensed that he was practically standing right behind him.

"Gay?" the man called Daken asked bluntly and crossed his arms over his lean, but muscular chest, the full extends of the tattoo visible.

"W…what?" Jean-Paul asked in confusion and pushed his hair back with one hand, his heart still beating strongly against his chest after the shock.

"You were watching me…," his opposite said in a monotone, almost cold voice and didn't move an inch. "Or better said… You're always watching me. Especially in the gym and shower just now…"

"I didn't even know you were here," Northstar replied and shuddered. The man was scary, at least his senses told him so… But at the same time the man was interesting, even if the long, black shock of hair that seemed to be a natural Mohawk looked a bit weird first. Still it fit him…"Would you mind stepping back a bit?" he asked and made another step back to bring some space between them.

Daken glowered and once more didn't move an inch. Instead his eyes scanned his opposite's body and he made another step forward, enjoyed the fear, but curiosity the man was radiating and smirked when Jean-Paul made another step back, just to realize that he had nowhere else to go. "Like what you see?" he asked provokingly and tilted his head a bit.

Northstar couldn't help but blush a bit. He didn't like it at all that he was trapped, the way the man was looking at him and wondered if anyone would come to help him if he started calling for it. Then again the aura, as dangerous and malicious as it was, was like a magnet and he always had a weakness for bad-boys. "I didn't mean to offend you. I was just fascinated of your skills, that's all…," he apologized and thought that would do it, but Daken tilted his head into the other direction, his eyes still boring into his own. "I'm sorry, alright?"

"Fascinated of my skills, huh?" Daken asked nonchalantly and snorted amused. "I see…," he nodded and rushed forward, his hand hitting the wall right on the left and right of his opposite's head. He smirked when the man started and kept his eyes closed for a while.

Unsure of what to expect, Jean-Paul pressed himself against the tiles of the shower and stared right back into the intense eyes of his opposite. His heart skipped a beat as Daken leant his head in closer and tilted it again, making him hold his breath.

"In my room, in thirty minutes," was all the feral growled before he grabbed his shirt and left, leaving Northstar to stare ahead of himself in disbelief.

Against his better judgment and because of his curiosity overwhelming him, he found himself in front of Daken's door, but hesitated. He couldn't tell why he was there, what had made him going in the first place and he was afraid of going inside since he couldn't tell what the man was about to do. As far as he knew the others didn't want to be near that man and thought of him as dangerous… In the end Northstar reached out and turned the doorknob slowly, before he even realized it, he was inside of the room that was completely dark except for the weak light from the outside. As he heard how the door was locked, he swirled around startled, just to realize that Daken was suddenly exactly behind him. He was convinced the man hadn't been close by before… "How…how did you do that?!" he asked and made a step back.

"I'm always where my enemy doesn't see me…," he heard Daken replying and felt the man's eyes on him. "Undress!"

"Enemy?!" Northstar asked confused and hit the wall with his back after he made another step back.

"Un…dress," Daken growled.

"What are you up to?" Jean-Paul asked and watched in the dark how his opposite walked back to his bed.

"What do you think?" a dark voice replied and it was not before Daken had sat back down on the bed that Northstar realized that the man was completely naked.

"Y…you're gay?!" he asked, surprise mixing with shock.

"No…"

"You want sex from me…"

"So?" Daken asked and looked at him from his position.

"Bisexual?" he heard his opposite asking and sighed in annoyance.

"Will it make you happy if I said yes?" he asked bored. "Do you always talk that much?!"

Blushing, Jean-Paul scratched the back of his head. "Sorry… I'm…I'm just surprised…"

Daken rolled his eyes. "Undress!"

"I'm not into one night stands," Jean-Paul said and only saw a shadow moving before the man was back in front of him. He tried to understand how he did it… Now that his body was illuminated and he could see all of him, Northstar held his breath. "Damn, you're handsome…," he whispered before he was pushed against the wall and his opposite stared him down.

"Not into one night stands, huh?" Daken mocked and narrowed his eyes. "Now listen, kid! I know you've been watching me, I know you got excited in the shower and I know that it's the same right now. Undress, or I'll do it! Understood?"

Watching how he walked back to the bed and looked at him expectantly, Jean-Paul thought about what to do. The voice in him told him to go, to just open the door and leave, but his feelings told him otherwise. Slowly, he left the wall and walked over to the bed, dropped his briefs on his way and looked at his opposite nervously, whose dark eyes looked him up and down and reached bluntly out to touch his chest.

"You like to work-out, huh?" he asked and their eyes met.

Jean-Paul shrugged. "You've got to do something…"

Daken nodded and cocked an eyebrow at him. "Don't be so damn passive and stop behaving like a virgin," he complained and watched how the other man swallowed, gave him an insecure, almost scared look and finally reached out to run a hand over his well-tones abs.

"You're beautiful…," Northstar said once more and finally felt encouraged enough to move closer, his eyes meeting Daken's that seemed to be familiar. "You've such beautiful eyes…," he noticed and received a low growl.

"I've my father's eyes," Daken spat hatred and reached out to get something from the nightstand. "Turn around!"

"Hey, what about…," Northstar began and backed off a bit.

"I'm clean."

"How can you be so sure about that?!"

"Healing factor," Daken said briefly and threw the bottle aside. "Turn around!"

But instead of doing so Jean-Paul began to frown, the wheels in his head turning. "Like Logan?" he asked and saw how the eyes that were staring at him narrowed. "Are you related to him or something? You've the same mutation, hair and eye color…?"

"That asshole is my father!" Daken growled full of hatred and through gritted teeth.

"Hold on… WHAT?!" Northstar asked, his jaw dropping in shock. "Logan's your dad?! Seriously?!" He stared at Daken in disbelief and it was then that he wanted to slap himself for being so blind. Despite his Asian features the man looked too much like Logan, as that he could have a different father. "Wow…"

"Done staring?" Daken asked and made a quick move that ended with the other man landing on his stomach and with the feral on top of him.

"Hey, wait!" Northstar protested and managed to turn around but found his arms being pressed to the bed above his head. He was surprised by the strength of the man, but shocked too. He was no match to the feral… "Do you always semi-rape your partners?" he asked sourly and tried to move his hands, still it was completely useless.

"If they don't shut up," Daken shrugged and frowned when Northstar's eyes narrowed.

"Let go of me!"

"Make me!"

"I can, trust me!"

The feral chuckled low. "How?" he asked since he was aware of the man trying to free his arms.

"I can call for help!" Jean-Paul threatened despite that his heart was in his mouth.

"Think my daddy will safe you just because you have the hots for him?" Daken asked bluntly and smirked darkly. "Are the rumors true in the end?"

"I will do it!" the other man warned and received another chuckle.

"Right… Then tell me," the feral said and smiled self-assured at him, "how do you want to explain that you're naked in my bed, your clothes are intact, you don't have any bruises, but a hard-on and intend to make them believe that I tried to rape you?"

Frowning, Northstar tried to read the man's eyes. Impossible task, as he quickly figured. "I just don't want you to hurt me, okay? I'm not into violent sex," he admitted calmly and tried to relax a bit. "What the hell is wrong with you anyway?"

"Why? Prefer my daddy?" Daken mocked.

"He's at least not a violent, rough bastard like you and not get off me!" Jean-Paul snarled, angrily. To his surprise his hands were being released and, as he raised his head, he noticed that Daken was smirking, obviously satisfied. "What?" he asked confused, not knowing what to think of the man.

"Finally an adversary and not a victim in bed," the feral said and tilted his head.

"Not used to that, huh?" Northstar asked and it was him that smirked this time.

"Well, since we discussed that matter…," Daken said and nodded at him. "Turn around!"

"No!" Jean-Paul shook his head and held the glare he was given. "I wanna see what you do. Do it like that, or forget it!" he insisted and received a low growl for saying it. Nevertheless, the feral surprised him next by wrapping his hand around his member and a gasped escaped Northstar's lips.

"As long as it finally makes you shut up…," Daken growled and bent further over the man, who quickly grabbed his shoulders to stop him. "What now?!" he asked annoyed.

"Be careful, alright?" Jean-Paul said and gave the feral's lower parts a worried look. "I'm not used to big boys and it's been a while." When his eyes met Daken's he was once more fascinated with them. He saw the wild, the feral, primal side in them, but at the same time it were the most emotionless eyes he had ever seen. Still the man looked too handsome to him as that he could not feel anything at all. He almost felt manipulated. When their stomachs touched, he tensed briefly, but Northstar's hand automatically reached out to pull the feral into a brief, exploring kiss, just to throw his head back in the next moment…

* * *

"I told you so…," Jean said for the at least fourth time and rubbed Logan's back while the feral threw up again. "I told you don't drink beer after going through a surgery, it will make you sick. Hank told you don't drink beer and rest, it will make you sick. Can you listen to us for once?" With her powers she summoned a cooled cloth into the bedroom and pressed it against his neck. "What do you learn out of this?" she asked when he dropped back to the bed and held his stomach.

"T'never do a surgery again…," Logan grunted and kept his eyes closed. "Is that what a hangover feels like?"

"I don't know. I never had one," Jean sighed and got up to clean up. He followed her to the bathroom to drink something and almost regretted it instantly. "And when will you learn not to drink ice cold water after throwing up?" she groaned and shook her head. "You're like one big child…" Her hand reached out to flush the toilet. "Do you still need the bucket?"

"No…," he grumbled and went back to bed, opened a window before he lay back down. His mood couldn't be worse. His head hurt, his throat hurt, his stomach was on fire, he was tired, he felt sick and he desperately tried to ignore that someone… "Could ya please do somethin'?" Logan growled and turned around until he rested on his belly and covered his head with a pillow.

"No, you deserve to feel sick after doing something stupid like that," Jean said and saw him glaring at her from underneath the pillow. "That doesn't scare me, Logan, you should know that," she added and handed him a glass of water and a pill. "Take it."

"I actually meant that I don't wanna hear the noises other people make durin' sex," he grunted and swallowed the pill first, then emptied the glass. "And no, I don't listen in! They're so loud that I can't block it." Upset, he buried his head underneath the pillow again and heard Jean picking up the magazine on the nightstand. "Don't tell me ya wanna read now…"

"No, I wanted to show you something," she replied and looked for the page. "Ah, there it is. Listen." Jean waited for him to pull the pillow away a bit. "_How to deal with a moody man? Cosmopolitan offers the best tactics for dealing with a grumpy guy_," she read and put the magazine away again, knew his mood had just dropped below zero. "And I haven't even written the article…"

Growling, he pulled the pillow and blanket over his head and turned away from her.

"You're a cranky grouch," she commented and switched off the lights, concentrated on blocking any noises out. "Better?"

"Yeah…," came the muffled replied from underneath the covers and Jean shook hear head sighing. The morning could only get worse…

* * *

After he'd been awoken by someone tossing, turning and constantly kicking, Northstar had switched on the lights and looked at the man next to him, who was still caught up in a nasty nightmare. His attempts of waking the feral had been fruitless and he feared that he could be stabbed if he tried harder, even if it was only a guess of him that Daken had claws too. Once more he was amazed of the man's features and how much he resembled his father on one side, but only a slight turn of the head was enough and he looked more Asian to him. Jean-Paul started as Daken suddenly sat up straight. "Are you alright?" he asked after Daken managed to get his breathing back under control.

Frowning, the feral turned his head and gave the man next to him and indefinable look. "What are you still doing here?" he growled and narrowed his eyes, determined to keep his cool.

"You didn't tell me to leave," Northstar shrugged and, since he lay on his stomach, rested his head on his arms again. "Are nightmares a genetical thing in your family?"

"What's it to you?" the feral snapped and got up to cool his face. He cocked an eyebrow at the other man, who still occupied his bed when he returned from the bathroom and growled. He had to admit the man had guts to act in such a cocky way around him… "Do you intend to stay there or what?" he grumbled and lay back down.

"Your fault, you tired me out…," Northstar said sleepily and tried to get comfortable on is arms again. "Go back to sleep. It's 4 a.m…," he added mumbling and was already half back in oblivion.

"Stop giving me orders!" Daken growled and lay back down, his eyes glaring daggers at the man next to him. He knew he should have kicked him out right afterwards. He hated it to have people in close proximity, especially in his territory. Angrily, he pulled the pillow closer and tried to fall asleep again, but thought about the dream he had instead.

When he woke up a few hours later, he felt the bed moving and was instantly on high alert. The feral watched how Jean-Paul got his briefs from the ground and pulled them on, one hand trying to tame his messy hair.

"Do you join us for breakfast today?" he heard him asking and met the man's eyes after he'd turned around.

"No…"

"Why not?" Northstar asked and gave him a questioning look. "It's your brother's birthday today…"

"So?" Daken shrugged and got up, not bothering to put on some clothes as he walked over to the bathroom. "Those people ain't my family and I don't give a shit about them."

Confused, Jean-Paul crossed his arms. "Why? They are nice people…"

"What's it to you, huh?" the feral growled and turned to glare at him. "Sex doesn't make you my therapist."

"Did I say that?! I'd just like to understand why you're always hiding in your room here."

"I'm not hiding!" Daken snapped.

"No?" Northstar asked skeptically. "Strange that I haven't seen you once at breakfast, lunch or dinner or anywhere outside of this room, except for once. If you don't give a shit about them, then why are you here?" He startled as the feral was suddenly right next to him. "Jeez… How the hell do you do that?!"

"Listen, fruitcake," Daken snarled and his eyes mirrored the fury he was feeling within, "if you don't shut up and piss off within…"

Jean-Paul chuckled. "You call me fruitcake?" he asked and smirked. "As far as I remember you quiet enjoyed yourself too." Making use of the chance that the feral was taken aback about the cocky reply, he unlocked the door and opened it. "See you at breakfast then," he added and quickly placed a kiss to the man's cheek before he left. In his head he counted from three backwards and heard how the vase that had stood on the table shattered to pieces. "Definitely a genetical problem…," he sighed and went back to his room for a shower.

* * *

"Is te birthday boy still sleeping?" Kurt asked and put the last candle on the chocolate cake when Jean and Logan entered the kitchen. "What's wrong vith him?" He gave Logan a nod, who sat down on his casual stool and instantly buried his face in his arms that rested on the kitchen isle.

"Grouchy for a chance," the redhead said and poured the feral coffee. "Drink it."

"No…," he mumbled into his arms.

"Did you keep him up at night or what's wrong with him?" Ororo asked and went on making pancakes.

"No, he suffers from the consequences of not listening to his doctor's advises. Right, honey?" Jean asked and stroked through Logan's unruly hair.

"So he did throw up as I've predicted?" Hank asked and received a nod. "I warned you, Logan…" He quickly ducked behind the newspaper as a low growl began to build in his friend's chest. "No need to be grumpy, you have been warned!"

"Yes, he has…," Jean added and sat down on her stool.

Only minutes later everyone else was gathered in the room, except for the children, who were still in bed and sleeping. No one asked why Logan's head still rested on the table, knowing full well that the feral would only get grouchier and they kept on chatting about different things, wished everyone that joined them a good morning. When Northstar entered the room and sat down on his stool, he began to wonder why Ororo and three others were staring at him.

"What?" he asked and looked to and fro between them. "Is a cake growing out of my head or something?"

Logan turned his head slowly but didn't bother to raise it. "Nope…"

"Okay…that's it," Ororo said and raised both hands. "I am tolerant, I really am, but this now goes a bit too far!"

"What?" Logan grunted into his arms and would have loved to strangle her, since her bitching made his head hurt even more. Every word was like a sledgehammer to his brain.

"What?" she asked and shook her head in disbelief. "You really have the nerve to ask what?!"

Hank heaved a deep breath. He had noticed what the weather goddess meant and noticed Jean's confused face too. As he assumed the woman didn't know, even if the rumor had it that she knew. "I would have thought you had a little more dignity, Logan…," he said disappointedly and shook his head. "I mean… First, you kept it a secret all those years, then, you practically do it in front of your wife. She knows, your business, but this now…" He shook his head once more. "That goes too far!"

Logan, who had his head raised now cocked an eyebrow at them and switched between looking at Jean and Jean-Paul, both being as confused as he was. "What the fuck are ya talkin' about?!"

"You and him," Ororo replied with a nod at Northstar. She watched how both man exchanged a look.

"Oh, don't act now as if you don't know what we're talking about!" Forge said. "He has a hickey!" he added, once more with a nod at Jean-Paul.

"So?" Logan shrugged, but frowned. "Who did ya sleep with?!"

"You should be ashamed of yourself!" Forge interrupted them. "You have a wife and children!"

Jean sighed. "I already tried to tell you yesterday …," she began as Northstar suddenly started to laugh aloud.

"What is so funny now?" Kitty asked and looked to and fro between everyone.

"I don't know, because I can't laugh about it," Ororo said and crossed her arms.

"I don't get it either…," Logan grumbled and cocked an eyebrow at Jean-Paul. "What's so funny?!"

The former Alpha Flight member held his stomach and couldn't stop laughing. "This is hilarious!" he managed to say between his fits and tears already began to gather in his eyes.

"I don't think about as hilarious at all!" Jubilee said and gave the confused feral a sour look. "How could you do this, Wolvie?!"

"Do what?!" Logan asked, annoyed.

"They…," Northstar laughed and wiped his tears away. "They think…we have an affair!" he finally managed to say and shook his head, still laughing. "This is great! Really!"

Logan stared at him for a while, frowned and gave Jean a look in the end, who shrugged. "WHAT?!" he growled and got off his stool, his headache forgotten. His eyes instantly fell on Jubilee. "Did ya come up with this shit?!" he demanded to know and had his eyes narrowed in a way that made her swallow.

"N…no," she stuttered and pointed at Ororo.

His eyes were instantly on hers.

"You admitted it yourself," she said and he cocked an eyebrow at her.

"I did WHAT?!"

"Jean-Paul said you were together for three months and when I asked you, you said neither he nor you were over it," Ororo explained and Northstar snorted.

"I said…," he began and still tried to get his laughter under control, "that I lived with him for three months. I never said we were together for three months!" He grinned in joy. "This is great. You already made my day!"

"I thought ya were talkin' about his twin sister," Logan grunted and looked pissed off as ever. "What the fuck made ya think I was doin' guys?!" he demanded to know and glared at her.

"He came up with it," she defended herself and nodded at Forge, who backed off a bit as the furious eyes of the feral settled on him.

"Well…," the engineer said and shrugged. "In fact he started it." He nodded at Northstar.

"In what way?" the man demanded to know and crossed his arms, now being as serious as Logan.

"Well…," Forge began and shrugged. "You said you liked his butt, you hinted to him sharing Jean with you, you made all those kinky comments and when he showed up, he touched your chest and then the two of you said… He said," he nodded once more at Northstar, "that he doesn't like doing it alone and asked if you joined him…"

"Yes, in a Dangerroom session," Jean-Paul asked. "To test the uniform you made, since he knows the technology better than I do. And he didn't touch my_ chest_, he looked the uniform over to make sure there were no flaws and asked me what kind of color I'd like the X to be. And he knows that I think he's handsome, so?!"

"What did you say or do that he thought we had a threesome?!" Jean asked shocked and her cheeks were nearly as red as her hair, while Logan's eyes narrowed even further.

"Nothing, it was his interpretation," Northstar shrugged.

"Nooo!" Forge disagreed. "You said Logan knows, he set the rules and that he was fine with it. I just didn't get what you meant with…all that stuff you said."

The other man snorted and shook his head. "Just because you didn't listen. You said you like her butt," he said with a nod at Ororo, who gave Forge a look, "and I said that I'm not into hers, with the intonation being on _hers_. I never said I was into Jean. That was your interpretation!"

"Then what the hell did you mean with _he knows_ and _he set rules_ and all that stuff?!" the engineer asked and crossed his arms too.

Northstar sighed. "That Logan knows that I like him in a sexual way, that he's fine with it but made clear that it would never happen, ever!"

"Then what was the your hip still hurt and that he was brutal situation about?!" Hank asked.

"That he slipped on the platform in the Dangerrom, I couldn't grab him coz of the gloves, he bumped his head on the edge of the platform'n blacked out, so I had to grab him roughly t'keep him from fallin' from that thing," Logan growled and was now seizing everyone up for a coffin. He was pissed. "But thanks for lettin' me know what ya think of me!" he added with a grunt.

Jean put her cup down after sipping on it and reached out to rest her hand on his knee. "I wanted to tell them that they got it all wrong yesterday, but you showed up and I had to take you upstairs."

"And I told them that it doesn't matter what your orientation it, because it wouldn't change who you are, but they didn't listen," Rogue added and gave her friends her best _told you so_-look. "I said it was ridiculous!"

"And we never said that we wouldn't accept it," Ororo gave back. "I wasn't fine with it, since I believed they had fun at night and Jean didn't know. I'm sorry, Logan, it was a misunderstanding!"

"My thoughts exactly…," Hank nodded and Logan snorted.

"So I'm not only bisexual'n a pedophile, but also a cheater now?!" he asked sourly and shook his head in disbelief. "Thanks a lot!"

"Vhy pedophile?!" Kurt asked. "No one said tis…"

"Because I was 15 when I stayed with him for three months," Jean-Paul explained and chewed on his pancakes. "And since you accused us of doing each other…" He shrugged.

"But why were you staying with him anyway?!" Kitty asked confused.

"He was Logan's grocery deliverer when he had to hide in his cabin. On one tour he was surprised by a snow storm that closed off any village and he was stuck in the mountains, so Logan let him stay with him," Jean explained while she went on with having breakfast. "And no, they didn't share the bed, Logan slept on the ground for three months. The snow was melted enough by then so that Paul could return to the village he lived in."

The others nodded in understanding.

"But why did you say you met each other in Alpha Flight?!" Bobby asked. "That was a lie."

"Coz I knew ya would think this shit, if I'd told ya the truth," Logan growled.

"And you were right," Northstar said and received a snort. "Still, this is hilarious! I don't even know how someone is able to come up with that after seeing you…"

"'n I bet the whole school thinks that way now…," Logan grunted with another glare at Jubilee.

"Besides that, I mean," his friend said and grinned, turned to the others next. "Logan is the straightest man walking the planet. Hugh Jackman could strip for him and he wouldn't get excited."

"Ya could bind that sissy on my back'n I wouldn't give shit about him," the feral snapped and received a surprised look from Northstar, who was completely caught off guard by that reaction.

Jean sighed heavily. "He hates Hugh, you know."

Northstar chuckled. "He's a straight guy, of course he does."

"That guy sucks!" Logan growled and glared at his wife, who shook her head, but he nodded.

"Hugh doesn't suck at all!" Ororo grumbled and sipped on her coffee. "You have no taste!"

"He's just jealous," the redhead waved of and received another grunt.

"Of what?!" Logan huffed.

"The chest, the abs, the eyes, the smile, the laugh, the ass…," Northstar listed and shrugged. "Or all of it perhaps?"

"Mine are ten times better!" the feral grunted and crossed his arms. "'n I look better than him!"

"Not really," the man next to him said and received a glare. "He smiles more and has a nice laugh."

"See? He gets our point," the weather goddess nodded. "Finally a man with taste."

"Laugh my ass," Logan grumbled and huffed.

"Actually," Jean said with a look at her husband, "he has a nice laugh too, but he hardly does laugh."

"That's true," Jean-Paul nodded and received a growl. "What? You do have a nice laugh. That's not a joke!"

Jubilee, who chewed on her pancakes, looked up and pointed her fork at the feral. "I think, if they'd ever do a movie about Wolvie, Hugh would be perfect to play him."

"I'd rather jump into a tub filled with acid before I let that happen," Logan growled. "That sissy sucks, end of discussion!"

"Jealous…," Jean coughed and looked at him innocently, smiling when his eyes narrowed to slits.

"Ya know," he began and it was no secret that he was clearly pissed off and in no mood to joke around or find anything particularly funny, "why is it always the men that have t'sleep on the fuckin' couch when there's trouble in paradise? I think it's time ya tried it, don't ya think?"

"Oh, come on!" Jean groaned and put down her fork. "Stop being so moody for once today, will you?!"

"Then stop annoyin' me!" he snapped back.

"Me?!" she asked and huffed. "As far as I remember they came up with it, alright?"

"Guys!" Jean-Paul said and raised both hands. "Calm down. It's your sons's birthday, don't ruin it!"

"My day's already ruined," Logan growled and began to kill the pancake with his fork.

"Go for a run or do a Dangerroom session, Logan!" Jean warned him and held the glare he was given.

"So that I'm accused of doin' a guy again? No, thanks," he waved off and got up to leave the room.

"Is he always that moody?" John Grey asked his daughter, who only rolled her eyes. "I mean I do understand that he is angry because of the misunderstanding, but…"

"That is just him sulking," Jean told him. "It's far from being really angry. When he is, I'm not around him."

"That bad?"

"Yes, Logan can be that bad," Bobby nodded. Once more he noticed the frosty mood between Narya and John. "What's wrong with the two of you by the way?"

"Nothing of your concern," the feral grunted and left the room next.

"Did the two of you have a fight or something?" Ororo asked concerned, but the blonde waved off.

After most children were downstairs, Jean decided to go upstairs to get Jamie and was surprised that his bed was empty. She reached out wither powers and followed the link to the bedroom, where she found the boy sitting on his father's stomach and playing with a toy. "Would you please stop sulking, Logan?" she sighed and leant against the doorframe. Of course there was no reply. With a heavy roll of her eyes she walked over to the bed and sat down on her side. "They said they were sorry…"

"I don't care!" he growled and kept his eyes on his son.

"Logan, it was a misunderstanding!" Jean looked at him, but once more…no reaction. "Don't tell me you're mad because of the little banter we had about Hugh…?" she asked and sighed heavily since he blocked off completely. In the end she took Jamie and placed him on the couch in the living room, told him she would be right back and went back into the bedroom, where Logan had sat up a bit and still wore an angry look, but was trying to find out what she was up to too. He cocked an eyebrow when she sat down on his lap and kissed him hard, kept doing it for a good while until she felt his anger weakening a bit. "Better?" she asked and leant back a bit, but he huffed.

"No…"

"Oh, come on you big grouch!" Jean cried and gave him a slap against the chest. She was surprised when he shook his head and told her with it that he was still angry. "Would you mind explaining then why you're that mad?" she asked and got off his lap. She tried to read his mind but hit a brick wall that she couldn't reach through.

In the end, Logan just got up and went into the living room to pick Jamie up. "Wanna go'n open yer presents, pumkin?" he asked, all anger gone as he held his son close.

"No…," the boy replied and played with his father's shirt.

"No? Then I'm gonna keep'em. 'n yer cake too."

"Nooo, daddy!" Jamie protested and received a chuckle and a kiss from the feral.

"Then come one." Logan knew Jean followed him and he was also aware of her emotional state. Nevertheless, he didn't feel like saying anything at all. He was just too pissed and knew he'd say something he'd regret. As he entered the kitchen again the room went silent and he didn't bother to look at anyone of them. He put Jamie into his high chair and wished him once more a Happy Birthday, before he kissed him and ruffled the hair. Silently he watched how Jean did the same, but instead of the ruffling, which was his job anyway, she pulled the cake closer.

"Blow out the candles, Jamie!" Rachel said, but her little brother furrowed his brows in confusion. In the end, he couldn't remember his first birthday.

"Like this," Jack said and showed him how to do it. He laughed when Jamie tried and failed miserably in it.

"Don't make fun outta him, ya weren't any better at his age," Logan said and messed up Jack's hair.

"Dad!" the boy complained and covered his head.

"He spent thirty minutes on it to impress Isa, daddy!" Lily giggled and jumped quickly off her stool and ran out of the kitchen as her twin tried to catch her growling.

Shaking his head, since he heard her squealing in every corner of the mansion within the next five minutes, Logan watched how Jean's father gave Jamie a piece of his birthday cake and smirked when the boy rejected it. He knew the reason for that.

"He doesn't like it?!" Northstar asked shocked and his jaw dropped. "It's chocolate! Every child likes chocolate!"

"He probably doesn't like it because Logan doesn't like chocolate at all," Jean explained and shrugged. "I'm sorry for this."

Jean-Paul crossed his arms. "Great…," he sulked and gave Logan a playful glare. "All your fault!" He turned his head as most people in the room went silent. It didn't take long for him to find the source of it. His eyes met Daken's and he watched how the man gave Logan a murderous look, before he went to leave again. "Hey," Northstar called and the feral stopped to give him a glare. "Do you like chocolate cake?" he asked bluntly, ignored the looks he was given.

"What?!" Daken asked and thought he hadn't heard right.

"Do you like chocolate cake?" his opposite repeated smirking and walked over to him.

"Ehm…Paul…,"Ororo said with a look at Daken.

"What?" the former Alpha Flight member said and looked at her.

"You shouldn't…, you know…"

"He needs to eat something too, don't you think?" Northstar asked and pulled the feral with him. He knew he was pissing Daken off, but he also didn't like the fact of the man being treated as an outsider. After he had pulled him over to his stool, he handed him a plate. "Stop giving me that look," he said without looking at him and put a piece of the cake on the plate. "There you go."

From his position next to the window Logan had watched everything. His brows were furrowed, he tried to find out why Northstar was acting that way towards the other feral, since it somehow seem to be so intimate and he only waited for Daken to snap and attack the man. To his surprise Daken returned the looks he was given from the others with a glare of his own and gave the cake a disgusted look next.

"I hate chocolate…," he grunted and looked up at Jean-Paul, who pulled a face.

"Is this a genetical thing too?" he cried and sighed. "It was a lot of work, you know?" Disappointed, he took the plate and handed him one with pancakes instead. "Then eat those."

"Ray likes chocolate," Logan said and the redhead nodded quickly. "'n Lily normally too."

"Daddy!" Jamie squealed and the man turned around to cock an eyebrow at him.

"What?!"

"Food!" the boy demanded and pouted. He didn't understand why he wasn't getting anything.

"Right. Hold on a sec, will ya?" Logan grunted and put some pancakes onto a plate, which he cut into little pieces. "There ya go." The boy instantly dived into his breakfast and his father could only shake his head. "Jamie, use the fork'n stop eatin' with yer hands," he added and handed him his sippy cup next.

"You're a pig, Jamie!" Laura scolded him, but the boy ignored her and paid attention to his food only.

"Yep, he is…," Logan sighed, but intended to go soft on his youngest, since it was his birthday. Instead, he watched the interaction between Daken and the rest. It couldn't really be called interaction, since the man was determined to seize everyone up for a coffin, to ignore him and to wolf down his food quickly. His eyes took in how muscular his son was, but noticed that he was way leaner than himself. He wondered why the man could have a tattoo that lasted, the ones he had tried had vanished within 20 minutes… And Logan was also still wondering why he hadn't snapped before… He looked down when something hugged his leg tightly and reached out to stroke over Rachel's head, returning her smile.

"Not so loud!" Jean said when the twins stormed into the room, Lily still squealing and Jack growling. As fast as they had entered, as fast they were gone again.

Hank chuckled. "I am sure they'll still be doing this after lunch."

"I hope not!" the redhead sighed with a weak roll of her eyes and gave Logan a brief look. As soon as their eyes met he looked away again. She still didn't know why he was that mad with her.

"I'm not mad with ya, I'm mad with her," he suddenly grunted and Jean looked up, surprised that she must have thought it out loud and he had heard it through their link.

Ororo groaned. "I said it was a misunderstanding and that I was sorry."

"And I said I don't care!" he snarled. "Ya obviously have no idea what a wrong accusation can do t'people or the consequences it can have!"

"I didn't accuse you of anything, Logan!"

"'f course not!" he huffed and looked away.

"Goddess… What the hell is wrong wit you today?!" she asked angrily and held the glare he gave her.

"If ya thought about it," he grunted and pulled Jamie out of the high chair, "ya might know it…" He watched how Rogue handed Jamie a small package and chuckled as his boy practically tore it into pieces.

"He has that from you!" the woman said, but smiled and knelt down a bit. "Do you like it, Jamie?"

"No…," he said and sat down on the ground to looked at the toy further.

"It's always no with him, huh?"

Logan shrugged and smirked. "Ya know him, don't ya?" he said and hugged her. "Thanks, darlin'."

"You're welcome. And don't forget you still have to go shopping with us!" Rogue replied and poked into his chest.

He waved off. "Yeah, I know…"

Northstar saw how Daken watched the happy moment and was surprised how full of hatred and rage the man's eyes were. He really began to wonder what had happened that the feral hated his father so much. He had hardly finished the thought as Daken got up and left the room without looking at anyone of them. A look at Logan told him that the man wasn't surprised about the reaction, but he could also see the worry in his eyes. Jean-Paul stepped aside when Tommy and Alex stumbled around the kitchen isle to see what their friend was doing. He smirked as they began to play with the paper and watched interestedly how Jamie unwrapped his other gifts.

"What the hell are you doing here?!" Hank suddenly asked aloud and all heads turned to the door where Raven stood. The woman herself wasn't a surprise, it was rather the man next to her. "What are you doing out of bed?!" the furry mutant asked and got up. It was then that he saw his wife. "What is going on here, Moira?"

"Look at this," she replied and handed him a chart, her eyes wearing an odd look.

Hank frowned at her and took the chart, while Raven led Scott into the room. Everyone looked at him in surprise and even more so when Hank walked over to him and pulled his shirt up. "How is that possible…?" they heard him mumbling and he was back to reading through the chart.

"I know. That's what I was thinking too," Moira nodded and stopped next to him, her arms crossed.

"How are you feeling, Scott?!" Hank asked, his brows heavily furrowed in confusion.

Shrugging, the man leant back against the doorframe. "I feel great… I haven't felt that good in years."

"Hank?" the Professor asked and waited for a reaction of the furry mutant, but this one only shook his head.

"I don't know what happened here, Charles…," Hank said and looked at the chart, "but Scott is in perfect health. His data haven't been that good actually in the past 8 years…" He looked up to give Logan a look. "Obviously your blood can be transferred to another person and changes into that person's blood type after healing damages… Your liver works perfectly fine in Scott's body and seems to have adapted to him completely." He shook his head. "Something like this is completely impossible. Especially in that short amount of time…"

Logan shrugged. "Well, he's fine, ain't he?" he grunted and crossed his arms.

"He's not only fine, Logan, he's better than ever before!" Moira corrected him and still watched Scott worriedly. "He shocked me when he woke up and sat up as if nothing had happened."

Logan shrugged and watched how Jamie began to play with Tommy and Alex, asked himself how wrapping paper could be more interesting than gifts, as he heard someone coming closer. He cocked an eyebrow at Scott, who came over to him and hugged him tightly.

"Thank you," Scott said in all honesty and patted his teammate's back briefly, gave him a smile as he let go of him again and stepped aside to give Raven enough room.

The woman embraced the feral too and kissed his cheek wordlessly. She gave him a touched and happy smile, before she joined Scott's side again.

"Don't mention it…," Logan grunted and scratched the back of his head, trying to cover up that he felt touched by it.

"He's blushing!" Northstar teased and received a glare instantly.

"Is not!"

"Oh, he is!"

"Nope!"

"Yeah, you are! You're beat red!" Jean-Paul laughed and still did even if Logan was growling at him warningly. "Don't worry, looks cute!"

When Logan saw the look Scott gave Raven upon that comment, his eyes narrowed. "So ya think this shit too, right?"

"What shit?" Scott asked and crossed his arms.

"That I'm doin' guys, preferably him?" Logan growled and nodded after picking up on the change in the man. "Unbelievable…" He shook his head and snorted.

"And even if, who cares?" Scott shrugged. "I'm the last one that should say something against it." He looked down and watched his son for a while, who tried to take the wrapping paper from Jamie. "By the way… You're skilled in carpenter work, right?"

"So?" Logan shrugged but knew what the man was hinting at. "Need a bigger room, huh?"

Scott took Raven's hand and smirked. "You can say that…" He returned the smile she gave him and pulled her close to press a kiss to her forehead.

"It's good to see that you feel better, son," the Professor smiled in relief and received a nod.

"It's good to feel better," Scott said and hugged Ororo briefly after she came over to him.

"How many rooms do you need?" Charles asked and watched how the couple exchanged a look.

"At least three," Raven said and Scott nodded in agreement.

"Three, huh?" Logan asked suspiciously.

"Yeah, three…," his teammate nodded and pulled Raven closer.

"That means?" the feral asked and looked to and fro between them, before he concentrated very hard on the shapeshifter. "Ah, I see…"

"See what?!" she asked and frowned.

"Always have t'copy me, huh?" Logan mocked playfully and smiled internally when the couple got confused. "Well, I wish you great fun at night. You'll have it, trust me!"

"What is he talking about?!" Kitty asked confused, since she didn't understand anything.

"Well…," Scott began and gave his partner a look, who shrugged, unsure of what to say. "Let's say…it's going to become a bit louder around here next year…"

Jubilee shrugged. "So? We know she's a preggo. No news!"

"Why don't you say it, Logan. Obviously you've already figured it out," Scott said with a look at his teammate. "Even if I don't really know how…"

Logan chuckled. "I can hear the heartbeats, ya know? They're loud enough, bub."

"Heartbeats?!" Ororo asked him and her head jerked aside as she thought she got it, her lips changing into a happy smile. "You're expecting twins?! That's great!"

While she was hugging Raven, Scott looked at Logan. "Would you mind helping me with the rooms and the moving?" he asked and received a shrug, which usually meant yes in Logan's case. "Thanks."

"Logan,…would you mind if I did a test on you?" Hank asked and handed Moira the chart again. "I'd like to test it on John too."

"Do I look like a labrat t'ya?" Logan growled, still pissed. "I ain't a guinea pic!"

Hank sighed. "I only need a blood sample. That's all. I don't intend to keep you downstairs for longer than necessary, I know how much you hate the lab." He made an inviting gesture and received a big roll of Logan's eyes. "Jean, could you tell John to come to the lab, please?" Hank asked before they left the room.

When Logan sat on one of the beds later, waiting for Hank to be done with whatever the mutant was doing in the other room, he gave his brother a look from time to time. It was no secret to him that the man seemed upset and sad for days, he had also picked up on it when it came to Narya and wondered what had happened between them. "What's wrong with ya lately, huh?"

John looked up and shrugged. "Nothing…"

Logan snorted. "Sure! That's why yer all upset. What happened between Narya'n ya?"

"She left me…," his brother grunted and looked away, while Logan cocked a surprised eyebrow at him.

"Why?!"

He sighed. "We talked about the future, what we both want, about plans, talked about maybe marrying next year when she came up with wanting kids…"

"So?" Logan shrugged. "What's the problem with kids? Ya like kids," he said and held his opposite's gaze, tried to read the answer in it, but John only shook his head. "Why not?!"

"Oh, don't start with asking that too!" John snapped.

"Well, ya didn't answer the question," Logan shrugged. "Since I know her Narya always wanted t'have a kid. She loves kids. When she got pregnant from that idiot the fucker left her."

Surprised John looked up. "She has a kid already?!"

"No…"

"But you just said it."

Logan sighed. "She got pregnant, he left her, she was devastated but knowin' about the kid kept her goin'. But she lost it when she was about 5 months in… She was pretty devastated afterwards…," he told him and scrutinized his brother carefully. "Why don't ya wanna have a kid with her?!" he asked after a long moment of silence. "Ya love her'n ya can't hide that yer miserable like shit!"

"And because I love her I don't want to be responsible for her death!" John replied, anger echoing in his voice.

"Responsible for her death?!" his brother asked and furrowed his eyebrows. "In what way?!" He watched how John got up and paced for a moment, his hands buried in his hair. Logan knew the man was angry, desperate and miserable, but he didn't understand the reason behind it. For him it was easy. If he loved someone, he wanted to be with that person and have a family. Why his brother thought different about it was beyond his reason, especially since the man already had a daughter… And he loved the girl with all his heart. "What the hell's wrong, John?"

"What if it was my fault?!" his brother suddenly asked, despair and tears in his eyes.

"What was yer fault?" Logan asked and cocked an eyebrow.

"What if…," John began and stopped his pacing for a moment, "what if they inserted some kind of trigger in me that ensures I can't have constant mate?!" he asked and clenched his fists. "I don't know what kind of shit they did to be in the 50 years." He sniffed and looked away as he had to blink rapidly.

"Ya think Anne's death' yer fault?" Logan asked and watched how his brother slumped down on the bed next to him. He looked at him for a good while, saw the tears in the man's eyes and waited for a reply.

"I don't know, do I?" John shrugged and stared at the ground. A sad smile became visible on his lip as he looked at his brother. "You don't know what it was like. Watching her going through labors for nearly 36 hours, then she's so happy to finally hold her daughter and you feel completely at peace by seeing your wife like that and after she hands you your baby she just dies," he said through gritted teeth and swallowed hard. "What if it was my fault and something triggered it? I neither want to kill Narya nor raising another kid alone. Being a single parent is hell… Especially if you can't find a fucking job because everyone knows you're a mutant…"

"Sounds t'me like ya wanted to give Anna away…," Logan remarked and heard him giving a brief snort.

"I did… Not only once," John admitted and wiped his eyes. "All this moving from place to place and trying to get food for your kid… Then looking for places to sleep at and often enough we had to sleep under some bridge…" He gave his brother a hard look. "Don't tell you wouldn't have thought about giving your child away too?"

"Why don't ya test it?" Logan asked instead and crossed his arm before he leant back against the pillows.

"Test what?!" John asked in confusion.

"If there's a trigger. Or do ya want t'be that miserable for the rest of yer life?" his brother asked. "Coz she's miserable too!"

"How am I supposed to test it?!" John demanded to know and saw Logan nodding at something behind him at the same time as the door opened and Hank came back.

"Ask him for a chance."

Hank stopped and frowned since both ferals were staring at him. "I worked as fast as I could!" he quickly said and made a step back when Logan came closer.

"Can ya test if…"

"Logan!" John tried to cut him off.

"…there's a trigger in his body that would kill a woman after she delivered a baby?" Logan went on and now Hank was really confused.

"I can't really follow you here, Logan," he said and looked to and fro between them. "What trigger?" He listened to the explanation and kept his eyes on John, who looked away, obviously not liking the situation it at all. "If there was a trigger that caused a reaction like that, it would be transferred by his sperms. There's no other way…" He walked over to his medical cabinet and rummaged in it briefly. "Here."

John looked at the small pot and cocked an eyebrow at it. "What am I supposed to do with it?!"

"What do ya think?!" Logan asked and crossed his arms. "Ya heard what the Furball has said. How it's transferred…"

"Woah, woah, woah!" his brother said quickly and raised both arms. "You're kidding, right?! I'm not going to…"

"Ya love her, she's unhappy, yer unhappy'n ya have the chance t'find out if there really is a trigger, alright?" Logan grunted and held the glare he was given. "Take it'n go t'the bathroom!"

"Hey, I…"

Groaning, he took the pot from Hank, put it into John's hands and gave him a push towards the door. "I had t'do it too when Jeannie had trouble gettin' pregnant, don't act like a sissy here," he grunted and received a growl. "Or do I have t'show ya how it works?!" he added mockingly, received a glare and watched his brother leaving.

"So that's the reason why Narya and he are so unhappy lately, huh?" Hank asked and noticed the look he was given. "Logan, I said before that I was sorry. I never judged you or thought any less of you."

The feral shrugged. "What did that stupid test say?"

"What I suspected," Hank replied and took a paper into his hands. "Your blood heals and adapts to another person's blood type. Obviously your organs have the dame function. That's why Scott is doing so well only a couple of hours after the surgery. It's a true miracle… Your mutation is truly fascinating."

"Ya won't get any more blood!" Logan grunted warningly and Hank chuckled.

"I don't need any more, my friend. Don't worry," he said and looked up when John returned and handed him the pot wordlessly. After taking it, he went over to his desk and began to work with a microscope and another odd looking machine. "Then let's see," he mumbled and typed in some commands into the computer.

In the meanwhile the brothers sat back down on the bed and remained silent, John not knowing that Logan's mind was doing something completely else. He looked up as the door opened again and his eyes grew wide as Narya entered. Both exchanged a shocked and confused look. "What did you…," the man asked and glared at Logan angrily.

"Calm down, will ya?" this one replied but his brother had jumped off the bed.

"Why did you call her?!"

"Coz yer too fuckin' stubborn t'talk t'her by yerself, that's why!" Logan growled back and got up when his opposite made a step forward, the tension undeniable…

"What's wrong here?" Narya asked and looked at Logan. She tried to avoid John's eyes by any means, the hurt still too strong as that she could stand it.

"He's any idiot, that's wrong!"

"Watch your mouth, boy!" John warned him, but received a cocked eyebrow from his brother only.

"Or what? Ya gonna hit me?!" he asked provokingly.

"Feel like it!"

Hank, who had looked up from his work, shook his head. "There's no need for beating each other up," he said dryly and took the paper after the printer was done with its work. "And there's no need to worry either, John," he added after reading through. "Or better said, I should be the one worrying after seeing how active your sperms are," he mumbled. He noticed the looks he was given. "Anyway…" He cleared his throat. "There's no trigger or anything like that, but I would really like to know what kind of doctors dealt with your wife."

"Why?!" John asked and crossed his arms, felt how his heart skipped a beat.

"Did they tell you what she died of?" Hank asked him and received a shake of a head. "Well,… Did your wife have an accident before she gave birth?"

"She…," the man began and thought hard. "She slipped in the bathroom and hit the side of her head about a week before Anna was born. She didn't want to go to the doctor because she didn't feel sick or anything," he told him and looked up, deeply in thoughts. "Why?"

Hank nodded sadly. "Well, according to her file her parents insisted on an autopsy. Did you know that?"

"No… They told me to piss off," John said calmly. "They were against…mutant scum." Hearing it, Logan looked down and shook his head. "What did they find out?"

"There was an aneurism in her brain," Hank explained calmly. "The artery must have burst due to the exertion of delivering the baby and it is what killed her. I am right that she died all of a sudden, am I?" he asked and received a silent nod. "It hasn't been your fault. There's nothing you could have done or anyone could have done for her. In fact it could have happened way earlier and your daughter would have probably died too." He watched how John walked over to the next wall and leant his head against it with closed eyes. "I'm sorry, John… But there's nothing in you that caused her death."

Narya, who was still confused about what was going on here, looked at Logan who beckoned Hank to follow him to the outside and gave her a nod to go to his brother. Frowning, she watched them leaving and swallowed hard after turning back around. Her mind recalled the last thing Hank had said and her eyes grew wide in shock. "You…you wanted to protect me…," she gasped and noticed that he was looking at her with tears in his eyes. "You only said you didn't want to have a baby with me because you thought it was you who killed your wife… Am I right?" she asked and received a weak nod after a long moment of silent. "But…why didn't you just tell me?!" Narya asked and felt how a lump in her throat began to build very quickly. She bit her lip hard and walked over to him to hug him. "I thought you didn't want me enough for this…," she sniffed into his neck and felt how he pulled her as close as possible.

"I'm sorry…," he mumbled into her neck and buried his face in it.

"God, you men are so stupid sometimes!" Narya cried pulled him closer. "Instead of just saying what's wrong you always have to do something utterly stupid!" she cursed while crying.

"I think that might still take a while…," Hank said on the outside and received a nod. "Do you think there's still some chocolate cake left?"

"With Popsickle in the kitchen?" Logan asked and cocked an eyebrow while he followed Hank to the elevator.

"Right… I forgot about him…," the furry mutant sighed and pushed the UP-button.

"What's goin' on up there?!" Logan suddenly grunted and looked up.

"What do you mean?" Hank asked and watched how his friend obviously concentrated hard on something. "An attack?!"

"No… But somethin's goin' on in Chuck's office…"

As soon as the door opened both started sprinting towards the room and were surprised to see how Peter, in his metallic form, held a more that furious Daken captive to the ground, while the rest was gathered in the room. "What the hell is goin' on here?!" Logan demanded to know and looked around. It was then that he saw the Cap. "What are ya doin' here, Steve?!" he asked and it took him a while to understand why the man was staring at him like that. He had nearly forgotten that the last time his friend had seen him was at his funeral.

"Steven arrived a few minutes ago, Logan," the Professor began and both man stopped staring at each other. "You should take a look at this," he went on in a grave voice and held a picture up.

Frowning, Logan took it and his face paled a bit. "Who did this?!" he asked and looked at the Avenger.

"How many people do you know that leave three perfect stab wounds?" the Cap asked him and crossed his arms.

"I didn't do this!" Logan snarled.

"I know…," Steve quickly said and turned to Daken with a cold look. "My bets are on him. He was seen close to the house a couple of days ago."

Logan followed the look and met the furious gaze of his eldest son. Shock and disbelief were written on the feral's face as he held the picture up for the man to look at it. In less than a second Colossus had Daken pulled up and pressed against the next wall. "When did it happen?"

"Around 2 a.m.," the Cap replied and crossed his arms, his eyes never leaving Daken. He watched how Logan turned back to his son and still held the picture up.

"Did ya do this?" he asked in a deadly serious, but menacing low voice. "Did ya…do this?!" Logan asked once more, very slowly and emphasizing each word in anger as there was no reply. His breathing came hard and deep, his heart was racing and he was torn between protecting and punching his son. "Did ya kill MJ and her kid?!" he barked and Daken's eyes narrowed into slits.

"What the fuck do you care?" he snarled and glared back.

"I doubt he does," the Cap commented and came closer. "Either you're going to tell us now or I can arrange a small, dark room and trust me, kid," he threatened and stopped next to Logan, "you don't want to be in the same room with us for an interrogation!"

Daken smirked and chuckled. "Think I'm afraid of you?" he mocked and nodded at Logan. "He wouldn't lay a hand on me."

"How can you be so sure, huh?" Steven asked, hiding his confusion. He frowned as Daken began to grin darkly.

"Well…, _daddy_ doesn't beat his kids, don't you know that?" he said in a child-like voice and snorted amused. "Oh, so you didn't know?" he asked after seeing the shocked look on the Cap's face and watched how the Avenger turned towards Logan.

"He's your son?!"

"Yeah…," Logan grunted and his jaw tensed.

Steve turned away and ran a hand over his face and through his hair next. "God dammit, Logan!" he cursed and gave his friend an angry look.

"I didn't know he was still alive, Logan snapped. "So don't give me any fuckin' sermons now that I don't give a shit on anway!"

"He murdered Mary-Jane and her son! Pete is somewhere out there and wants revenge, he is furious and you know how irrational he thinks in a situation like that!" the Cap said angrily. "He will hurt a lot of people and won't stop until he has found the one responsible for it and you know that!"

"Who is lookin' for him then?!" Logan asked, not hiding his anger and not caring that the X-Men were watching.

"Everyone and we can't find him. I'm here to ask you for help, because you can track him down," Steve replied and his eyes fell once more on Daken. "And he's coming with us!"

"He's not goin' anywhere until ya have proof, ya hear me!" Logan warned him and pushed him away a bit, not seeing how Daken gave the Cap a self-righteous smirk.

"Tell him to stop giving me that look or I'll forget myself!" Steve warned him. "He has been seen!"

"And I camped in front of the house for a week?" Daken mocked and snorted. "Yeah, sure…"

"Give me one good reason…," the Cap snarled, but knew there was no way in getting to the man without facing Logan first. Instead he tried a different tactic. "She was your friend, Logan! And Pete's your friend to, so how can you protect him, son or not, after the wife and son of one of your best friends have been brutally slaughtered?!" he asked.

"Don't try that psycho shit on me," Logan grunted warningly and crossed his arms. "As long as ya don't have proof," he added and shook his head, "yer not layin' a hand on him and that's final. And I don't care who of ya I have t'face, got that? Try t'touch him'n ya have t'deal with me! Friend or not!" he threatened him and the group.

"Don't threaten me, Logan!" Steve warned and stopped in front of his friend to face him, unwilling to back down.

"Or what? Ya gonna hit me with that shield of yers?" the feral mocked.

"Try me!"

"Hey, hey, hey!" Ororo said and stepped closer. "How about stopping this testosterone fight for a minute and think, all right?"

"Nothin' t'think about here," Logan growled without breaking eye contact with the Cap.

"Logan… I think we can find another way here," the Professor tried and stopped when Northstar got up from the couch.

"You said it happened around 2 a.m.?" he asked and the Cap turned to give him a look.

"Yeah, so?"

"Then Daken is not your guy. He didn't murder them," Jean-Paul said and ignored the warning look said man gave him, also the confused ones of the rest of the group.

"How can you be so sure, kid?!" Steve demanded to know and gave Daken a brief look, noticed the glare the feral gave the man on the other side of the room.

"Because he was with me," Northstar said and looked at the ground.

"With you?!" the Cap asked even more suspiciously. "Where and why?"

Jean-Paul sighed and crossed his arms too. "In his bed and I doubt I have to explain why, do I?" he asked and hated the deadly silence that filled the room, even more so the looks that went from him towards Daken and back, but he would have started to laugh as he looked into Logan's face, if the situation hadn't been that serious. He could see the wheels turning in the feral's head just by looking into his eyes and knew Logan had understood what it had meant but was unable to let his brain know that he had. Nevertheless, the silence was getting to him. "Okay, shocks over, would some say something please?" he asked and turned his head away from the group.

"If this was a lie just to…," the Cap began and Northstar groaned.

"Oh, please! Do you need details or anything?! He didn't do it and I know he didn't do it, because he was with me all night long until breakfast, alright?"

Steve tried to read the man's eyes, but he could tell that it hadn't been a lie. "Fine...," he said and looked at Logan. "We still need to find Parker and that quickly. I need your help with that."

Nodding slowly, the feral still looked at the now being released from Colossus grip Daken, who was clearly angry. If he had understood what Jean-Paul had said earlier… "He's gay?!" he asked with a look at said man and made this one sigh.

"You don't have to be gay to be with a man, Logan. You from all people should know that," Northstar replied. "He's not."

After turning back around Logan frowned at Daken, who gave him a cold look only, but was interrupted by the Cap. "We need to go if we want Pete to be still alive, Logan!"

"It's my son's birthday, damn it!" the feral growled, gave Jean a brief look, but in the end they left together.

**Sorry that it took a while! I had a writer's block (yep, it's back…) around page 20 and didn't know what to write. I'm not really satisfied with the chapter and will try that the next one will be better. I won't be able to update before mid February probably, since my exams start at January 27. I'll do my very best. Thanks to all reviewers!! Number 500 gets two wishes! Please review and see ya!!**


	50. Chapter 47

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

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**So, since you wanted it there will be a third sequel + epilogue.**** ;)**

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**I received the wishes and I haven't forgotten about all the other wishes. I will include them as soon as they fit into the storyline, don't worry. ; )**

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**One sentence in the scene with Daken was taken from "Dark Avengers #1". Then another scene was taken from "Wolverine Origin".**

**And I hoped I fulfilled the wish that concerned a scene from "Wolverine Origins #30". **

**; ) Funny thing was that I wanted to include that scene anyway. lol **

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**Oh, and: Flashback time! (just…different from before. lol) Please comment on them!!  
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**Okasan means mother in Japanese**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 47**

Logan sat on a roof in the middle of Manhatten, crouched like a predator that was looking for his prey and watched how cars drove by far underneath him. He hated rush hour and was glad that the streets weren't that crowded anymore. Still… Too much noise, too many scents, too many people, too much to do with his senses… His eyes kept on looking around and he tried to filter the scent he was looking for, which was, in a city like this, even for him not easy. Especially not since he was still pissed. First of all, it was his youngest's birthday and he was here looking for Spider-man and then he had to listen to another sermon of how he could keep it a secret that he had a grown up son… So yeah, he was pissed, his mood below zero and the city was going on his nerves. Getting up, Logan cracked his neck and loosened up his shoulder before he concentrated once more on the winds.

"Found anything?" the Cap asked via comm device and Logan knew the man was still in Xavier's office to keep an eye on his son.

"No…," the feral growled and lightened up a cigar.

"Well, I did…," Steven replied and looked at something he held in his hand before he glared at Daken, who was restrained on a stool, in front of him. "I found a picture of Mary-Jane and Michael in your son's jacket pocket…"

On the roof Logan closed his eyes briefly and exhaled. "So?" he asked and squinted against the disappearing sun. "Touch him, Steve, 'n I'll go after ya," he added warningly. "'n ya can go on lookin' for Peter yerself. Understood?"

"Logan, he has a picture of her and the child!" Rogers replied and supported himself with both hands on Xavier's desk, while he looked at the speaker in front of him. Everything they said was audible for everyone in the room, also for Daken, who just smirked at the Avenger.

"No proof!" Logan grunt came through the speaker and the Cap clenched his fists in anger.

"You're saying that because he's you son!"

"No, coz he's innocent!" Logan growled and threw the rest of his cigar over the edge. "Ya heard what Paul said, he was with him, so is he suddenly a killer too?!"

"Your son can have hired someone!"

"Sure…"

The Cap narrowed his eyes, his jaw clenching, at the mocking reply. He knew how stubborn the feral could be, but he also knew him well enough to know how to get under the man's skin. "If your wife and children had been murdered and someone was found, and be it your best friend, with a picture of them in his pocket, you would kill him in the slowest and most violent way possible!"

On the roof Logan smirked. He had seen it coming. "Nice try, Steve… Won't work anymore," he replied and his head jerked aside as he finally caught up on something. "Gotta go. Touch Daken'n yer dead!" he grunted, deactivated his comm device and headed off the roof to another one.

Cursing under his breath, the Cap looked aside and began to boil from within. "Stop giving me that self-righteous smile of yours!" he warned Daken, who chuckled and was soon grabbed by the collar. The stool he sat on fell back a bit and hit the wall behind him. "You heal, don't you?" Steve threatened, but the smirk didn't fade. He looked aside as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"He only wants you to snap," Scott said and pulled him carefully away. "Just try to ignore him."

After he had brought some distance between them and had watched the feral thoughtfully from his position at the wall against which he leant, the Cap shook his head and crossed his arms. "How can he have a son like you?" he asked, but had thought it more out loud.

Shrugging, Daken tilted is head in a mocking gesture. "Ask him, he threw in the mix."

"Yeah? Then Logan either had a very bad day or something else went wrong," Kitty spat and held the glare she was given.

"Katherine!" the Professor warned her, but Steven waved off.

"No, she's actually right," he said. "I mean Logan is not always a nice guy, but a good guy, but he…" He nodded at Daken, who sighed in boredom, and shook once more his head. "Who did you order to kill them and why?"

On his stool the feral cocked an eyebrow at him. "Did you learn English at school? Because…somehow you have trouble understanding it. Or you're just dense."

"Logan won't notice that I hurt you," the Cap warned him and had enough of the power game that went already on for hours. He was too old for this… "And I _will_ hurt you if you go on like this!"

"Think I'm scared of you or anyone else in this room?" Daken asked and tilted his head.

"You never received a good beating, did you?!"

The feral huffed at that empty threat. "You would only hurt yourself…"

"Hey!" Scott said and pressed a quick hand against the Cap's chest to hold him back. "He's not worth it!"

"More worth than a worthless homo sapien!" they heard the feral spitting and turned their heads into this one's direction.

"What did you just say?" Steven asked and made a step forward.

"You heard me just right," Daken replied and was once more clenching his fists behind his back to further loosen up the restraints. "Your days are count anyway, you just don't know yet…"

Shocked, but also surprised about the words the Cap exchanged a look with the others, realized that they hadn't expected that much hatred either. It was then that he noticed one of his team members standing in the door, one of which he knew was not that fond of Logan and would definitely not be fond of Daken either. Not that he was of the latter himself…

"That's him?" the Sentry asked with a look at Daken and crossed his arms.

"Yeah," Steven nodded and leant back against the wall.

"So why is he still in one piece?" his teammate asked him and look at his leader and listened to the reply. "Why are we not allowed to touch him?! Wolverine can't just decide that."

The Cap sighed and squeezed the back of his nose. "He can, because he's his father and I respect that wish… Not that I'm fine with it though…" He looked up just to see how Robert Reynolds gave Daken a surprised look first and heard him chuckling next.

"What's so funny?" the feral snarled and his eyes were narrowed to slits.

"Nothing," the Sentry said amused and his eyes took in once more the man on the stool. "I just can't imagine a woman who'd let that ferret climb on top of…"

The crashing sound the stool made as it burst into splinters wasn't warning enough for either of them and they didn't even saw a shadow moving, as the Sentry suddenly hit the ground hard. All air left his lungs after the hard kick he'd received into the stomach and his eyes widened as he stared into three sharp and black claws that were prepared to kill him.

"That's my mother you're talking of, you son of a bitch!" Daken barked, his eye furious with rage. Before anyone could react he took a swing, but before his claws could strike he found himself on the ground with someone sitting on top of him.

"Don't!" Northstar begged and had trouble to keep the furious feral pinned to the floor. His strength was no match for his own.

"Get the fuck off me!" Daken demanded angrily and tensed his muscles to get rid off the hands that held his wrists.

"Not before you calmed down enough!" Jean-Paul insisted and applied more pressure after shifting his weight. "He's not worth it." His blue eyes were fixed on the angry hazel ones underneath him and he couldn't hide his nervousness. He knew he only had to not pay attention for less than a second and the feral would stab him. His eyes looked at the black and sharp, long claws for a moment and thought he could almost feel them stabbing through his chest. To his surprise they were retracted and he let slowly go of the feral's wrists.

"Get off!" Daken snarled warningly and stomped out of the room, but not without pushing Colossus out of his way. They all winced as the door was slammed shut.

"Was that necessary?!" Steven asked his teammate angrily and walked back over to the speaker when the lamp began to blink. "Found him, Logan?" he asked and listened to the answer.

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Logan had followed the trace of scent he had picked up on in the air. Even if it had been weak, he'd been successful but had been surprised where it had led him. The other Avengers, who were scattered in the city and looking for Spider-Man, would have never guessed where the man had been in the end. After he had typed in his code Logan entered the Avenger Tower and headed downstairs to the basement, surprised that not even security was around. In the end he entered another room and waited for the door to close behind him again. "Everyone's lookin' fer ya, kid," he grunted and stopped behind the man, who sat crouched on the ground and stared at two bodies that were covered by white sheets. The feral pulled a face as he noticed how soaked with blood they actually were. "C'mon, Pete, ya need t'get away from here…," Logan added and laid a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"And then what?" Peter growled and refused to look away from the bodies. "Go home? In case you haven't noticed, Logan, I do don't have a home anymore…"

"But friends'n they're worried," Logan replied. "Whoever did this might be after ya too."

"Think I care about that?" Peter replied and turned his head to look at him, his face tearstained, his eyes emotionless and his face being a mask of sorrow and anger. "Because I don't…"

"Pete…"

"No, Logan!" Parker cut him off angrily. "You don't know how I feel, no one of you does!" he said aloud and stopped only inches from the feral, his chest heaving and falling heavily. "My wife and child are dead, my family and home were taken from me, so don't give me the shit that time will heal all wounds! You and the others don't know shit about how I feel!"

His opposite cocked an eyebrow at him and crossed his arms. "Right… I dunno how ya feel, huh?" Logan grunted. "As far as I remember my ex-girlfriends'n wives didn't leave me coz they had enough, but coz they ended up murdered on the floor! My son, of whom I thought had died with his pregnant mother, hates me coz he thinks I murdered her, so don't give me that shit about not knowin' how ya feel, kid!" Angrily, he didn't break eye contact and was taken aback as Parker leant forward to rest his head against his chest and began to cry in sorrow. Unsure of what to do and feeling uncomfortable Logan remained frozen on the spot and patted his friend's back from time to time.

In the end they both ended up sitting next to each other on the floor and staring at the two bodies. Once more the feral remembered why he hated funerals and never went to one… It only brought more than unpleasant memories which he kept buried deep inside of him.

"Will it ever get better?" he heard Peter asking in a broken voice and looked at the man from aside for a good while.

"No…," Logan replied truthfully and lowered his eyes until he stared at the ground instead. "Ya feel like yer hearts been torn out of yer body, ya try to occupy yerself or ya try hurtin' yerself t'ease the pain, but… It'll never go away. Ya just learn livin' with it…"

"And if I don't want to learn it?"

"Then you've already lost."

Peter nodded weakly and sniffed. "I want to find the one responsible for this…," he said grimly and determined.

"I know…," Logan replied and got up after his friend had done it. He already knew what Peter would ask of him before the man had even turned around.

"You can track that person, right?"

Exactly what Logan had expected. "Only if they don't cover their scents…" He watched how Parker walked around one of the beds and grabbed the sheet under which MJ lay.

"Try it!" he almost begged and pulled the sheet aside, just to make a quick step backwards. He couldn't look at her badly beaten body and even less at the gashes and wounds the claws had left. "Please…"

Logan on the other hand took the view in and his mind had begun to analyze and judge the situation right after the body had been exposed. The way MJ looked it really gave the impression as if either he or Daken had done this. He knew his claws would fit the gashed perfectly. With a grim look on his face he stepped closer. Another thing besides funerals that he hated most was sniffing corpses. This too unlocked memories he'd rather not have. Nevertheless, Logan sniffed and felt Parker's eyes on him.

"And?" he asked hopefully and knew the frown of the feral's face only meant bad news. Before he could ask Logan had activated his comm device and what he heard shocked him even more than finding the two bodies in his house…

* * *

"What did you just say?" Steven asked.

"I said it's a shapeshifter or somethin'. This ain't MJ," Logan's growl replied through the speaker. "The kid doesn't smell like theirs too. Someone made it look like it, but there's no scent that could tell us who did it." In the tower he looked up and watched how Peter stared at the bodies in front of him. He knew that the man had just received another big shock… "It can't have been one of the clones either. They can't cover their scents," he went on and looked at the wounds more closely, his mind working quickly. "It was definitely a set up…" He closed the connection and looked at Peter, who still stared at him in deep shock and he knew the man had trouble understanding anything. "Look, we've t'go back t'the mansion, 'kay? Yer not safe!"

"But…," Parker stuttered and looked at the two bodies. "If that's not them…, then…"

Logan sighed and walked over to lay a hand on his shoulder. "I dunno, but we're gonna find'em."

* * *

When Logan reached the mansion again and led Peter Parker to where he picked up on the others, he was greeted by Jean, who had been watching over the children with her father. "Good that you're back," she said and hugged him. "Hello, Peter," she added and gave him a weak smile.

"Why? Did somethin' happen?" Logan asked and had his brows furrowed.

"You can say that." She nodded and looked down the corridor. "Daken nearly killed a friend of Steven after this one had attacked him verbally. Or better said…indirectly, since he meant you with what he said."

"Which friend?" he grunted and followed her to Charles's office, but as soon as he saw who that _friend_ was, his eyes instantly narrowed. "'f course it's him…"

"Not nice to see you too, Wolverine," Robert spat and met the feral with the same hatred in his eyes as this one greeted him with. "Oh, and your son… Very nice guy. Like father, like son, eh?"

Only glaring at him, Logan looked at Steven and nodded at his teammate. "What's he doin' here?"

"He made sure we weren't being watched," the Cap replied and crossed his arms while heaving a deep breath. "So? What do you think?"

"I need Daken t'be here, Chuck," the feral demanded and received a nod.

"I doubt he will come here voluntarily, Logan. Not after the outburst before. And I can't access his mind either…" He looked thoughtful into the round until his eyes fell on one of his X-Men. "Would you go and talk to him, please?" he asked and all eyes turned into the direction he was looking at.

"Why me?" Jean-Paul asked and looked at him in confusion, even more so as the Professor just smiled.

"Because, Jean, I doubt he will be willing to talk to anyone of us at all."

"Same here, Professor. He won't listen to me too."

"I don't think so," Charles disagreed. "You are probably the only one he has at least a bit of respect for. Go to him and tell him that his father just has a question for him, that's all."

Logan huffed. "Yeah, he'll sure as hell listen t'that…"

"Would you, please?" the Professor said and watched how Jean-Paul shook his head but left in the next moment.

Logan leant against the wall and watched the Sentry silently. He disliked the man deeply and it wasn't a secret to anyone with eyes that this feeling was mutual. Still he wondered what the man could have said that had made Daken snap… "What did ya say t'him?"

Robert shrugged and shot him a deadly look. "I just wondered what kind of woman would let a guy like you climb on top of her…"

"He said ferret," Ororo corrected him and Logan could tell that she disliked him too, still he began to boil within. "But Daken actually snapped because he saw it as an insult to his mother…"

"I'd watch my mouth, if I were ya," Logan growled and the Sentry gave a brief laugh.

"Or you do what, Wolverine? Beat me up? Scratch me?"

Stopping in front of him, Logan narrowed his eyes. "Try me," he hissed and both men began to stare each other down. "I could give ya a matchin' scar on yer other brow for a start, how about that?"

"Logan…," Jean said calmly and tried to pull him away. "Just leave it." When he made a step back and gave her a brief nod, she withdrew her hand and shot an angry look at the Avenger. "And just for your information," she said and turned to face Robert, who began to furrow his brows at her and tried to figure out who she was and what she wanted of him. His eyes took in her beauty and he definitely liked the way she looked, especially her best two arguments. "I'm that kind of woman that lets him _gladly _climb on top of her!" Jean concluded proudly and turned to join her husbands's side again, heard him chuckling while Robert gave her a surprised look.

"What a waste…," the man said and looked aside when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"I think that's enough," the Cap said and gave him a warning look. "We need to think about what to do."

"Agreed!" Parker nodded impatiently and was still leaning against the wall. "What's taking that guy so long?!" he asked impatiently as the door finally opened and, to everyone's not-surprise, Jean-Paul returned alone.

"Do you want me to use nicer words or his exact words?" he asked Logan, who rolled his eyes and Northstar shrugged. "Well…," he began and didn't bother to close the door behind him, "his exact words were that we can rod in hell and if you wanted to talk to him, you'd have to crawl on your knees and even then he wouldn't give a fucking shit about you…" He shrugged apologetically. "Oh, and before he told me to fuck off and slammed the door shut he added something like, if you dared to enter his room, he'd…"

"I heard what he said," Logan grunted and shot him an angry look.

"Good, because I don't want to repeat that," Jean-Paul said and sat back down, just to give the feral a confused look. "Where are you going now?"

"Enterin' his room," Logan growled and stomped out of the room, not caring that the man cursed.

"Hey, you should go with him!"

"Why?" Scott asked.

"Just do it!" Jean-Paul said.

Jean sighed and left first. She could already hear the two men arguing as if there was no tomorrow and heard a door being slammed shut. She cringed. "Logan, don't snap…," she begged mentally and saw him leaning against the door, head lowered and his arms supporting his weight.

"I need ya t'listen t'me…," she heard him saying calmly, but he had hardly said it as Daken already barked threats from the inside. "Just listen, damn it!"

"Fuck off!" his son yelled through the closed door and was ready to fight whoever dared to enter on the inside. He was pissed and was fighting hard to remember what his master had taught him. He was not the same animal his father was, he was better, he was in control… His nostrils flared as Logan pushed the door open and he extracted his claws as a warning. "Get out!"

"No, not before ya listened t'me!" Logan insisted and had a hand raised to show him that he meant no harm.

"I don't care about what you say, don't you get that?" Daken snarled and ignored that Scott and Northstar now arrived at the door too, while Jean was not to be seen. "I don't give a shit about you!"

"This ain't about me, it's about ya!" Logan growled and could tell that the control of the situation was quickly getting out of his hands. The wave of hatred that hit him was way stronger than he had expected. "Look…let me try t'help ya!"

"Help _me_?!" his son asked and came slowly closer, fists clenched and claws at the ready. "You think _I_ need help?!"

The closer Daken came, the more Logan backed off. He knew he had to chose his words very carefully now, since he didn't want to fight him. "Someone knew ya were sent t'assassinate'em'n this someone's after ya now," he tried to explain quickly but could tell that his son couldn't care less. Since Daken was still approaching and had a murderous look in his eyes that even made his hairs on the neck stand up, he backed further off.

"Think I care?"

"Ya should."

"Well I don't," Daken shrugged arrogantly. "I'm better than them." He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes. "I'm better than you too. If they can't touch you, they can't touch me. So why should I care?"

Scott huffed and shook his head at such arrogance. "Logan," he said and met his teammates eyes as he looked at him, "if he doesn't get it and thinks he's the best there's, let him! He doesn't want help, so he should deal with it on his own. Obviously he believes he can."

Logan thought this briefly over before he turned back towards Daken. He didn't want to go down that road, had sworn to never attack his family but he knew there was no other way. "So ya thin yer better than I am?" he asked provokingly and crossed his arms. "I mean look at ya… Do ya call those muscles?" As he had expected, Daken tensed growling and narrowed his eyes. "Ya couldn't even beat me when my hands were secured on my back, kid." Even if he didn't want to he began to stare his opposite down, thought about what he could possibly do to get some sense into his kid, but Daken made the choice he didn't want to make.

"Outside. Now!" his son growled and turned to leave, claws retracted but his muscles were tensed in anger.

"What's going on?" Scott, who hadn't heard what Daken has snarled, asked as Logan with Daken next to him walked down the corridor and towards the backdoor, both with a determined and dark look on their faces.

"Nothin'!" Logan grunted and pushed the door open, disappeared behind it with Daken.

Frowning, Scott stopped at the window and watched how both men came to a halt in the middle of the garden, a few meters between them and stared each other down. "What are they…," he began to asked himself as Daken threw his shirt aside, revealing his tattooed and muscular body, while Logan did the same. "Shit!" the man cursed and turned around to look at the others. "Professor?" he asked and looked for the man.

"Yes, Scott?" came the reply in his head.

"We're in trouble. Logan and Daken are on the outside and I think they'll start a fight!"

"I'll be right there," Charles said, sounding urgent all of a sudden.

"Thanks," Scott replied and stopped on the terrace where he waited for the others.

In the meanwhile Daken glared at his father and flexed his wrists. No one dared to talk to him like that and he'd be damned if he let him do it. "I'll kill you, you son of a bitch!" he snarled and went into an attacking stance that was mimicked by Logan.

"Vhat's going on?" Kurt asked and looked around the room, trying to figure out what had caused any trouble. Next to him stood Remy, ready with some cards in his hands, Norhstar and they were followed by Hank and Ororo.

"What's wrong?" the weather goddess asked breathlessly.

Scott pointed behind him. "They obviously came to the agreement that killing each other will do just fine…"

"Killing who?" John asked and stopped next to Ororo with Narya and Jean next to him.

"Oh no!" the redhead said and was out of the door in the next second, the other close by. "Logan!"

"Stay outta this, Jean!" her husband growled and still glared daggers at his son, who returned the favor.

"What are you doing? Have you lost your mind?" they heard Charles asking from afar and he wheeled closer. "This is a school and we have more important things to deal with right now!"

"And this will be settled now!" Daken growled and cracked his knuckles, while his father did the same with his neck. "So stay out of this, old man."

"Logan!" Jean said warningly but could tell that she was ignored completely.

"Ya think yer as good as I am, huh?" Logan asked, remaining in a crouched position as they began to encircle each other.

"No, I'm better, old man!" Daken spat and clenched his fists, growling when his father gave him a smirk. "I was chosen."

"I won't hold back, kid! Not this time," he warned. "Ya might be younger, but I've the experience. 119 years, 41 years, do the math…" Logan smirked satisfied when the reaction was another growl. He knew he soon had his son where he wanted him to be. "I mean… All ya did so far was fightin' with yer claws. Ya don't know how t'fight like a real man, eh, kid?" To emphasis his provocation his smirk turned into an arrogant grin and Logan added a wink, which made Daken finally snap.

"I'm NOT a kid!" the younger man barked and leapt at his father, who had expected the reaction and quickly grabbed Daken's approaching fists. Using the speed of the younger man, Logan twisted his arm while stepping aside and sent Daken to the ground next.

"See?" he mocked, but remained in a position that would prepare him for any attack. He was determined to hold back and let him work off his rage as good as possible before he'd try to talk to him again. He knew it was useless to try now as angry as the younger man was…

"Can't you stop them?" Scott asked Jean and winced when Daken landed a hard hit, blood immediately flowing out of the wound above Logan's right eye, but his healing factor took care of it in the next second. He could only shake his head since Logan was hardly doing anything, whereas Daken wasn't holding back at all. He was now attacking his father viciously and with every technique he knew of. He only waited for one of them to turn completely feral and extract the claws.

"Don't do it!" he heard John saying next to him and gave him a surprised look.

"Are you nuts?" Scott asked him.

"Logan has a plan or something. He'd fight back if he hadn't… And it's in their nature to do this," the man explained without taking his eyes from the fight. "The grown-up son challenges his father for dominancy. That's what the fight is mostly about. Logan knows this… That's why he's provoking Daken into losing control."

"Does that mean…," Jean said and a brief _Gods…_ escaped her lips when Daken sent Logan backwards against a tree with a hard roundhouse kick and she put the tree back together with her powers, "that I have to watch Logan beating up our sons as soon as they are adults?"

"Hell no!" John said incredulously and shook his head in disbelief that she even thought about something like that. "Am I fighting him for dominancy? No! Daken's different… As full of hatred as he is…" He gritted his teeth, a hiss escaping him, as Daken landed a very hard hit by combining three kicks, but saw that the man didn't reckon with Logan reacting to it with a quick butterfly kick. "Mind to explain something to me, Jean?"

"What?" she asked and looked up at him.

"How can Logan move this fast and do those jumps and kicks with all the metal in his body? I mean we're faster than normal humans by nature, but…" He shook his head. "Not like this…"

Ducking, Logan frowned as Daken was suddenly not in front of him anymore. He only saw a shadow moving as a fist met the side of his head and the shadow turned into a few stars dancing in front of his eyes soon after wards. As soon as he had turned into the direction the hit had come from, he was already kicked into the back and landed on his knees with a surprised gasp. He wondered how his son could be that fast and how he did it. Wolverine began to growl as Daken put his arm around his father's throat and tensed his muscles to strangle him.

The younger man watched how Logan's eyes switched from hazel to black and back, knew what it meant and snorted in disgust. "Look at you," he snarled and twisted harder. "You're an animal, always been one. A shame for our race!"

"No!" Charles said as Jean wanted to intervene.

"But…"

"Daken is unfocused, "he told her and concentrated further. "His mind is open at the moment, let me read it to see what I can do…"

Concerned, the redhead watched how Daken went on strangling Logan, who was still motionless on his knees. "Why is he not fighting back?!" she asked aloud and looked aside when Charles opened his eyes in surprise. "What did you see?"

"Something…more than surprising…," he replied and frowned at both men. "Something really surprising…"

"Fight back, damn it!" Daken suddenly barked furiously and kicked his adversary to the ground. "You fucking coward!"

Northstar, who was surprised to see this much hatred, looked at Ororo next to him, who watched the scene in shock. "Why does he hate Logan so much?! I mean he's his father!"

"Because he believes that Logan murdered his mother when she was still pregnant with him," Hank explained in a low voice and kept his eyes on the fight. He shook his head as Daken landed another hit and Logan still didn't do anything. "Charles…"

"Look at Logan's eyes…," Narya suddenly said and frowned. "It seems as if he's not really here."

"What do you mean with that?" Scott asked her.

"That he…keeps himself in a trance-like state," John replied and tried to figure out why. "It's like meditating."

"Well, he does that everyday… But why in the middle of a serious fight?!"

"Damned, if I know…," the feral mumbled as Logan suddenly lashed out with his claws and left three deep gashes on his son's leg. "That…wasn't planned."

Daken, who stared at the wound in shock, began to growl and extracted his claws. "You son of a bitch!" he barked and, not caring that Logan was obviously shocked about what he's done, used his claws to cut open his father's throat and stomach. "You're going to…," he began and raised his claws as Logan, who knelt before him and held his still bleeding throat, looked up.

"Pay?" this one finished and nodded. "Well, go ahead then. Kill me for murderin' yer mother."

Taken aback by this, Daken hesitated for a moment, which gave the other feral time to leap at his son, but before he could even reach him everything around him turned black.

When he opened his eyes again he found himself sitting against a tree, the sun stood high and he began to wonder where those cherry blossom trees suddenly came from. As he got slowly up and looked around, he thought his heart would stop beating instantly as he recognized _where_ he suddenly was. Still, he couldn't remember that he had gone back to this place in his mind again, as he had done during the fight with his son to keep Wolverine down… Confused, Logan walked over to the small pond and looked at his reflection in it as a cherry blossom landed on the surface. He looked up, took the beauty of the trees in and noticed that the wind was playing with the leaves, but he didn't feel it on his skin. His hazel eyes looked around once more. The pond and trees had been his favorite spot at Jasmine Falls next to the waterfall. And he knew why he always chose to go back here inside of his head when times were tough. He'd been the happiest at this time and in this village before Jean…. He'd been a man and not an animal here, had been welcomed and accepted by others…, hadn't been the outsider he was everywhere else… Had a home…

Knowing what would happen, Logan closed his eyes sadly and lowered his head. His heart beat a constant and fast _thudthudthud_ in its adamantium cage and he took another deep breath before he dared to turn slowly around. His chest instantly became heavy as he saw _her_ walking up to him, the dark rosé colored kimono hugging her body perfectly, her long raven black and silky hair reflected the sunlight, while her nearly black and gentle eyes seemed to look directly at him. Still, he knew what would happen and closed his eyes as she walked through him, just to kneel down at the pond to drink some water.

"Don't go t'the house…," Logan begged in a whisper as she got up, brushed her hair back with one hand and touched the noticeable bulge that was her stomach with a smile, before she began to walk up the small hill to the single wooden house, which he had built with his own hands decades ago. Unable to move, Logan watched how she aimed straight for it and, against his better judgment, began to run after her in hope he could stop her from entering the house. He had nearly reached her and his hand reached out to grab her arm, as she was already inside and…

"NO!" Logan yelled in agony as the gunshot could be heard, didn't notice that the sun had disappeared to be replaced by a moon and stormed into the house next just to freeze on the spot, his eyes wide in terror…

"It wasn't your fault, Logan," Charles said and stood right in front of his X-Man, who stared at him with widened eyes and was breathing hard. "You didn't kill Itsu…"

"W…what…?!" Logan began and turned around, just to see that it was night all of a sudden.

The Professor lowered his eyes briefly before he looked at the man again. He knew what he was doing and what this would do to the feral. "I know you go back to Jasmine Falls in your head when you meditate or when you try to calm down. It's where you've been at peace, where you've been happy. Itsu and your life with her is your most cherished memory next to Jean and your children…, but you didn't kill her, Logan! It wasn't your fault."

Distraught, Logan looked up at him, tears clearly visible in his eyes and his face tensed. "It was, Chuck…," he replied, his voice hoarse.

"No, it wasn't!" Charles insisted and made another step towards him. "You loved her with all your heart. You tried so hard to be the honorable man she deserved to have and you were so happy when she told you that she was expecting your child…" He paused when the feral closed his eyes and turned his head away from him in pain. "Why are you blaming yourself for her death, Logan?!"

"Coz it's been my fault!" Logan hissed and glared at him, a tear running down his cheek. "I put the death sentence on her by loving her… If I had kept away from her, she wouldn't have been murdered!" His eyes switched to the side as a person he knew well suddenly appeared in the room. He frowned in confusion.

"It wasn't you who killed her, Logan," Charles said calmly and he, too, looked at the person. "Romulus gave the order to murder your wife."

Logan still stared at the person in shock, felt how missing pieces began to fill the puzzle. "Bucky…killed her?!" he asked and was breathing hard. When the room began to spin he sat down on the ground and held his head.

Having watched him, Charles joined him on the floor. "He did it under mind control, Logan… He didn't know what he was doing," he explained calmly and thought about how far he could still go without risking that the feral would lose it. "It was Romulus who murdered Itsu and it was also him who stole Daken from his dying mother's womb. No one else is to blame! Least of all you!" He wanted to reach out and comfort his X-Man, knew in how much stress and agony Logan was in. "Logan…"

"Why are ya doin' this t'me, Chuck?!" the feral demanded to know, his voice pained and he sniffed. "I don't want t'see this!"

"It's not you I want this to see, Logan…," the Professor replied and Logan's head jerked around. His eyes widened in shock as he realized that Daken was standing next to him, eyes as wide as his father's.

"What's he doin' here?!"

"The miraculous thing about your son is that he is in much more control over his feral nature than you, Logan. But as soon as he gets close to you, he loses every control he has and opens his mind," Charles explained with a look at Daken. "Jasmin Falls is where you go to find peace, Logan, and where your son goes to fuel his rage and hate for you."

Breathing hard, Daken made a step back and shook his head. "You're lying! Those are lies," he said over and over again before he lashed out with his claws, just to realize that they went directly through the Professor.

"That won't work, Daken. This here is a construct I was able to create due to both of you thinking about the same event," the bald man told him and noticed the terror and confusion in the younger man's eyes. "Your father didn't murder your mother, child."

"He murdered my mother!" Daken growled at him before he turned to face his father, who watched him warily. "You murdered her and left me alone is this goddamn world!" he barked at him in rage. "Because of you I was raised as a mongrel, you son of bitch!"

"You know that this isn't the truth, Daken!" the Professor said and joined Logan's side, knowing that the man had no strength left in him at the moment. "Your father loved your mother and would have rather sacrificed himself than losing her and you! It was Romulus who murdered her and it was Romulus who stole you away from…"

"Stop telling me what I know!" Daken yelled at him and turned away from both of them to bury his face I his hands. "Don't tell me…," he added in barely more than a whisper and dropped to his knees, his breathing still coming too fast. Lost, he looked around the room and his eyes fell on the door. "I want out of here…"

"Then go. The door is open," Charles shrugged and watched how the man looked at it. "I told you that you are our guest. You can leave whenever you want…" Closing his eyes, he concentrated for a moment and soon the village disappeared and they were back in the garden. He exchanged a brief look with Jean, who was the only one from the rest of the group who had witnessed everything, then looked at Logan and Daken, who were both lying unconscious on the ground and woke up.

"What did you do?" Scott asked the Professor and looked at the two ferals again that were now standing and gave each other odd looks. He didn't know what to make out of it. First both had dropped motionlessly to the ground, then the Professor had been unresponsive and Jean had suddenly begun to cry… And now Logan looked as if he'd just been on an emotional rollercoaster with a bad ending, while Daken didn't seem to know what to do. "What happened?!"

Logan looked away from his son as this one turned his back on him and stared at the grass, still feeling the pain deep within him. He knew he'd just lost the battle for his eldest as this one began to walk away from them. In the end, the Professor had been right. He was their guest and not their prisoner. Sighing, he ran a hand over his face and kept his eyes closed. He refused to look at anyone else before he'd built up a wall again that would protect him from further emotional hurt. Especially the one that came with it when he thought about Daken leaving… He knew he had failed Itsu once more…

"Tell me about her," Logan heard Daken suddenly saying and turned his head in surprise. From his son's demeanor and since the man was keeping his eyes on the ground, he guessed that it had cost him much to even ask for it.

"How about I show ya?" Logan asked in return and received a frown from his son first, before they were back at the pond with the cherry blossoms falling onto the surface and the wind playing with the leaves. Once more the sun stood high and the place looked peaceful.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Ororo asked and looked around, being as confused as the other X-Men.

"Vhere are ve?!" Kurt asked next as his wife suddenly froze and seemed to stare at something behind him. Confused, he turned just to witness something he didn't understand. "Vho is she?"

"Daken's mother…," Jean told them calmly and in a monotone voice.

"Damn, she's beautiful, non?" Remy commented and watched how the woman walked over to the pond. "Remy understand w'y da Wolverine 'as fallen for da belle petité… Elle est très belle…"

Scott rolled his eyes at the remark and crossed his arms as he watched how Logan gave the Japanese woman a sad look, almost avoided looking at her at all, while Daken stared at her speechlessly, his chest rising and falling heavily which once more gave the expression that his tribal tattoo was moving. He was surprised that the man was able to show emotions in the end…

While his heart was beating triple rhythms in his chest the younger feral's eyes glued on the approaching woman and his eyes tried to take as much in as possible. He'd never seen his mother before, not even on pictures and had always wondered what she had looked like. Now that he saw her for the first time after all that years of imagining it, he didn't know what to do or say. Insecurely, he made a step forward as she had almost reached him and wondered why she wasn't looking at him. "Okasan…?" he said in his native tongue and tried to touch her, was surprised as his hand went right trough her. Disappointed and angry he clenched his fists and glared at his father. "That's not enough!"

"It's all I can give ya…," Logan replied and looked at Itsu once more when she knelt down to drink the water again. "It's only a memory. I don't have anythin' else left from her." Thinking about his words, he looked up and at his son. "Except ya…"

"Then…," Daken began, desperate for more information about his origin. "Then give me another memory! I want to hear her voice!"

"Don't do this!" Logan said almost pleadingly and looked away, as a strong hand grabbed his arm and turned him back around.

"Please!" his son begged to his great surprise and he sighed heavily.

Logan held his opposite's gaze and realized there was the same pained expression in Daken's eyes that he probably wore himself. He didn't want to go back and witness once more what he kept locked away deep inside of him. Especially not when Jean was close by. He knew she was probably already hurt enough after getting to know what he thought of during meditation… But still he was also aware of the fact that his son deserved to know who his mother was… With a heavy heart he nodded weakly and allowed the Professor to use the memory he came up with. Soon his surroundings began to change once more and he found himself back in his house at Jasmine Falls, knew it was winter and thought he could feel the fire that was burning in the fire place to heat the room. He remembered how Itsu and he had lain in bed, on the ground as it had been typical during that time in Japan and was still common in some places as far as he knew, and cuddled with each other. He had been at peace back then, had worn an eye patch after Cyber had gorged out his eye and went under the name Patch after most people had started calling him that, but she and the villagers knew him as Logan. As he raised his head to watch the scene he felt his heart clenching painfully. His other self was clearly in love with the woman next to him and occupied with stroking through her long black hair, while she rested her head on his shoulder, enjoying his caressing. He still remembered how long it had taken her to get used to him not being like Japanese men at that time. How embarrassed she had been every time he had helped her with something in the house, because it simply wasn't common.

Logan watched how Daken's eyes were fixed on his mother and how he took everything in the woman was doing saying. His eyes switched back to his former wife and heard how she told his other self the news that had changed his life on that day. He'd been shocked first, but had felt incredibly happy right afterwards as he got to know that he'd be a father soon. Unable to take it anymore, Logan slammed the connection to the Professor shut and ran a hand over his face and through his hair. He definitely had enough…

"Do you still believe it's us that lie to you?" Charles asked Daken after a long moment of silence and held the man's glare. "They do to you what they intended to do to your father, Daken. They shaped you into the weapon they wanted him to be and they are still controlling you!"

"No!"

Charles sighed. "I have seen it in your head, child. Whoever Romulus is, he made you go through exactly the same as your father and that from your childhood on…"

Daken shook his head. "Not true!"

"Fine. Then let me show you," the Professor replied, his face grim and before one of the two feral could say something the garden around them disappeared once more, but when Logan realized what kind of memory the telepath was using, he paled.

"NO!" he said aloud and turned to look at Charles with horror in his eyes.

"You told me you'd do whatever necessary to set your son's mind straight, Logan," this one replied. "As much as it pains me, but you'll understand why this is necessary."

But the feral shook his head. "Not this! I want out!" he protested, panting, and sounded almost begging. Nevertheless, he could already hear people arguing loudly and his worst nightmare began…

As his eyes grew wider, John made a step forward in shock. He had instantly recognized the walls of the corridor they were standing in. There was no way he'd ever forget about them, no matter how long ago it had been. But he already began to fear what he knew he'd see… While his brother stood frozen on the spot, his face full of terror and looked desperately for a way out, his eyes looked at the people that suddenly became visible and he made a step back. "No… Not this…," he whispered more to himself than the others and watched how his father, who wore a nightgown, demanded to know from the gardener, who carried a shotgun and was accompanied by a boy with the same weapon, what he was doing in his house, whereas his mother stood next to the gardener and did nothing. The whole situation soon escalated and he wanted to intervene as the gardener hit his father with the weapon. He watched the man laying on the ground and wiping the blood from his mouth, before he replied to the threats that were uttered and soon looked at the end of the shotgun. He heard his mother pleading Thomas to stop, asked himself who the girl with the red hair was and had hardly turned his head to the door, where his tired brother appeared to ask what was wrong, as the gun went off and huge amounts of blood left the back of his father's head, who landed dead on the floor next.

John felt how his heart began to race while he was terribly cold from the inside. His whole body shook as he watched how his younger brother ran to their father's body in shock and pleaded him under tears to say something and get up, to tell him what was wrong, as the gardener's son was ordered to silence him by his father. The whole situation escalated further as his brother lashed out at Dog, who dropped screaming to his knees and held his bloody face, before James jumped screaming at the gardener, who kicked him to the ground and was about to shoot him, as he realized that his shirt was suddenly soaked with blood.

His eyes went from the dead body to his brother once more, heard him uttering an animal-like scream before he stared at his hands in shock, not knowing what had happened, nor remembering anything of it. John's eyes narrowed in hatred when he heard how the boy begged his mother to tell him what was wrong, who those people were and where his father was, just to be hit by her.

"Mama, please, no! I behaved, I promise!" James begged, tears still running down his cheeks and tried to reach her, as he had to duck when his mother threw a vase at him. "I love you, Mama!"

"Get away from me, you monster!" Elizabeth Howlett barked and grabbed the next object to throw it at him, ignored his pleas to stop and was still not satisfied as a candleholder hit him. "You're not my son! You're a monster…an animal!" she barked and the next object she threw hit the mirror behind him, which burst. "Get out of this house, you damned abortion!" she added even louder and still didn't stop throwing things at him, after he had already fled.

"This is horrible…," Narya said next to him and shook her head in disgust with tears in her eyes. She watched how the little redhead spoke to the woman and ran after James, while Elizabeth knelt down next to Thomas and stroked over his face. She could neither understand what she was saying to the man nor to the boy afterwards, before she walked over to the shotgun and aimed it right at her head.

The gun had barely went off as they were suddenly standing in rain in the middle of the night and watched how a boy with a black mohawk was arguing with a Japanese man. Since they spoke Japanese, no one of them could understand it first, but the Professor changed it.

"You are no longer part of this family. I disown you of the name Akihiro," the man said in a strict voice and looked down at the boy in disgust and disappointment.

"Akihiro isn't my real name anyway!" Daken barked furiously and had his fists clenched and teeth bared. "It has never been my name!"

"You murderer!" a Japanese woman suddenly barked behind the man and stormed towards Daken with a shotgun in her hand.

Surprised about the sudden attack, the boy raised his arms and tried to push her away as she suddenly dropped to the ground. Shocked, Daken stared at his bloody hands and the three black claws that were suddenly visible. He didn't hear how his foster father cried out in sorrow and held his now dead wife in his arms, nor noticed that the man got up to take the gun himself and point it at the confused boy.

"Father, no!" Daken begged, his body still shaking and made a carefully step back.

Panting, the man aimed the gun at the boy but lowered it in the end. "I'm too weak. I can't to it…," he said in barely more than a whisper and regret, paused for a moment before he aimed the weapon at his head and shot himself with it.

The scene changed again and the group was suddenly in the snowy mountains to watch how a very young Logan pulled the thin jacket he was wearing closer around himself and fought his way through the thick snow of a quarry. He kept his eyes to the ground, well aware of some of the men watching him again and knew they only waited for a chance to pick on him again. To them he was the weakest link in their chain and he did his best to get out of their way as much as possible. But since he hadn't been able to get done with his work in time, he'd been forced to work until way after midnight, was tired and hungry and could hardly walk anymore. His eyes constantly began to close as his exhaustion tried to take over, so he didn't notice how he ran into someone.

"The little slack-off again…," a man said and grabbed the boy by his collar to pull him easily up. "What are you staring at, huh?"

"N…nothing..," Logan stuttered and stared at his opposite with widened eyes.

"Nothin', huh? I'm sure you stared at my food," the man replied and pushed him away. "You hungry, kid?" he mocked and received a nod. "I asked you something, whelp!"

"Y…yes, sir," the boy replied and didn't like the smirk he was given at all. Before he was able to react, the man had grabbed him once more and was now dragging him towards one of the tiny cabins. "Let me go!"

"Hey, folks, our little fella here says he's hungry," the man said and pushed him into the room, just to close the door next. "A boy has to work to earn his share, don't you think?" he asked and winked at them.

Scared, Logan looked at each one of them and began to back off. His senses told him that he was in danger and needed to get away from here. "I…am not hungry anymore…"

"No?" another older man asked after he had gotten up from his stool and gave him the same dark smirk as the three others. He enjoyed how the boy backed further off in fear of him. "Why don't I believe that, runt?"

"Really," Logan panted and realized that they were forcing him into a corner without a way out. "I should go… Rose's probably waiting and…"

The third man laughed aloud. "Oh, you heard that? The damsel is waiting!" he mocked and grinned. "Does a pretty boy like you even know how to handle such a chick?" he asked and received a frown from the boy. He laughed. "As I thought…," he nodded and his hand wandered towards his belt. "Why don't you let your pretty mouth work down here. We still have enough food. If you're good enough we might give you some for your _cousin_ too."

"W…what?!" Logan asked, his eyes wide and he tried to figure out what they wanted from him.

The men laughed. "Told ya the whelp never got some," one of them said and smirked. "Why don't we teach him, fellas? Then he's at least useful for one thing."

Logan watched in horror how they closed in on him, still not understanding what they were up to and pressed himself further against the wall. Desperate he looked for a way out and shrieked when one of the men suddenly grabbed him roughly.

"What's the matter, whelp? You're still standing," the man hissed and the two others closed in, clearly enjoyed the fear the boy was in. "You're hungry, aren't you? You've gotta work in order to get something. So better get started!"

"If you suck, runt," another one threatened him, "you'll face hell here, understood? A baby like you should go back where he came from, sucker! Do what we say or your days here are over. If you thought it was hell before, then just wait and see what we can do!"

Panting, Logan eyes switched to the third man as this one looked at him full of hatred. "I hate pretty boys like you who think they're something better, fucker! Just because the boss likes you, doesn't me we do, understood? Do what we say or we'll take good care of your _cousin_!" "No, leave her alone!"

"Did I allow you to speak?!" he asked angrily and raised his hand, but turned around as the door was slammed open.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Smitty demanded to know and his eyes took in the scene, stopped on the boy. "What are ya doing t'him?" he asked and came closer, his eyes scrutinizing each of them. "Did they hurt ya, kid?"

"No…," Logan replied calmly but his body shook in fear.

"We're just having fun, Smitty," one of the men said with a shrug. "Right, whelp?"

"I told ya t'leave Logan alone!"

"Hey, it was just a joke, alright boss?"

"Do I look like someone who's in the mood for jokes, bub?" Smitty grunted and glared at him, before he looked at the boy again. "Logan, come on. I'll take ya home."

"We've enough of the kid getting special treatment, Smitty!" one of the three men spoke up and earned a glare. "That kid is supposed to be 14 and looks like 10. This whelp keeps up slowing us down and it's our rations that get shorten because of him!"

"Ya think he gets special treatment, eh?" Smitty asked and crossed his arms. He gave Logan next to him a brief look and saw that he was still intimidated. He knew no matter what kind of questions he'd ask, the boy wouldn't tell him the truth about what had happened. "As far as I know you were caught napping, Joe. And Logan here worked until past after midnight, so who slows the group down?" he asked and turned to leave, put a protective hand to Logan's shoulder and closed the door behind them. "I told ya to stay away from'em, son and to take the longer route home. Do ya even realize what could have happened if I hadn't come by?"

"No…," Logan mumbled and stared at the ground as a hand touched his shoulder.

"Go home, eat and sleep," Smitty told him. "Rose has your ration." He turned to leave first but gave him a look over his shoulder. "It's 1 a.m., kid. If ya keep up working until that late, ya won't get outta bed at 5 a.m. Work faster and ya get the rest ya need."

Watching him leaving, Logan swayed a bit as his eyes closed for a moment. When he noticed the men at the window he began to run to his cabin.

Then suddenly they were back in Japan and saw a group of 6 Japanese boys standing around Daken, who tried to escape their hands. He landed on the ground several times as they kept on pushing and hitting him, didn't know who of them to attack first and getting angrier with every word they said.

"Hey, mongrel!" one of the boys kept on calling until Daken's eyes were on him. "Didn't mommy and daddy want you?"

"Yeah, I bet they didn't want Daken," another boy laughed.

"My name is not Daken! It's Akihiro!" Daken barked and clenched his fists in anger.

Laughing, the boys looked at him. "Maybe in your father's house, mongrel. To us you're Daken!" another boy mocked. "You're not Japanese, so you don't belong here!"

The scene changed and they were now standing in some kid of dark hall that was illuminated by fires here and there and used as a training room. They watched how Daken, who wasn't older as Logan before, tried to pull a heavy weight up an artificial hill, but failed since he was too weak to do so. As the rope tore and he fell to the ground, he watched in horror how the weight landed on the lower level and he lowered his head in exhaustion. He knew what would await him now and he wasn't let down as a whip slashed across his bare back. Knowing that it would get only worse, if he made the tiniest sound, he bit his lip hard and endured it. After the whipping stopped and his back was scarlet red with blood, he dared to look aside, saw how angry his trainer was.

"I told you to watch it, you useless thing!" the man barked. "Now get up and try again!"

"It's too heavy…," Daken said and was instantly hit once more.

"I said get up and try again! Now!" His trainer watched how the boy limped down the hill and took hold of the bit that was left over from the rope. "We won't stop before you've made it! Only the strong survive and you're weak!"

After they watched two more memories, the first showing how Cyber, dressed in military clothes, first beat Logan, who also wore military clothes, up until he lay motionlessly on the ground, and then did the same to Daken, who wore a newer version of said clothing, in the second memory, they were all back in the mansion's garden and noticed the dark looks Logan gave the Professor, who chose to ignore them.

"Do you now understand what I mean, Daken?" he asked with a look at the man, who kept his angry eyes on the ground. "They made you deliberately go through exactly the same as your father. They messed with your head and emotions to forge you into the weapon they needed. You know that your father isn't responsible for any of that, because it's you who has been there when your mother has been murdered. You're the only one who knows what has really happened," he went on and held the glare he was now given. "In fact I have never seen so much scar tissue in a mind before. Not even in your father's. In your mind is so much evidence of abuse and trauma, even more so than in Logan's and whoever did this to you had your memories distorted and your conscience cauterized, made sure that it can't be reversed by sealing it off behind a strong telepathic wall." Charles paused to let his words sink in. "I can help you set your mind straight, Daken. It's your choice." He sighed and leant back in his wheelchair as the feral just left wordlessly, watched how he shoved Captain America roughly out of his way before he disappeared in the mansion.

"What's gotten into him this time?" the man asked after reaching the group and frowned at Logan, who kept his back to the rest of them. "I just wanted you to know that Tony gave me a call just now. They found MJ and the baby, or better said S.H.I.E.L.D. did."

"So who was behind it?" Scott asked and crossed his arms.

"That's the point," Steven replied. "They said it's classified, so my bet is someone of them is behind this and hoped Peter would take out some of their wanted enemies. If that's the case, they can be sure we'll pay them a nice visit later on. Thanks for the help, Logan." He watched how his old friend gave him an odd look and just left. "What's wrong with him?"

"Charles went too far, that's wrong," Jean said angrily and moved to follow her husband.

"He agreed on it, Jean," the Professor stopped her and held her angry look. "He told me to do whatever it takes to talk some sense into Daken and allowed me to access his mind if necessary!"

"But not THIS memory, Charles!" she disagreed. "Never THIS memory!" Glaring at him, she turned and tried to find Logan, whereas Narya looked at John in concern.

"Are you alright?" she asked and reached out to touch his cheek, but he only nodded weakly in silence. Understanding him, she pulled him into a comforting embrace and stroked through his hair. "I'm sorry about your father. I have never seen something this horrible before…"

"And can you believe Logan had witnessed this?" Ororo asked and still felt like crying.

"I'd rather say…," Hank said with a grim look on his face, "can you believe how much the gardener looked like Logan…"

"Actually, I think…," Kurt spoke up and looked at each of them insecurely, "that Logan's father looked like Logan did on his vedding day vith the short hair…"

"Whatever…," Scott sighed and took off his glasses for a moment to rub his eyes. "It's already late…"

"Right and I don't understand a thing anyway," the Cap said and moved to go. "The invitation is still valid?"

"Of course," Charles smiled tiredly at him. "We'll have a barbeque again for Jean's birthday next Sunday."

"Then until then," the blonde nodded and wished them a good night before he left.

In silence the remaining X-Men returned to the mansion and locked down the school for the night. While the Professor, Remy, Scott and Hank went into one direction, Kurt, Ororo, Narya and John went upstairs to their rooms. "It's good you made up," the weather goddess said after watching Narya and John for a while.

"It was a misunderstanding," the blonde waved off and still held onto her lover's arm. They parted after reaching their room doors and she instantly embraced him once more, felt how much seeing this one particular memory must have hit him. Nevertheless, before she could say something a door was opened and Anna ran towards her.

"Narya!" the girl called happily and hugged her.

"Hey, sweetheart," the woman said and hugged her back. "You're still up?"

"I heard you! Are daddy and you no longer mad with each other?" the girl asked and looked to and fro between them.

"It was just a misunderstanding, baby," John tried to calm her and pulled her up into his arms. "And you should already be in bed."

"So she moves back in?" Anna asked excitedly and wrapped her arms around his neck as he carried her back to her room.

"Of course I do," Narya smiled and reached out to stroke over her head. "Otherwise your father never finds his things, right?"

While John rolled his eyes playfully, his daughter nodded in agreement. "He misses his watch," the girl whispered in hope he wouldn't hear it. "But don't tell him I told you that!"

Giggling, the blond winked at her with a nod. "I won't," she whispered back.

"And now you'll sleep, alright?" John said after putting his daughter back into her bed and tucking her in. He leant down and kissed her on the cheek. "Love you."

"Love you too, daddy," Anna said and kissed him back while hugging her teddy.

"Sleep well," Narya smiled and kissed her too before she walked over to the door.

"I missed you," she heard the girl saying and her heart made a leap. "And daddy missed you too. He was cranky, you know?"

"I missed you two too, sweetheart," Narya smiled at her and switched off the light. "Good night," she added and closed the door behind her. She then walked over to the drawer and pulled a shirt out of it. "I'll take this for tonight, okay?" she asked John, who was coming out of the bathroom in briefs only. "I don't feel like packing up my things tonight. I'll do this tomorrow," she announced and went into the bathroom next. Afterwards she slipped under the covers next to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Will you be able to sleep?"

John shrugged. "Guess so…"

"Try to sleep, okay?" she said and placed a kiss to his lips before she switched off the lights and cuddled up. For a long while no one of them said anything. Narya just rested her head on his chest and listened to his heartbeat, while he kept on stroking up and down her back. She knew he was thinking about something. "A penny for your thoughts…," she mumbled sleepily and shifted a bit.

"Do you still want a baby?" she heard him asking and was suddenly completely awake.

"W…what?!" Narya closed her eyes for a moment as he switched the lights on his side back on.

"I'm just thinking that…," he began and avoided her eyes, "everything that happened today made me realize how fast things can change or be over… We shouldn't waste time like this…"

When their eyes met she frowned. "But I thought…you don't really want a second child?"

"I didn't want one because I thought it might kill you," John said and looked at her. "You have no idea how often Anna keeps on asking me why everyone in this house has siblings but her, when we love each other. And…" He shrugged. "If it hasn't been my fault that Anne died,…why not give it a shot?"

Not knowing what else to do but kissing and hugging him, Narya did exactly that, until he turned them around and deepened the kiss.

* * *

"Thank you for watching them and bringing them to bed," Jean said and gave her father a weak smile, who only nodded in concern.

"Did something happen? Because Logan looked rather…off," he asked and heard her sighing.

"It's…complicated. I tell you tomorrow, okay?" she replied and ran a hand over her face. After wishing each other a good night, she locked their room door, made sure all windows were properly secured and the children and dogs were sleeping, before she went into the bedroom and gave Logan a worried look. Jean knew that when he curled up on the bed that he was far from feeling well and after witnessing his memories, she couldn't blame him. Quickly, she undressed and changed for the night, then lay down behind him and tried to comfort him somehow. She knew that stroking over his skin or through his hair would help him as much as embracing him did at the moment, namely not at all. And she also knew that he wouldn't talk about his thoughts and feelings either, just like he always did. Still, and to her great surprise, Logan turned in her arms, pulled her as close as possible and hid his face on her neck. While Jean kept her eyes closed and her arms firmly around him, she used her powers to rock him gently, nevertheless, it didn't take long until she felt how her neck got slowly wet…

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In his room, Daken lay on the bed and stared at the ceiling, his arms crossed behind his head. His mind kept on replaying the memories he had seen, asked himself if they were true or only supposed to fool him further. What if his life was one big lie? What if everything he had believed in was wrong and the Professor had shown him the truth? What if they were lying to him in hope he would led them to his master, who was probably still angry with him for what he had done…? Sighing in annoyance, he turned his head and looked out of the open window, saw the moon and concentrated on it to prevent any further thoughts. A knock at the door didn't surprise him at all. He had long heard and smelled the person coming. Still, he wanted to be left alone and remained silent, but to his luck the door was slowly opened and he turned his head to glare at the intruder.

"You left your shirt in the garden," Jean-Paul said, closed the door behind him and went over to the stool that stood next to the bed. He watched Daken, who was once more staring at the moon for a while. "I'm sorry for what you've been through… Are you alright?" he asked and received a cocked eyebrow.

"What?!" Daken asked and thought he hadn't heard right.

"I asked if you're alright?" Jean-Paul replied and tilted his head a bit. "It's what people usually ask other people, you know?" he added and looked at the man. "But you're right. It was a stupid question. After seeing those memories, I wouldn't be fine either…" He heaved a deep breath and ran his hand over his face, thought about what to do. "You shouldn't be alone, you know?"

"What do you care?" Daken growled and rolled over so that his back was now to the X-Men. "People never cared, so there's no need to start with it now!" Angrily, he glared at the wall and waited for the door to be shut again. But instead the bed moved as another weight was added. "You really have a death wish, don't you?" he snapped and turned quickly around to bare his teeth at the intruder. "Get the fuck out this room!"

"No, I won't, because I know how irrational your dad can be if he gets depressed."

"I'm not depressed and don't you dare comparing me to this son of a bitch! I'm not like him!"

"You're more like him than you want," Northstar replied seriously. "And I think that's why you hate him. Because you are like him and don't want to be. Or you don't know who to blame for what happened to you, so you pick the easiest target, which happens to be Logan. But I know that even you shouldn't deal with the events from today alone, alright?" Seeing how Daken was confused, he used his chance and pulled him into a comforting embrace, reckoned with the man stabbing him right there, but nothing happened. And he knew why… "I know you're not used to people caring about you… But trust me, even people like your dad and you can't live all by themselves. Why won't you give us a chance?" he asked him in a calm voice, but there was no reply…

**So sorry for the long wait but I had exams until last week and on Monday my internship at a local kindergarten begins. I'll try to update as soon as I can. I have to write another essay and a paper for two classes, but I should be able to update soon, hopefully. Thanks to all reviewers!! The wishes will be included as soon as they fit into the story. As I said, I haven't forgotten about them. ; ) Can't wait for next Sunday and watching Hugh hosting the Oscars. : ) I'm so excited! Please let me know what you think about this chapter and your ideas of what will happen next!! See ya!!**


	51. Chapter 48

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

**The problem with the login/review function had was really annoying…**

**Anyway, who else watched the Oscars? Our channel aired it but stopped after Hugh said good night, so we didn't get any trailers for upcoming movies here. : (**

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**Oh, and after seeing the Oscars I might have an idea for a second part to "The Mutant from Oz". lol But I'm not so sure about it.**

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**Thanks to all of you that took part in the poll!!!**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 48**

"Oh, damn!" Northstar cursed after he realized where he was and especially how late it already was again. He sat up to glare at his watch and ran a hand through his tousled hair. "Not again…," he mumbled and pulled the duvet aside. "I told you to just kick me out of bed!"

"And I told you I don't fucking care if you're here or not," Daken grumbled next to him. "You wanted me to show you the moves, so get up before I change my mind!" he added and walked over to the door behind which he disappeared shortly afterwards.

Jean-Paul sighed and got up, still tired and tensed. It was a really bad habit of him to fall asleep on other people's beds as soon as he felt warm and comfy. Especially on Daken's bed that was it. He had stuck to his words that the feral shouldn't be alone all the time and the two of them had built up a rather strange routine, which consisted of just sitting together in silence, while each of them was reading a book, watching a movie together or working out together. Nevertheless, he fell asleep in the feral's bed every time before he could get back to his own room. It was dangerous, Jean-Paul knew that, but he couldn't help it. Warm and comfy meant he fell asleep, no matter where and on whom it was. He thought he could still hear Logan complaining about it in the cabin…

After he had stretched he slowly left the room and, of course, ran into said man on the outside who gave him an odd look. "Don't ask, okay?" Northstar mumbled and closed the door behind him. "Just don't ask, Logan!"

"Yer an item now?!"

Northstar cringed. That was exactly the question he'd expected… "No!"

"Then why is it the sixth time I catch ya leavin' his room?!" Logan asked and crossed his arms, the eyebrow still higher as high.

"I fell asleep, okay?"

The feral rolled his eyes. "That's the reason I never let ya drive, kid!" he grunted and turned to leave.

"You're going somewhere?"

"Yeah."

"Care to share?"

"Chuck wants t'update the security system'n Forge said he doesn't know what else he could do t'update it. So…," Logan said and sighed. "I'm tryin' t'find the damn phone now t'make a phone call. Did ya see it?"

Northstar shrugged. "Jubilee had it just yesterday."

"Great," Logan growled and reached for his cell phone. "That means I can pay for the call myself. Thanks a lot, Jubes…"

"Hey, you have a Blackberry?!" Jean-Paul noticed agape. "Why do you have a Blackerry?!"

Frowning at him, the feral remained silent for a moment. "Coz Jeannie wanted me t'have a stupid phone because of the kids. That's why!"

"That's so unfair…," Jean-Paul sulked and remembered that he still had something to do. "Gotta go. See you later!" he said and jogged towards the gym, in which Daken was already beating up a punching back. "Sorry!"

"Stop talking and warm up!" Daken growled and didn't bother to stop his punches and kicks.

When they were on the judo mats minutes later, he tried to explain the basic moves, kicks and punches with as few words as possible, before he let Jean-Paul try them. "If you do it like that, you'll never be able to throw me," he sighed.

"Why not?" Northstar asked, confused and still held onto Daken's arm.

"Your hip has to be attached to mine. You lift me over your back with it," the feral replied and pressed their hips together, picking up on the changes in breathing and heart beat. "Now, you go down a bit and lift me over your back." A second later he landed rather awkward on his back. "You throw like a girl!"

"I'm new to this…," Jean-Paul shrugged.

"No, you don't focus!" Daken replied and looked aside when the door opened and his siblings entered, all dressed in work out clothes. He frowned at them and his eyes narrowed as Logan followed next. Both exchanged a brief look only. Since the accident they had gotten out of each others way as good as possible and if it was up to Daken, it could stay this way. "What are they doing?" he asked and watched how Lily and Jack and Rachel and Laura stayed together and listened to what Logan told them, then began to warm up.

"He teaches them martial arts," Jean-Paul said and watched the children with a smile.

Daken huffed and gave him a push. "Go on and focus!"

"I do focus!"

"No, you don't!"

"How can you be so sure that I don't focus, huh?" Northstar demanded to know and received a look that spoke volumes.

"It's not my heart that's racing," Daken mocked and rolled his eyes when his opposite looked down a bit flushed. "Try again and concentrate this time!"

From the corner of his eyes Logan watched the interaction between his son and Jean-Paul for a while with a heavy frown on his face. He wondered how Northstar had gotten Daken to first, talk to him, second, stay with him and third, work out with him in the first place…

"_I told you he has at least a bit of respect for him, Logan."_

"_Whatever, Chuck."_

"_And I believe it's good for Daken to interact with at least someone."_

"_He ain't used t'it. What if he snaps and hurts or even kills Paul?"_

"_I doubt he will, Logan. I didn't pick up on any dark thoughts of him lately… Oh, and he is looking for the third volume of Shakespeare's tragedies, if I am not mistaken you still have it?"_

Logan rolled his eyes. _"Yeah, I still got it somewhere… Tell the Furball I hate him!"_

He heard Charles chuckling in his head. _"Logan, it wasn't Hank who told me about you reading Shakespeare. It was actually your wife."_

He growled. _"She's off my birthday list…"_

"_Anyway, did you reach him?"_

"_Yeah, I did. He'll come over later."_

"_Good. Thank you, Logan."_

"_No problem, Chuck."_

"Daddy?" Rachel whined and he chuckled as he realized that she and Laura were a mess of legs and arms on the ground.

"What did ya do, baby?" he asked and helped them both up again. "Yer not supposed t'tear each others limbs off."

Once more he showed them how the move worked and sat back down on the ground to watch them interacting with each other. He always had fun passing on his knowledge to his children and watching them try out what he had told them before. "Watch yer arm, darlin'," he told Lily and chuckled as she send her brother over her head. "Good work, baby."

"She cheated!" Jack sulked.

"I did not!" his twin pouted. "I'm just better than you!"

"So not!"

"Oh, yeah!"

"Hey, concentrate on yer task!" Logan reprimanded them gently and raised his head briefly to check on what Daken was doing. Seeing that the man still tried to explain how Jean-Paul could get better in hand-to-hand combat, he really wondered how Northstar had talked him into doing it… "Jack?" he asked and his son let go of Lily to look at him. "How did ya manage t'talk Daken into goin' t'the pool with ya?" he asked after the two men disappeared in the showers.

"I didn't," his son replied and earned a frown. "He said he didn't want to come and then Jubilee began to sing and he wanted to get out of the house as fast as possible."

Chuckling, Logan nodded. "I can understand him…" He turned his head to look at the watch. "Time for lunch, c'mon," he said and was about to get up as he was jumped by his children. Grappling with them playfully for a while and enjoying his children's laughter, Logan took hold of each of them with his arms and got up. "Gotcha!" he smirked and chuckled when they squealed.

"Not fair!" Jack complained as he was carried away like a package under his father's arms.

"So fair!" this one replied smirking and entered the kitchen.

"What are you doing with them?" Jean asked and watched him dropping the children off on their stools.

"He's kidnapping us, mommy!" Laura complained.

"Yes, I can see that," the redhead smiled and shook her head. "Had fun?" she asked and used her powers to pour them some juice, which they drank quickly and nodded while doing so.

"Wolvie?" Jubilee suddenly asked and went over to said man to hug him. "I know you love me very much and that you'd do everything to make me happy and…"

"In yer dreams!" Logan replied and cocked an eyebrow. "What do ya want, kid?"

"Well, Rogue and I decided that we have to buy our wedding gowns and you were chosen to drive us to the shop later today. Isn't that great?" For emphasis she grinned at him, knowing that she had just reminded him of his promise.

"When is later?" he grunted and cut the food for Jamie, before he put the plate in front of his son and placed a kiss to his head. "And eat with the spoon!" he warned him.

"After lunch actually," Jubilee replied and he shook his head.

"Won't work. Make it 3:30 p.m."

"But it will take some time, Wolvie!" she cried and pouted. "We have to look for a dress and try them on and…"

"How about tomorrow after breakfast then?" Logan cut her off before she could go on with her rant. "I can't leave today, sorry."

Skeptically, Jubilee began to scrutinize him and Jean. "You planned something with your wife, right?"

"No, I didn't!" he replied and sat down on his stool, feeling starved after not having eaten anything since breakfast. "Steak?!" he asked surprised and cocked an eyebrow at Jean, since the others had chicken. "Why steak?!" he demanded to know. Usually he only got steak for his birthday, on holidays or if someone wanted to apologize. When Ororo handed him a beer next, he knew why. "So ya think I accept yer apology when ya try t'blackmail me, huh?" he asked and began to chew on his food.

"I told you it was a misunderstanding and that I was sorry, Logan, and Jean said this would help," the weather goddess replied and sat down.

"Did she?" Logan grunted and gave his wife a cocked eyebrow. "Then she might have told ya that ya can't blackmail me, too."

"Oh, come on!" she cried and gave him a look, while he received a slap against his chest from his wife.

"Don't be so mean to her," Jean said and looked at Ororo. "He's not mad with you anymore, he's just making fun out of you."

"Is that true, mister?!" the white haired woman asked and he smirked. "I cooked a steak for you and you make fun out of me?"

"I'm just patient'n knew Jeannie would tell ya t'do so. That's all!" Logan grinned evilly and she pointed a finger at him.

"You….are evil!"

"I know, darlin'. And guess what? I enjoy it!" he replied and went on eating his stake with a passion that only a man was capable off. In between he downed his beer and kept on telling his youngest to stop eating with his fingers and use a spoon.

"No spoon!" Jamie protested and pulled a face when he pulled his plate away. "No, daddy!"

"Then stop eatin' like a pig!" Logan said and ignored the sulking as he handed him a spoon. While he listened to the chatting of the others and exchanged some sentences with Jean's father, he kept on watching Jean from aside which earned him odd looks from her.

"What?" she asked but he waved off, which made her frown even more and she wondered what he was thinking lately that he behaved that oddly. Jean started as Raven suddenly ran out of the room, closely followed by Scott.

"Thank God, ya never had to throw up that much," Logan grumbled and shook his head, before he waved at Ororo to hand him another beer, adding a wink.

"Impossible," the woman said and got up to get him one.

In the meanwhile Jean-Paul was still standing under the shower and let the water wash away the foam. His body was hurting in a good way, but he new he's have at least one bruise on his left shoulder. He sucked at rolling over it after being thrown. His hands ran through his dark hair and he lifted his head into the direction of the jets of water above him, just to startle in the next moment as he felt a hand touching his back.

"Stay like this," Daken growled in a husky voice right into his ear and he shuddered, while his heart was beating strongly and partially in fear.

"What do you want?" Northstar asked and tried to blink the water away that was still running over his face. He turned his head a bit just to see how Daken's dark eyes stared back at him and gave him once more the impression that a predator had just found his prey. Instead of replying the feral ran his hands up Jean-Paul's spine. "Daken…"

"Shut up!"

"Hey, let go!" Northstar said, slightly panicked, as hands grabbed his left shoulder and chest. It only took a second, a loud _crack_ and a hiss from him before he was released again. "Damn, what did you do?"

"I relocated it. You must have pulled a muscle or nerve. You held your shoulder lower than the other one," Daken growled and still remained on the same spot while he watched how his opposite tried his shoulder and neck carefully. "If I wanted to kill you…, you wouldn't notice it," he added and received a look for the remark.

"Thanks…," was all Jean-Paul could come up with and rubbed his shoulder. He noticed that the feral's eyes were scrutinizing him. "What? Did I pull another muscle and you feel the need to relocate it?" he asked and turned around to switch off the water, as he was once more grabbed and held captive. His heart even gained speed, especially as Daken's breath stroked his neck and the feral's hand went lower.

"Maybe…"

Northstar threw his head back and bit his lower lip hard, but at the same time he noticed that his body's reaction to the feral was too rushed and abnormal. He'd been unsure before, scared even and all of a sudden the only thing that he could think about was sex. Remembering the last time it had happened, he thought he had figured it out. "You're manipulating me…," he noticed and bit back another moan.

"Maybe…," Daken said once more and pressed a hand on the other man's back for support.

"How?"

"Pheromone control," the feral replied and bent further over him. "I can make you feel what I feel, or…make you feel what I want."

"Then," Northstar said and had to support himself against the tiles, "this is rape."

"No, it's not," the other man panted. "Because I'm not manipulating you just now…" He chuckled low as he heard how Jean-Paul's heart skipped another beat and the curse the man uttered. "I guess that means you don't have the hots for my old man anymore, huh?" he mocked and smirked as he received a look over Jean-Paul's shoulder.

* * *

"Logan…," Jean groaned as he was once more looking at her from aside. "Care to explain what's wrong?"

"Nothin'…," he said once more and pulled Jamie out of his high chair.

"Daddy, look!" the boy said and pointed at something behind him.

Turning, Logan saw what he meant. "Miloh, huh?"

His son nodded. "Mio."

"Wanna go play with him, pumkin?"

"Yeah…"

"Well, then go ahead," Logan said and put him down before he looked at his kids. "Watch him'n stay away from the pool'n wood, alright?"

"I don't wanna go outside!" Jack instantly said and backed off.

"Yer safe, okay? We're right here," his father tried to soothe him and watched how Rachel took Jamie's hand before she led him into the garden.

"No, I don't wanna go alone," Jack said and shook his head.

"Alright…" Logan sighed and looked at Jean. "Can ya watch'em?"

"Actually, no. We still need to buy food and drinks for my birthday and the barbeque," she replied and looked up when Daken was dragged into the room by Northstar. "Jack, nothing will happen to you. Daddy's here and Uncle John's here too. If something's wrong, just shout and they'll hear it."

"No…," her son mumbled.

"I can watch them," John Grey suggested but his son-in-law shook his head.

"Yer ain't a mutant. I want a mutant t'watch'em before the new system ain't up."

"He doesn't wanna go again?" Northstar asked and received a nod. "'kay."

Logan frowned as he began to pile up food on two plates, handed Daken both of them, took two bottles of water, received a frown from Daken next, before Jean-Paul looked at Jack with a nod at the door. "We'll protect you, okay?"

Insecure, the boy looked at them. "Really?"

"Sure." Northstar nodded and smiled when he ran past him to join his siblings.

"Hey…what?!" Daken growled behind him.

"We'll eat outside."

"No. I won't!"

"Oh come on, you big grouch!" Jean-Paul said and pushed him towards the backdoor. "He's afraid to be outside without an adult close by."

"And that's not my fucking problem!" Daken snapped and turned to glare at him, was surprised to receive the same look in return. "Don't push your luck!" he warned and was about to drop the plates as Northstar made a step forward.

"You act like a twelve year old, seriously!" he said and received a deadly look and growl. "He's your little brother, he's scared and all you have to do is sit down at the pond, eat your lunch and watch them!"

"Don't…push your luck!" Daken growled warningly and stepped past him to the outside.

"Ya forgot t'keep'em away from the pond'n wood," Logan grunted and had still an eyebrow cocked at him. "I think the two of us need t'talk later…"

"Why?" Jean-Paul asked him and watched how Logan pointed at his nose and then at his ears. He blushed. "Well… I'm…outside."

"Mhm…," the feral grunted and watched how he joined the others on the outside. A look at the watch made him groan. "Gotta go. Hope he's on time," he announced and was gone before anyone could ask where he was going.

"Stop sulking," Jean-Paul said and watched the children interacting with each other while eating. "You can't always stay inside…"

"Shut up!" Daken growled and still glared at the children.

"What's your problem, Daken…?" the man next to him sighed and shook his head. "You at least still have a family…," he added but spoke more to himself.

"Didn't ask for one…" Annoyed, the feral put his empty plate aside and turned to look at the wood. He thought he'd heard something.

"I really don't get you," Jean-Paul said and put his plate aside next. "You've seen the memories, you know your father didn't murder your mother, you know he wants to give you a chance and you push everything and everyone away from you. Why?! Is it a genetical thing too?" He shook his head. "I really don't get it…" He noticed that the feral gave him an emotionless look from aside. "Doesn't scare me."

"It should."

"Well, it doesn't."

Daken huffed and looked up when someone approached them. Seeing who it was, he narrowed his eyes.

"Will you play Baseball with us?" Jack asked and looked at them.

"Sure," Jean-Paul said and got up. "Why don't you get the things, Jack?" he asked and the boy stormed off. He looked aside. "You coming?"

"No…," Daken growled and crossed his arms.

"Why not?!"

"I won't play any games, especially not with a kid!" the feral snapped and Northstar sighed.

"You don't know how to play baseball, am I right?" he asked rather matter of factly and nodded when the man gave him a look. "As I thought… Look, you just have to catch the ball and throw it, okay?"

"Do I look like someone who plays with balls?!" Daken asked and his eyes narrowed further as Jean-Paul smirked at him. "Don't push your luck!" he warned him once more and turned to leave, but Jack ran into him at the backdoor.

"I thought you'll play baseball with us?!" the boy sulked and received a big roll of the feral's eyes. "We can't play baseball without you! We need another player."

"Then ask someone else. Get out of my way," Daken growled and squeezed past him into the kitchen where he ignored the looks he was given.

"You're mean!" Jack snapped and went outside, not seeing how the feral stopped and turned into his direction. When a hand grabbed him roughly by the collar he screamed for help.

"Let him go!" Scott shouted and pushed Daken away from Jack. He was quickly joined by the others.

"Get out of my way!"

"Move one inch and I'll blast you!"

"Get…out of my way I said!" Daken growled and pushed him aside to head for the back door, behind which Jack had quickly disappeared after being released.

"Hank!" Scott ordered and the furry mutant leapt over the kitchen isle to head after the feral. "Remy, go looking for Jean! Peter help Hank, I'll go and get Logan."

"Not necessary," he didn't hear Hank suddenly saying and Peter turned to frown at him.

"Why?" he asked and walked over to him.

"I said get the kids inside!" Daken snapped and gave Northstar a push towards the terrace. "Now!"

"What's he doing?!" Peter asked.

"I think he's sensing something…," Hank mumbled and made room for the whole group. "What did you pick up on?"

"Someone's here that doesn't belong here…," the feral growled and scrutinized all of them first, before his eyes went back to the garden.

In the meanwhile, Scott had reached the front door since a student had told him Logan had gone that way, and moved towards it in hope he'd still catch him. To his surprise he saw the mutant through the window and forgot for a moment why he had actually gone looking for him.

"What are you doing?"

Turning around, Logan saw how Scott closed the door behind him and descended the few stone stairs until he was on eye-level with him.

"Waitin'…"

"For whom?" He looked at the still closed gate and then back at Logan. "An imaginary friend? Or does the stork bring an unexpected package?" He waited for a look or a reaction, but the man next to him just threw what was left of his cigar away and exhaled the smoke. "We have things called trash cans, you know?"

"A hot chick."

"A… What?!" Scott asked, his jaw dropping and stared at Logan, who gave him a serious look back. "Logan!" he warned as all of a sudden a loud car could be heard. He turned and watched how a silver, very good looking Audi sports car drove up to them and came to a halt.

"She's hot, trust me," Logan muttered and crossed his arms.

"That car is hot…," Scott said instead and caressed it with his eyes.

"Don't come in yer pants, Slim."

"Oh, shut up, Logan!" Scott said with a heavy roll of his eyes. "By the way. Your son attacked Jack."

"Yeah, I heard it."

"And still you didn't do anything!" Scott replied and shook his head. "He shouldn't be here…"

"The only thing he did was pickin' up on the UPS guy that brought Chuck a package just now," Logan grunted and looked up. "What a poser…," his fellow X-Men grunted and shook his head, watched how the car door was opened and a guy with dark, perfect hair, dark sunglasses and a perfectly trimmed beard around his mouth exited the car, wearing jeans and a grey sweatshirt.

"Logan!" the man greeted with a bright smile and the mutant let go of the pillar against which he had leant before.

Logan accepted the hug and gave Scott, who still eyed the car a look. "Don't drool on it, Cyke!"

"You like it?" Tony Stark asked and Scott could only nod his head in awe.

"R12?" Scott asked.

"Yep, with a few additional goodies," Tony smiled and patted his car lovingly. "Want to drive it?"

"Ya don't have t'ask, trust me!" Logan grunted and shook his head when Scott, grinning like a boy on Christmas, disappeared inside of the car. "What a big child…"

"I never thought I'd say this," Tony said after watching how his car disappeared through the gate, "but I'm glad to have you back."

"Thanks!" Logan nodded and gave him a look that spoke volumes. "One hug's enough!"

"Well, you wouldn't have gotten another one anyway." Tony shrugged.

"Fair enough." He beckoned the man to follow him. "I thought ya wanted t'stay for a couple of days?"

"The big child has my suitcase!"

"Ah," Logan nodded. "I can borrow ya clothes t'wear for t'night."

"Tonight?!" the man asked and came to an abrupt halt. "He's careful with my car, right?" Tony asked after freezing on the spot and gave Logan a look. This one only smirked.

"Scott treats cars like his balls. He'd rather sacrifice himself than the car."

"Good to hear that." Tony followed him casually down the corridors and took in what he saw. "Nice place…"

"Yep. Chuck's in his office," Logan grunted and knocked on the door after reaching it.

"Tony, it is so nice of you to follow our call," the Professor greeted the man and shook his hand. "I really appreciate it!"

"No problem. Nice house by the way," Tony said and his eyes looked around the room. "You said you're in need for a new security system?"

"I'm afraid so, yes," Charles nodded and beckoned him to take a seat, while Logan remained next to the window with crossed arms. "Our latest system is not that old, but unfortunately our enemies managed to get through without us noticing it."

Tony nodded and gave Logan a brief look. "Well, I'd need to take a closer look around and all available maps, updates that have been done, information on the old system…," he listed and made an and-so-on-gesture with his hand.

"That should be no problem. Logan will show you to your guest room and around afterwards."

"Good."

"Thank you, Tony," Charles said and shook the man's hand.

"You're welcome," Tony nodded and got up, patted Logan on the shoulder. "Then let's start, Mr. Tourguide. I'll follow your lead."

Rolling his eyes, the feral led him out of the room and towards the stair case. He kept his hands buried in his pockets as he looked for the free room on the level. "That's yer room," he said and nodded at it. "You'll have t'deal with somethin' smaller while stayin' here. So…no indoor pool in yer room."

Tony nodded and looked around the room for a moment before he turned to give him a look. "I think I can deal with that," he said before he added ironically, "That means…no room service either?"

"Ya even have t'cook yer own food. Imagine that," Logan grunted and beckoned him to follow him again. "I'll show ya around'n then we're getting' those maps. I bet Forge will be pissed that someone's actually smarter than him…"

"I assume that's the guy who's responsible for the old system?" Tony asked and followed him, seeing that the feral nodded. After they had reached the basement and gotten the maps, he took the one from the grounds and followed Logan to the outside. While the feral showed him the old system, he took notes and his brain already worked on ideas and updates. "Do you use the complete wood?" he asked and drew some crosses on the map.

"Parts of it," Logan grunted and watched what he was doing with crossed arms.

"Good. I need to see the front too. The gate especially," Tony demanded and followed him while his eyes still studied the map.

As he sat in an empty room in the basement later and had his personal computer set up, he began to work on a decent program and talked with his computer about possible changes in security.

"Jarvis, what do you think about scanners at the gate?" Tony asked and looked at the hologram of the map. "One for the eyes, one for fingerprints?"

"Might stop unwanted guests from getting through the gate, sir, but it can't keep enemies away for long."

"True, but it buys some time…" Tony looked at the map again. "I suggest infrared scanners all around the place, some which are programmed on the people in the house only. The only problem is… No forget about them! In the end they kill the UPS or post guy… Give me the map of the garden again. Yes, this one. Turn it." He took some notes as the double door opened and his interest was on something else.

"We thought you might want to eat something. In the end you're already working for a couple of hours without a break," Jean said, smiled at him and put the tray on an empty desk. "I'm sorry for interrupting anything."

"Oh, a beautiful lady can always interrupt me," Tony smiled and looked at her more closely. He knew he had seen her before, but couldn't remember where… "Tony Stark," he introduced himself and took her hand.

"Jean Grey-Howlett," she replied and shook it. "Any progress?"

He shrugged. "I'm still working on it. So, Jean… I can call you Jean, right?"

"Sure." She tried to hide her smile.

"Why is such a beautiful lady like you bringing an old, but still attractive guy like me dinner?" he asked and looked at her expectantly.

"Well, Mr. Stark…"

"Tony."

Jean smiled. "Tony. We thought you were hungry that's all."

He faked shock. "Now that hurt me. I just want you to know that!"

"Sir, what about the map?"

"Yes, put it on, Jarvis. And where are your manners? Say hi to the lady here," Tony said and turned to sit down at the desk on which the tray stood.

"My pleasure, ma'am," the computer voice said and the Avengers nodded approvingly.

"That's amazing," Jean said in astonishment and looked at the hologram from all sides. "Where did you get this one?!"

"I built it actually," she heard him saying.

"Seriously?!" she asked and he nodded, while eating the food.

"Sir, after calculating it the infrared is indeed a bad idea," Jarvis commented and the hologram of the mansion changed.

Tony beckoned Jean to sit down opposite of him and listened to the explanations that were given. He kept on eating his meal, but his mind was already calculating and thinking about other plans, while his eyes studied the redhead from aside. "So, what are you doing here? At this place, I mean."

Jean tore her eyes off the hologram and looked at him. "I teach."

"And what, if I may ask?"

"Biology and first aid classes in between," she said and returned his smile. "And I'm one of the doctors here."

"A woman with brains and good looks then," he nodded in appreciation and drank the rest of the water bottle. "That's nice."

"Thank you," Jean replied and brushed her hair back with another smile. "So, do you have any ideas because of the new system?" she asked.

"Nah," Tony shrugged and shook his head. "We're just working through some stuff. I suggest something and Jarvis calculates the pros and cons. We always do it that way. Right, Jarvis?"

"Of course, sir."

"See?" He returned her smile. "So… For how long are you already living here?" he asked and got up to walk back to the hologram.

"Since I was 14, I think," Jean said and watched him. "Where do you know Logan from?"

He chuckled. "Who doesn't know him? He was an Avenger for a while, but it's been a couple of years actually…," he told her and typed in some commands. "Word has it that he's been tamed…"

Unseen of him, she smiled.

"For how long is he already staying here?"

"July 2000," Jarvis said all of a sudden. "The 25th to be more precisely."

"How come he knows?" Jean asked surprised and got up to have a better look at the computer.

"Did you hack into S.H.I.E.L.D. files again?" Tony asked. "I told you not to do that. Nick will only get another fit, if he notices it."

"I'm terribly sorry, sir," Jarvis apologized.

Tony watched how the redhead took her time with the system. "What?"

"How did you manage to create intelligent artificial lifelike this?!" she asked and looked up from the hologram, saw him shrugging and blushed when he winked.

"What can I say, I'm full of surprises." Taking her hand, he pulled her over to him and handed her a pen-like instrument. "Try it. It's easy."

"W… Trying what?" Jean asked and was about to say something as his hand covered hers and the hologram began to move. She couldn't help but being fascinated with the technology…

"See? As I said, it's easy," Tony said and moved her hand in sync with the pen. "Don't worry about messing everything up, because that's what you're doing just now, Jarvis can handle it."

"Truly amazing…"

"Not as amazing as you…," he whispered and took the pen from her as she stepped back from the table.

"I should go… It's already late," Jean said and brushed her hair back.

"Jarvis, how late is it?" Tony asked.

"10:32 p.m., sir."

"Really?" he said in surprise and looked at his watch. "Well, okay, shut the system down, Jarvis. We'll go on tomorrow," he added and followed Jean to the elevator. "So, it's a school with a military-like basement, huh?" he asked her after the doors had closed and wondered why she kept a distance all of a sudden.

"Yes, the public and most students don't know about it."

"It's been the same with the Avenger Tower, but by now most people know who we are… I just had to tighten up security last week."

"Because of Peter Parker?" Jean asked him and he nodded. They both continued down the corridor.

"We can't risk that someone tries it again, or tries to kill someone else…," he said and stopped next to her. "That's your room?" he asked and nodded at the door behind her.

"Yes it is. Will you be able to find yours?"

He hissed and wobbled his head playfully. "Considering that my assistant thinks I can't even bind my shoes without her help…. I'll do my very best," he replied and earned a smile. "Good night."

"Good night." She watched how he disappeared behind a corner and ascended the stairs to her rooms. As she had expected they children were already sleeping and also Miloh and Callie were asleep on their blankets with their cubs. As quietly as she could, Jean got ready for bed in the bathroom and headed towards it next, once more surprised that Logan was already sleeping too.

"Ya were supposed t'bring him food'n not t'spent the evenin' with him…," he suddenly grunted and made her startle in bed.

"Jesus, Logan…," Jean gasped and switched on the lights. "I thought you were asleep."

"Why? So that ya could spend some more time with him?" he asked and she rolled her eyes. "Ya even smell like him," he added growling.

"Tony just showed me how his computer worked…," she defended herself and he huffed,

"Yeah… 'n I always show a chick my stamps collection."

Jean sighed and ran a hand over her face. "Logan, we just talked, okay? Thank you for trusting me that much!" As she turned her head to look at him, she decided to make actually use of having his attention. "But since you're awake, I can finally ask why you're so odd this week?"

"Odd?" he grunted.

"Yes, odd!" she nodded. "You keep on giving me those weird looks and every time I ask what's wrong, you just shrug it off. Mind telling me what's wrong now?" Jean waited but he remained silent. "Logan, I don't want to celebrate my birthday with you behaving like that, okay?" she said and noticed that he had trouble looking into her eyes. "Does it have to with what Charles did?" she asked and nodded as he turned his head away this time. "As I thought… Logan, I'm not mad, okay?"

"Ya should be…," he grunted after a moment.

"But I'm not," Jean assured him. "You loved her, she was pregnant with your child when she was taken from you and I know how much you love Japan…"

Logan snorted and sat up with a shake of his head. "Ya can't tell me it didn't hurt ya t'get t'know about it, Red!"

Looking away, she pulled absently on the sheets. "I was…surprised…"

"Ya shouldn't be fine with it! Or ya should at least ask me why I think about it!" he demanded and met her gaze again. "If I were ya, I'd be pissed off!"

"But I'm not… You told me yourself how difficult it is to build up a thought or memory that helps to keep the beast down. Logan, I witnessed it myself when you trained me and wanted me to control Phoenix…," Jean said. "And I know you loved her and that it was a trauma for you, but I also know that I'm in a safe relationship with you… I was surprised, but I understand it…"

He sighed and shook his head. "Ya shouldn't…" He closed his eyes when he ran his hands over his face and through his hair, opened them as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"But I do…"

"I just… I wouldn't know which memory t'pick with ya'n the kids…," Logan grunted after a moment. "There're too many happy ones… 'n I need t'focus on somethin', so it's been easier t'pick somethin' that was already established than…"

Jean sighed. "You don't need to explain yourself, I told you I understand…" She gave him a tired smile and stroke over his cheek. "I'd just appreciate it, if you finally talked about the things you've been through," she added and cut him off as he was about to interrupt her. "And don't tell me that it's the past and you need to move on. It still affects you and you keep on thinking about it… You can't just shove what happened to your father aside and forget about it, Logan. It's not that easy!" As she lay back down, she pulled him with her and switched off the lights with her powers. "And now sleep. You have a shopping marathon tomorrow." He groaned. "It's your own fault," Jean teased and cuddled up to him, was surprised when he shoved her away a bit. "What?"

"Ya still smell like him!" Logan growled and received a loud sigh from her.

"Well, then cuddle with me and make me smell like you again, you big grouch!"

* * *

Logan hated the following day before it had really begun. After getting up, he'd taken a shower and a look at the watch told him that he soon was deeper caught up in hell than he wanted to be. He hated shopping… And if that wasn't enough, he had to take his youngest with him.

"Stop sulking!" Jean said for the at least 6th time and received another grunt. "I can't watch Jamie while preparing my birthday. I need to help 'Ro and Hank with the cooking." And another grunt. "Logan!" she warned and got up to wake the children.

"Morning!" Tony greeted cheerfully and sat down next to Logan, who didn't bother to hide a glare that was directed at him. "I'm mad with you, you know?"

"Are ya?" Logan growled and received a nod.

"Yep. I am!" his former teammate said and leant in. "Why didn't you tell me that you live with such a hot girl under the same roof, huh?" he asked and either didn't notice the glare getting stronger, or chose to ignore it. "Is she single?"

"Who?" Scott asked and put down his newspaper. He began to frown when Logan's eyes turned into slits.

Tony nodded at the door and smiled at Jean. "Good morning, gorgeous."

"Morning," Jean greeted back and kept her eyes lowered. Of course she had noticed her husband's look.

"Well…," Scott said and tried hard to hide a grin. "Tony, why don't you take a look at her hands?"

"Her hands?" the man asked and shrugged after doing so. "So? What about them? She has nice hands."

"Isn't there anything that…," Scott began and took the redhead's left hand with a frown. "Where are your rings?!"

"I don't know. I took them off during my work in the lab a couple of days ago and now they are gone," she said and poured herself another coffee.

Puzzled, Scott exchanged a look with Logan, who shrugged. "Okay…"

"But what about her hands?!" Tony asked to change the topic again.

"Let me try something else, okay?" Scott asked and received a nod. "The children over there," he said with a nod at Jack and Rachel, who were both already occupied with their breakfast. "Who could be their parents?"

Looking at them, Tony shrugged. "The boy has weird hair…"

"My hair is not weird!" Jack protested.

"It is, trust me. It sticks up."

"Daddy!" Jack cried and looked at his father. "The man is mean to me!"

Tony followed his look and couldn't help but chuckle. "That explains the hair… So, he's your kid?" he asked and Logan nodded still glaring. "I see… Well, considering that he asked about _their _parents, I assume that the girl is your kid, too, am I right?" Once more a nod and a glare. "Good…. Can I say that I'm surprised that you have a kid?" he asked and held up a hand. "No, not surprised, actually I'm shocked. Why did no one tell me?!"

"I don't know, but look at the girl's hair color and guess who the mother is," Scott suggested and Tony followed his advice.

"Oh…"

"Exactly!" Scott nodded smirking. "Oh is correct. And now turn your head and look into Logan's face. What do you notice?"

Tony turned once more and gave the jealous and very pissed off feral an apologetic and embarrassed grin. "You know…," he said and took his coffee mug, "the light here isn't good for my taint, I think I should better sit over here." He walked around the kitchen isle and considered his decision. "Your arms are long enough to reach over, am I right?" he asked and Logan nodded slowly. "Right… Well,…I think I better sit at the end of the table then…," he said and sat down next to Hank. "Oh, and Jean?"

"Yes?" the redhead asked.

"You're so not my type, darling. I'm sorry!" Tony said and quickly occupied himself with drinking coffee, the growl Logan uttered still audible at the end of the kitchen table.

On a sign from Rogue, the feral got up and took a displeased Jamie from Jean. "I know, kiddo, I'd love t'sleep in too…," he grunted and headed with him to the garage, where he put him into the car seat. "Do ya know where this stupid shop is?" he asked the two girls and started the engine. "Coz I ain't in for…"

"No, no, we know where it is," Rogue waved off in hope that his mood wouldn't worsen.

They remained silent for the whole ride, except for Jamie, who had to show how much he didn't like to be first, awoke so early and second, to be driven around in a car.

"Wanna go home, daddy!" he cried and Logan sighed as he parked the car in a free lot.

"'n I wanna have a beer, kiddo, do I get one? No!" he grunted and got him out of his seat. "Where's that shop?"

"Second floor in the mall," Jubilee announced and led the way.

With Jamie on his shoulders, Logan followed them and took his time to glare at every person that dared to look at him. He wondered what they were thinking. A guy like him with a young child on his shoulders and two young women walking in front of him. Either that he was one of those poor men that were forced to watch the baby, while his wife went shopping with her best friend, or that he was one of those creepy guys who had two women at once and didn't make a secret out of it. But in fact…he couldn't care less…

"Over there, Wolvie!" Jubilee said aloud for everyone to hear and ran towards the shop in sheer excitement.

"Jamie, do daddy a favor'n behave, will ya?" Logan asked and pulled his son down to carry him with his arms. "Or better said," he added after seeing how crazy both girls acted after seeing the first wedding gowns, "start cryin' really loud when I give ya a sign, alright?"

"Yeah…," Jamie nodded without understanding what was going on and looked around the shop.

For the next hours Logan remained in a chair and tried to entertain his son, while Rogue and Jubilee reappeared and disappeared with one gown after the next. He asked himself if it had taken Jean that long to fine the dress she had worn on their wedding too? He had spent 15 minutes back then to by a suit: 5 minutes for picking one and trying it on, 10 minutes for arguing with the salesclerk about how overprized the suit was. "Woman…," he sighed after Rogue picked another one and shook his head. "If ya smart, kiddo, you'll pick a guy. They don't need that long in the bathroom. Chicks will drive ya crazy, trust me…"

"No crazy, daddy!" Jamie disagreed and shook his head.

"Trust me, they will!"

"I love this one, Wolvie!" Jubilee suddenly barked and Logan thought his eyes would pop out of his skull. At least he wished they would…

"Ya can't be serious…"

"Of course I am! This is p-e-r-f-e-c-t!" she cheered and turned in front of the mirror.

"Kid,…ya can't be serious!"

"Why?"

"This…" He shook his head at a loss of words. "I wouldn't marry ya!"

"Why?!" she asked once more and turned when Rogue left the changing cubicle. "Ohhhh, you look great!"

"Tell her she looks horrible!" Logan told Rogue, who, too, gave Jubilee's gown a rather surprised look. "Tell her that she can't wear that!" he went on and had his eyes still glued on the gown.

"Why not?!" Jubilee asked and put her hands to her hips. "What's wrong with this gown?!"

"It's yellow!" Rogue said and sighed. "Jubes, I know it's your favorite color, but… Why don't you pick a white gown and use a yellow…band or something?" she suggested and smiled embarrassed.

Huffing, Jubilee went back into the changing cubicle.

"She's nuts…," Logan mumbled with a shake of his head.

"Nuts!" Jamie agreed and his father nodded.

"Ya got it kiddo," the feral said and turned his head to smile at Rogue. "Ya look gorgeous, darlin'."

"Do you really think so?" she asked insecurely and once more she turned in front of the mirror.

He chuckled. "Did I ever lie t'ya?"

"No."

"See?" Logan said and looked up when Jubilee came back, her face looking rather sour.

"Fine, then I'll take this one here," she sulked and didn't bother to look at the other mutants.

"Jubes, it looked bad! Really!" Logan tried to assure her, but she only snorted.

"But I liked it!"

"It really wouldn't fit a wedding, Jubes…," Rogue said and patted her friend's back. "I'll go and get changed. Be right back!"

"Still…I liked it…," Jubilee said after a long moment of silence with a look at the yellow dress, making Logan sigh with it. "It's an evening dress anyway…"

"Then buy it, but don't wear it on yer weddin'," he suggested."

"It's too expensive…"

"How much?" Logan asked and moved his leg so that Jamie was hopping up and down on it.

"250,75. It was 570,80 before," Jubilee said and watched how the boy had the time of his life. "Kids…," she sighed.

Chuckling, Logan pulled his laughing son up and above his head. "I'll give ya 100 if ya stop sulkin'," he offered and put Jamie back onto his leg. "BUT!" he added while the young woman choked him happily. "Only if ya promise NOT t'wear on yer weddin'!"

"Promised!" Jubilee quickly said and crossed her heart. "I love you, Wolvie! You're the best foster-dad in the world!"

"Mhm,…say that again after my credit card's empty," he grunted and got up when Rogue returned. "Anythin' else ya need?"

"No, we already have the rest," Rogue replied and they went to the check out, where the feral's jaw dropped when he heard how much it was in total…

"Remind me that my kids ain't allowed t'marry. Ever!" Logan told them when they were back on the road.

"We told you that we could pay for…," Rogue began, but he shook his head.

"Nah, I paid for Kitty's'n I told ya I'd pay yers too," he replied and returned the smile they gave him.

* * *

"Mommy did what?" Lily asked agape and stared at her grandfather in shock.

"She really did that?!" Rachel asked and hugged her teddy tighter.

John Grey nodded. "She loved to do it to be more precisely!" he replied. "Every time we went to the supermarket she wanted to help us and pulled a tin or any package out of the shelves, of course not the one on top, but on the button. One time the whole shelf even collapsed thanks to her. Oh, and she always tripped! One time she went past changing cubicles at a mall, tripped, grabbed a curtain and it ripped off!" he told them further and Jack chuckled, while Jamie sat on his lap. "The couple behind it started screaming, your mommy started screaming and wanted to run away, tripped over the torn off curtain and ripped another one off. If it wasn't so embarrassing, it would have been funny…"

"But why was there a couple behind the curtain?! Only daddies and mommies are allowed to come into the cube too," Laura noticed and John paused.

"Well…," he began and shrugged. "Some…couples like to share a cube too, you know?!"

"Why?" Rachel asked and looked up when their room door was opened by their mother. "Mommy, why do couples like to share a changing cubicle?!"

"W…what?" Jean asked and looked at her father, who smiled slyly.

"I just told them the story about you ripping off curtains and…"

"You, what?!" she asked shocked and her face turned bright red. "Dad!"

John shrugged. "They asked me if I could tell them some stories about your childhood."

"MOMMY!" Rachel said louder and pouted.

"Sweetheart, we talk about that another time, okay? It's time for you to go to bed now," Jean announced, her cheeks still glowing red and she waited for Jack to hop into his bed, before she wished them a good night and pulled Jamie up. "Come on, go to bed," she said and guided Rachel and Laura to their room.

"And mommy really blew up the kitchen once?" Jack whispered as his grandfather wished him a good night next.

"Let's say we had to buy a new stove," the man replied and grinned back. "Good night!"

"Night!" the twins said in unison and waited for their father, who was still downstairs talking to Jean-Paul.

"I'm just sayin' that ya need t'be careful," the feral said once more and followed him down the corridor towards his room.

"We're not a couple, Logan!" Jean-Paul groaned. "I know that he's dangerous and can snap any moment. I'm not stupid! But it's wrong to treat him like an outsider. He's incapable to do the simplest things when someone else is involved!" he told him grimly. "He needs to learn how to act around other people… Still we're not a couple. He doesn't even understand what that means, if you asked me…"

"Still ya sleep with him!" Logan replied and noticed that his friend avoided his eyes now. "I just want ya t'be careful'n don't fall in love with him!"

"I'm not…"

"Ya sure about that?!"

"Yeah…," Northstar grumbled and stopped at his door, looking at the feral for a moment. "He's like you, Logan… More than he realizes…," he said and Logan looked down. "If you ask me,…he never had friends or people that cared for him. And he has your sense of humor…"

"Does he?" Logan asked in surprise and received a nod.

"What's that by the way?" Jean-Paul asked and nodded at the book in his opposite's hands.

The feral looked on it and shrugged. "Chuck said Daken looked for it… I still had it."

"I see… Well, he likes to read. He taught himself Greek," Northstar said with a look at the book.

"Seriously?!"

"Yeah."

Logan nodded impressed and turned to leave. "See ya tomorrow."

"Yeah, good night!" Jean-Paul said and went into his room, whereas Logan went back downstairs and stopped in front of Daken's room. Carefully, he knocked and waited. It didn't take long and the door opened, angry hazel eyes glaring at his own.

"What do you want?" Daken growled.

"Chuck said yer lookin' for it," Logan said and handed him the book. "I still had it."

"Oh, thank you…," the younger man scoffed and took the book, his hand already reaching out to close the door again.

"Can we talk?" Logan asked calmly.

"Over my dead body!" his son hissed and the door went shut.

Sighing, the feral ran a hand through his hair and shook his head. He really didn't know what to do about him and decided that going back to his rooms was the best option for now. In the end Jean's birthday was in two days and he still needed to do some things tomorrow.

In his room, Daken lay on the bed and looked at the book in his hands. He hated that _his _scent was still on it, but opened it to read in it. To his surprise a white paper fell out of it and he frowned at it. Nevertheless, his eyes widened in surprise as he looked at the drawn picture and realized that it was his mother on it. His hand turned the paper and it was then that he noticed the few words his father must have left on it.

_I asked Peter to draw her from my memory since you don't have anything from her. Keep it safe. L._

Daken stared at the writing for a moment, before he put the picture on the nightstand and stared at it in the dark. He raised his head briefly as the window went further open and a warm breeze made its way into the room. Not bothered about it, he closed his eyes to get some sleep, as a large hand suddenly grabbed and pressed him into the mattress.

"Think yer safe here?" Sabretooth low voice growled into his ear and he chuckled. "Yer not, runt. I can find ya anywhere." He lowered his head to grin into Daken's face and enjoyed clearly how the younger feral breathed hard. "Daddy won't save ya, kid. Romulus will find ya, no matter where yer hidin' 'n ya damn well know that." Still grinning, he sent one pair of claws right into his prey's back, chuckling. "Hurt, doesn't it?" he asked and twisted his claws until Daken groaned loudly. "I'm here t'give ya a message 'n I suggest ya better think about it…," Sabretooth growled and whispered what he had to say into the feral's ear, before he twisted his claws once more and disappeared through the window.

Panting, Daken grabbed the sheets hard and waited for his back to heal again, then went to close the window quickly with shaky hands. His heart was still hammering in his chest, as he stepped back from it and kept his eyes fixed on it. In the end, he pulled on a pair of boxer briefs and left his room quickly. He knew how messed up Sabretooth was and that the feral hated him, knew that he probably sat on the outside and only waited for him to fall asleep or feel safe again… Quickly, he slipped into another room and went under the sheets there.

"W…," Jean-Paul made sleepily and cracked an eye open. "What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice thick with sleep and rubbed his eyes tiredly. He turned around in bed and looked at the feral more closely. "You're shaking… Did you have another nightmare?" he demanded to know, but there was no reply. Sighing, he moved over and wrapped his arms around Daken. "Try to go back to sleep, okay?" he mumbled and rested his head on the feral's shoulder, while his hand stroked absently over this one's waist.

Next to him, Daken kept his eyes fixed on the window and was sure he could see Sabretooth's silhouette on the other side, while his mind recalled what the feral had told him…

* * *

It was already way past 4 p.m. when Jean reached her rooms and went directly into the bathroom to shower after putting some papers onto the desk. She enjoyed how the warm water caressed her skin and took her time with showering, before she wrapped her hair into a towel and began to towel herself off. She didn't know what was wrong today or why Logan behaved so strangely, but she was determined to find out. He somehow ignored her completely, had gotten up alone, hadn't looked at her during breakfast and dinner and everytime she had asked him something, he'd shrugged. Tomorrow was her birthday and she'd be damned, if this went on until then. She wondered if she had done or said something that had upset him without her noticing it… After she had used lotion for her skin, she went into the bedroom and stopped in surprise.

On the bed laid a huge white package to which a note was attached. Curiously, she went over and took the letter, which clearly indicated that Logan had written it.

_Jeannie,_

_please put it and the necklace I once gave you on and come to the boathouse at 7 p.m. You'll see why!_

_Logan_

_PS: It would be great, if you pinned up your hair and wore some sexy stuff underneath __it__ too._

Frowning, but shaking her head because of the last bit of the letter, Jean put it aside and began to open the package. A gasp escaped her lips and she covered her mouth in shock of what was inside. "My God…," Jean whispered and pulled the object out of the box to have a better look at it, her heart racing in surprise. "Logan…"

* * *

At 6:50 p.m. she made her way to the boathouse, trying to figure out what Logan was up to and what he had planned. Her green eyes widened when small candles led the way further into the wood and ended at the boathouse, some candles even swimming in the water and giving the impression of small fireflies. Her confusion grew as rose leaves met her next and the redhead followed the track further down to the lake and stopped all of a sudden. Roses lay scattered on the ground, even more candles swam in the lake and right in front of her stood a shocked looking Logan, wearing a tux, hair short and face clean shaven as he had done for her on their wedding and was looking at her from head to toe, eyes wide and jaw dropped.

"Ya look amazin'…," he gasped after being over the first shock and kissed her, then looked at her dress again. "Absolutely breathtakin', darlin'…"

"What are you up to?" Jean asked, still confused and still couldn't get enough of staring at his face.

"Marryin' ya?" Logan asked smirking, but nervously and when he stepped aside she saw her father, Narya and John and the priest that had wed them years ago for the first time.

"W…what?!" she asked confused and he took her hand. "I thought we agreed on still being married?"

"The Elf said that officially we ain't 'n I want it t'be official," he shrugged. "So…," he began and took both of her hands into his whereas his eyes were fixed on hers. "Will ya do me the honor'n marry me again?" Logan asked full of hope and thought his heart would burst in his chest, but Jean remained silent…

**This scene was pre-written on my harddrive for…I don't know how long already. Finally, I was able to use it. lol Thanks to all reviewers!! I'm glad you liked the last chapter and I hope you enjoyed reading this one here too. I wanted to post it before I have to work on my college stuff. I also uploaded the dress Logan has gotten for Jean, which I found on an Asian site. You can find it here. Just picture it to be longer. Just copy and paste the address and fill in the slahses and dots. :  
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http:(slashslash)i488(dot)photobucket(dot)com(slash)albums(slash)rr245(slash)Otasune(slash)PD-507549(dot)jpg

**Please review and let me know what you think. I know that lots of you wanted the scene at the end. See ya!!**


	52. Chapter 49

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

** JOY: I didn't include a stripper pole as you requested, but something similar. ; ) Hope you'll like it. ; )  


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**Oh, and have you guys seen the promo characters pictures of X-Men Origins: Wolverine?? It's definitely official now: My Sabretooth in this story looks like Liev's Sabretooth and NOT like that crappy X1 version. I'm totally in love with Liev's version of him. : )**

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**SPOILERS for Wolverine Origins #33.**

**AND****: In the very first Changes, Logan helped Hank plaster a wall after it had been destroyed during a fight with Mystique. ****This plays a role here!!!**

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**And the chapter is M, even without anything graphic. But I want to be save by saying it's rather M than T.**

**Oh, and someone wished for the superheroes with kids to get together. I changed it a bit, but the scene's included here. Hope you'll like it!**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 49**

She didn't know what to say, too deep was the shock about what kind of huge effort he had put into this and the surprise about his sudden proposal was a big one. "I… But…," Jean stuttered and looked at the three people at the lake. "We can't just marry like this…"

"Why not?" Logan asked. "We've a priest, two witnesses, yer dad, rings, a bride and a groom… What else do we need?!"

"Vows? Or…I… I don't know…"

He chuckled. "Darlin', we forgot about our vows anyway the first time, remember? So screw'em," Logan said and touched her cheek so that she was looking back at him. "Will ya marry me?" he asked again, full of hope that she would say yes even if he had surprised her so much with it. But since she remained silent and only stared at him like a rabbit that was about to be run over by a car, he sighed. "Ya don't want t', right?"

"No, it's just…," Jean said and shook her head. "I expected you to…have planned a dinner or something… I'd never have expected…this." She nodded at the priest. "You know I'd marry you everyday… I'm just too surprised…"

"Well, then c'mon," Logan said and waved John Grey over to them, who hugged his daughter smiling and offered her his arm, which she took hesitantly.

Her heart was hammering in her chest when he led her down to the priest and she knew that she was shaking. Jean had expected everything, a dinner, a nice evening at the lake with only the two of them, but never this…

"You look amazing in it," Narya told her and took a good look at the silky, white Chinese robe that was sleeveless and hat the typical Asian style. It hugged her body like a second skin and a huge silver-white phoenix was visible on the whole front. "And that dress is beautiful…," she added after inspecting it from all sides. "Where did you get this one?"

"I don't know, ask him," Jean replied with a nod at Logan, who now stood next to his brother. "I don't even know where he got the Phoenix necklace from all those years ago…"

"Japan, darlin'," he said and she stopped in front of the priest, who smiled at the redhead.

"I knew I would see the two of you again one day," Father McCue smiled at her warmly. "I assume you won't listen again to anything I'll say anyway, am I right?" he joked and Jean blushed, remembering too well how both of them had hardly listened to the priest and had been too taken with each other on their first wedding. "Shall we begin?" he asked and opened the book he had in his hands. "Who gives the bride away?"

"I do," John Gray said before Jean could ask and took her hand to give her to his son-in-law. "Good luck," he whispered and placed a kiss on her cheek, before he went back to his place next to John and Logan, while Narya stood on Jean's side.

"Thank you," the priest said and smiled at the couples. "Dearly beloved, we have gathered today again to witness the holy matrimony of Logan and Jean. Before I go on, let me asked if there are any here who would object to this union. Let them speak now or forever hold their peace." He waited but the two witnesses and John Grey remained silent. "Where is the gentleman who had objected last time?" Father McCue asked and looked at Logan, who smirked and remembered Scott too well.

"Far away…"  
"As I thought…," the priest nodded and went on with the ceremony. "Logan, do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love, honor and cherish, to have and to hold for richer and poorer, for sickness and in health, forsaking all others as long as you both shall live?"  
"I do," Logan said and looked deep into Jean's emerald green eyes, seeing the tears in them and smiling warmly at her. He couldn't help but think how beautiful she looked. His heart had started to beat triple rhythms the moment he had seen her in that dress and he knew that he had fallen even harder for her than he'd already had.

"Jean, do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to love, honor and cherish, to have and to hold for richer and poorer, for sickness and in health, forsaking all others as long as you both shall live?" Father McCue asked her and Jean nodded while sniffing.

"I do," she whispered and felt how Logan squeezed her hands encouragingly, which made her smile.

"No surprise there," the priest smiled and nodded, demanding from them to say the vows next.

Smiling at the redhead, who desperately fought against the upcoming tears, Logan reached out to wipe one carefully away and thought about what he could possibly say. He still remembered the first part they had learned by heart last time and thought it would be a good idea to start with it first. . "I, Logan, take ya, Jean, t'be my wife, my constant friend, my…faithful partner'n love…from this day forward," he began and swallowed once, unsure of what he could possibly say to her that he hadn't said before. She knew he loved her with all his heart, that he would give his life for her without a second thought… "I dunno what t'say that ya don't already know…," he shrugged, feeling a bit embarrassed and looked down for a moment. "Ya know that yer the love of my life, that I'd do anythin' for ya and that I'd never risk loosin' ya," he went on and looked at her again, locking his hazel eyes on her green ones. He could feel her trust and love through their link and had to look away blinking. "I just dunno what t'say…," he sniffed and felt her hand touching his cheek in a loving gesture. While she was now crying openly, he leant into her touch and looked back at her through a blurry vision. "I love ya, darlin'…," he whispered and kissed her hand. "And I can't thank ya enough for everythin' you've ever done for me…"

Waiting first, but knowing that it was all the man was able to say for the moment, Father McCue smiled at him and turned to Jean next. "And you, my dear?"

Sniffing again, Jean took the tissue Narya, who was crying too, offered her with a thankful smile and wiped her tears away, before she cleared her throat. . "I, Jean, take you, Logan, to be my husband, my constant friend, my…faithful partner and love from this day forward," she began and heaved a deep breath, feeling unable to go on without losing her control. She also didn't know what she could possibly say. When she looked up and directly into his warm and gentle eyes and knew that this was one of the rare moments in which he let his guard completely down, in which he allowed her to see the gentle soul behind his eyes. Therefore, Jean smiled and reached out to stroke over his cheek, felt how he leant into her touch, his eyes never leaving hers. "You should look at me like that more often," she said mentally and heaved another deep breath. "I… I don't know what to say…," she shrugged and wiped her tears away with one hand. "I can only thank every higher being for bringing you here… Even with all the up and downs or after surviving the difficult time we had in the past months…, I wouldn't want to miss you in my life…" Jean sniffed and chose to keep her eyes on their entwined hands. "You're the best that ever happened to me. And I'm grateful to have such a devoted husband and father for my children," she went on and looked up again, noticed that his eyes were shining. "I love you…"

"Who has the rings?" the priest asked after a moment of silence and John handed them to him.

To Jean's surprise Logan had stolen her old wedding ring and even told her that she would find it again after she had begun looking for it in panic. "Thief!" she scolded him playfully through their link, but he only winked at her.  
"Rings are a symbol of love never ending, for there is no end and no beginning on a ring, or of true love. May God bless these rings, that they who wear them may live in your peace and continue in your favor," Father McCue said and turned towards Logan, giving him the ring for Jean and told him what to say.  
Taking her left hand, this one smiled at her softly. "With this ring, I thee wed. This ring is a sign of my vow, 'n with all that I have, I honor ya," he said and slipped the silver ring on her ring finger, so that it was back on its old place above their golden engagement ring, which he had put on the dress in the package. Jean did the same and smiled back at him, before they turned towards the priest again who had spoken up once more.

"Now that Logan and Jean have given themselves to each other by solemn vows and by giving and receiving the rings, I announce to you that they are husband and wife. Those, whom the gods have joined together, let no one put asunder." He looked at the groom smiling who was clearly in his own world again. "You may now kiss…," Father McCue began, but Logan had already pulled his Jean close and kissed her tenderly. "…the bride," the priest finished his sentence and shook his head smiling. "I knew you would do that again," he said and closed the book. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Jean sniffed and pulled Logan closer into her arms. "I love you," she whispered into his ear and sniffed. "So much…"

"Love ya too, darlin'," he replied and kissed her again before he wiped her tears away. "I'm glad the dress fits… Wasn't so sure about the size."

"It's so beautiful," she said and looked down on it.

"Congrats," John said and hugged both of them and placed a kiss to Jean's cheek, so did Narya. "I guess the two of you want to be alone now?" he winked, seeing Jean's confused look. "You'll see!"

After they shook hands with Father McCue, who told them once more how pleased he was that they hadn't forgotten him and how happy he was that they married again, their ways parted. John told them that he would bring the man back home and wished them a good night.

"You look so beautiful," John Grey told his daughter and embraced her with tears in his eyes. "And I'm more than happy that my son-in-law decided to do this for your birthday and not to the date he had planned."

Surprised, Jean let go of her father and looked at Logan. "You planned this for later?" she asked and he nodded. "For when?!"

"Actually May 10th next year," he said and pulled a face when he ran a hand through his shorter hair. "I thought it'd be a good idea t'marry again on the old date, but since yer father can't travel back'n force that often… Well, I thought ya might want him t'be here, ya know?"

Smiling touched, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. "Thank you…," Jean whispered and leant her head against his chest to smile at her father.

"Well, I think I'll go back inside and leave the two of you alone," John Grey suggested and went over to hug Logan, and wished them a good night after kissing his daughter once more.

"What did your brother mean with _You'll see_?" Jean asked but Logan just took her hand after kissing her and led her up the path to the boathouse again.

"You'll see," he said, too, and covered her eyes with his hands before his foot pushed the door opened. "Hold on."

While she kept her eyes closed she heard how he closed the door behind him and began to rummage. "Logan?"

"Wait a sec," he replied and returned to her side after being satisfied with the scenery. "'kay. Now." Standing next to her, Logan watched how Jean opened her eyes, blinked for a moment and gasped next, her eyes widened once more in shock.

"Oh my God…," she said and looked at the candles and rose leaves that were all over the place, even swam in the water next to them and danced on it.

"Those heart balloons ain't my doin'!" Logan grunted and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, rested his chin on his shoulder after kissing it. "Ya like it?"

Sniffing, she turned in his embrace and pulled him close. "I love you…"

"Love ya too," he said warmly and kissed her tenderly, before he led her over to the CD-Player. "'n guess what I found in Slim's car," he added and pushed the ON button while holding on to her hand. It didn't take long and Johnny Logan began to sing _Hold me now_. Grinning, Logan wobbled his eyebrows.

"That's our wedding song!" Jean said in awe and soon found herself caught up in a dance with him. Remembering how much she had sucked in it on their wedding, and that she only survived thanks to his help, she was happy that by now she was doing rather good. Sighing, she closed her eyes and leant into him, while he rested his head on hers and went on dancing to their song. "Is that the reason why you avoided me the whole day through?" she asked and smiled when he chuckled.

"I was nervous…," Logan admitted and kept his eyes on the lake during the dance. "'n I had t'prepare everythin'…"

"If anyone gets to know about this…," Jean said and stopped when the song ended to look at him.

"They WON'T!" he warned her, but she giggled. "Darlin', I warn ya!"

"Let me cite what Tony said… _Word has it he's been tamed_," she told him and he growled playfully. "If they get to know about you being helplessly romantic…, they'll probably believe that earth is going to end."

"Yep, that must be the reason why I was a rider of the Apocalypse," Logan nodded and received a slap against his chest.

"That was funny!" she complained and received another kiss. "So…is that my early birthday present?"

"Yep." Logan nodded and led her to a spot with cushion, blankets, food and drinks.

"I actually need to punish you for steeling my rings!"

He chuckled.

"I really thought I'd lost them…," Jean said and looked at her left hand, where both of her rings were back in place. "What else do you have planned for today?"

Logan smirked and sat down on the ground before he pulled her down next to him. "What do ya think, baby?" he replied in a warm and husky voice that made her shiver. "Sex all night in any position and with any noises possible until we both pass out! In the end it's yer birthday, right?" He chuckled when she bit her lip smiling. "'n when I guessed right what ya wear underneath the dress…," he went on and rand his fingers up her arm, "then it'll definitely be sex all night long."

"Hmm…," Jean made and lowered her gaze for a moment, still smiling. "Since it's my birthday…I can actually wish for something, am I right?" she asked and looked at him.

"Sure…," Logan shrugged and reached out to open the wine bottle. "What do ya have on mind, darlin'?"

"Then strip, baby!" the redhead said and laughed when he nearly dropped the bottle. "Come on! Get up and go to work!" she demanded and pulled him up with her powers before she gave him a gentle slap on the butt. While he stood in front of her like a lost dog, she poured herself a glass of wine and sipped on it. "Start!" she cheered him on and waved her glass at him.

Logan shook his head first, but smirked next. "'kay… I'll do it, if you'll do it, too!" he demanded and could tell that she was considering it. "Deal?"

"Deal!" Jean shrugged in the end and bit her lip smiling as he threw his jacket at her in the next moment. She watched how he wiggled his hips and laughed as the tie and shirt hit her next. With her hand, she grabbed the cotton and threw it aside, marveling at his well toned body and wasn't surprised that her heart still began to beat faster, even after all these years. When he gave her a sign to sit up a bit, Jean knelt down and gave him a questioning look, just to smile as he grabbed her hands and laid them on his waistband with a wobble of his eyebrows and another dirty smirk. Smiling, Jean ran her hands over his waist and opened his pants. "I knew it…," she mumbled after pulling them down a bit and his chuckle was answer enough.

"C'mon, pull'em down," he requested but received a slap on his behind instead. Logan cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Stripping means ALL clothes, Logan," the redhead smiled and sipped on her wine again. "Go on!"

"Ya really can't hold yer liquor…," he grunted and shook his head when she giggled in a giddy way.

"Pants off, honey!" Jean requested and cheered him on, which made him shake his head in disbelief. "Come on!"

"I wanna have a lap dance!" Logan requested and threw his pants at her next before he pulled her up and took her place on the ground to empty her glass. He watched her stripping out of her dress after pouring himself new wine and nearly choked on the liquid as her dress fell on the ground and gave him a good view on what she was wearing underneath it. "Holy shit…," he mumbled and watched her dancing seductively for a moment. His now darker eyes traced her curves, watched her hip moving and he licked his lips unconsciously. "Lap dance!" he requested once more after she had thrown her bra at him and groaned since she shook her head, smiling. "Why not?!" he demanded to know impatiently and caught her slip as she threw it at him next.

"My birthday, my wishes!" Jean replied and sat down on his lap, which made him growl, to kiss him.

"It ain't yer birthday, yet, darlin'!" Logan said and wrapped his arms quickly around her waist to prevent her from getting up again. "This is honeymoon'n hubby wants a lap dance!"

She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. "But wifey doesn't. She wants a massage!" she said and looked down on him. "Besides…," Jean whispered and nibbled on his earlobe while her hand disappeared between them, "I think you're already excited enough."

Looking down and watching her hand stroking him, he looked up with even darker eyes. "That's fine, too," he grunted and pulled her closer but she withdrew her hand, making him groan in frustration. "Jean!"

"Massage first!" she smiled, kissed him and lay down on her belly next to him. "The sooner you start, the sooner you might get lucky…"

"Ya love t'make me suffer, huh?" she heard him grunting before he sat down on her legs and grabbed the bottle next to him.

"As much as it written in men's genes to annoy us, it is written in ours to drive you insane, honey."

"Damn right!" He nodded and concentrated on his work just to start smirking unseen of her. "Legs, too, darlin'?" he asked innocently and received a thumps up. Grinning, he spread her legs a bit and crawled further down…

Jean, in the meanwhile, had her eyes closed and rested her head on her arms. She enjoyed how his hands worked their magic on her muscles, as… Squeal!

He chuckled and reached out to push her gently down again. "Stay that way!" he demanded and didn't withdraw his hand before she obeyed. "Make that noise again, will ya?" he said and earned another high pitched whimper from her as he stroked over her most sensitive spot, but stopped afterwards. "The angle's wrong…," he mumbled and reached out to put a cushion under her belly. "Now that's perfect!" Logan grinned and replaced his hand with his tongue, enjoying how her already high pitched whimpers became even higher and more desperate. "'n ya call me excited?" he teased her and went on licking, sucking and thrusting with his tongue and hand until she arched her back with a deep moan. Without wasting a second, he crawled on top of her and pulled her close to get settled between her legs, kissed her neck with a low growl and gave her a moment to accommodate to him before he began to thrust…

* * *

Mystique stood in front of the mirror in the room she shared with Scott and kept on shaking her head. "I can't wear that for Jean's birthday party…," she said once more and received a groan from the man on the bed.

"You can!"

"No, I can't! First, I hate dresses, they're too girly, then, I look fat in it!" she complained and gave herself another dismissive look. Her hand stroked over her stomach and she sighed. She was fat…

Scott, who had gotten up and was now standing behind her, wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close. "You look beautiful in it," he assured her and brushed her black hair back to place a kiss on her neck. He saw out of the corners of her eyes that she was blushing. "And you're not fat at all. It's not even showing, yet," he added and stroked over her stomach. He met her eyes in the mirror and smiled. "Besides, the dress is great for Rogue's and Jube's wedding in September, too…"

"I don't know…," Raven sighed and looked at herself again. It had taken a long time for her to get used to clothes, especially since pregnancies blocked her shape shifting mutation to protect the child in her. But wearing a dress now… Still, she had to admit that the baby blue dress hugged her curves well and fit to her eye color… "You really think it looks good?" she asked and received another kiss.

"Yes," Scott replied with all honesty. "You look very beautiful. And…I have a shirt that has the same color." He grinned when she playfully rolled her eyes.

"Of course you are a guy that likes partner look…," she said and went over to the wardrobe to get ready for bed.

He went over to Alex's bed and tucked the sleeping boy back in, before he sat down on the bed and watched her thoughtfully. After she had left the bathroom and went under the sheets next to him, his eyes were still on her and Scott received a frown.

"Is something wrong?" Raven asked and pulled on her pillow until she felt comfortable.

"No…," he waved off and wanted to slap himself for that answer almost instantly.

"You're such a bad liar…," she scolded him and sat up again. "What's wrong?"

Scott sighed and pulled his legs close to rest his arms on his knees. "I…want to ask you something for a couple of weeks already…," he admitted and her frown deepened.

"And why don't you just do that?"

"Because…" He shrugged. "I think you'll say 'no'…"

Raven looked at him for a while, noticed that he held his head lowered to avoid her eyes. "What is it you want to ask me?" she demanded to know and watched how he got up after a moment, did something in his drawer and returned to bed. When she recognized what he held into her direction, her breath was caught up in her throat and her heart began to pound mercilessly in her chest. Even more so when he walked over to her side of the bed, took her hand and dropped to his knees.

"Raven,…will you marry me?" Scott asked nervously and tried hard to hold her scared and shocked look…

* * *

"This reminds me of our honeymoon in Canada…," Jean said softly while looking at the lake, which was illuminated by the moon by now and stroked absently over Logan's arm that rested on her waist.

He chuckled low and cuddled further up to her now cooling body. "What? The sleepin' at the lake part or the sex under stars part?" he teased her and pulled the blanket further up when she shivered.

"Actually both…," she smiled and turned in his embrace to pull him into a kiss. "You forgot the taking a shower under the waterfall part."

He smirked. "'n the sex under the waterfall part," he added and kissed her once more before he gave his watch a look, his smile widening. "Happy Birthday, darlin'!" he said and kissed her again.

"Thank you…," the redhead smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him closer. "Did you cut your hair by yourself by the way?" she asked and ran her hands through it.

"Why? Yer complainin' now?" Logan growled playfully and climbed on top of her.

"No, just surprised that you managed to do it by yourself," Jean said and kept on stroking through it. Her eyes wandered from his hair to his clean shaven face and her smile widened. "You're handsome…"

"Stop droolin'…," he teased her and smiled when she giggled. Since she had her arms wrapped around his neck, he rolled them around so that they lay next to each other and wrapped his arms around her waist.

"You look way better like that…," he heard her saying and cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Naked?"

"No, smiling I mean…," Jean said and raised her right leg to rest it on his left one. "Suits you better…"

Logan sighed and looked past her at the lake. "Don't have a lot t'laugh about, do I?"

She gave him a look for that remark. "Stop bein' so negative all the time." He just shrugged and looked back at the lake thoughtfully. "What's wrong all of a sudden, Logan?"

"Nothin'…"

Jean sighed. "Logan, stop saying 'nothing' if there clearly is something bothering you!" she begged and cupped his face to make him look at her. "What's wrong?!" She watched him heaving a deep breath before he took her hand and stroked over it. Lost in thoughts he kept his eyes on them. "Logan?"

"I'm just afraid t'lose ya…," he admitted calmly and made her frown with it.

"Why should you lose me?"

"Nearly 9 years married'n 11 years together, Jean… It never lasted that long. My record was a year and a half before somethin' happened…," he said and refused to look up at her, not even when she touched his cheek. "I drank too much wine…," Logan added after a moment and cleared his throat.

"You won't lose me, Logan," she said and used her powers to pull him into a comforting embrace.

"Ya don't know Creed, Jean… He always finds a way, no matter how long it'll take him. He won't stop before he gets what he wants," he grunted into the curve of her neck and closed his eyes, remembering how he had come home just to find Silverfox raped and slaughtered on the floor, 'Happy Birthday' written with her blood, which was everywhere, on the wall…

"I won't leave you…," Jean promised and pulled him even closer to press a kiss to his forehead.

"What if I turn out t'be the same animal he's now?" she heard him mumbling and knew that this was his second greatest fear after losing his family.

"You won't…"

"How can ya be so sure?"

Jean kept her eyes fixed on the lake, watched the small waves on it and how the moon was still reflected on the surface. It was incredibly warm, even that late… "Because you're not an animal, Logan."

"I'm a lupine, like him…"

"That doesn't mean anything," she said and stroked over his back. "You've a conscience, a moral code, you hate killing and being feral, you're everything he's not. He despises humanity."

Logan sighed. "She said ya dunno what we'll evolve into…"

Jean knew who _she _was and remembered the destructive words Elizabeth Howlett had used against her son. "Did you ever speak to Hank about your mutation?" she asked and earned a cocked eyebrow from him. "John and you are not real lupines, you have the genes, you belong to that evolutionary strain, but both of you are too humane. And with your skeleton you can't evolve further."

"But John can. 'n the kids…," he noticed and she shook her head. "Why not?"

"Hank believes that whatever they did to John in those 50 years destroyed that ability. He's not even as feral as you are." Jean shifted position to have a better look at him. "And our children… They are too far away from the lupine strain."

"Laura ain't!"

"I believe they have taken care of it when they created her. If she evolved, she'd become uncontrollable," she replied and met his worried gaze. "You worry too much, Logan. Seriously!" Jean added and kissed him. "What about 'sex all night', hm?"

He shrugged. "Don't wanna be on top anymore…," he sulked playfully and found himself on his back in the next moment. Smiling, he laid his hands on her waist and took in her sight. "Lookin' good," Logan grunted and stroked up her stomach with one hand.

"Now, are you going to waste time staring at me, or are you going to do something?" Jean asked teasingly and rubbed against him for emphasis.

Shrugging, Logan withdrew his hands and rested his head on them. "No! Yer on top, darlin', so get t'work."

Jean snorted. "Of course… You men like to lie back and let us do all the work," she sighed. "Well, at least I'll have a nice view myself."

"Just as a reminder, darlin', I did all the work before. Four times t'be more precise!" he teased her back and thrust his hip upward. "C'mon, get goin'!"

"Stop being so impatient, my dear Logan," she scolded him and leant forward to rest her arms next to his head and kiss him passionately. "I'll take my time with you…"

"Take yer time with me, huh?" he mumbled against her lips and smirked.

"Yeah…," Jean nodded smiling and leant back again to get settled.

Watching her next actions, Logan chuckled. "Doesn't look like takin' yer time with me, baby…"

"You should know me better, honey," she smiled and made him groan loudly in the next moment. "Never underestimate a teke, Logan. Our powers come in handy sometimes."

* * *

"They are still not back?" Hank asked and passed around the bread basket.

"Nope," Ororo replied and handed TJ her breakfast while Kurt watched over Tommy. "I wonder what they're doing…"

"Oh, pleeeease!" Jubilee groaned. "It's Jean's birthday, they were gone all night long, so what do you think Wolvie's doing with his sweetheart?" she asked with a big roll of her eyes. "I'll give you a hint. They are NOT playing cards."

"Did Logan call?" Scott asked but received only 'no's'. "Great… Because it's of course not dangerous for us at the moment outside of the mansion and we are of course not worried if they stay away all night long…," he complained and shook his head.

"Morning!" Tony greeted cheerfully and sat down on an empty stool. "Why the long faces?"

"Who is watching the children anyway?" Scott asked.

"I have no idea…," Ororo asked. "Since all of us are here, my guess is on Jean's dad or John and Narya."

"No, the two of them are doing the naughty in the shower," Tony waved off casually and smeared butter on his bread, shrugging off the stares of the others, as Moira suddenly dropped her knife and stared out of the window agape.

"Something wrong, dear?" Hank asked her worriedly but she only pointed at something that they couldn't see.

"That dress is gorgeous!"

"Which dress?" Kitty asked confused as the door opened and Logan and Jean entered.

He wore his tie loosely around his neck and had the first three buttons of his white shirt unbuttoned, his hair was still shorter than usual and messy and his arm was casually wrapped around Jean's shoulder. Logan cocked an eyebrow at the stares they were given and closed the door with his foot before he walked them over to their stool and threw his jacket on a free one. "What?" he grunted and made his way to the fridge to look for anything eatable.

"YOU are wearing a suit?" Tony asked, feigning shock.

"Can a man have breakfast here without bein' annoyed by others?!" the feral growled.

"No! I can, you can't. And you know why?" the Avenger asked. "Because…YOU are wearing a suit! Cap will never ever believe me!"

"Just shut up!"

"Wow… Someone hasn't gotten much sleep, huh?" Tony asked and watched how the feral began to rummage in the fridge, pulling one after the next package of eggs out of it, then bacon. Turning, Tony gave Jean a look. "Is he determined to exterminate all chickens of the world?" he asked her with a nod at Logan, who threw one egg after the next into a pan, followed by the bacon.

"No, I intend t'throw the other half at ya," Logan grumbled.

"He's just hungry," Jean shrugged and pushed her hair back, aware of the looks she was given.

"Where did you get this gorgeous dress?" Moira asked her and beckoned her to turn around so that she could have a better look at it.

"From Logan," the redhead replied and Tony gave the feral a look.

"It's your dress?!"

"Yeah, doesn't fit anymore, so I passed it down t'her," Logan grunted and sat down next to his wife to share the food with her.

"Actually…," the Avenger said, "that explains a lot…"

"God, I'm starvin'…," Logan growled and began to wolf down the eggs.

"We can see that…," Scott said rather disgusted and shook his head. "So, what did you do all night long?" he asked after a moment and asked himself why Jean looked at him like a rabbit that was about to be run over by a car.

"Had sex all night long," Logan grunted and received a slap against his arm.

"I'm being serious here, Logan!"

"Trust me! He's being serious, too!" Tony told Scott, who rolled his eyes and shook his head next.

"Never all night long!"

"He can go all night long!"

"How come you know?" Kitty asked the Avenger suspiciously.

"I once had a room next to his," Tony said and received a growl from Logan. "You can't deny it. I had some sleepless night!"

"Yeah, I wonder why," the feral grunted knowingly and grabbed the breadbasket next.

"My sympathies," Bobby said.

"Thank you, I really appreciate that," Tony nodded.

"You are such a glutton..." Scott shook his head while watching Logan with a sigh. "Anyway, now tell, what have you been doing? Beside bedside stories that is."

Jean exchanged a brief look with Logan, who shrugged and chewed on his bread. "We…ate something and…danced."

"You ate something and danced?" Ororo asked skeptically and the redhead nodded. "That's all?" Once more a nod. "Aren't you a bit…overdressed for that? Except of course Logan suddenly has more money that we think…"

While Logan snorted, Jean brushed her hair back once more as Moira took her left hand all of a sudden. "You got your rings back? Where have they been? Hank and I did another search yesterday."

"Well…," Jean began when Logan sighed loudly next to her.

"Ya won't stop before we tell ya, huh?"

"Not really…," Ororo replied innocently and smiled at him.

Logan rolled his eyes and heaved a deep breath. He was tired and he wanted to lie down and sleep for a bit, before Jean's birthday party began, and if he hated something after getting up, then it was to be talked to death. Jean was allowed to do it, his children were allowed to do it, the others were definitely not allowed to it. An exception might be Rogue and Kitty… "We married, alright? We didn't go away, we stayed at the boathouse'n spent the night there. Satisfied?!" he grunted and gave another roll of his eyes since the others were mostly staring at them agape. "Oh, c'mon'n give me a break!"

"You…married?!" Scott asked in a way as if the word was new to him. "Why? You already were married…?"

"Coz we had nothin' better t'do, moron!" Logan grunted. "Till death do us part, remember? She died'n I died even twice."

"But…how did you do it?" Moira asked next. "I mean you can't just marry wi…"

"We had a priest. Father McCue did it," Jean informed her and took Logan's hand to soothe him. She knew how drowsy he was by just looking at him.

"And witnesses?!" Hank asked.

"John, Narya and my father."

"You could have told us!" Ororo sulked.

"I didn't know it myself. He surprised me with it," Jean shrugged and played with his fingers, which earned her a cocked eyebrow from Logan.

"Well…then congratulations, I guess," Kitty shrugged and turned when Jean's father entered. While the children stormed passed him to greet her parents, he held a cranky looking Jamie on his arm and smiled at his daughter. "I suspected you would sleep longer," he said and placed a kiss to her cheek. "Or…didn't you sleep at all?" he added with a wink that made her blush.

"What's the matter with him?" Logan asked and took Jamie from him, who immediately clung to his father's neck and hid his face there.

"I don't know. He didn't want to sleep first, then he fell asleep for a moment and must have been up all night afterwards," John Grey shrugged and stroked over his grandchild's head. "He got cranky after I pulled him up and told him it was time for breakfast."

"Aww," Jean cooed and reached out to stroke over her son's cheek, but he turned his head away. "I think someone goes to bed with daddy later, hm?"

"Yep," Logan nodded. "'n daddy goes t'bed now," he added and got up, prepared a bottle for his youngest and gave Jean a long kiss. "Wake me up, 'kay?"

"Sure," she nodded smiling and pulled him into another kiss. "I love you."

He smirked. "Love ya, too, darlin'."

"Aaaalright!" Tony said and raised both hands, which made Logan stop and cock an eyebrow at the Avenger, who pointed a finger at him. "Who are you and what did you do to Logan?" he asked and received a roll of eyes from the feral, who proceeded to leave the room. "Did he drop to his knees when he proposed? Or anything with candles or flowers or…" He gesticulated. "Slushy music? He did the slushy music part, right?"

"Night! 'n watch the dogs," Logan grunted with a shake of his head and went upstairs where he put Jamie on the bed and closed the curtains. He then undressed and got his son's cuddly toy, before he went back into the bedroom and lay down. Tiredly, he watched Jamie sucking on his bottle for a moment and tucked him in after the boy was done with it. "'n now sleep, okay, pumkin?" he said and kissed his son's cheek, trying to get comfortable in the bed afterwards. A small smile became visible on his lips when Jamie moved closer and cuddled up to his arms, just to yawn next.

* * *

When Northstar awoke, he blinked against the light and rubbed his eyes drowsily. Confused, he looked at the arm that was resting on his waist and remembered how Daken had slipped into his room sometime at night. After the feral had lain down, he had immediately fallen asleep again… "You awake?" Jean-Paul asked in a hushed voice, but since he neither get any reply nor did Daken move an inch, he knew that this wasn't the case. Shaking his head with a smile, the mutant got carefully up and went into the bathroom for a shower. After he had gotten dressed, he pulled some clothes out of the drawer and placed them next to the still sleeping feral, a note attached to it. "Sleepyhead…," Northstar smirked and left the room, heading for the kitchen.

"Morning," he heard a familiar voice behind him and smiled at Narya, who was accompanied by Anna, who sat on her father's shoulders.

"Morning yourself," he replied and gave her a hug. "Judging from your faces you had a good night."

"Yeah, you can say that," the blonde nodded, still smiling happily and her former team member chuckled.

"Definitely a very good night then."

"How about you?" John asked him and Northstar shrugged.

"An okay night, I'd say."

Together they entered the kitchen were Jean was already occupied with opening her gifts. Right now, she was sitting in front of a pretty flat and rectangular package and eyed it curiously. "You didn't have to…"

Tony waved off. "Hey, since your hubby is out of the picture at the moment, I thought I can start being nice again. Open it!"

Shaking her head with a smile, the redhead did as she was told, just to frown next. "This is my notebook…," she noticed and gave Tony a questioning look. But he only smiled.

"Yes, it is."

"And why did you wrap my notebook?!" she asked confused, which made him smile.

"I didn't have time to get you anything, so I grabbed the first thing I could get," he said in a honest voice and with a stern look on his face, just to start laughing since everybody stared at him incredulously. "You really believed that?" he asked, chuckling and shook his head. "Start your notebook. You'll see, gorgeous."

Still confused, Jean opened it and pushed the ON button. The notebook began to start normally, asked her to type in her password and it still had the same background picture of her, Logan and the children. Just as she was about to ask, a familiar voice said "Welcome, gorgeous."

"Since you liked Jarvis so much I installed a similar version on your notebook. It reacts to your voice now and has some extra programs, too," Tony informed her with a nod at the computer.

"Thanks a lot," Jean smiled, but noticed something. "How did you get passed my password?"

"I had Jarvis hack into your system."

"Tony…"

"I asked your hubby," he winked at her and received a playfully scolding look. "Oh, and after seeing that picture I couldn't help but blackmail him."

"Thank you, Tony," the redhead said and gave him a hug after shutting down her notebook.

"Oh, and if Logan's mean to you, Jarvis can curse in many languages," Tony added and she smiled.

When Jean reached her rooms to shower before the party began, she was surprised to find Logan awake and shaving in the bathroom. "I thought you were so tired?"

"Yep, me too," he grunted and washed away the last remains of the foam, watching her out of the corner of her eyes. "Watcha doin'?"

"I wanted to take a shower. Why?" she asked and undressed.

"Coz I wanted t'take one, too?"

"Is Jamie still sleeping?" Jean asked after she stood under in the shower and closed her eyes when the water dripped on it.

"Yep, he is," Logan said right behind her and pressed a kiss to her neck.

She smiled. "If he sleeps so long now, he won't be tired later."

"That's why I wanted t'wake him up after bein' done here," he replied and began to apply shower gel to her back, while she washed her hair. Carefully, he kneaded her muscles and his hand ran down her spine in small circles.

"If you go on like this, I'll refuse to leave the shower that fast," he heard her mumbling and smirked.

"Ya like that?"

"You know I do."

He chuckled and reached for the bottle to squeeze more gel out of it. After stepping closer to her, he began to soap her upper body slowly. "'n that?" Logan whispered huskily into her ear.

"You're impossible…," Jean sighed and leant further against him.

"That's why ya love me, darlin'," Logan replied and held her close with one hand, his other one running up and down the inside of her thighs. "'n that?" he asked huskily, kissing her neck and pulling her even closer against him. "Like that, too?"

"Mhm," she made with closed eyes and reached for his neck behind her for support, enjoying his caressing. She felt how he parted her legs gently with one knee and rubbed against her from behind, his hot breath stroking her neck as she reached out to the wall for support. A whimper escaped her lips as he continued stroking her with his hand and she threw her head back in a silent 'O', as he slipped into her and began to rock slowly.

"The red one or the black one?" Jean asked afterwards in the bedroom and looked at her two summer dresses.

"'f course the red one," Logan grunted without even bothering to turn around.

Instead, she did and sent the shirt he was holding back into the wardrobe.

"Hey!" he complained and cocked an eyebrow at her, watched how Jean walked over to him in her underwear only and pulled something out of his drawer.

"Wear this," she said and handed him a pair of dark blue jeans and a black shirt, both of which she had bought for him on their shopping trip not too long ago.

He groaned. "Why?"

"Because I picked this shirt and jeans for you and I like it." Jean smiled and kissed him. "Besides it's my birthday. Not yours."

Only shaking his head with a roll of his eyes, Logan got dressed and frowned at himself in the mirror. "This looks stupid."

"No, it doesn't."

"Yeah, it does!"

"I think it looks sexy," Jean said and fixed her hair after getting dressed. Afterwards she went over to him and unbuttoned the third button, too. "That looks even better."

"Darlin',…," he whined with another look at himself. "Can I please wear somethin' else?"

"No, you can't!" she smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You're looking good that way. I like it."

"I'll pick somethin' for ya t'wear on my birthday, darlin'!" Logan warned and walked over to the bed to wake Jamie. "'n trust me, ya gonna hate me for it!"

"Do whatever you want. I still like it," Jean insisted and gave him a gentle slap on his behind.

"Women…," Logan grunted and reached out to stroke over his son's head. "Hey, sleepyhead, time t'get up," he said gently and smiled when the boy cracked one eye open. "C'mon. Ya can go on sleepin' later, kiddo." After pulling him into his arms and placing a kiss to Jamie's cheek he let the redhead try to smooth down the boy's messy hair, before he took her hand and led her downstairs. He could already smell the meat on the barbecue from their door and hoped someone had bought steak for him.

"Don't worry, I have," Jean smiled after reading his thoughts and held onto his hand. "I saved three big ones for you and attached a note with your name on it."

"Love ya, woman," he smirked happily and kissed her. When they reached the garden the others were already there and stood in small groups scattered around it. Hank was occupied with the barbecue, the children were chasing each other around, followed by their dogs and Ororo and Kurt were watching over the toddlers. It wasn't the first time that Logan thought they were turning the X-mansion into a freaking kindergarten. "Wanna go playin' with Tommy'n Alex, pumkin?" he asked Jamie, who still leant tiredly against him.

"No."

"Fair enough," Logan shrugged and let Jean drag him over to where the Professor and her father were.

"It wasn't necessary to make the party so big, Charles," she said after reaching them and earned a smile.

"As far as I've been told we do not only have a birthday to celebrate," Charles replied and winked at her. "Happy Birthday and congratulations to the wedding, Jean. You, too, Logan."

"Thanks, Chuck," the feral said and pulled Jamie up a bit. He looked around the garden and shook his head when he saw how Tony talked, or better flirted with Narya and Ororo. "That guy's worse than me…"

"Hm?" Jean made but he waved off.

"Nothin'." His eyes traveled further around and stopped at the backdoor. Scott had just reappeared and led four people into the garden, or better said five, regarding that one of them was a toddler. "Pete's here," he said and Jean turned her head to look at the guests.

"That's his wife?" she asked with a look at the other redhead and still had her hand entwined with his as he walked over to meet them.

"Yeah, that's Mary-Jane, but everyone I know calls her MJ," Logan informed her.

"Hey," Peter greeted them and hugged Jean briefly to congratulate her. "That's MJ, my wife," he introduced the woman next to him with a smile and watched how the two women shook hands. "And that's Ben," he went on with a nod at the boy on his arm. "We named him after my uncle."

"That's Jean," Logan introduced the redhead next to him to those who didn't know and smiled proudly at her.

"Happy birthday," the Cap said and handed her flowers and a bottle of red whine.

"Thank you," Jean smiled politely. "I'll just bring them inside. Be right back."

"What's wrong with Jamie?" Elektra asked and looked at the boy that leant against his father and gave them a rather displeased look.

"He's grumpy today," Logan said with a look at his son. "Didn't sleep well at night."

"Wonder who he got that from," Peter said and gave his boy a look. "How old is he?"

"Just turned two."

"Ours is six months younger," MJ told him and received a nod. "Oh, and Pete doesn't know, Logan." She winked at him.

The feral first cocked an eyebrow at him, but chuckled when also Elektra smiled. He remembered their encounter in the mall too well. "Good."

"Hey, I don't know what?!" Peter asked and looked to and fro between them. In the end, he looked at the Cap. "Do you know what they mean?"

"No," Steven shook his head and made room for Jean.

"He needs to eat," she said with a nod at her son and handed Logan a small plastic pot with mashed vegetables and chicken. "Do you want to drink something?" she asked their guests and led them over to a nearby table that was protected by the shadows.

While she went off to get the drinks, Logan began to feed Jamie and still wondered why the boy was in such a bad mood. "Jamie, did ya eat dinner yesterday?" he asked frowning and received a nod after a moment. "'n did anyone give ya a snack at night?" he asked next, but received a shake of the boy's head. "Ya haven't eaten anythin' since yesterday?!" Logan said in utter disbelief and finally knew the reason why his son was so tired.

"What's wrong?" Jean asked and put the tray with the drinks on the table, handing their guests what they wanted to have.

"Yer father forgot t'feed him at night," he growled. "That's why he's so tired, coz he's no energy."

"I doubt that he's forgotten it, Logan…"

"Jamie said so'n look at him," he insisted with a glare.

"Hold on a second," the redhead said and waved her father over to them. "Did you give Jamie his bottle at night?"

"Sure," John Grey replied, wondered why his son-in-law seized him up for a coffin. "Why?"

"Coz he said he didn't get anythin' t'eat'n that's…"

"Which juice did you use?" Jean cut Logan off before he could go on with his rant. "The red bottle or the green bottle?"

"His brother said the red bottle," her father said and she sighed. "And I assume that means it was the wrong one…"

"He is so dead," Logan cursed and got up to prepare a sippy cup with the correct juice for his son.

"It was the wrong one…," Jean nodded and reached out to stroke over her son's head.

"Why is the green bottle so important?!" Peter asked in complete confusion and wondered how the wrong choice of juice could affect a child that much.

"Because he has an active healing factor and needs special nutrition," the redhead explained. "Without it his body hasn't enough energy and… Well, you can see the effects."

"Jean, I'm sorry. I didn't know," her father apologized but she waved off.

"Logan won't be mad with you."

"Here, pumkin," Logan said and handed Jamie his sippy cup, which the boy emptied quickly. Watching him for a moment, he felt relieved when his son smiled at him. "Feelin' better, eh?" he asked and nodded. "Good, then I can go'n kill yer uncle."

"Kill whom?" Tony asked and watched Logan walking past him, a grim look on his face, before he joined his two team members. "Hey!"

"Hey yourself," Peter said and moved aside so that Tony could take a seat. "And? How many hearts have you already broken?"

Tony shrugged. "Lost count."

"As I thought…"

"So, how's work going? Any success so far?" the Cap asked and once more Tony shrugged.

"I'm still doing calculations. Right, gorgeous?" he asked Jean with a wink, who smiled at him. "It's her fault. She keeps on distracting me," he went on and the redhead stared at him agape. "I mean just look at that body and face, Cap, and then tell me you could concentrate on your work." When he heard someone clearing his throat behind him, Tony didn't bother to turn around. He knew who it was. "But…she is so not my type…," he quickly said and reached for his glass. "Done killing your brother, Logan?"

"Yeah, my focus just shifted on someone else…," the feral grunted with a glare and wrapped an arm around his wife possessively.

"Really? On whom?" Tony asked innocently and looked around.

"It's okay," Jean tried to calm her husband, who still glared at the Avengers and snarled warningly. She kissed Logan quickly to turn his attention to her and rested her hands on his chest. "Why don't you get us something to drink?"

"'n leave ya alone with him?" he asked with a nod at Tony, who was now talking to the Cap.

"Come on, be nice," she smiled and gave him a gentle push. After she had watched him heading over to where the drinks were, she turned to Jamie, who still sat on the stool and watched his friends playing. "Jamie, why don't you take Ben and go to Tommy and the others to play with them?" she suggested and watched how he turned his head to look at the unfamiliar boy.

"Come on, go with Jamie and have some fun," MJ told her son and placed him on the ground, watched how he eyed the other boy curiously, before he looked back at her. "Go ahead," the woman smiled. "He won't bite."

"Are you sure?" Peter asked her. "I mean…he's Logan's kid."

"Don't be mean!"

"I'm not. It's a fact!" he said and Tony nodded quickly for emphasis.

"Here."

Jean turned around just to see how Logan handed her a glass. "Thank you," she smiled and took it from him.

"He happy again?" he asked with a nod at Jamie, who had grabbed Ben's hand and was heading towards the stairs. When she nodded he pulled her close with one hand. "Well, at least he got the bein'-all-sociable-part from ya."

"Yes, I'd say we can call ourselves lucky," she teased him and received a cocked eyebrow and a look. "Scott wants something. Be right back," she said after said man had waved and kissed Logan briefly before she went over to where Scott stood all alone.

Watching her for a moment, before he made sure the children were fine, he didn't turn around before Elektra addressed him. "You're more at ease."

"Am I?" he asked and sat down on the free stool with his beer in his hand.

"Yes, you are," she nodded smiling. "And I like her."

"What's her occupation?" MJ asked him out of interest.

"She's the biology'n first aid teacher here'n also an MD," he grunted while making sure that Miloh, Callie and the cubs didn't play too wild with the children, who were playing with a ball.

"And next thing you tell us is that you teach, too," Peter joked laughing, but his laughter died down as soon as he noticed the look his friend gave him. "You're kidding!"

"No, he's not," Tony said and went on playing with something under the table. "He teaches manners."

"Seriously?!"

"No, kidding!"

"What do you teach, Logan?" Elektra asked, looking as surprised and shocked as MJ and Peter.

"Physical Education, foreign languages'n self defense," Logan replied and glared at Peter. "What?"

"If you tell me next that you actually went to college to get a…."

"Are ya fuckin' nuts?!" the feral asked.

"How come you're allowed to teach then?" the Cap asked after remaining silent for the whole time through. "You either need to graduate from college or…"

"A license, which he has," the Professor smiled and wheeled closer. "I'm Professor Charles Xavier," he introduced himself to Elektra and MJ. "It's a pleasure to see that you could make it."

"Mr. Grumpy here has a valid license?" Peter asked in disbelief. "Who was that nuts to actually give him one?!"

Charles chuckled, while Logan growled. "A friend of mine works for the teacher board that is responsible for our area. The public doesn't know that we are a mutant school, so he helps my teachers to get licenses without being branded as mutants. Still, they have to undergo the official process and tests."

Peter looked from the Professor to Logan. "You actually passed a test?!"

"Third highest scoring after Jean and Scott to be more specific," Charles smiled. "And the children love him."

"Yer destroyin' my rep, Chuck," Logan growled and cocked an eyebrow when Jean hugged Scott with a happy smile on her face.

"Your wife hugs her ex by the way," Tony commented without looking up, but did it briefly in the end. "Oh, you already saw it. Never mind then…"

"How come ya know that he's her ex?!" Logan asked and followed the finger Tony pointed into one direction. "Jubes…," he growled and listened to Charles excusing himself as someone hugged him firmly.

"Daddy, the ball's in the tree!" Laura pouted and he sighed.

"'n now?"

"Now you have to get it for us."

"Do I?" he teased.

"Yeah, you do!" she nodded quickly and mimicked the puppy dog eyes her sisters always used on him.

"Think that'll help?" Logan asked her and she nodded quickly. "Ya sure?"

"I can get Lil' and Ray, too!" Laura threatened him playfully and did so as he shrugged.

Smirking, Logan watched how she beckoned her sisters to come over to them and it didn't take long before all three of them were leaning on his upper leg and batting their eyelashes at him, whining a long "Pleaaaaaaaase" next.

"Hm…," he made and thought very hard about it. "Alright." He shrugged and got up.

"We're faster!" Lily shouted and ran off, followed by her sisters. "Daddy, hurry up!"

"Kids…," he grunted and ran after them, grabbing Rachel while running past her and scooped her up on his shoulder.

Peter, who had watched it, gave his wife a look. "Did they call him 'daddy'?!"

"Yes, Tiger, they did," she nodded sweetly.

"We didn't tell you, because we wanted to see your shocked face," Elektra added laughing.

"How many kids does he have?!" Peter asked and watched Logan climbing up a tree and throwing a ball out of it, then being grabbed by three children and forced to play with them. He made a quick count. "He…he has 8 kids?! 9 with Jamie and….one of his kids is blue?!" he said and made the woman laugh with it, while Tony chuckled and the Cap shook his head with a sigh. "How come one of his kids is blue?! Hey, and it has a tail! See?"

"Yeah, well… It was an airbrush accident as far as I was told," Tony shrugged and kept a serious face.

"Airbrush accident?!"

"Yeah. Logan wanted to paint his car and saw too late that the baby was close by, so he…airbrushed it. Nasty color, you know? Ten showers didn't help, so they decided to paint the baby blue," the Avenger explained.

"You're kidding, right?" Peter asked, but has his doubts since Tony was completely serious. "He airbrushed the baby?!"

"Yeah."

"And the tail?!"

"His grandma was a rat."

Peter gave him a look. "You are kidding!"

Tony still remained serious. "Yeah, I am," he shrugged and went on playing under the table.

Peter huffed and sipped on his drink. "Logan behaving like a child, you making jokes at my costs… What comes next?"

"I don't know?" Tony shrugged and looked at him. "Water gun."

"Water gun?!" his team member asked confused as water already hit him.

"Yeah. Water gun."

"Who…?!" Peter asked and looked around, just to see that his son held it. "Ben!"

"Let him have some fun, Pete," MJ laughed and reached out to dry his face with a tissue. "We should ask if he can come over to play sometimes. There are no playmates for him in Stark Tower."

"Blame birth control," Tony said and still concentrated on his work under the table.

"Hey, my son won't be a miniature Wolverine. He already attacked me with a water gun after barely an hour of playing with Logan's kid!" Peter insisted when Cap gave his watch a look.

"Four hours."

"Four?! Are you sure?"

"Positive," Cap nodded.

"He has fun, Pete," MJ said while watching her son playing with the other boys in the sandbox. "And the children seem to be nice to him."

"Listen to your wife!" Elektra teased him and sipped on her drink.

Peter sighed and already saw himself in hell if he thought about his son being turned into a miniature Wolverine. But still, he wondered about one thing when he watched Logan playing with the children. "Hey, Jean?" he called and waited for the redhead to come over to them. "How many children does Logan have? I mean he plays with like…8?"

Jean turned to give her husband a look and smiled. "The three girls that have been here and the boy are our children. The dark blue girl is Ororo and Kurt's, the blonde one is Rogue and Bobby's and the brunette girl is John's," she explained and sat down on the free stool. "They just love to chase him around…"

"Mommy, potty!" Jamie barked while running past her and into the kitchen.

"Excuse me!" the redhead excused herself and went after her son.

"She forgot his other son…," the Cap mumbled and looked at the glass in his hand.

"Son?" Peter asked.

"Yeah, Daken. You've met him."

"Oh, that scary mohawk guy?"

"Mohawk guy?" Elektra asked confused. "There's no child with a mohawk…"

The Cap snorted. "That's because he's not a child anymore. He looks like twenty-something."

"Logan has a grown up son?" MJ asked surprised and he nodded. "Wow… I'd like to see that guy."

"Trust me, you don't!" Peter said. "Cap said that guy is Wolverine on a very bad day and that every day. He walked past me and that guy is scary."

"And he's gay!" Tony added without looking up. "Or bisexual… At least he's doing that guy over there."

Elektra and MJ turned to look at whoever he meant. "Well, at least he has taste…," Elektra shrugged and stretched. She smiled when Jamie stormed past her to join his friends again. "He is so cute!"

Later, they sat together for dinner and talked about random things. While Jamie sat on Logan's lap and Ben was occupying the boy's highchair, the feral kept on concentrating on any movement in the house. He wondered where his oldest was. When Northstar looked up Logan nodded at the house with a questioning look, but the man shrugged. In the end, Jean-Paul got up and disappeared in the house.

"So, how old are your kids?" the Cap asked and but his beer down.

"9, 7, 6 and 2," Logan grunted and handed Jamie another piece of bread. "'n Daken's 41."

"That guy is 41? Are you serious?" Peter said. "He looks like…maybe 23."

The feral shook his head. "He's 41. He was born 1975. So he turns 42 this year."

The Cap began to frown, watched Logan for a while before he figured out what he found strange about what he's been told before. "You lost your memories in the 80s… How come you remember when he was born?!" he asked but the feral only gave him a look that spoke volumes. Shocked, Steven leant forward and checked the area, then gave Logan a look. "You have your memory back?!" he whispered and his eyes widened by the look he was getting. "Do you have any idea…ANY idea what will happen if _they_ get to know about this?!"

"I don't care," Logan grunted and told him with a glare that he wouldn't discuss this subject now. Instead he looked aside when Jean-Paul returned and told him with a shrug that he hadn't found Daken.

When the children lay in bed later and only some of the adults remained in the garden, Logan pulled Jean aside towards the pond. "Why did ya hug Slim before?" he asked and cocked an eyebrow at her since she smiled.

"I can't tell you. But I think he will let you know later anyway," she replied. "You just have to be patient." Still smiling, she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him when he grumbled. "Be patient!"

"Don't wanna be patient…"

"Logan!" Hank suddenly called and both of them turned around. "You should come and see this."

The feral sighed. "What's it this time…?" he growled and kept his hand entwined with hers. They returned to the terrace where the rest of the groups sat together and either talked or played some card games "What?" Hank just nodded towards someone in the kitchen and it didn't take long for Fury to appear. "What the fuck's he doin' here?!" Logan asked and let go of Jean's hand to step in front of her.

"Before you switch into a rage, you should listen first, don't you think?" Fury snapped and narrowed his eye in a silent warning.

Logan looked aside when Peter, Steven and Tony joined his side and also his team members were on alert. "Tryin' t'arrest me again, Nick?"

"Not today," the man replied. "I'm here to talk about your son."

"What makes ya think I'd talk about my kids? Least of all t'ya?" Logan grunted and crossed his arms, his eyes glaring at his opposite.

Fury just smiled. "I don't mean them. I mean Daken," he said and knew that the feral would keep his poker face. "At least some bird told me that you have an older son, who…"

Before he was able to finish the sentence, Logan grabbed him by the collar and threw him against the next wall, pinning him against it. "Stay away from him!" he snarled and extracted the claws on one hand.

"He's here, isn't he?" Fury went on, completely unimpressed by the attack and kept his eyes on the ones of the feral. "Did you ever ask yourself _why_?"

"What's it to ya?"

"Actually nothing…," Fury smiled and the tension between both men couldn't be denied.

Since they were staring each other down, Steven pressed a hand against Logan's chest to push him back. "Let's hear him out, alright?" he suggested, but the feral snorted. He turned to Fury. "What do you want from Daken?"

The director of S.H.I.E.L.D. straightened his jacket and kept his eyes on the feral. "You don't need to act as a shield for your wife. I'm not interested in her," he said, but Logan remained where he was and still seized him up for a coffin. "You might be interested in who I brought with me…," he finally said casually.

"Why should I?" Logan growled.

"Because you will be surprised, Logan," Hank said and beckoned him to come inside.

"If it's my mother, tell her t'piss off!" the feral said, but the furry mutant shook his head.

"It's not her. Just come inside and look for yourself."

With a last glare at Fury, Logan walked past him, followed by the Avengers and some of the X-Men. They were led by Hank to another room and Logan was more than just surprised to see who was occupying two chairs.

"Mac…?" he asked frowning and stepped closer, stopped next to Heather, who held Tyler against her chest and got up to hug him. "What are ya doin' here?!" Logan demanded to know after seeing the tears in the woman's eyes.

"I brought them here…," Fury said and crossed his arms, ignoring the looks he was given. "I did some research, you know?"

"Research on what?!" Logan grunted.

"Daken… And you."

"To what purpose?" the Cap asked and made room when John, Narya and Jean-Paul entered after they had been informed by the Professor.

Fury watched how they went over to James and Heather. "What do you know about Romulus?" he asked Logan, who still tried to figure out what was going on.

"Nothin'."

"Did you ever meet him?"

"No."

"Are you sure?" Fury asked and crossed his arms.

"Yeah, why?" Logan grunted and mimicked the movement. "What the hell do ya want?!"

His opposite shrugged. "I'll tell you, if you tell me about your son."

"'n what makes ya think I'd do this?" Logan asked and tilted his head a bit.

"Because if you do…," Fury said and made a step forward, their eyes never looking away, "I'll tell you about what I found out."

"You should listen to what he's found out, Logan…," James said tiredly and after a long silence. He knew that his friend would rather kill himself than exposing his family. "Because we…and I mean me, you, your brother and your children,…have a problem…"

"What do ya mean?" Logan asked him, but Fury shook his head.

"First your son. Then the information."

"I can't tell ya what I don't know, can I?" the feral snapped and felt how Jean put a hand to his shoulder. "I don't know anythin' about…"

"Then tell me what you know!" Fury insisted and glared back at him. "When was he born? Who is his mother?"

"You'll keep her outta this!" Logan growled and made a step forward. "1975."

"Who raised him?"

"Some people who did a bang-up job…," he replied and walked over to the wall to lean against it. His senses told him something was wrong, but he couldn't figure out what. His mind tried to figure out why Fury had come with Heather and James, what the latter meant with problem and why this problem concerned his family, too. Then he wanted to know who this Romulus was and what Daken had to do with all of this. "Can't tell ya more, Nick. Yer turn," Logan therefore said and received a nod.

"Very well…," Fury said and sat down on a desk, which gave him a good overview on everyone in the room. The Professor hadn't moved an inch and was still watching him, or better, scrutinizing him and he knew that the man wouldn't like what came next. "As I said…I did some research after some…_accidents_ happened. And what I found out was…quiet interesting."

Logan sighed and squeezed the back of his nose. "Could ya just say it?" he asked in annoyance and Fury shrugged. "Starting with why they are here?" He nodded at James and Heather.

"Because Alpha Flight's dead," James said dryly and without looking up.

"What?!" Narya and Jean-Paul asked at the same time and stared at him in shock.

"We wanted to take a walk with Tyler and were already on the outside when S.H.I.E.L.D. agents forced us into a van and drove off," Heather began to explain slowly and looked at the boy that slept against her chest.

"We were barely in the woods when the HQ blew up…," James went on and looked at Logan, who had his brows furrowed.

"What about the others?" Narya asked, but Fury shook his head.

"We found the remains of their bodies. No one survived."

"Then why didn't you warn them?" Northstar demanded to know and had his fists clenched in anger. "And don't give me the shit of there was not enough time. You obviously had enough time to go all the way up by car!"

"Jet, actually," Fury said dryly.

"Someone hacked into our systems without us knowing, Paul," Heather said. "We didn't notice that we were cut off communication. There was no way in warning us… And they didn't leave any traces either."

"But why would they attack you?" John asked and shook his head. "That doesn't make any sense…"

"Actually, it does," Fury said and looked at Logan. "But you won't like it," he went on. "So… Let's start with Weapon X. Why don't you tell us when you broke out of it?" he asked Logan, but received a cold glare only. "1987, am I right? And you broke out of it, after exactly _what _happened?"

Logan frowned and thought about it, but shrugged. "Coz…I dunno."

"So, you don't remember?" Fury asked and switched to the Professor. "When exactly did you have that _accident_ after which you ended up in a wheelchair?" he asked him and added, before Charles could tell him to stop, "1987, am I right?"

"Nick…," the Professor said warningly, but the man remained unimpressed by it.

"And let's see… Daken was banished from his home in what? 1987?" Fury went on, his eyes once more on Logan. "Strange coincidence, don't you think?"

"I don't understand…," Jean said and looked to and fro between them. "What does this have to do with the attack on Alpha Flight or our family?"

Fury smiled. "I think to answer that question, we need to play with open cards," he replied and his eyes switched to the Professor. "Don't you think,…_Charles_?"

**Yep, I stop here, because the chapter already is waaaaay too long. 40 pages to be more specific. And…if you go to chapter 30 (I think) where the Timeline is, you'll probably notice what I did before I wrote the last scene. I unintentionally gave the story the correct dates, without having planned it. LOL Anyway, the next chapter will reveal something shocking. Those who read Origins might be able to guess it. As I said some chapters ago, Logan will learn something that he absolutely doesn't like and never reckoned with. I have the scene that was supposed to happen here pre-written since my trip to the US (so since summer 2007) and I wanted to include it as a nightmare, but now it will be included as a flashback. I just have to make some minor changes to it. As I said the wall from the very first Changes plays an important role in the next chapter and you might start guessing why Daken is actually at the mansion. ; ) Oh, and you'll hate the next cliffhanger, trust me. ; ) So, thanks to all reviewers. I was so happy that so many reviewed the last chapter. : ) I'm sorry for the long wait, but I had lots of stuff to do for college. I'll try to update as soon as I can!! Please review and see ya!!**


	53. Chapter 50

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

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**SPOILERS for Wolverine Origins #33. With some minor changes.**

**AND****: In the very first Changes, Logan helped Hank plaster a wall after it had been destroyed during a fight with Mystique. ****This plays a role here!!!**** It's chapter 29 (30 when you look in the list) of Changes (original).**

**Remember the device Charles used on Cerebro in Changes 2? The one that displayed memories on a screen? It's back here.**

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**HOW MUCH DOES IT SUCK THAT WOLVERINE LEAKED 30 DAYS BEFORE ITS RELEASE?? I feel sorry for Hugh and his company and everyone involved. : (**

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**DestinyFox: Please get back to me via message!! **

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 50**

The mood in the War Room was tensed. More than tensed actually. While the X-Men sat on one side, the Avengers and what was left of Alpha Flight occupied the other side, Fury standing at the one end of the long table, Xavier on the other. The school had been locked down and now everyone was waiting for whatever Fury had to tell them. Judging from the face of the Professor, it wasn't something they'd like.

"So?" Logan broke the silence and, while keeping his arms folded in front of his chest, was still glaring at Fury. He didn't like it at all that the man was in the basement of the mansion. The less S.H.I.E.L.D. knew, the better for them. "What did ya find out?"

Fury remained serious. "A lot. Your mother's name is Elizabeth, am I right?"

"If ya mean the woman who gave birth t'me, then yeah," Logan replied coolly and exchanged a look with his brother, who gave a brief nod. "What about her?"

"Did you know that her birth name was Hudson?" Fury asked and received a cocked eyebrow from both ferals. "Or that she had two younger brothers." He studied their faces and nodded. "Obviously not. Very well… I did some digging and found out that the family from your mother's side had some interesting relations," he went on and pulled a file out of his briefcase. "But what's more striking is that every Hudson didn't die of a natural death…"

"Murder?" John asked and received a nod.

"That what it looks like. Well, your mother's brothers names were Frederick and Elias Hudson. The first was in charge of a training facility in Canada, the latter was the owner of the Hudson Bay Company. Sounds familiar, Logan, doesn't it?"

"Which training facility?" John asked and leant forward a bit.

"Why don't you ask Logan? He was there in the end," Fury suggested and John looked at Logan, waiting for an explanation. But the feral remained silent. "I know that you have parts of your memories back. No need for you to hide it," he said and received a glare.

"It was a military base of the Canadian Army," Logan began without looking back at him. "Cyber, or Silas Burr as he was called back then, was a drill instructor there'n ordered t'push us beyond any moral or emotional limits. That was around World War I 'n II…"

"And as far as I figured out Hudson's interest and focus was on you in particular," Fury concluded and the feral nodded. "Well, as far as I found out tragedy follows the Hudson like a shadow. Elias committed suicide and Frederick's facility burned down for unknown reasons…" He paused and looked at the file in front of him. "His illegitimate son took over the facility in the 1970s after it had been rebuilt during the Cold War and when I tell you that it was burned to the grounds again in 1994,…what do you think of?" he asked and looked at Logan. "What did you do in 1994?"

"He left Alpha Flight and Department H," Heather said and received a nod.

"Precisely."

"I still don't understand jack," James complained and looked at him.

"I said illegitimate son," Fury went on and looked at his file once more. "The boy was named Frederick after his father. He was the result of an affair his father had with his secretary, Caitlyn MacDonald. She was found hanging out of her hospital window a day after he was born and after she gave him his father's last name."

"And he's still speaking in riddles…," Tony commented.

"Frederick jr. had two sons from two different women, one became a Professor," Fury looked at Logan. "I'm sure you met him, because it was you who killed him."

"Weapon X…," Logan mumbled.

Fury nodded. "The second son is in the room with us."

Logan's frown deepened and his eyes instantly fell on James. "So that means…"

"That we're cousins," James concluded. "And that's the reason why they're after me now. Don't ask me why now and not before. Whoever that Romulus guy is must have either made a mistake or…" He shrugged. "I don't know…"

"Romulus never makes mistakes," Fury said. "He used the Hudson family like pawns during the past century. As soon as they served their purpose he murdered them to keep his identity unknown. No one has ever seen his face. Or better said…those that did are dead." He closed the file. "And considering that the only Hudsons left are Logan, John, you and your children…"

"It means he still has plans for us…," John concluded and sighed.

"I don't think so…," Jean said and the faces turned into her direction. "I believe we messed up his original plan. We managed to free John from his grip, something he didn't reckoned with… So he had to change his plans and aim for a different route, one which had probably made James expendable."

"Good news…," James mumbled sarcastically and looked up when Heather took his hand. "That guy murdered my team just to get to me. Why can we be so sure that this wasn't in fact his plan? To lure me out and… I don't know."

"Because we managed to destroy his plan for a second time," Fury said and received a frown. "We got an anonymous warning that a homicide was planned on Mary-Jane and her child to lure Parker out and make it easier for them to catch him. We went in, rescued them and exchanged the bodies…."

"Without telling me!" Peter grumbled.

"Because we didn't reckoned with you getting home before we could inform you," Fury snapped. "Stop interrupting me!" he warned him and went on. "The second warning we got was on the attack on Alpha Flight or better said their leader. Whatever Romulus had planned with you became invalid. I just don't know why or when."

"Why was 1987 and 1994 so important?" Scott asked, since he had trouble following the whole meaning behind this meeting.

"Right…," Fury nodded. "Well, let's begin with 1975. Daken was born and stolen by Romulus, am I right?"

"So?" Logan grunted.

"Well, considering that you took part in Weapon X only 5years later…"

"I didn't _took part_, I was forced into it," Logan growled.

"Whatever," Fury waved off. "You stayed with them until 1987, slaughtered everyone in that place and broke out. Did you ever ask yourself why?"

"Coz I had enough?" Logan asked sarcastically and went back to glaring at the man.

"All of a sudden? After all those years you had enough?" Fury asked ironically. "Charles, why don't you tell us what you did in 1987. Winter 1987 to be more precise," he suggested and the room fell silent, all eyes were on Charles now. "Or tell us who paid you a visit on that day…," he added after the Professor didn't say one word.

"I'd rather not…"

"I don't care," Logan grunted. "Tell us already!"

"You should care, Logan…," Charles said darkly and began to wheel out of the room. "But very well… I'll show you. Raven, if you'd be so nice."

They watched how the door closed behind him and Mystique got up to boot up the computer, typed in the command to connect with Cerebro. "It's up, Charles," she thought and returned to her seat next to Scott.

"I have a bad feeling…," Scott mumbled and tried to figure out why his heart had begun to beat faster and his stomach felt funny. "A very bad feeling…"

It didn't take long and the screen was switched on, then the memory began…

* * *

_Charles Xavier was sitting behind his desk and read through bills and papers. It was already late at night and a small lamp illuminated the room while he was working. It wasn't before 2:30 a.m. that he finally put everything aside, ran a hand over his face and began to move towards the door. After leaving his office he went down the corridor and towards the elevators, with which he moved to the upper floor and headed for his room. The long corridor was lit in a dim light; enough for him to find his way and, after reaching his room, he closed the door and switched on the lights. They didn't work… _

_Frowning, Charles looked at the ceiling and his eyes stopped at the windows, which were open. He was sure he hadn't left them open… His head jerked aside when he heard a low growl, one that only an animal could utter and his eyes began to search his room for any traces of an intruder. The Professor narrowed his eyes, allowed his mind to look for anyone or anything that didn't belong there, but he wasn't able to pick up on anything at all, as all of a sudden he was grabbed by strong hands. He only heard a low growl before he was dragged out of his room and towards the roof; his mind screaming for someone to help him, since his powers couldn't touch the mind of his attacker and physically he was no match. He had to close his eyes when the strong rain hit his face, but they widened instantly as he saw the face of his attacker. _

_Pitch-black, angry and cold eyes glared back at him, black, wild, wet hair hung in his attackers face and Charles thought he looked at death himself. Nevertheless, he somehow thought the face was familiar. "What are you doing?" he asked in a calm voice and the growl of his opposite became even louder, while the Professor's eyes fell on the thick, metallic collar around his attacker's neck. "They are controlling you, son. You don't have to do this…," Charles tried it again but the man remained unimpressed by it and pushed his prey away. Catching his fall, the bald man began to back-up towards the edge of the roof; nearly slipping because of the rain, while the animal-like man came closer and still growled full of hatred at him. Preparing himself for his ultimate death, Charles was about to close his eyes, when…_

"_Professor?" a red haired girl asked and stared at the scenery in fear._

"_Go back inside!" he said quickly, but his attacker had already turned and was now facing the scared girl. This one's eyes widened but she was unable to move. Her green eyes were fixed on the pitch-black ones of the growling creature._

"_Go away!" she said and the beast in front of her stopped making any noises in an instant. Instead he looked at her curiously and remained crouched on the ground. His eyes remained on hers and he almost made a purring sound. "Please, don't hurt the Professor…," the girl begged in a scared voice and watched how her mentor reached out to touch the beast-like man's shoulder. Startled by it, this one turned quickly around with a snarl and lashed out at the bald man, whose eyes only widened in shock. Screaming aloud, the redhead had to watch how the man she considered a father lost balance and fell off the roof. It didn't take long and she heard Charles hitting the wet ground, while the nearly black haired beast stared at her with shocked looking, now hazel eyes…_

* * *

If the room had been silent before, it was deadly silent now. Everyone still stared at the now black screen in shock and neither knew what to think, nor what to say. Some eyes slowly went over to Logan, who sat motionlessly on his stool and gave the impression of being a body only, if it wasn't for his chest that rose and fell. His eyes were fixed on the table, his mind completely blank. He didn't remember it. He didn't remember coming to the mansion or anything he'd done here at all…

"Well,…that was…shocking…," Tony broke the silence and placed the Rubrik's Cube he'd been playing with during the BBQ on the table. His eyes took in the sight of the others in the room, saw their shocked and disbelieving expressions and began to wonder what Jean was probably thinking right now. As if she had heard it, she looked up at him with confused eyes and instantly looked away again. It was then, that the door opened and Xavier came back, face grave, to take his position at the opposite end of the table again. Tony's dark eyes switched to Logan and he began to count from 5 backwards, waiting for him to snap. But it didn't happen…

"1987," Fury broke the silence and kept his eyes lowered, "Weapon X decided to send their perfect weapon on its first kill outside of the facility's walls."

"Stop talking about Logan as if he's some kind of thing!" Rogue said angrily and received a brief look only. "He's no _it_!"

"_He_ was sent here to assassinate Xavier in order to set an example for all mutants. At least, that's what we believe. My guess is still that Stryker wanted revenge for his son Jason," Fury continued and crossed his arms. "With Logan they had built their perfect assassin. Indestructible, dangerous and thanks to his senses always one step ahead of his enemies. And most importantly, he can't be disarmed. The mistake Weapon X made was that they couldn't control him. At least not to the extend they wanted to." He looked up to look at Logan, who still kept his eyes on the table. "What you don't know is, that it was neither the US, nor the Canadian government that carried out the project," he said and the feral finally looked up; eyes confused, but a frown clearly visible. "When we accused them of building weapons behind our back, we set up a contract that would allow us to use you, too. But what I found out is a completely different thing." He opened the file again and switched to a page in the middle. "We believed you were just a weapon, an attempt to create a super soldier that would be the first of a next generation. But we didn't think big enough. It was Romulus who was behind that project and I'm sure that the Canadians didn't know about it either."

"But why?" Kitty asked after a moment.

"Easy answer," Fury smiled. "An indestructible weapon that could heal and track anything down that has a scent, one that is faster and stronger than any normal mutant thanks to the upgrades they did and trained in black ops, weapons and any existing fighting style… A weapon that is capable of killing humans and mutants alike. And in the end, it's you who created and control it. With Weapon X, Romulus had the perfect assassin on his side. But he made the mistake to send Logan here to Xavier's school."

"Why?" Bobby asked.

"Because Xavier broke the mental control mechanisms that had been implanted in Logan's mind," Fury said and looked at the Professor, whose face was still grim and displeased. "Xavier gave him his free will back and when Weapon X brought Logan back to the facility, their attempts to reactivate the mechanisms were unsuccessful. He broke out and fled. That was in 1987. Romulus realized that he couldn't regain control over Logan and turned to his plan B…"

"Daken…," Northstar concluded without looking up.

"Precisely," Fury nodded and turned another page in his file. "Romulus took Daken from wherever he had hidden him in 1987, right after Logan had escaped and enlisted him in the same training facility Logan had been in, but not before teaching him some tricks, in 1990. After being trained by Cyber, who described Daken as one of his finest students, he disappeared one night. That was in 1994. Squads were sent after him, but couldn't find him. When Cyber did, Daken had already killed Frederick Hudson II. and begun to burn down the facility. In fact, Daken had already murdered everyone, except Cyber to that point." Fury's attention was back on Logan. "Every attempt of Romulus to create a next weapon after you failed. He made you capable of killing super-heroes, but after Xavier broke the control Romulus had over you, you became untouchable. So he just turned his focus to his plan B. Daken is the next-gen Wolverine by birth. So what do you think does Romulus need now after his weapon can't kill super-heroes for him anymore?" he asked and heard Cap sighing heavily.

"Logically, a weapon that could take down Wolverine for him," the man said and received a nod. "But Daken is vulnerable."

"That's why Daken was sent here," Fury replied and all eyes were back on him. "I found an old recording between Kenuichio Harada, the Silver Samurai, and an unknown person. They talked about a sword. The Muramasa blade. The only weapon capable of finishing Wolverine for good…," he said and while Logan buried his face in his hands, the others, except Jean and Xavier, looked at the feral in confusion. They knew this gesture was bad news... "So, since you had the weapon forged, my guess is that you know where it is. And since Daken ended up here, my next guess is that the blade is here, too. Am I right?"

"But what makes you so sure that he was sent here anyway?" Jean-Paul asked. "As far as I know he…"

"…saved his brother and brought him back home?" Fury asked sarcastically and chuckled. "Oh, yes, he did that because he is such a good and caring person, isn't he? You don't really believe that Daken brought that boy back here just like that?!" He shook his head. "It must have been Romulus' plan to smuggle him in, so that Daken could take his time and look for the sword. There's no other reason that guy would voluntarily give up his lapdog."

"If Daken intended to kill Logan with that blade, he could have found other reasons to do so. There was enough time!" Jean-Paul insisted and received an odd look, but before he could ask, Scott interrupted him.

"What does Daken want with the sword? I mean, let's say he managed to kill Logan with it, what kind of value would it…"

Fury shook his head. "He doesn't want to kill Logan _with_ the blade."

"Then what?"

"Did you listen to what I was telling you before?" he asked the X-Man. "I said Wolverine's the weapon to kill super-heroes, so now Romulus needs a weapon that can kill Wolverine. But Daken can't be that kind of weapon with his current body, can he? Now think hard about in what way Wolverine differs from his son!"

"He wouldn't be that nuts…," Logan said calmly and with fear in his voice.

"I never said that Daken's aware of it…," Fury replied.

"Of what?" Scott asked, since he didn't have a clue. "What's the plan?"

"Let's say you would make Daken indestructible as his father," the director said. "That would be quiet useless, right? Adamantium can't cut through adamantium. But if you had a metal that was capable of doing so, why not coat it to the claws?" he asked and could tell that the meaning of his words began to sink in.

"It would kill him," Logan said. "The metal of the blade stops a healin' factor from workin'. So if he extracted his claws, he'd bleed t'death. Not t'mention the poisonin' that comes with it."

"I doubt Romulus really cares about that. He wants you out of the picture. And Daken is expendable, he just doesn't know it," Fury replied. "So the question's now… Is the blade here and if so, where is it?"

"Somewhere safe," Logan grunted. "I'm the only one who knows."

"I see… So…," Fury began and acted as if he had to think about his next question very hard. In fact, he already knew the outcome. "Did you hid the blade here _before_ or after Apocalypse caught you and turned you into one of his horsemen?" He was convinced that Logan had just paled a bit. "If Daken gets his hands on this blade and if Romulus can proceed with his plan, then there's no way of stopping him! Where is the blade?"

Holding the man's gaze for a while, Logan couldn't ignore the bad feeling he had any longer. His eyes switched to Jean-Paul. "When ya went lookin' for him, did ya check the corridor in the East Wing, second floor?"

"No. I only checked his room, my room and the library. Oh, and the gym," Northstar said and startled, when the feral jumped out of his stool and headed for the door. "I think that means bad news?" he added rhetorically and joined the group when they went after Logan, who was in a hurry to reach the second floor.

The feral had long disappeared in the elevator before the others had reached it and was now running through the corridors at full speed, then heading up the big stairwell, nearly bumping into some students and finally ascending the next stairwell, taking three steps at a time, to the second floor. Reaching it, he ran past the old teacher's dormitory and towards the room he and Jean had occupied when she'd been pregnant with the twins. His heart was beating rapidly in his chest, not so much because of the running, but from fear of what he would find. Logan remembered that he had secretly hidden the Muramasa blade in the wall when Hank and he had repaired the damage Mystique had left by throwing him through it. He couldn't tell how Daken had gotten to know about it, nor did he remember that Apocalypse had asked this information of him. But in the end, he couldn't remember what he had done as Death at all, except for the parts that Xavier had helped him discover. If the enemy got his hands on the sword, Logan knew, they would be in huge trouble…

Panting, he turned around another corner and stopped dead in the tracks. His nose had long picked up on dust and now his eyes saw the confirmation. The wall had a huge hole in it, the axe was still lying on the ground and Logan knew that the sword was gone. Cursing, he ran both hands over his face and through his hair with closed eyes and thought about what to do. The dust smelled like two minutes old. If he was right, then his son only had a minor head start and there was still enough time to catch up with him. But the problem was: Daken had no scent. He was impossible to track down…

"Logan?" he heard Scott calling from down the corridor and turned to gave him a brief look. The X-Man jogged closer, heavily breathing. "He got it?" he asked and received a silent nod. "What now? We've gotta find him!"

"He's no scent…," John growled and sighed. "We can't track him down…"

"How can a person not have a scent?" Peter Parker asked and watched how Logan frowned and suddenly gave the wall a look. "What's he doing now?!" he said, since the feral walked over to the hole, sniffed and stood stick still next with his eyes closed. All of a sudden, Logan's head turned to the left and he was focused on the door that led to the roof. "What now?" Peter asked when the feral sprinted towards it and disappeared.

"I guess he picked up on something else…," Scott mumbled and followed Logan, who had stopped at the banister and climbed over it to have a better look on what was going on in the garden. "Logan, you can't jump down!" Scott said and watched the feral for a moment. "Do you see him?" he asked as someone grabbed his glasses and tore them off at the same time as he was turned into the direction of the other mutants. The beam shot out of his eyes, hit Steven square in the chest, the man flew backwards and tore Tony and Hank down the stairs with him, before they landed on each other on the next level. Scott quickly closed his eyes and began to panic as the hand let go off him, just to feel a searing pain on his back in the next moment. When something sharp scratched over his stomach next he yelped in pain, but all air left his lungs at once as he received a hard kick to his lower abdomen and was pushed down the stairs next. Trying as good as possible to catch his fall, his shoulder still made a loud _crack_ and he remained motionlessly on the ground. It was then that Scott began to feel how much his body actually hurt…

"How many enemies?!" Bobby called and moved for the door, while Storm helped Moira with the wounded.

"Just…Daken…," Scott mumbled through clenched teeth and kept his eyes shut, while his good hand pressed against his shoulder.

"Just Daken?!" Ororo asked shocked and gave the still unconscious three men next to her a look. "Where's…," she began but could already hear Logan's angry roar on the roof. Since she was the third in command, she got up and looked at the group. "Okay, listen. I want Colossus and Havok on the roof. Jean, you'll help me protect the children and wounded, we can't be sure that there aren't others close by. Kurt, if Daken has the blade, you'll have to try and get it back from him. As soon you do, teleport as far away from him as possible." She watched how Colossus nodded and turned into his metallic form, while Havok and Nightcrawler followed him, all three of them on high-alert, since they could hear the two feral's fighting.

"We need to bring them to the ICU. I need to make sure that Steven doesn't have any internal injuries," Moira announced and got up. "Jean? Could you lift them up with your powers?"

"Sure," the redhead nodded and concentrated on all three men, while Bobby and Ororo helped Scott up.

"You'll…need more…than them," he said through clenched teeth and hinted to only three mutants being sent for back-up.

"Can't you stop him?" Fury asked Charles, but the man shook his head.

"His mental shields are stronger than Logan's. He hardly ever lets them down…," the Professor replied and thought about what to do. He looked at Peter Parker, who gave his teammates a worried look and had an idea…

On the roof Logan was dodging the sword attacks, knowing that if he got hit the wounds wouldn't heal. He fought hard to keep his beast down, he needed to think about what to do, needed to find a way to get into possession of the Muramasa blade again and to convince his son that he was in great danger. His previous attempts of talking to the feral had been in vain. The man didn't want to listen to him and the murderous look in Daken's eyes made sure of that. From the corner of his eyes, he saw how Colossus, Havok and Nightcrawler appeared and cursed. He wondered who had been so stupid to send them upstairs. Nevertheless, he also realized that Daken had long heard them coming and Logan made a quick summersault to the right, before the blade would have cut through his chest. Still, it pierced his back. After he was back on his feet and tried to ignore the burning wound on his backside, Logan watched how Daken had already started another attack and used whatever he could find to keep the upper hand. While he used the sword to fake an attack on Colossus, his foot kicked Nightcrawler into the stomach before this one was able to teleport away and used Colossus as leverage to reach the upper roof. Smirking, Daken watched how Havok focused on him…

"Alex, no!" Logan barked, sensing what the man was about to do, but the blast already aimed for Daken, who quickly jumped off the roof, blade raised to attack his father again. This one hardly had enough time to see that the top of the roof was destroyed by the blast and the remains fell down on his teammates like a big avalanche. He ducked as the blade came too close to his head and lashed out with his claws in a desperate attempt to stop his son, but this one was suddenly not in front of him anymore…

Frowning, Logan turned around his own axis but Daken was somehow gone. A safe and confident feeling began to spread within him and his body was telling him that the danger was gone. Still, his mind new better, even if it was hard to fight what his emotions were telling him. Logan tried to keep his breathing steady and concentrated hard on the tiniest noise. A _woosh_ announced the blade to his right and he jumped quickly aside, extracted his claws and turned growling, just to look right into the eyes of his son that were full of hatred. Daken was determined to kill him, Logan was convinced of it now. "You'll listen t'me now," he grunted and received a low chuckle.

Daken kept the blade ready and came slowly closer, enjoyed how his father began to back off. He new it was not because of him. "Why should I?"

"Coz ya don't get what yer getting' yerself into!" Logan said and kept his eyes on the blade. "Ya don't know what's goin' on!"

"Oh, I think I do," his son snarled and looked briefly down when Colossus groaned and tried to get up. Quickly, he kicked him hard against the head before his attention was back on his father. "Tell this demon to go back inside or I'll kill him," he demanded with a nod at Nightcrawler, who was lying on the ground like a little child and sobbed uncontrollably.

"How if yer manipulatin' him?" his father demanded to know and the younger feral broke the control on Kurt's emotions. In an instant the teleporter shook his head in confusion and looked up. "Kurt, go inside!"

"But…"

"It's an order. I don't wanna see anyone of ya up here," Logan said and kept on staring his son down. He watched how Nightcrawler touched Colossus and disappeared with him, then heard him talking to the others inside of the mansion. As he understood Havok had jumped down the stairs before the roof had come down, Scott was injured and Tony and Steven had woken up and were more or less fine… Ororo and John were discussing a way to get their hands on Daken, while Jean kept the mansion in a lock down with her powers. He knew that Tony had his suit ready in the basement…

"I'm gonna kill you, you son of a bitch!" Daken suddenly growled and Logan began to frown. He'd been too distracted, probably by his son's powers, to realize that Daken had come dangerously close. "You're going to pay for what you've taken from me!"

"Which is?" Logan asked to buy more time and tried to find a way to get his hands back on the blade without risking being injured by it. The last time he'd been, it had taken two months for the wound to heal and it had hurt more than hell… He didn't look forward to experience it again so soon. The cut on the back was already enough for his liking and he felt that he was still bleeding. "Romulus's the enemy, kid, not me."

"Oh, I'm going to kill him, too, don't you worry," Daken said unimpressed and still held the blade ready before him, while his eyes were fixed on his father. There was nothing but hate and fury in them. He wanted to kill him no matter what.

"Ya don't get it, do ya?" Logan asked and moved into the opposite direction, so that both were moving in a circle. "Romulus sent ya here t'retrieve the blade, he wants t'bond adamantium t'yer bones 'n the metal of Muramasa t'yer claws."

"So?"

"So?" Logan asked. "The metal of the blade stops a healin' factor from workin'. It'll kill ya!"

Daken snorted. "As if you'd care…"

"I won't let ya become me!" Logan growled determined and saw how his son flashed his teeth in a low laugh.

"You think I want to become you?" the younger man asked sarcastically. "Why would I want to become someone I despise? First, I'll kill you, then him and at the end…I'll take his place. Why? Because I'm destined to become something greater!"

While he had listen to him something in Logan began to click. He had seen this kind of thing before, he just couldn't remember when, but he knew the why… "Ya do realize that yer controlled, do ya?"

"I can assure you that I'm not. No one will ever control me," Daken hissed and tensed his muscles. "Least of all you!" he threatened and jumped at his father all of a sudden, blade raised, but once more it hit the ground. He chuckled. "You're so scared of this weapon you don't even want to engage in a fight," he noticed and grinned darkly. "I think I'll enjoy finishing you off…"

"Romulus wants ya t'kill me, because he knows that after the metal is on yer blades, it'll kill ya, too. Don't you get that?!" Logan tried once more and spent the next minutes dodging any attacks by either jumping aside or barely evading an attack.

"_Logan, try to lure him off the roof!"_

"Shut up, Xavier!" he growled back mentally. "I ain't gonna listen t'yer shit anymore. We're done!" Angrily, he slammed the connection shut and managed to grab his son's wrist, but as soon as he had, Daken buried his claws into his ribs from aside. Logan sucked in the air sharply and realized he had no other choice…

"Argh!" Daken yelled as his father's claws cut through his forearm and the blade dropped to the ground. Quickly, Logan threw the blade from the roof and pinned his son to the ground. This one used all his strength to get the man off of him, but failed due to the difference in weight. "Let go!" he barked, but shut up, panting heavily in rage, as Logan placed his fist under his jaw.

"That's enough!"

Daken chuckled low. "Well, then kill your own son…," he challenged, but his father snorted.

"I won't let ya go down the same path I did!" Logan growled and applied more pressure to his son's arms that he'd pinned above the younger man's head to the ground. "I won't let ya make the same mistakes I did, no matter what I've t'do. 'n I sure as hell won't let him do the same t'ya than he did t'me!" he added through clenched teeth and panted. His eyes mirrored the determination but also the despair. In fact, he didn't know anymore what to do to safe his son from the same fate he'd suffered. And after what he's learned from Fury… Lowering his head, Logan let go of Daken's arms and shook it. "Romulus's been playin' us all along…, all the time… I won't let him turn ya into another weapon…"

Confused, Daken looked at him. "Why would you care? You never cared for anyone but yourself!" He heaved deep breaths and narrowed his eyes when his father looked back at him.

"Yer my son, for God's sake!" Logan snapped. "'f course I care!"

"But to me you're not my father!" Daken hissed and used his chance to surprise Logan with a kick that sent him off the roof. The feral didn't waste any second and jumped right after him, determined to get into the possession of the blade to achieve what he breathed for. He wanted to see his father dead and be free of his heritage, he wanted revenge. After he'd landed, he heard the other X-Men approaching, he also knew that Tony was suiting up and that he was running out of time. He needed the blade and then to disappear…. His hazel eyes quickly found the blade in the grass and he leaped for it, but Logan was faster and buried his claws into his son's leg to stop him. When he reached out for Muramasa, it was Daken that prevented him from touching it by leaving a long scratch on his back. Still, Logan managed to grab the blade and threw it as far away as he could.

"Son of a bitch!" Daken cursed, kicked him into the balls and ran for it.

With tears in his eyes and the pain blinding him, Logan stumbled after him and leaped at him with an angry roar. Both ferals began a vicious brawl that only had the aim to stop the other one and both realized that they were equally strong headed. When Daken buried his claws into Logan, he soon suffered the same fate and had more and more trouble to keep his beast down. Just being close to or being touched by his father made him furious and this rage became harder and harder to control. In the end he heard Logan barking for someone to take the blade away and realized that he had stopped paying attention to his surroundings, something he usually never did. Daken watched how Kurt leapt at the sword and disappeared with it, heard him teleporting back and forth inside of the mansion, while the other X-Men got into a position to attack him. Growling, he kicked Logan hard after this one attacked him and used his father's speed to turn him into a weapon and sent him flying into the direction of the mutant group. Not waiting for the outcome, he quickly turned and aimed for the woods, knowing that he had lost the fight and first needed to make another plan.

Jean, who had stopped her husband with her powers, put him gently to the ground and joined his side. "What now?"

Panting, Logan gave her a rather cold look and shrugged her hand off. "Let him go…," he growled without looking at her and retreated to the inside.

"Why is he mad with you now?" Ororo asked in complete confusion and turned in surprise and some heavy wind brushed her backside. "What was that?!" she demanded to know, but the others couldn't tell either. As lights suddenly blended her from above, she shielded her eyes and watched how Iron Man landed next to her.

"Where's he?" Tony asked and the front of his helmet opened, the cut above his eye still visible.

"He ran into the woods," Jean said and concentrated on it. "I can't pick up on him.

Tony turned briefly. "I'll try to find him," he announced and closed his helmet before he ascended into the dark sky.

"That thing is so cool…," Bobby said in awe and watched Tony flying rounds above the wood. "Seriously, it's freaking cool…"

"Don't come in your pants," John growled and rolled his eyes. "What now?"

"Let's go back inside. I doubt Tony will find him," Jean said thoughtfully and left.

"Why is Logan mad with her?" Ororo whispered into John's direction, who could only shrug. "I mean she didn't know about the attack either and is as shocked as he is…"

"I don't know," he grunted and looked back at the wood. In contrary to the others he had picked up on what the wind had been, or better said who…

As fast as he could, Daken ran through the wood, jumped over logs that lay on the ground and turned with extracted claws and a low growl as he picked up on a scent. It didn't take long a the wind that's been coming after him came to a sudden halt.

"What are you doing, Hiro?" Jean-Paul asked, panted after running as fast as his powers allowed him. He held the eye contact and gave his surroundings a quick look. The wood was dark at this hour and he was hardly able to see anything at all. "You're in danger!"

"Heard that before," Daken growled and has claws still extracted, but they went slowly back inside. He sighed. "Go back and leave me alone!"

"No!" Northstar insisted and grabbed the other man's wrist, ignoring the low growl he was given. "Listen to me!" he begged and pushed his opposite back against a tree. "They want you to get the blade so that they can bond the metal to your claws. It'll kill you!"

Glaring at him, Daken pushed Jean-Paul away. "Did my father tell you that?"

"No, some government guy figured it out after collecting some information on this Romulus guy. He wants to turn you into an indestructible killer like he did with your father. He turned to you after Logan broke free of his mind control and he's now using you!" Jean-Paul went on and followed Daken after this one had uttered a brief dismissive snort. "Damn it, Hiro, he tricks you into this, don't you see that?! As soon as he gets his hands back on you and forced you into this procedure, he only waits for you to kill Logan and then you've served your purpose for him. He doesn't care about you!" A shocked gasped escaped him as the feral suddenly turned and slammed him into the next tree. He swallowed once as he noticed that rage in the man's eyes but was determined not to give in. "That guy murdered your mother just to get his hands on you…"

"And he's gonna pay for it!" Daken growled full of hatred.

"We can help you with it. You can never do this alone!" Northstar replied and wrapped his hands lightly around the man's wrists in an attempt to calm him down, mainly to let go of him. "Don't go down that road, Hiro…"

"You think I care for your opinion?" Daken asked and pushed him once more against the tree before he let go of him. "I don't give a damn about you or anyone in this house, so what makes you think I'd team up with you?"

"And I don't give a damn about you caring or not. I'll give my opinion anyway!" Jean-Paul replied. "I know that you don't care about people, but maybe there are people that care about you. Did you ever think about that?"

"Like you or my father?" Daken snapped and crossed his arms, glaring at his opposite. "Wow… The first having the hots for me, the second being an asshole… Thinking about it, I honestly couldn't care less," he said arrogantly and was about to turn as he froze on the spot and sniffed.

"What?" Northstar asked and frowned when he received another push into the direction he'd been coming from. He began to look around in case there was some danger close by, but he couldn't see or hear anything. "What's wrong?"

"Go away!" Daken growled and gave him another push, this one being more forcefully. "Just go!"

It was then that Jean-Paul understood him. "He's here, am I right?" he asked and backed further off as a hand suddenly closed around the back of his neck from behind and lifted him up into the air with surprising ease.

"No, but close…," Sabretooth growled and turned the man around to have a better look at him. "That's yer lil' bitch, huh?" he asked Daken amused and chuckled. His dark eyes switched to Daken, who was glaring at him. It was easy for him to pick up on every emotion that went through his body. "Oh…why that face? I won't hurt him…," he mocked and grinned darkly. "Promised!" About to rip Northstar into shreds, Sabretooth was surprised that Daken leaped at him with his claws. As he fell, he dropped Jean-Paul, who fell coughing to the ground and held his bleeding throat.

"Go!" Daken barked and had his arm wrapped around the taller feral's throat, while the claws on his right hand were buried in the back. He heard how a furious growl began to build in Sabretooth's throat which soon turned into a loud and angry roar. The feral turned so quickly around his own axis that Daken crashed into a tree and before he could bark for the wounded Northstar to leave once more, Sabretooth rammed his sharp nails into his stomach and lifted him up.

"Yer dead…," the feral snarled in fury and twisted his hand, before he threw Daken down to the ground and punch him hard. "'n yer lil slut, too," he added, but had to realize that Northstar was on his way back to the mansion to get help. "Wade!" Sabretooth barked while he pinned Daken to the ground and looked up a tree, where Deadpool was sitting. "Get him!"

"You know… The light really suits you well. It gives you this whole…dark, mean, bad boy…," Deadpool began, but ran quickly off after the feral roared in rage. "What's up with all that roaring and growling? They need a psychiatrist, that's it! And then they call me crazy," he mumbled while running after Northstar, who couldn't access his powers completely. He pressed his right hand against his bleeding neck and stumbled through the dark, his eyes never leaving the lights of the mansion. He knew he needed to get help and that quickly. As a bullet grazed the tree right next to him, he ducked behind the next bush and looked for the attacker.

"Sooooo…," Deadpool said and came closer to look at the man on the ground, "you're Wolfman juniors wife? I thought of you as…. No wait… I bet he's the wife, right? Because you know he has some real, big father issues going. He's a little, big inferior complex, too, so he's the wife, right?"

Frowning, but never leaving the gun and blade out of his sight, Northstar swallowed twice before he was able to answer. "What?"

Deadpool bent down a bit. "You know what I mean? All this mating and grunting and whatever these wolf-guys are doing in a bedroom. He's the wife, just say it! Or, no, actually no need to say it because I know. I'm gifted you know? I always see things others don't. And they call ME crazy! Would you believe that?" He scratched the back of his head. "What was I supposed to do again?" he asked and looked at his weapons. "Oh, right…. To kill you. Hm…let's see. Would you prefer the gun or the blade?" Deadpool looked at his victim, who just stared at him with widened eyes. "Come on, I don't have all day. Gun or blade? Better take the gun, I just cleaned my blade. It's so shiny, isn't it?" he asked and stroked over the metal lovingly, before he sighed heavily. "Well, it was nice not talking to you, but I really have to kill you now. Any last words?"

"How about blast?" Northstar asked.

"Blast?" Deadpool asked back in confusion. "Ohhhhh, yeah!" He laughed aloud and slapped his knee. "Oh, you're so funny! Thought I wouldn't get it, huh? Hahahaha. Blast. So funny! But, yeah, I'll have a blast shooting you. I'll write it onto your gravestone, okay?"

"No, I meant…_blast_!" Northstar replied and before he could turn around, Deadpool was hit by Iron Man's repulsor and flew backwards into the dark.

"You alright?" Tony asked and landed next to the X-Men to help him up. "That looks nasty…" He nodded at the wound, when Jean-Paul grabbed his arm.

"He's going to kill him! Please, help him!"

"They're gone," Tony told him and began to drag the man with him. "There's nothing we can do. And you need medical attention."

"Damn it…," Northstar cursed and allowed the man to help him back to the mansion.

"Well, you should have told your boyfriend that his stunt was quiet stupid."

"He's not my boyfriend…"

"Oh," Tony said and stopped at the backdoor when they'd reached it, "and you better stay away from Logan."

"Why?"

"Let's say…he's not really in a good mood…," he replied and entered the mansion, which immediately went into a complete lock-down once more. They had barely turned around a corner when said feral stomped past them, looking pissed as ever.

"What happened?" Logan grunted and cocked an eyebrow at Northstar, who's neck was still bleeding.

"There was a big guy… A feral, I think. He attacked Daken and me," the man replied.

"Sabretooth…," Logan cursed and ran a hand through his hair. He looked aside when he heard someone coming closer and narrowed his eyes. "Tell Hank t'have a look at him," he told Tony and intended to leave when Jean stopped him.

"Why are you mad with me?!" she demanded to know and watched briefly how Tony led Jean-Paul over to the elevator, before she looked back at Logan, waiting for a reply.

"Yer really askin'?" he growled.

"Logan, I didn't remember the incident as much as you didn't!" Jean said, somehow shocked that he acted this way towards her.

"Ya sure?"

"What?!"

"Maybe that's what yer supposed t'say… Maybe Xavier told you t'say that or maybe he fucked with yer mind'n tricked ya into likin' me, so that he could be sure I'd stay," Logan listed hurt. "How am I supposed t'know if anythin' here's real, hm? I've enough of people that I regard as friends t'fuck me over. I'm done with this shit here."

Speechlessly, the redhead watched how he stomped down the corridor and didn't know what to think. Her mind was completely empty and she was shocked that he believed she'd betrayed him, too. She swallowed hard and turned just to nearly bump into the Cap.

"He's angry, huh?" he asked and received a silent nod. "Well, I don't blame him… He's been betrayed and used by too many people." He gave Jean a look. "Especially woman that acted as if they loved him…"

"I do love him," she snapped and gave him an angry look.

"I know. I've watched the two of you… What I'm trying to say is, but I think you already know that, is that Logan's trust and friendship is hard to earn. And what he got to know today has destroyed his trust…," the Cap said in a very serious tone, showing with it that he didn't like it at all. "He's my friend, a very close one and I hate seeing him being used and let down. He had enough of that in his life, so fix this!" He turned around to leave but stopped at a corner. "I'm sorry that your birthday turned out this way. Thanks for the invitation!"

Nodding, Jean watched him leaving and remained on the same spot for a moment. In the end, she tried to seek help from the only person she knew that could help her in such a situation. When she returned to her rooms, her father sat on the sofa next to the door and was reading a book.

"They're already sleeping," he whispered and noticed her look. "What's wrong? I thought you only had a meeting?" he asked worriedly, sat up and put the book aside. John Grey watched how his daughter sat down next to him and wondered why she looked like a true picture of misery. He listened to what she had to tell him and needed a moment to understand what he'd just heard. He could understand that this was a shock for her to hear. "So where's Logan now?"

"I don't know…," Jean sniffed. "As angry as he was he's probably in the Dangerroom to release his rage." After leaning back she ran a hand through her hair. "I don't know what to do…"

John looked at her and reached out to take her hand. "To do what?"

"How to act towards him… I mean…" She sighed and shook her head. "I know he's been controlled and that he didn't realize what he was doing in that moment, but… He's still responsible for Charles's disability…"

"And you're not angry because of your Professor keeping it a secret?" her father asked and she snorted.

"Of course! It hasn't been the first time that it came out he knows more about Logan than he lets him know," Jean told him angrily.

"So…," John began and looked at the rings on her hand. "How do you think does Logan feel right now?"

"Angry, disappointed, hurt, furious… He's unpredictable when he's that angry…"

"He won't hurt you, will he?" her father asked worriedly, but she shook her head.

"No, he'd never do that. But he believes that I lied to him… He thinks I knew and kept it a secret from him…"

Shaking his head, John Grey let go of her hand and leant back. "Look, Logan is an intelligent man. And we tend to turn into drama queens if something unpredictable happened. He's angry and hurt and at the moment he probably feels as if the whole world is against him, but I can assure you that he knows you weren't part of this. He knows that you're as shocked as he is and he probably feels ashamed and doesn't know how to act around you, too," he told her and held her sad gaze. "He loves you! More than anything, I've seen it. And I'm sure he can't look into your eyes because he's afraid that you're feeling different about him now. So he'd rather push you away in hope that he won't get hurt. But hate…" He shook his head. "Just let him calm down."

"You're right…," Jean nodded and smiled at him when he kissed her cheek. "Thank you for watching over the children."

"Of course," he smiled and wanted to get up as he remembered something. "By the way… Your professor offered me a teaching position."

Surprised she looked up again. "He did? He didn't tell me…"

"Because he wanted me to think about it first. And…" He shrugged. "I wanted to talk to you about it first."

"Why?" Jean frowned and looked at him. "Or…don't you want it?"

"No, that's not it," John waved off and folded his hands after leaning forward a bit. "I'll only accept if you want me to stay. Either way is fine by me. I leave the decision up to you."

"Dad, you don't have to ask!" the redhead said immediately. "Of course I want you to stay. And it would be perfect for the children, too."

"What about Logan…?"

She waved off. "He wouldn't tell you to go. He knows that the children love you and he was the one who told Charles to look for you in the first place. I doubt he will mind it…" Knowing what this would mean, she smiled happily at him and hugged him firmly. "That's great news…"

"Yes, it is," John agreed and kissed her cheek. "You should go and get some sleep. You look beat." He got up and walked over to the door. "Good night. And don't forget that he feels as bad as you do."

Jean nodded and gave him a weak smile after wishing him a good night, too. After he'd left, she got up to check on the children and refilled the bowls with fresh water for the wolf and his family, before she went into the bathroom and got ready for bed. She already lay in it and stared at the wall in the dark for two hours, as the door was opened slowly and a shadow sneaked into the room. Feeling how her heart began to race, Jean heard how he grabbed his pillow and left again to sleep on the sofa. She sighed heavily and ran a hand over her face. She knew he was angry and disappointed, that he felt betrayed but also deeply ashamed. Still, she didn't know what to do and if he even wanted her close by…

After another hour of thinking, Jean finally got up and walked over to the door, saw that he was still awake and sat on the sofa, hands buried in his hair and held his head lowered. She bit her lip and even if her heart was racing, she walked slowly over to him and touched his shoulder, which made him turn his head slightly. In the end he leant back and allowed her to straddle it and to lean into him, while she wrapped her arms around his neck. "I'm sorry…," Logan mumbled into the crook of her neck, but she only pulled him closer, tried to give him reassurance by this gesture. They remained like that for a good while before she let go and leant back to look at him.

"Come to bed…"

"No…"

Jean sighed. "Logan, this is stupid," she said and ran a hand over her face. She really began to feel tired by now.

"I can't sleep. I've too much on my mind… Just go to bed," he replied and stroked lightly over her hip, just to frown when she got up and pulled him and his pillow with her.

"Then think in bed. I don't want to sleep alone," she told him and went back under the sheets in the bedroom. "You know I'll stay up all night, too, knowing that you're sitting there and that you're brooding." She waited for him to undress and lay down, too; his sigh telling her that he didn't like it. After she had cuddled up and was already half in oblivion, he spoke up.

"Why didn't he tell me…?"

"I don't know. Think about how you'd have reacted, if he had told you," Jean mumbled and snuggled closer against him.

Logan sighed and sat up to run his hands through his hair. "He lied t'me all this time… He only wanted me t'stay so that he could control me…" He looked aside when she sat up next to him, her hair tousled and her eyes tired. Still she was more than beautiful to him.

"I think he wanted to protect you… He destroyed the mind control and helped you escape. He said before that he hated what his father did to you. I'm not saying that he had any right to keep this away from you, but I know that you would have left, if he had told you about it," she said and yawned. "Please, Logan, can we just sleep now? We have all day tomorrow to talk about it…" Tiredly, she leant against his shoulder and closed her eyes.

"Then sleep," he grunted and pushed her gently down, but received a scolding look. "I know… I'll try t'sleep, too…," he sighed and opened his arms for her to cuddle up to his chest. Nevertheless, he knew he wouldn't be able to. His mind was too occupied with all the events of today. He thought about what Fury had said. If it was true, then whoever Romulus was, had been controlling him from the beginning, had used him as his personal killer and had probably been the reason that had paved the way for him all the time. He began to wonder how deep the influence had gone, how much he had been controlled. Then he thought about Daken and that he was Romulus' new pawn, wondered what his boy had been through in life that he had turned out the way he was now…

"Logan!" Jean cried and looked up with a heavy sigh. "Would you stop thinking, please? I hear every word…"

"Sorry…," he mumbled and cocked an eyebrow at her when she reached out to touch his temple. The warm sensation spread in his mind and he began to feel very sleepy.

"Sleep!" she demanded and could feel him relaxing a bit first, then falling asleep next. Satisfied with her work, she cuddled up again and soon fell asleep next.

When she woke up again, the side next to her was empty. Instead of him, she held his pillow close, but heard that the shower was running. Jean ran into him and a half naked Jamie on her way out of the bedroom and guessed that Logan had showered with their youngest. Smiling at them, she gave both of them a kiss and brushed her hair back. "Are the others already up?"

"Ya haven't heard them?" he grunted and went into Jamie's room to dress the boy.

"No…," she yawned and went into the bathroom to take a quick shower next. After getting dressed, she was surprised that he handed her Jamie and sat down on the couch. "What about breakfast?" she asked, but he shook his head. And she knew why. "Logan, they don't hate you…"

"I don't care. I'll stay here," he grunted and refused to look at her.

"Fine…," she said and left. In the kitchen she placed Jamie into his highchair and greeted her children, before she began to pile food on a plate for Logan.

"He's not coming?" Scott asked her and sighed when she shook her head. "Why?"

"You really have to ask?" the redhead said and gave him a look that spoke volumes.

"No one blames him, Jean," Ororo told her. "We have all seen that he's as shocked as we are. It wasn't his fault…"

"That's what I've told him, too," Jean sighed and poured coffee into a mug, then headed for the door, but was surprised when Scott got up to grab his plate and mug. "What are you doing?"

"Well, if he doesn't want to come down to have breakfast with us, we have to go upstairs." He shrugged, but smirked.

When the door opened again, Logan looked up. He'd been too distracted by his thoughts that he hadn't heard her coming, but his eyebrow began to rise as he saw who else accompanied her. Within less than two minutes his children sat on the sofa next to him and their living room was practically overcrowded. "What is this?" he asked his wife mentally, who only smiled at him.

"They didn't like it that you didn't want to have breakfast with them, so they decided to come upstairs. Or better said, Scott did…," she replied on the same way and handed Jamie another toast.

"Hm…," he made and still looked at anything but at the others.

"No one blames you…," Scott assured him after the children had left to go and play. "You've been controlled and manipulated. What happened was a tragedy, but it was an accident."

"Scott is right," Hank nodded and gave the man a scolding look. "I told you to be careful with your shoulder! You were lucky that you didn't break anything…"

"Alright, alright…," Scott said and put his arm carefully back into the sling. "You dressed it so much that I hardly feel anything anyway."

"And why? Because you dislocated it!" Hank countered. "You could have broken your collarbone."

"But I didn't," Scott sighed. "His neck looks worse," he added with a nod at Jean-Paul.

"His actions were just stupid," Hank said with a shake of his head.

"I didn't know that this giant bastard was there…," the man mumbled darkly.

"You shouldn't have followed him in the first place!" the furry mutant replied and the room was silent for a moment.

"So…what will we do now?" Bobby asked and waited for a reply. "I mean, if this Romulus guy really wants to turn Daken into a second Wolverine, we're pretty much fucked, aren't we?"

"Considering how easily he took us out…," Tony shrugged. "And another problem is this pheromone thing he has going. I felt safe until he attacked us. Not to mention how fast that guy is…" He watched Logan for a while, who was watching Jamie playing with the other 2-year olds instead. He could tell that the feral was occupied with his own thoughts and wasn't paying any attention.

"Our problem is that no one of us knows where they've taken him, where our enemies are located or where they could do an operation like this," Scott said. "We destroyed Sinister's old facility… But we can't forget that he was also in Japan. So he probably has another one somewhere in that country."

"And how do you intend to find him?" Ororo asked while sipping on her coffee. She looked up as Logan's head turned aside and wondered what he had picked up since he disappeared in the bedroom and closed the door behind him.

"His phone…," John informed her and kept on stroking lazily over Narya's arm.

"He never has it on vibration…," Jean commented but he shook his head.

"It was silent. I only heard him talking."

Skeptically, Jean gave the bedroom door a look and waited for Logan to return.

"Where did 'e hide de blade dis time by de way?" Remy asked out of interest and looked at Kurt, who had the blade the last.

"I don't knov. I gave it back to Logan and vhat he did with it…" The man shrugged.

"I locked it away," Jean informed them. "There's no way anyone can touch it now." Her frown became even deeper when Logan left the bedroom dressed in the same black clothes he always wore for black ops missions. Shocked and confused, she got up to grab his arm before he could say something. "Where are you going?!" she demanded to know and knew that the rest of the group was giving them odd looks.

"Fury needs me," he replied briefly and aimed for the door again.

"Fury needs you? By sheer good fortune?" she said and crossed her arms, sensing that the whole situation stank. "Not even 12 hours after what happened?"

Logan sighed annoyed. "Yeah… Obviously."

"Logan, _where_ are you going?" Jean demanded to know more forcefully and watched how he checked his pockets thoroughly.

"It's classified, so I dunno," he grunted and looked back at her. "Jean, I need t'go. Ya know that."

"Why is my feeling telling me then that you're up to something stupid?" she challenged and after wiping his mouth with a tissue, Tony replied:

"Because he's Logan?"

"I ain't. I should be back tomorrow or the day after, alright?" Logan asked after rolling his eyes at Tony's remark. He gave Jean a brief kiss on the cheek and went for the door. "See ya."

After the door had long gone shut she still stared at it frowning. "I hope you know that he's lying…," John said and she turned her head into his direction. "Whatever he's up to he knows perfectly well what it is."

"Then we should stop him!" Hank said and got up, but Tony held up his hand and reached for his phone. "What are you doing?"

"If there's a mission, Cap knows about it," the Avenger replied and dialed a secure line. It didn't take long and a voice replied. After he said his codename and number, he waited to be put through. "Hey, it's me. Listen, do you know about any black ops that Fury needs Logan for?" Jean watched Tony's face intently and he, noticing it, looked up and shook his head after a moment. "Then what do you think the two of them are up to?" he asked Steven next and listened. In the end he sighed. "Alright. Thanks."

"So?" Ororo asked.

"He doesn't know about any mission and couldn't reach Fury."

"You can bet that he tries to find Daken…," John said and Scott nodded in agreement.

"Could be right. Fury knew about Logan's history with the Hudson's, so he probably found out where they've taken him," Tony agreed. "Our problem is that we don't know."

"I don't believe this…," Jean cursed barely audible and stared at the ground, torn between being angry and really furious.

"It's Logan, Jean. You can't change him completely," the Avenger said. "He's impulsive, has always been and will always be…" He thought about something. "Do you have a secure computer?"

"I don't know if it's that secure, but…," Mystique said and left to get it.

When she came back and after Tony had gotten the right equipment, he waited for the system to install and set up everything he needed. "That should do…," he mumbled and leant back. "Jarvis?"

"At your service, sir."

"That's cool, too…," Bobby said in awe and leant in closer to have a better look at the screen.

"We'll do your favorite thing today," Tony announced and smirked.

"Which is, sir?"

"Pissing off Fury."

"Always a pleasure, sir," the computer generated voice replied and set up the program. "What are we looking for, sir?"

"Look for Fury's file on Wolverine, tell us what the latest mission entry is," Tony demanded and watched how the computer began to work. It didn't take long and the screen demanded an ID and password. "Jeez, I don't know. Try his Avenger log in."

"Doesn't work, sir," Javis told him. "I can try to hack into it. That will take a minute."

"Do that," Tony said and sipped on his coffee. He made room for Jean when she sat down next to him and looked her up and down from aside. It took a couple of minutes until Jarvis announced that he did it. "So, what's the password?" Tony asked out of interest and listened. "5102009…?"

"Our wedding day," Jean mumbled and watched how the file appeared next on the screen. Her eyes read quickly through it and she was shocked to see of how many mission Logan had been a part of. The timeline went way back and he'd practically been in every country possible. What surprised her were the reasons for the missions…

"What's the entry for today's mission, Jarvis?" Tony asked.

"There's no entry for today or tomorrow, sir. The last entry is from two years ago."

"Really nothing?"

"No, sir. Do you want me to cover the traces, sir?"

"Yes, do that," Tony nodded and waited for the program to shut down before he closed the notebook. "So, what now?"

"Good question…," Scott said and leant carefully back again. "I just need a minute to get over what I saw just now… How many entries did that file have?!"

"Better ask how to find out what Logan's up to…," Jean-Paul mumbled and was still occupied with playing with the children.

"I'll use Cerebro…," Jean said determined and got up, but Scott grabbed her hand quickly.

"The last time you did, you nearly destroyed the basement! Let Charles look for him."

She withdrew her hand. "Are you sure he'll tell us the truth afterwards?" she challenged coolly and aimed for the door.

* * *

As the warmth exploded in him once again he wanted to scream. He couldn't take it anymore and wondered how pleasure could turn into sheer pain that fast. "Just stop…please!" he cried and heard a low voice chuckling next to him.

"Why? I'm enjoyin' the view very much," Sabretooth grinned and walked around the metallic table once to which Daken was secured. "I think we're doin' this once more, hm?" he asked and heard how the machine began its work again, enjoyed the painful scream his victim uttered. "Ya think that hurts? Just wait until we're goin' for the real deal." He looked up when the door opened and Sinister entered. "He's enjoyin' it," he smirked.

"How much do we have by now?" the man asked and came closer to look at the suffering feral.

"How much semen and DNS do you need?" the Tinkerer asked sarcastically and was still occupied with his machines, which were nearly ready for procedure. "A normal man would be sterile by now…"

"Enjoying it?" Sinister asked Daken instead, ignoring the comment from the other man and smiled darkly at him.

"Just stop…," the feral mouthed in despair and uttered another scream as his mind exploded and his insides seemed to be turned inside out. He panted heavily and his body was covered in sweat while his muscles were shaking. He couldn't take this torture anymore and in relief he watched how the Tinkerer deposed of the machine.

"Oh, if I were ya, I wouldn't be so happy," Sabretooth chuckled and stepped aside when the man activated another mechanism, which lifted the table up and transported it over to a tank, which was filled with green liquid. The table stopped before it touched the water and was hovering above it.

"I'm ready," the Tinkerer announced and Sinister smiles in satisfaction.

"So…any last words?" Sabretooth mocked and gave a low, throaty laugh. He knew Daken tried to understand what was happening here. "Ya think that was painful, huh?"

"Step aside," Sinister demanded and took his place next to the table. "You think we don't know about your betrayal, hm? We have been watching you the whole time through and the Master is not really happy about what you've done."

"He can go to hell," Daken growled and tensed his muscles, but the restraints were too tight.

"No, you'll go to hell," the man above him smiled. "And I promise you that you have never experienced that much pain before. You will suffer and I'll enjoy the show."

"I'll kill you if you do this!"

Sinister chuckled. "You won't even remember anything after we're through with you. Romulus might have lost your father after Xavier's intervention, but he won't lose you, too." He turned to step aside but stopped when a thought crossed his mind. He smiled. "You might want to think about your mother again…before you forget her."

"Why?" Daken demanded to know and glared of him full of hatred.

"Why?"

"I did everything he asked me to do!"

"Yes, so? You never said no," Sinister shrugged. "You followed him blindly like a lapdog and that's all you are for him," he told Daken, who's eyes widened a bit. "What? Do you think anyone of us gives a damn about you? You're just an attempt to get back at your father, that's all. You served your purpose and now we can finally do what we had planned to do years ago."

"Son of a bitch…," Daken growled and struggled once more against the restraints, but it was in vain.

Sinister only smiled and nodded at Sabretooth before he left the room. The taller feral bent down a bit instead and grinned at him. "Yer a fool, ya know that? Ya were in safety until ya tried t'steal the sword." He chuckled when the other feral began to growl. "But it's nice that ya follow my orders. I feel flattered. 'n the best thing is, ya betrayed the only two people that really care about ya. I think I'll have fun visitin' yer lil' bitch… Does he scream like ya?" he asked amused and stepped aside when the Tinkerer attached a respiration tube first and began to lower the table into the liquid next. "And I'll stay t'enjoy the show… Do ya think I'll hear ya screamin' through the water?"

Panting, Daken felt how the liquid began to cover his body and closed his eyes as he sank further into the tank. He could hear his heart hammering in his ears, heard what was said in the room in hollow voices and frowned when another device sank into the tanker next. Far away the Tinkerer announced that they would begin now and Daken looked aside as far as the restraints let him, just to see how Romulus stepped closer to watch the procedure. Once more the mysterious man stuck to the shadows and refused to show his face. Daken wished to be able to see it to know who he had to hunt for his revenge. As the sound of a drill could be heard, he switched his look once more to the device, just to widen his eyes. While there had been small tubes with liquid before, there were now long needles attached to them and they had begun swirling wildly.

From the outside Sabretooth watched the tank smirking and cocked an eyebrow at the screen that displayed every medical information. To his greatest satisfaction the heartbeat got completely out of control before anything had happened at all. "Well, well, well…," he said to himself in amusement. "He's afraid, look at that…" As his eyes returned to the tank, he chuckled darkly because the needles had plunged into Daken's body and despite the water and respiration tube, he could hear the feral screaming his lungs out in pain. "How long will it take?"

"About two hours. One for the bonding, thirty minutes for the cool down and…," the Tinkerer began, but Sabretooth waved off.

"When the bonding's done let the needles inside of him for a bit longer… Let's say thirty minutes."

The other man frowned and looked up from the screens. "Why?"

Sabretooth grinned at him. "Coz I enjoy hearin' him screamin'…"

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In the dark Logan could see the mountains from afar and was glad there was no snow he had to fight through. He turned and opened the door of the helicopter, which slowly began to descend, and put the card Fury had given him into a pocket.

"That's…," the man with the eyepatch began, but Logan interrupted him.

"Kita-dake, I know."

"…Mount Kita…," Fury told him anyway and took a look out of the copter. "Well, I don't see shit, but you should be fine. Here's additional ammo," he said and handed Logan one. "I brought you here, I told you were your son is being held and I supplied you with what you need. My help ends here, Logan!"

Glaring at him, the feral narrowed his eyes. "I know, ya said it often enough. I don't want ya t'get into my way anyway." He reached out to grab the two handles. "Can ya descend further?"

"No," the pilot barked and tried to hold the helicopter steady.

"Hey," Fury said before Logan could jump. "Make sure you'll get back alive. I don't want your wife on my throat!"

"She'll be on mine, bub," Logan said more to himself and jumped out of the helicopter into the darkness…

**I'm sorry for the long wait but I was quiet stuck with this chapter. The flashback from Charles was pre-written since my stay in the States, so a bit more than a year already. And the next chapter will be pretty Logan heavy, I think... I'm typing on the next WX chapter, too and hope that I can update it soon. Since Marvel plans to reveal who Romulus is, I have to hurry up with my next chapter (because I fear or better I HOPE NOT) that they had the idea I had and that our Romulus is the same person in the end… You can never know, right? Lol Thanks to all reviewers. I hope you enjoyed reading the chapter! Please let me know what you think ****and it would be cool if you could start guessing who my Romulus is.**** ; ) Review, please!! See ya!**


	54. Chapter 51

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

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**In case some guys here use TWITTER:**** Feel free to add me: Dany2311.**

**I'll post updates on how far I am with my stories. Would be cool to meet some of you guys there. ; )**** Page address is: http:(slashslash)twitter(dot)com(slash)Dany2311**

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**I hope you still remember Ken Kawashima. I used two Japanese translator programs, since I'm still in my first year of Japanese at college. I'm only familiar with some expressions, but not all of them. So I'm sorry if some stuff is wrong!**

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**Then: Important for picturing what's going on:**** I model Sabretooth after Liev Schreiber's Sabretooth and I finally found a perfect Daken (MidLifeCrisis had the same idea): my Daken is modeled after Daniel Henney, who's actually Zero in the Wolverine movie. I found a good pic of him on the net and attached Daken's tattoo to his body, while changing his hair into a mohawk (unfortunately I had to use Paint, since my Vista doesn't like Photoshop…) and that guy really is perfect for that role.**

**MidLifeCrisis did some beta of the first part. Thanks!  
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**Oh, and I met Hugh!! I went to Berlin for the Wolverine press con and he took his time with his fans afterwards. Check YouTube for videos. He was super cute, but looked very tired. Just look for Hugh Jackman Berlin and videos will pop up. : )**

**Love the Wolverine movie. : )**

**If you can, listen to "Prince Caspian Flees" by Harry Gregson-Williams throughout the first scene. YT should have the music.  
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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 51**

He wanted to dwell on dreaming nothing for once, to relish a blank mind and calm sleep… But of course Logan wouldn't be Logan if a moment of peace would last longer than necessary. He pulled a face and uttered a displeased groan as a hand grabbed his shoulder roughly and began to shake him.

"Oki nasai! Oki nasai, Logan san!" a voice demanded from him. Grumpy as he already was because of the interruption, he shrugged the hand off before he turned around in his sleep. "Logan san, oki nasai!"

"I don't wanna get up, Jean…," the feral muttered in a low growl without being awake at all and pulled the blanket even higher, but opened his eyes in the end when two hands began to shake him even harder. It was then that he picked up on the scent. He had almost forgotten about it… "Gomennasai!" Logan apologized and Ken Kawashima waved off. The look on his friend's face told him the bad news before his friend had even said it. "Watashi wa karera ha kuru to omou?"

"Hai," Ken nodded and Logan sighed. He'd known they would be coming sooner or later. "Anata wa isoga nakere ba nara nai!" Ken added and went to get clothes and weapons.

"Yeah, I know I've to hurry up…," Logan growled and threw the sheets aside before he began to get dressed quickly. The remains of his black ops clothes long forgotten, he put on the dark blue kimono and afterwards the black hakama (pants) over it, secured them above his waist with the straps before he put on the shoes. At last he secured the katana and wakazashi to his waist. He could hear that some men were shouting for others to hurry up on the outside, heard how they gathered the horses and went into the additional room that had been the bedroom years ago. He was still amazed in what kind of good shape his old house in Jasmine Falls was, even after 40 year. After he had what he'd come for, he aimed for the front door.

When Logan stepped out of the house and into the night, Ken was already waiting with a black horse for him and told him to get up. The feral glanced at the 5 armed men around him and turned his head back to Ken, who told him that they would escort him to the woods in the mountains and that they would help him to get back into safety. Nodding, Logan held out his hand, which Ken took with a smile. "Iroiro osewa ni nari mashi ta!" he thanked him and received a nod in return.

Smiling, Ken returned the gesture. "O genki de! Good luck, Logan san!"

"Iroiro doumo arigatou!"

"No need to thank me," Ken replied. "It was my pleasure to help an old friend. Now go and be safe!"

Nodding his thanks once more, Logan turned the horse and aimed for the gate, followed by the 5 riders that were his tail from now on. He wondered how much the men behind him could see in the pitch black night. To him it was no problem at all thanks to his mutation and his enhanced hearing also alerted him to the roars and growls of his pursuers. He knew they were coming closer and that fast. Urging the horse on to go faster, Logan led them straight through the darkness and towards the mountains. They soon left the smaller wood that was close to Jasmine Falls and rode through a plain field of grass, which had an almost dark blue color at night and was only illuminated by the moon. The feral held the man in front of him close with one arm, while his other hand held the reins in a firm grip and he turned his head just to see how two riders fell behind to attack the Devils that had been sent by Sinister to chase him down. "Damn it!" Logan cursed and kept on urging the horse on until the wind nearly made his eyes tear up. He could see the wood from afar and hear the river that they first had to pass. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see mountains and trees going by in blurry colors, the wind blew right into his face and messed up his hair, but his eyes kept on focusing on the river in front of them. He knew he had to reach it way faster than the Devils, since the horse would need some time to get through it. When a voice shouted at him to go ahead, he didn't bother to turn around to see that he was now on his own…

While the men screamed and shouted far behind him, the Devils roared and were determined to keep on pursuing him. They hacked and slashed at and through everything that was in their way, wanted to reach the grand prize that lay ahead and was know shouting at his horse to hurry up. Logan's shoes and pants got quickly soaked in the cold stream, the horse snuffed in exhaustion and fought its way through it, fully aware of the threat behind them. It reared as it felt them coming closer and the feral on its back cursed as he fought for control. Sensing them too, Logan urged the horse on and unsheathed the katana with one hand, listening to what his senses told him. Two of them were right behind him, their rough breathing and growls very well audible to him and the horse. They leapt at his back with angry roars, but didn't reckon with him being faster and beheading them both in one swift move. Angrily, Logan watched their heads fall into the stream, followed by their bodies and how the water carried them away. As soon as the horse had finally reached the shore he urged it on to go faster again and went up the path that led to the woods in the mountains. Once more the trees went past him as blurry, black shadows, the wind bit into his face and he gritted his teeth as he heard more of the Devils chasing after him, up the path and into the mountains, then into the wood. But he also heard something else and his eyes kept on switching to the dark sky above him, waiting impatiently to see lights. Still, they weren't visible yet…

The horse fought its way through the labyrinth of trees and darkness, feeling the threat in its back and speeding up every time it could. It, too, felt the wind going past it, the same went for the trees and it jumped over stones or old, fallen trees that were in its way. Behind them some Devils jumped from tree to tree, others were still pursuing them on all fours on the ground, determined to bring their prey down. In the meanwhile Logan could see the end of the wood and knew that another path lay behind it that would lead them around the mountain. Still, he was also aware of the danger of it. The path was narrow, enough for the horse to do well, but with the Devils behind him he knew that only one of them needed to surprise them and they'd fall into nothingness until they'd hit water somewhere in the blackness. While the roars drew closer, he was finally able to see the lights when he left the wood. The X-Wing was hovering on his left and following his movement down the path. Logan tried to see in the dark who was controlling the jet, recognized Scott and Ororo at the front and hoped to spot Kurt somewhere, too. He had to push his senses to their max to pick up on the mutants that were on the jet and felt relief washing over him as he detected the teleporter. But before he could give them a sign to get the body in front of him, one of the Devils suddenly appeared in front of him and the horse reared. Cursing, Logan struggled for control and barely managed to wrap his arms around the body, as he was already thrown off and fell down into the abyss. His back slammed into the rock face hard, stone tore open his clothes and left deep gashes all over his skin as he slid further down and finally landed hard on solid stone. Confused, he opened his eyes, heard the water far underneath him and guessed he must have landed somewhere in between the abyss and the upper level. A hiss escaped him as he moved his leg. The warmth that began to spread and the numbing pain told him that he had torn open his whole upper leg to a great deal. Nevertheless, he couldn't waste any time. The Devils were on to their prey and he was pretty much trapped. Logan's hand reached out to his waist and was glad that both blades were still in place. But his heart sunk as the moon was reflected in dozen glowing eyes above them. He was trapped…

"Shit…," he mumbled and took a defensive stance in front of the body, both Japanese blades professionally in his hand. Without a warning the first wave of the Devils leapt at him, determined to kill him. Angry roars came out of nowhere and the blades cut as quickly as possible through every one of them as fast as their wielder could move. Logan used the skills he had in the art to the maximum, but was no fool. He knew there were too many of them to fight them all off. He was just buying time and waiting for one of his teammates to do something. The X-Wing was hovering above him and its light illuminated the area at least a bit. The clear sky quickly darkened and soon lightning bolts struck one spot of the rock face after the next, sending parts of it into the abyss.

While the katana cut through another Devils neck, the wakazashi stabbed another one right through the throat. But as quickly as that feral clone of him hit the ground it was back on his feet again and lashed out. Claws suddenly came from all sides, stabbed him, ripped his skin open and they tried hard to bring him down, as suddenly a white blast hit them and sent them over the edge and into the abyss. Confused, Logan turned his head and saw Iron Man next to the jet, aiming his repulsors at more of them, while Storm still unleashed her powers from inside the jet. "Tony, tell'em I need Kurt t'get him!" the feral barked and ducked as another Devil threw himself at him. The katana went right through the tender flesh on its stomach and sliced the feral beast into half. It didn't take long and Logan heard the familiar _bamf_ twice, as Kurt retrieved the man next to him, before he noticed more and more of the Devils coming down the mountain. Too many, as he knew. Not thinking twice, he sheathed the two blades and jumped over the edge and into the darkness, knowing that either Tony or the jet would come after him. It didn't take long for him to hit something solid and the impact left a dent in the metal. Instinctively, Logan buried his claws in it to be able to hold on. Next to him Iron Man still shot his beams at the rock face, but soon turned to join their flight back home.

The Avenger watched how Logan clawed at the jet and pressed himself against the metal, saw how the mutant was constantly pushed back by the forces and knew he would rip open the roof, if he didn't get off it fast. "He always has to give me more work than necessary…," Tony sighed inside of his suit and aimed for his friend.

As a bumping noise could be heard in the jet Ororo gave Scott a shocked look. "Did he fall off?!"

"I hope not…," he mumbled and activated the radar. "Can't see him."

"Hey, I don't want to disturb your nice little chat," Tony's voice echoed through the speakers, "but you either have to open a door, send Kurt or land somewhere. He's getting too heavy. I won't have enough fuel with his 400 pounds of extra weight."

Before Scott could say something there was another double _bampf_ and Kurt dropped Logan on the ground. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah…," Logan panted and remained on his knees for a moment to heal and catch his breath.

"What did they do to him?!" Hank asked and it was then that the feral turned his head to realize that the furry mutant was kneeling next to the lifeless figure on the ground, which only gave a sign of still being alive by shaking. "He's soaked with sweat and has at least 108F, if his fever is not even higher!"

Crawling closer, Logan gave his son a worried but also guilty look. "I was too late…," he grunted and reached out to touch the sweaty cheek.

"Too late for what?" Scott asked from the front.

"They coated him. He's sufferin' from adamantium poisonin'n whatever drug they gave him, it prevents him from healin'…"

"Hold on, are you actually saying that he's now as indestructible as you?" Ororo asked with fear in her voice. "Logan…"

"Spare me your lessons, alright?" he snapped with a glare. "This ain't what he wanted."

"How can you be so sure?" Hank demanded to know. "He tried to kill you and nearly succeeded in killing some of us. Now he's as indestructible as you… He's a threat, Logan! A very deadly one, if I may add!"

"Coz it ain't what he wanted…," Logan muttered and looked back at Daken, who was even paler than the day before, his hand unconsciously stroking over the sweaty face. "He'd been slippin' in an out of conscious two days ago. Since yesterday he hasn't woken up at all."

"I need to hook him up to fluids and do a complete check up to figure out how to treat him. I can't do this here," Hank said and smiled when Kurt handed him a blanket. "This one will cool him for a while. All we can do is control his temperature for the moment. Oh, and Logan…," he added and made the man next to him look up. "I hope you know that adamantium poisoning can't be healed!"

"I'm the last one t'tell this t', bub."

"I know."

Scott watched how Logan helped Hank and Kurt to put Daken onto one of the med-beds and, after the feral was secured, how they sat down in their casual seats. "Just one thing, Logan…"

The feral sighed and kept on looking out of the window. "I know that Jean's angry!"

"She's not just angry, Logan," the man at the front replied and held Logan's gaze for a moment with a stern look of his own. "She's furious!"

"How did ya find me anyway?"

Hank cleared his throat. "After you had left Jean tried to locate you with Cerebro."

"She fuckin' used that thing?!" Logan asked shocked.

"Yes, after fighting vith the professor," Kurt nodded. "She vas vorried that he vouldn't tell her the truth."

Logan huffed. "I wonder why…" He looked back out of the window as a thought crossed his mind. "'s the mansion still standin'? Last time she nearly blew it up…"

"Yes, it is…," Scott mumbled and leant back in his seat while the jet was on autopilot. "I'd like to kick your ass, I hope you know that!" His eyes remained fixed on the dark sky and he watched from time to time how Iron Man did some loops or turned around his own axis while being either next or in front of them.

Back at the mansion Logan helped carrying Daken over to the ICU and watched closely how Hank began to examine him. From afar he heard how the elevator door opened and it didn't take long before Jean and Moira entered the room, the redhead of course not deigning to look at him for only once. It was no secret to Logan that she was fuming within and he had known she would react that way the moment he had called Fury for help…

"We need to lower the fever," Moira said and went to get more ice packs. "It's over 108 F already and he's close to get into a real seizure."

Logan watched from his position how the three doctors began to examine and treat his son and even if they didn't talk to him directly, he could tell that they felt nervous and worried. He raised his right arm to run a hand through his hair and sighed. Since the rescue and their escape to Jasmine Falls, he's been trying to get the fever under control with all the knowledge he and the villagers possessed. It had been completely useless, no matter what they had tried. He watched how they covered his son's body with ice packs after hooking him up to IVs and machines, couldn't take his eyes from the sight and was clearly worried. He knew how bad the poisoning could become and what it felt like. He looked up when Hank came closer and beckoned him to follow him to the outside. "So?"

The furry mutant sighed. "As you already know he shows heavy signs of poisoning. I need to analyze his blood first to get more specific results, but…"

Logan cocked an eyebrow at him. "But what?"

"I'd be surprised if he survives this, Logan," Hank said in a very serious tone and crossed his arms. "From what you've told me something prevents him from healing. They probably did this because their work wasn't finished. If we can't figure out what causes this…" He shook his head. "All we can do for the moment is trying to lower his fever."

"The only thing that would stop his healin' factor from workin' is carbonadium," Logan said while he kept his eyes to the floor. "It slows it down t'a crawl…"

"I never dealt with it, so I don't know how to detect it."

"If they used it then as some kinda bullet. Ya can't use it in a liquid form, it has to be shaped into somethin' solid."

Hank nodded. "In that case we'll probably find it by doing an x-ray…," he thought out loud as the door opened and Jean walked past them, a vial with blood in her hand. Without looking at them, she entered the lab. "As Scott already told you…she's furious!" Hank said, patted Logan on the shoulder and left.

Picking up on the sign, the feral sighed and buried his hands in his pockets before he walked over to the lab, in which Jean was occupied with analyzing the blood. He knew she had noticed him, he'd picked up on the changes in her and was at a loss of words. What was he supposed to say anyway? "Jean?" Logan began, but she ignored him completely and went on with her work as if he wasn't there. "Can we talk?" he tried once more, but again, no reaction. Sighing, he ran a hand through his hair, noticed that he still wore the kimono, which was covered in dirt, blood and was torn at some parts. "Look, I know I shoulda told ya, alright? But I had my reasons…" He heard her uttering a snort. His eyes switched to the printer as this one began to work. It didn't take long for the redhead to walk over and grab the paper, then to aim for the door again. Not knowing what else to do, he grabbed her arm. "I'm sorry," Logan said and knew if looks could kill, he'd be dead.

"I'm sorry won't do," Jean hissed, tore her arm away and left him standing in the middle of the room.

"Great…," Logan sighed and thought about what to do. In the end, he left the room and headed for the locker room in hope to find some clothes to change. After taking a shower, he got dressed and left the room again, trying to tame his wild and still damp mane.

"Logan?"

His head shot up and his eyes narrowed to slits.

"How is he doing?" Charles asked and sighed when the feral just stomped past him, not looking at him once. "Logan, I couldn't tell you about this! You would have left if I had told you and…"

"And ya would have lost yer lapdog, huh?" the feral snapped angrily.

"No. What I meant to say was that I don't blame you. You haven't been in control! It was an accident," the Professor tried once more and followed him in hope he could reach through to him. "Logan, I never saw you as my lapdog! All I wanted for you was to have a home and a chance to achieve what you've always wanted."

"What makes ya think ya can decide over my life as ya please, huh?" Logan growled and gave him a murderous look. "I've figured it out, Xavier! Ya knew what I was 'n ya were scared that I'd come for yer students one day. So ya thought the best thing ya could do was t'lie t'me 'n act as if ya never met me before, coz keepin' me here meant ya could control me 'n that I wouldn't turn against ya. But guess what? We're done. I told ya last time that this was yer last chance. Ya screwed up, so live with it!" With another glare, he turned and headed for the ICU again, ignored that Scott and Ororo were waiting for him. He knew what they wanted to tell him and he couldn't care less. He'd made his choice and he'd stick to it.

"Logan…," Scott began but the feral went past him and disappeared behind the door. "Damn it…"

"I told you he wouldn't talk to you," Ororo said and put a hand to his arm. "Try again later. His mind is on other things now anyway…"

"Have you been followed?" the Professor asked them and it was hard for him to even look at his former students.

"Logan was chased by some clones. They obviously wanted Daken back," Scott informed him and received a nod. "And that's the problem in my eyes. Our enemies won't give up on him that easily and we're making the mansion a target by keeping him here."

Charles nodded. "I know, Scott… But I don't think that Daken is interested in going back. Not after what they did to him."

"That doesn't mean he'll be all friendly all of a sudden, Charles!" Scott disagreed. "That guy is a psychopath!"

The Professor sighed. "Everyone deserves a second chance, don't you think?" he asked before he wheeled into the ICU. "How's he doing?" he asked and watched how Moira checked on some monitors, while Hank and Jean were going through some x-rays. A look aside and he saw Logan leaning against the wall, ignoring him and keeping his eyes on his son, who was still unconscious and covered in sweat.

"Logan, I can't find anything…," Hank said and went through the x-rays once more.

"Me neither…," Jean said and put the last picture away.

"It has t'be there!" Logan grunted, walked over and looked at the x-rays himself. "They always shot it into my head or chest…" He looked at the scans quickly and shook his head. It wasn't there. But it had to be… "Can't be…"

"Maybe his physiology works differently from yours and something else is the reason that he doesn't heal," Moira suggested and turned to look at him. "What did the blood say, Jean?"

"Nothing much. His white CD4+ cell rate is up and…."

"His what?!" Logan asked confused.

"CD4 is a co-receptor to the TCR and assists…," Hank began but noticed Logan's cocked eyebrow. He took of his reading glasses. "It's a surface protein and…" He broke of after noticing the look he was given now. "Okay…let's try this. You have red and white…"

Logan raised a hand and shook his head. "Spare me this medical mumbo jumbo that I don't get anyway. What's wrong with him?" he demanded to know.

Moira took the chart from Hank and looked over it. "It means that practically every cell in him is fighting off an infections or something else that doesn't originally belong in his body."

The feral sighed. "I know that. Adamantium doesn't belong in our bodies, I know that, I've been there, tell me somethin' new!" he said impatiently.

"We can't, Logan. Besides that his blood doesn't tell us anything at all," Hank replied. "Or nothing new that is… What else can cause such symptoms? You of all people should know the best!"

"Or maybe you can tell us what exactly happened to him? Maybe we can start analyzing the situation by going back to what they did to him. Maybe we're missing something here?" Moira suggested and Hank nodded in agreement.

Charles thought about it while he kept his eyes on Daken. "I suggest you let me hook you up to Cerebro. In that way Hank, Moira and Jean can see exactly what happened and might be able to find out more. I doubt it would do much good to just tell them about it," he said and received a deadly glare from Logan, whereas Hank nodded.

"That would be perfect." He of course noticed the look the feral gave Charles. "Logan, I know you don't like the idea considering the current situation, but it would help us a lot!"

Thinking about it, while he kept on glaring at Charles, Logan shook his head. "She'll do it," he said in the end with a nod at Jean. "You'll stay the fuck away from my mind!" he added and headed towards the door.

"Logan, Jean shouldn't…," the Professor began when the redhead cut him off.

"I think I've proven that I can handle it now, Charles," Jean said and their eyes met.

"But you've never tried this before. It's a whole different level of control to connect with one mind only, while controlling the waves of Cerebro," he disagreed. "I know you did well in finding Logan, better than I would have thought…, but this is different. Let me do it and afterwards I'll teach you to work with the device."

Looking at him, she nodded in the end. "But I'll keep tabs on you," she warned him and left the room to set up the computer in the war room.

"I think you have a whole lot of explanation to do, Charles," Hank said before the man could leave and received a silent nod. "We shouldn't leave him here all alone…"

Moira nodded. "I'll hook up the machines to my laptop. In that way we'll be up to date to any changes." While she did so she heard how Hank used the phone to make a call upstairs. It only took five minutes and the door opened.

"What's wrong?"

She turned after hearing the voice and gave Hank a surprised look, who had already beckoned Jean-Paul to come closer. "Would you stay with him?" he asked.

Northstar gave Daken a confused look. He hadn't even known that Logan was already back. "When did that happen?" he asked in return and took a closer look. It was no secret to him in what kind of bad shape the feral was and he felt immediately concerned. "What do you want me to do?"

"Charles will hook Logan up to Cerebro in hope that Moira, Jean and I can find out what else causes this," Hank replied with a nod at Daken. "We did everything we could so far. I just want you to stay with him, while we try to figure out what else is wrong with him."

"Sure…," Jean-Paul shrugged without taking his eyes off Daken and stepped closer to the bed. He heard Hank thanking him and gave the monitors a brief look. He then pulled a chair closer and sat down, considering reaching out and taking the feral's hand into his. In the end he did so and was shocked how hot Daken's skin was…

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In the War Room the older X-Men had sat down, the three doctors armed with charts and they were all staring at the screen in anticipation of what they would see. Scott had filled them in on what had happened in Japan and while Remy still cracked jokes about the poor horse that had to carry Logan's weight, most of the others shared his concern about Daken being there. When the screen flickered to life they turned their heads towards it…

_Logan kept his eyes half closed after jumping out of the helicopter, the ice cold wind biting at them and his skin. He soon landed in the snow and remained silent for a while. The helicopter was already far away, the wind was blowing loudly in his ears, but he couldn't hear any patrols that were close by. Fury had told him the hidden facility lay up north, so he went that way through the dark and looked for the hidden entrance. To his greatest surprise and confusion there were no guards, probably, as he thought, Sinister was sure that no one would come looking for him at such a remote place. Logan's hand reached into his pocket and took the small vial with the clear liquid. He quickly used it on him and hoped that Fury hadn't lied about it covering his scent for at least three hours. Considering that he had no idea what the facility looked like, where his son was and how many guards were inside the compound…_

_The feral stopped as he stepped onto something metallic and his hands began to dig in the snow. There was a door hidden underneath and, after he had opened it, a metallic ladder lead far down. Even if he squinted, he couldn't see the bottom… After looking around once more, he finally began to climb and shut the door again._

_Endless minutes later Logan reached the bottom with a long, dark corridor up ahead. He guessed that he was many meters underground and tried to ignore the bad feeling he had. His hand reached out to open the heavy door a bit, no scents or voices around that he could pick up on, but he was very much on high alert as he stepped into the next corridor and took a look around. There were two opportunities for him now: left or right. Since his instincts told him to go left, he did so and soon reached another door that led him to a stairwell. Frowning, Logan looked upwards and guessed that it were at least 5 floors up. Carefully, he ascended the first two floors and leant his ear against the doors both times. But once more there was nothing he could pick up on. Always with an alert eye on the upper and lower levels, he continued his way and stopped halfway to the fourth level._

"_What do you mean this looks stupid? I think it's pretty cool!" Deadpool said and the door to the fourth floor opened. "It's big, it's sharp, it's shiny… So it's perfect and not stupid!"_

"_Are ya tryin' t'make up fer anythin' with it?" Sabretooth grunted annoyed and descended the stairs, too._

"_Yeah, for my sharp mind and wicked humor!" Deadpool replied following him. "Girls like that you know?"_

"_Oh really? I still think ya don't like girls," the feral mocked and stopped briefly to sniff._

_When he noticed the feral's frown, Deadpool waited and looked around. In the end he sniffed, too. "You pooped, didn't you?" he asked and waved his hand in front of his face. "How often do I have to tell you the kitty box is in the corner of the third…" He stopped when Sabretooth roared and stomped past him next. "Hey, at least you got it!" he said after the feral disappeared behind the door to the third floor and followed him._

_They were long gone when Logan dropped down from the ceiling and landed as calmly as possible on all fours. He made sure that there wasn't anyone else coming into his direction, before he slipped into the corridor of the fourth floor and cocked an eyebrow. It was just another dark corridor, or so he first thought. His ears clearly picked up on humming that you usually only heard in aquariums and he remembered the last time he had heard something similar… He reached out to open the first door he could find and stopped dead in the tracks. The whole wall in front of him was covered with man-high tanks in which ferals slept that looked suspiciously a lot like him. Logan knew he had found Sinister's lab…_

_His eyes quickly scanned the corridor before he went inside the room and took a look around. Aware of the fact that he couldn't go through all files, he did a quick search and took what he could carry with him. He then looked for a way to kill those clones, but knew he would only alarm his enemies, so he just left the room and continued his search for his son. It led him further down the corridor and down another stairwell, until he reached a single, dark corridor with just one heavy, metal door. His heart had begun to pound stronger the moment he had reached it; he just felt he was close deep inside of him. With his senses still on high alert, he tried to open the door, but it was locked. Instantly, one claw was popped and he worked on the lock until he could hear a _click_. Logan pushed the door open slowly and peeked inside, allowing his senses to roam, but the only thing he could hear was the humming of another tank. He guessed that the whole facility was somehow isolated to prevent the clones from freaking out due to too many noises. He refused to believe that there was really no one around, so he remained careful and on alert._

_Inside the room was indeed another tank and Logan's eyes grew wide in shock as he realized that Daken was in it, wires and machines still attached to him. With narrowed eyes, he watched how a man, who he recognized as the Tinkerer, worked on a computer with his back to him. Not wasting any time, Logan sneaked up to him and knocked him out. He then looked at the computers, figured that he had no idea how to shut them down and aimed for the tank instead. His eyes looked at the dozen wires and thought about what to do. He couldn't tell if some of them were important and cutting them would mean harm to his son. Still, he knew there was only one way to find out. A _snikt _announced the claws on one hand and Logan took a good swing. After retracting them, he reached into the tank and pulled Daken out of it, his eyes narrowing in hatred of what they had done to him. Even without having any visible proof the extra weight his son suddenly had told him enough about his fate. Logan quickly deposed of the needles and remaining wires before he looked around in the search of some clothes. Since he couldn't find any, he took the lab coat and pants from the Tinkerer and dressed Daken with them. With his son in a fireman carry, he walked back the way he'd come, praying that no one would get in his way. Fighting wasn't something he was usually worried about, but Logan was aware of the fact that Daken's dead weight already slowed him down a lot and climbing or running with him lying over his shoulders, was completely out of question. He would be fine handling himself, but in real trouble if someone figured out that he was there…_

_To his surprise Logan reached the long ladder that would lead him back to the surface without any problems and he was already half way up as his sensitive hearing heard Sabretooth roaring in rage. "Dammit," Logan cursed and quickened his pace. Out of breath he pulled Daken up and afterwards himself, his foot shutting the metal door before he pulled his son back over his shoulders and tried to figure out where to go. He remembered the area, knew that Jasmine Falls was only a few miles away. But those "few" miles, which he would usually manage within less than an hour, was a long walk for him now. Still, he began to jog as good and as fast as he could into the direction where the village lay. If he was lucky, he would maybe run into some villagers patrolling the area and could ask them for help… He had barely reached the wood, as Logan heard how the door was pushed open, better said, nearly torn out of its hinges, by a very pissed off looking Sabretooth. From his position behind a bush, Logan watched how the taller feral kept on sniffing and looking around, knew that his archnemesis tried to pick up on him. Since his scent was covered for the moment and Daken didn't have one anyway, he remind motionless on his knees, his eyes fixed on his half-brother, whose growl was clearly audible to him. It didn't take long for Deadpool to appear, followed by Wildchild and for them to get caught up in a fight. One which Sabretooth ended by kicking both of them down the ladder in rage, after which he began to pace, his eyes still scanning the area. Logan began to frown as he suddenly stopped and backed off a bit, wondered why Sabretooth uttered a whimper and lowered his head in submission, while he couldn't see a thing first. When a tall silhouette became visible the X-Man squinted in hope to make out a face. His mind did the math and he guessed that this tall shadow was Romulus, the man behind everything that had happened in his life so far. And he guessed further that if someone like Sabretooth was afraid of that shadow, that he better be, too. He heard him growling an order at his half-brother, before both of the disappeared behind the metal door in the ground again. Not wanting to waste any more time, Logan got up and ran further into the woods; his heart pounding fast and strongly in his chest, trying to supply his muscles with the oxygen they needed. His breath was quick and short, his muscles soon began to hurt and he dropped more than once to the ground. But his will to reach the village and bring his son into safety was stronger than the exhaustion that began to take over._

_He didn't know for how long he was already running through the wood and up the mountain, as an arrow hit the tree next to him and made him drop to his knees. Panting, Logan covered his son's body with his own and growled into the direction from which the attack had come, heard someone barking at him in Japanese to stop. After catching his breath he replied and told his attacker that he meant no harm and needed to speak with Ken Kawashima. Four riders approached him in the dark, their weapons aiming at his head and chest and usually he would have laughed at them, knowing that their weapons couldn't kill him, but he didn't feel like it now. He was tired, he was hungry and thirsty and it was no secret to him that his son's skin wasn't wet because of the tank's water. Once more he assured them that he didn't mean any harm and needed to speak to Ken and it wasn't before he was ordered to get up and raise his hands that one of them seemed to recognize him…_

_In the village he was directly led to Kawashima's house and he couldn't apologize enough for interrupting his friend's sleep after the man stood in front of him and stared at him drowsily._

"_Logan-san…," Ken said in complete surprise and beckoned him to enter, but frowned as Logan told him his reason for being there. Understanding the situation he gave one of his men the order to lead Logan to his old house and promised he'd be there soon._

_Inside, Logan carried Daken over to the bedroom after thanking the riders and set up a bed for him. When he was about to undress him he noticed that his son was barely awake and looking at him through heavy lids. "Hey…," he said surprised and bent further down, his face concerned. "Yer in Jasmine Falls, in yer mother's 'n mine old house. You'll be fine, alright?" he added and watched how Daken's eyes closed and his head dropped aside again. Looking rather helpless, Logan kept his eyes on him for a while longer before he undressed him and threw the soaked clothes aside._

"_What happened?!" Ken suddenly asked in his native tongue and knelt down next to him, a bowl with cold water and some towels with him, which he instantly began to soak and apply to Daken's skin. "Who is this?"_

"_Musuko no Itsu desu ," Logan grunted and looked up into the shocked but rather confused face of his friend. _

"_You've found him?!" Ken asked surprised and stared at the man on the ground in complete shock. "You've found your son?!"_

"_He found me," Logan replied in Japanese and got up to get some clothes. He tried to explain the situation as good as possible and stepped aside after the doctor of the village entered to examine Daken. It didn't take long and Kawashima's wife brought him some food, clearly happy to see him again. "I'm sorry for what happened the last time…," Logan apologized in shame and bowed to her. _

"_You warned us early enough, Logan-san," Ken waved off and joined his side, while the doctor was still working on Daken. "And besides…there was no harm done." He looked up when the doctor addressed him and nodded. "Arigatou," he thanked him and apologized for the late interruption. "It seems you're stuck here, my friend."_

_Logan shook his head. "They're lookin' fer me. It's only a matter of time before they'll arrive here. I can't stay long without endangering all of you," he said in Japanese and thanked Kawashima's wife once more for the food._

"_Then I'll send more men to patrol the area," Ken suggested. "You should lie down and sleep. You look very tired, my friend. I'll wake you up in case they're coming."_

"_Arigatō gozaimasu," Logan thanked him and bowed, a small thankful smile visible on his lips that was soon replaced by the worry for his son. Despite the effort of the doctor, he knew better. They couldn't help him, no one could. The only thing left to do for them was to try and control the fever. After he was left alone with his son, Logan cooled the towels once more and put them back, before he set up another bed in the room next to the bedroom and lay down. His head was buzzing with exhaustion, but his mind was too occupied. He wondered how Jean had reacted after she had figured out what he'd been up to and knew she would be more than angry with him. When exhaustion took over he closed his eyes and fell asleep, hoped that his enemies wouldn't catch up with him too soon…_

"How come the village is still standing?!" Ororo asked confused. "When Sinister caught you and Logan you caused havoc there. Everything was destroyed…"

Jean shook her head. "I used the same illusion on the village that I used on the garden. Logan's and my plan was to fool Sinister and Apocalypse by making them believe they had us under control. It worked with Logan for a moment but not with me. I warned Ken about what would happen and told him to evacuate the village," she explained and sighed. "This wasn't very helpful…"

"No, except that we know the location of Sinister's lab," Scott said and got up to activate the hologram, which soon turned into a map of Japan. "Jasmine Falls is here," he said and the hologram closed in. "So the lab must be somewhere around….here." The map changed again and closed in onto a deserted area.

"I doubt they'll stay there after Logan infiltrated the lab, Scott," Hank said and gave the monitors a look. "His temperature is dropping…"

Moira looked up and frowned. "Dropping pretty quickly that is…" She turned when the door opened and Logan stomped in.

"And?"

Hank shook his head. "Wasn't helpful. I'm sorry, Logan," he apologized and the feral sighed. "We have to wait and see."

"I'm tellin' ya they used carbonadium on him!" Logan insisted and crossed his arms with a glare. His head shot up as one monitor began to beep. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know," Hank replied and got up. He quickly jogged over to the ICU, followed by Moira, Jean and Logan and gave Jean-Paul a questioning look.

"He said he's cold," the man told him and let go of the emergency button. "I already used every blanket I could find, but his skin is still ice cold and he's shaking."

"Let me see!" Moira said and moved closer to the bed, her eyes checking the monitors and her hand reaching out to touch Daken's arm. "His skin is really ice cold, Hank."

"Obviously he inherited Logan's and John's reaction to healing…," the furry mutant mumbled and took the electric blanket from Jean to spread it over Daken next.

"How about skin to skin? Wouldn't that be more effective?" Jean-Paul asked after watching them. "At least that's what I learned at school…"

"If you want to jump into bed with him, go ahead," Moira said rather to herself while scribbling notes down on her chart. To her surprise Northstar got rid of his clothes and did exactly as he'd said. "I thought you were joking…"

"No, I wasn't," he replied and pulled the feral as close as possible, a shock going through his body as the cold skin met his warm one. While he remained motionless, he watched how Hank was checking on the IVs and Jean was once more going through the x-rays. A look at Logan before had told him how concerned the feral was and he couldn't hide it, he was, too. Sighing, he tried to get comfortable and moved only if necessary. After the others had gone upstairs to eat something, Jean-Paul shifted his position and moved Daken onto his side. With his arms and one leg, he pulled him close again, stroked lazily and in thoughts over the feral's still cold waist, as something caught his attention. Frowning, he traced Daken's spine again, let his fingers run over the bones he could feel and stopped at one spot. He memorized it and stroked around the hipbone until he had found the other spot, too.

"We brought you dinner," Moira said and entered with Hank, who noticed the man's odd look.

"Something wrong?"

"This hasn't been there before…," Jean-Paul said more to himself and looked up when they came closer.

"What do you mean?" Moira asked him.

"These bones feel different."

"Well, they were coated with adamantium," Hank replied but the man shook his head.

"No, I mean they _feel_ different. These two spots weren't like that before," he explained and showed them which spots he meant. "It's the same with his neck up here," he added and traced the spot with his fingers. "It's like… It feels like something's on his bone that doesn't belong there."

Frowning, Hank stepped closer and pulled his glasses out of a pocket. "Let me see," he said and examined the spots he'd been shown. While his fingers stroked over them his frown deepened and he nodded in the end. "You're right… It feels indeed odd…"

"Maybe they attached the carbonadium to his bones to keep him sedated until they were finished?" Moira suggested. "Logan said it slows down a healing factor significantly. In order to help him heal, we need to remove it."

"Paul, would you mind getting up?" Hank asked and pulled a table with medical equipment closer.

"I can't," Northstar said and earned confused looks. "He has me in a pretty strong grip," he added after trying to get up once more.

"Well, then try to hold him still," the furry mutant replied and began his work with the help of his wife. The scalpel cut into Daken's skin and while Moira held the wound open, Hank tried to pull the carbonadium from where it had been planted. "No wonder that we didn't see them in the x-rays…," he cursed and looked at the 5 bullet-shaped objects in the bowl. "They were planted in a way that the adamantium blocked them from our view. Did you notice anything else?" he asked, but Jean-Paul shook his head.

"So he'll be fine?" he asked after a moment and settled down again after eating something.

"He should be fine again as soon as his healing factor kicks fully in again," Hank replied. "At least physically that is…," he added with a dark look on his. "We can't tell yet what kind of trauma he's suffered… From what we know of Logan his was pretty bad." His head turned towards the door as it opened and said feral entered. Since he wore his sweatpants and carried a pillow with him, Hank guessed what had happened. "She kicked you out?"

"No," Logan grunted and threw the pillow onto the empty bed next to Daken's.

"But?" Moira asked confused.

"Doesn't make a difference if I sleep on the couch or here, does it?" he growled and sat down. "How's he doin'?"

"We found the carbonadium thanks to Jean-Paul," Hank informed him. "His body is still cold but his mutation should kick in soon again and fight off the poisoning. Physically he should be his old self within the next two days. Mentally… Well, you know the deal, don't you?"

Nodding darkly, Logan frowned at Jean-Paul. "What exactly are ya doin' there?!" he demanded to know and listened to the brief explanation. "Fine, whatever… I'm beat." Yawning, Logan went under the sheets and tried to get comfortable in the unfamiliar bed. He hated the smell of the lab, ICU and infirmary, the sterile stench that burned in his nose, eyes and throat. It was too much like Alkali Lake…

"I'll stay here in case of complications," Hank told them and switched off the main lights. "Just press the emergency button. Good night!"

"Night," Jean-Paul said and slid deeper under the covers, happy that the feral had eased his grip a bit. Since Logan was already breathing evenly, he guessed that he had already fallen asleep. Through the door he could hear Hank wishing his wife a good night before the elevator went upstairs. Sighing, he pulled the pillow closer and waited for sleep to catch up with him…

* * *

When Logan was on his way upstairs to get some fresh clothes he passed the kitchen and stopped as he picked up on a scent. He didn't hesitate and went inside, green, angry eyes meeting his before the redhead turned and headed out of the back door. Cursing, Logan went after her and called her name, but she didn't bother to stop. "Jean!" he called once more and caught up with her at the pond, his hand reached out to grab her arm, but she pushed him back with her powers. "Please, just listen t'me!" he begged her.

"You didn't find it necessary to tell me where you're going, Logan, so I don't see any reason why I should listen to your excuses now!" Jean snapped, the fury mirrored in her eyes. "You lied straight into my face!"

"I know'n I'm sorry!" he said and made a careful step forward, but was pushed back once more.

"I told you this won't do this time!" she replied coldly. "You wanted us to be honest with each other, you were the one who said that he'd been lied to too often and it's always you who breaks that rule and does whatever he pleases," she went on and Logan lowered his gaze to the ground. "I asked you were you were going and you lied straight into my face, Logan! You left your family behind! You left your children behind!"

"He's my son, too, Jean!" Logan said with anger but also despair in his voice.

"He made his decision!" she replied.

"Not voluntarily!"

"How do you want to know that?!" she asked angrily. "He might be your son, but you don't know him! He hates you, Logan! He made his decisions in life and those don't include you!"

Glaring at her, he stepped forward. "Ya don't know shit!" he growled.

"Maybe, but I at least do realize that Daken doesn't want to be saved by you!" Jean replied and noticed the change in his eyes. "And you have children here, too, that need you and I'm sick of lying to them because their father decided to run off to who knows where again!" she added angrily. "You can't always do as you please, Logan! You have a responsibility towards your family and can't just leave!"

"He's family, too, Jean!" Logan snapped and began to breathe hard when rage began to take over.

"He doesn't want to be a part of it, don't you get that?!" she asked and watched how he turned to run his hands over his face, knowing that he was fighting hard for control. "You really need to get your priorities straight…"

"Priorities?!" he grunted and turned, his eyes glaring daggers at her. "He's my son!"

"And I'm your wife and upstairs are your children!" Jean said louder than she had intended to. "And you just left us!"

"Goddammit!" he cursed and broke eye contact to heave a deep breath.

Jean, too, took her time to calm down again and fixed her eyes on the mansion. She hated herself for being that emotional and wiped her tears away. "Do you even realize that your family and friends are worried when you just disappear without letting us know where you going?" she asked and met his gaze. "Obviously not! You wanted honesty, Logan, you wanted this rule before we got married and you broke it again!"

"T'protect ya and the others!" he snapped and looked away again.

"No, because you wanted to have it your way," she said and ignored his growl. "You pulled off a lot of stunts in the past, but this was really the biggest and most disappointingly," Jean added and aimed for the mansion again, not caring that she left him standing there. But she hadn't reckoned with him grabbing her arm roughly and pulling her around to face him.

"Ya don't know shit, Jean! Ya don't know or can even imagine what those people are capable of'n what involvin' ya could mean!" Logan snarled and his eyes were narrowed to slits. "And besides, if ya got t'know that Jake was still alive'n that someone had taken him away from ya, ya would do anythin' in yer power t'get him back!"

Pushing him away with her powers, she started at him furiously. "Don't you dare to play that card now, Logan! I warn you!"

Still glaring at her, he walked back and towards the backdoor. His heart was beating strongly against its cage in anger and he could feel Wolverine wanting to break out of his prison. "I led Itsu down, Jean, I won't let my son down'n let'em turn him into a second me. 'n if it means cuttin' him into half!" he said with a last determined look at her. "My moral code wasn't forged here'n that's somethin' ya don't get!" His hand pushed the door open and he stomped past the X-Men that were already having late dinner, ignored their worried looks. He knew they had heard most of the stuff, in the end the fight had been loud enough… With a heavy sigh he leant back against the cabin of the elevator and heard its doors closing first, but opening again next. Confused Logan opened his eyes and felt his heart breaking in the next second. With a heavy _woomp_ the elevator came to halt on mid way and a hand connected with his cheek.

"And you don't get that I'm worried sick that something terrible might happen to you!" Jean barked at him while crying heavily. "Do you know what it feels like sitting here, not knowing where you are or how you are or if I'll ever see you again?!" she demanded to know and closed her eyes with a shake of her head as a sob escaped her. "I just buried you, do you think I want to do this again?!"

Watching how she fell back against the wall and sobbed into her hands, he began to feel like the biggest asshole on the planet. "Shit, darlin'…," Logan whispered and wanted to pull her into his arms, but she used her fists against his chest in a desperate attempt to stay angry with him. As he'd finally succeeded to pull her close, he let her cry into his chest and rested his head on hers, rocking her slowly and sighing heavily. "I'm so sorry," he mumbled into her hair and held her as close as possible.

"You're an asshole!" Jean mumbled into his embrace, still sniffing and kept her arms firmly around him.

"I know…"

"You deserve such a good kick into your butt that you'd land on the moon!"

"Well, but an asshole shinin' at night wouldn't look that pretty, would it?" Logan asked and chuckled when she slapped his arm hard. "I'm sorry…" He cocked an eyebrow as the elevator began to move again on its own. When the doors opened he looked straight at Scott.

"Sorry to interrupt, but Sabretooth was seen in the city," he explained and Logan let slowly go of Jean. "When he's here, Sinister is probably, too."

"Who's goin'?" the feral asked and stepped out of the elevator with the redhead. When he saw the look on her face, he reached out to wipe her tears away.

"Well, I am, Remy, Kurt, Hank and Peter," Scott replied and sighed. "And we need you, too."

Nodding, Logan gave Jean a look. "Don't worry, okay?"

She huffed and looked away. "Easier said than done…"

"I know…," he said and reached out to stroke over her cheek. "We'll be back soon. Make sure the mansion's safe." Waiting for a nod, he leant in to kiss her. "I love ya…"

Nodding, she stroked over his shirt. "Be careful," Jean whispered and watched them leaving.

"How accurate is it? Or better said where did ya get the information from?" Logan demanded to know while suiting up. "Jesus, the suit still feels like a coffin," he cursed and tried to loosen the leather a bit. He was still not used to the new cut of their uniforms. Especially that his ended at his shoulders and gave his arms enough room to move. Growling, he put on his gloves and then his boots.

"Very accurate. Tony picked up on him," Scott replied and secured his visor. "He'll stay here in case it's a trap and they plan to attack the mansion. I doubt they'll give up on Daken that easily."

"Same here," Logan grunted and they left the room to join the others in the hangar. "Do we have t'fly?" he asked, gnashing his teeth.

"Still not liking it, huh?" Cyclops smirked and patted his shoulder teasingly. "Poor, poor, Logan. I told Remy to bring a bucket for you."

Growling, the feral followed him inside the jet and sat down on the co-pilot seat. "A car would be handier…"

"Da bucket is 'ere, mon ami!" Remy joked and laughed when Logan turned to glare daggers at him. "Aw, c'mon. Flyin' ain't dat bad."

"If we were meant t'fly, we'd grow wings, bub!"

"Then we are meant to fly, since Warren has wings," Scott replied smirking and started the engine. The jet roared to life and they ascended through the baseball field. "I'll land in the East River. We probably have to walk a good bit."

"That's why a car would be handier…," Logan mumbled and held onto his seat for dear life. He heaved deep breath when Scott piloted the jet towards Manhattan and kept his eyes closed most of the time. He hated flying…

"Bucket?" Remy teased him from behind and grinned while he played with his cards. "Remy loves flyin'."

"Good fer ya…," Logan grumbled and scowled at the clouds.

"It really ain't dat bad. Ya can lean back'n enjoy da flight," the Cajun said, smirking when Kurt tried hard not to grin next to him. "'n da clouds, just look at dem. Pretty, non?"

"Cajun?" the feral growled and turned his head. "Shut up!"

Chuckling, Remy exchanged another look with Kurt and turned his head once more to look outside of the window. A few minutes later Scott landed in the Hudson and activated stealth.

"Okay, so what's the plan?" Colossus asked and looked around the deserted area.

"Tony said he'd been seen close to Ward's Island. So we'll go there first," Cyclops said and received a cocked eyebrow from Logan. "What?"

"Ya wanna walk all the way?!" he asked and rolled his eyes whereas Scott sighed. "Next time, we'll take the car!"

"You could have ordered us to do so, you're the leader," Cyclops shrugged. "Make sure the coats hide the uniforms. We don't want more people on our throats than necessary."

"I don't have a coat!" Logan grunted and followed him reluctantly.

"What was it again? _Who am I, Van Hesling_?" Hank asked while walking. "It was you who didn't want to have a coat!"

"Now, I want one," Logan replied and his hands looked for pockets he could bury his hands into.

"Bellyacher!" Scott said and kept on looking around, his senses on alert. "What's here that would interest them?" he asked and kept on looking around.

"The psychiatric centre maybe?" Hank shrugged and received looks for the comment. "Why not?"

"Or maybe Creed just wanted t'go for a run…," Logan grunted mockingly.

"Can you see or smell anything?" Kurt asked him and _bamfed_ after the feral had shaken his head.

After the group had walked for several minutes, Logan sighed. "Let's split up. We ain't gonna find anythin' by stickin' together."

"Make sure your comms activated," Scott said and departed with Hank and Colossus, while Remy stayed with Logan.

Together they walked further through the areas but couldn't see anything suspicious. The only noises Logan picked up on were the usual traffic and of some people that were farther away. "Remy doesn't see anythin'…"

"Same here…"

Both startled when Kurt reappeared in front of them. "Over there," the teleporter said and pointed way ahead of them. "I saw him entering an old varehouse."

"Slim?" Logan said through the headset and jogged ahead, the two mutants following him. "Kurt saw him. We're goin' that way." Not waiting for a reply he led the way and soon found himself in front of the old building. He sniffed, his senses picking up on Creed's scent and he became suspicious. "That's weird…"

"Vhat?" Kurt asked.

"He covered his scent all the time… Why not now?"

"Remy smells a trap, mon ami," the Cajun replied and held his stick with one hand, while his free hand fished for a card.

"Not only ya, Cajun," Logan growled and extracted his claws. "Keep your eyes open." He entered the old warehouse and made a careful step inside, his senses on high alert. There were no noises, nothing he could pick up on, but the scent was definitely there. "He's in here… I bet he's watchin' us."

"I'll take a closer look," Kurt said and teleported to the ceiling where he hang head first and looked around.

"I'll watch yer back," Remy whispered and followed Logan slowly.

* * *

"Still nothing?" Scott asked but Hank shook his head. "Someone's jamming our connection then."

"You can say what you want, but this is a trap, we should retreat," Peter said and looked around. "It doesn't feel right…"

"I know what you mean," Scott nodded and frowned. He was sure he had seen movement behind them. "Someone's there. Get behind me," he ordered and pointed his visor at an old train wreck. As soon as his beam hit it, something leapt forward and laughed.

"Got me, huh? Well, it's not as if I didn't want you to catch me, you know?" Deadpool chuckled and looked at the group. "Soooo, you're Wolfman's friends, huh? Let's see… Four-eyes, Lion King and…." He looked Colossus up and down. "And who are you supposed to be? Batman's sidekick? Ate a tad too much spinach as a kid, huh?" When the X-Man changed into his metallic form, he tapped his chin first and flipped his fingers. "Now, I got it. You're Tin Man from Oz. Hey, where's Dorothy?" As Cyclops aimed the beam at him once more, he jumped aside. "Hey! I'm trying to have a conversation here, okay? Did mommy never taught you to shut up when adults talk?!" He tilted his head a bit when he took a closer look at Cyclops. "Hey, don't I know you from somewhere?"

"I highly doubt that. I've never been to a mad house," the X-Man replied and gave a sign to encircle their adversary. "Where's Creed?"

Deadpool looked at him further. "No, no, no! I definitely do know you," he insisted and tried to remember where he'd seen him before. "Weren't you that little, whiny, blind boy…," he began as Hank jumped at him with a loud roar. Reacting quickly, Deadpool kicked him hard and drew his two katana that had been secured to his back. "Now, as far as I remember Simba shuts up when Mufasa talks, okay? Are you related to them by the way? You know, because of that roaring-issue? And Victor loves to roar, he roars all the time. I think he has some serious speech disorder. Thinking about it, I'm probably right and…" Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw how Beast leapt at him once more, while Colossus aimed at him from the other side. "So much for trying to have a conversation…thank you," he sighed dramatically, but shrugged. "Well,…fighty time it is then."

* * *

By now the second group had ascended the staircase and was facing a metallic door. "Locked from the outside obviously," Logan grunted and was about to cut into it as Nightcrawler teleported to the other side. Waiting for him to open the door, Logan soon began to frown. "Elf?" he called loud enough, but there was no reply. "Step back!" he said to Remy and slammed his claws into the metal, which gave way to the adamantium with a screeching noise. "Be careful!"

"Oui," Gambit replied and the card in his hand began to glow, when Logan kicked the door open. The Cajun closed his eyes briefly as heavy wind and rain met them. "Damn, when did dat happen?!"

"Dunno…," Logan grunted and sniffed.

"Yer getting' slow…"

Swirling around, both X-Men looked straight into Sabretooth's smirking face. But their eyes went soon lower and looked at their unconscious friend in the feral's arms.

"Let him go!" Logan snarled and took his casual attack stance, but Sabretooth chuckled.

"Or what?" he replied provocatively. His hand reached out to grab the ladder that led far up into the air and towards a tower crane. "One of ya moves'n he's dead!" he warned and went up, grinning when Logan gave Remy a sign to stand down and followed him. It's exactly what he'd expected him to do. "What's the matter, Jimmy?" he asked and grinned darkly. "Worried about yer blue friend?"

"Let him go!" Logan growled and extracted his claws again, watched how Sabretooth back further off and began to breathe hard. They were far up in the air and nothing would catch their fall.

Chuckling, Sabretooth looked down. "Nice height, ain't it?" he asked and his eyes gleamed in joy. "Think he'll survive a fall?" he asked and held Logan's glare.

"What do ya want?!" Logan demanded to know as his opposite suddenly threw Kurt aside.

"How about watchin' ya fall?" Sabretooth asked.

Remy, who had watched the scene, had run over to the banister and his eyes were wide in shock as he saw how Logan jumped after Kurt and was now in freefall to the ground. "Merde…," he cursed.

"Indeed!" a dark voice suddenly said behind him. Shocked, Gambit turned around, but Sabretooth hand had already grabbed his neck…

After he'd finally caught up with Kurt, Logan pulled him close and turned around so that his back was now aiming at the ground. "That's gonna hurt…," he mumbled and held his friend as close as possible, kept his eyes close and waited for the inevitable impact. As it came, all air seemed to leave his body at once and his view blackened completely.

* * *

Chuckling as Gambit tried to breathe, Sabretooth threw him against the wall with enough power that the impact left a dent. "I always wanted a rematch… Let's see if ya win this time."

Panting, Remy looked up and blinked against the stars that danced in front of his eyes. He wiped the blood from his nose with the back of his hand, his other one reaching for a card that threw quickly at the feral. Not hesitating, Remy leapt for his staff and got into an attack stance, never taking his eyes of his adversary.

"That's the best ya can do?" Sabretooth asked grinning and jumped onto the roof when more cards flew into his direction. "I'm really disappointed," he said and extracted his claws on both hands. His eyes watched how Remy turned the staff quickly in his hands, Martial Art like, before the Cajun jumped at him. "Now we're talking," he grinned and leapt at him with an angry roar, tackled the X-Man in mid air and threw him to the ground before he landed safely on the banister. A look aside told him that Deadpool had done his job and the other X-Men had arrived, of whom Beast and Scott were kneeling next to the still unconscious Logan. Sabretooth's head jerked aside as he heard movement and he barely managed to leap aside before the Cajun's staff would have hit him.

Not pausing, Gambit loaded one card after the next and aimed them at the feral, who managed to dodge most of them, but was hit and thrown back by another. Making use of his chance, Remy aimed for the door and ran back downstairs, not reckoning with Sabretooth being right behind him. He'd barely descended half of the staircase as the feral leapt at him with an angry roar. Both hit the ground and the Cajun felt how Sabretooth claws tore into his shirt, before he was thrown into another wall and pinned to it.

"Last time ya pulled that stunt on me! I told ya I'd get ya one day," Sabretooth growled and grabbed the X-Man throat next in rage. "Ya got a lil'boy, don'tcha?" His eyes began to gleam with joy when Remy's narrowed. "Oh…," he faked pity and chuckled. "Don't worry. I'll make sure he'll suffer a lot before he dies." Smirking, he tightened his grip. "Any last words?"

"'ow about…go to 'ell?" Gambit asked and his eyes glowed red in rage. His hand had taken hold of all the cards he still had and he threw them at his adversary with a loud scream…

* * *

Scott's head shot up as he heard the explosion and watched how the whole facility collapsed, sending dust into every direction.

"Remy!" Logan said and shocked and tried to get up, put Hank held him down.

"Easy, Logan! There's no way you don't have any internal bleedings after that fall!"

"Don't give a fuckin' shit," the feral growled, pushed his hand away and jogged over towards the remains of the building. While Hank stayed with Kurt, Peter and Scott followed him. Together they helped Logan to pull the remains aside, shared his shock when they finally found the Cajun underneath tons of steal and watched how the feral knelt down to check on their friend's vitals. "He's still alive…" Logan grunted and lifted as many of the remains up as he could, so that Peter could pull Remy up. "We've t'retreat!"

"I know…," Scott grunted and startled as another arm suddenly shot out of the nearly destroyed wall and grabbed Logan. Trying to react quickly, the X-Man shit his beam at the arm, but accidentally hit Logan as well and sent him and his attacker through another wall and to the outside. There both slid over the wet and now moody ground until they hit another tree. "Dammit!" Scott cursed and jumped over what was left of the warehouse, followed by Peter. They watched how Sabretooth and Logan were at it, both slashing and biting at the other, while their angry roars and grunts filled the night. "What now?" Scott called over to Hank, who had lifted Kurt up into his arms.

"Logan told us to go. We don't know how many of them are here," the furry mutant replied and joined them.

"We can't just leave him here. He's still weakened from the fall," Peter disagreed and watched how Wolverine slammed Sabretooth into a tree, before he leapt at him and buried his claws deep in his adversary's body. The other feral reached for the X-man's throat and squeezed, while his free hand slashed at the body and tore the uniform open to a great deal. "Take him," Peter said and wanted to hand Scott Remy, but the man shook his head and aimed his visor at Sabretooth instead.

The red beam shot through the night and sent their enemy flying toward the river, but instead of joining them Wolverine went after Sabretooth instead. "Damnit!"

"Let's get back to the jet," Hank suggested. "We can fly it over here and pick Logan up."

Thinking about it, Scott nodded in the end and began running into the direction where the jet was.

In the meanwhile Sabretooth had jumped up the Hell gate Bridge and was waiting for his adversary to follow him. The wind and rain still biting at his face, he blinked the water away and remained in his attacking stance, his eyes never laving the pissed off Wolverine, who had finally reached the top and was growling at him in anger. Both just stared each other down for a while, before Sabretooth leapt and Wolverine met him midway. Their claws ripping and tearing where they could, their teeth biting at every bit of exposed skin… Both mutants were completely unaware of their wounds and only wanted to kill the other one.

When Wolverine kicked and Sabretooth fell, the mutant held onto the steel of the bridge and pulled himself up, but wasn't fast enough. Wolverine's claws were already raised and tore open the uniform Sabretooth was wearing, cut through a collar that was hidden underneath. Dropping to the ground, Sabretooth shook his head panting and looked around, a frown visible on his face. His eyes grew wide as he looked up and saw a pair of claws aiming at him once more, his hand quickly shooting up and covering his head. "NO!"

Confused, Wolverine froze and Logan was back in control. He looked at his adversary in front of him, picked up on this one's confusion and began to wonder what this one was all about. His eyes found the remains of the collar and cocked an eyebrow at Sabretooth, who was still staring at him in complete confusion. "'n I thought I was a lapdog…," he grunted and retracted his claws.

"How did I get here?!" Sabretooth demanded to know and got slowly up, his eyes suspicious and never leaving Logan. "Where am I?"

"Manhattan. Where did ya think ya were?" Logan grunted and crossed his arms.

"Last thing I know is that Weapon X had me," his opposite grunted back and looked around. "Why are we on a bridge?!"

The X-Man shrugged. "Ya wanted t'throw a party up here," he said. "Where's Romulus?" he asked and Sabretooth's look changes from suspicious to confused again.

"Who?"

"Romulus. The big bad of the season. Ya worked for him, so where's he?"

"I don't know what yer talkin' about," the other feral snarled and looked around, realizing that he was indeed in Manhattan. He then looked at his clothes and a hand reached up to touch his long hair. "What the hell's goin' on here?" he roared and made a step forward, stopping when Logan extracted his claws. "Last thing I know is that I kicked ya outta the heli'n Weapon X brought me t'that facility in who knows where!"

"The heli part's about 13 years ago," Logan told him rather matter of factly and earned another confused look. He sighed and looked down, saw the East River far underneath them and ran a hand through his wet hair. He couldn't believe that they had actually been fighting ON a bridge that far up. "First Liberty, now this… What's next?" he grumbled and heard the jet coming closer. With a last look at Sabretooth, he turned and looked for a way down.

"Jimmy…?"

"What?" he grunted and was about to turn as Sabretooth suddenly flew off the bridge and crashed into the water. "What the hell?" Logan asked and his head jerked aside to take a look at the attacker. As he did, he thought his heart had stopped beating. He made a step back in complete shock, his jaw dropped slightly and his eyes just stared ahead. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion all of a sudden, there seemed to be complete silence and everything was forgotten except for who was standing in front of him. Logan wanted to believe that he was still unconscious, that maybe Sabretooth had hit him too hard or his wounds had been to severe or that he'd been in the building when it had collapsed, but this… This just couldn't be. "Not possible…," escaped his lips and he made another step back, saw Romulus' attack coming too late.

Unable to react he was slammed head first into the steel of the bridge, sharp claws digging into and tearing at his skin. His adversary threw him around like a basketball and even if he tried, he was no match. The strength and agility Romulus possessed were not from this world and Logan was still too shocked about who the man actually was, as that he could will his body to function. Once more his head was slammed against the steel, stars dancing in front of his eyes, while claws and teeth were ripping and biting at his skin. His uniform was soon soaked with blood and hung in shreds from his body, while he took the most severe beating he'd suffered in life. He remembered too well how Sabretooth had left him half dead after their fight in the bar, but this fight here, it was worse, it was more than he could take…

After he crashed into the steel once more, he remained on the ground and stared at the figure above him, watched panting and half unconscious how it stepped closer and stopped above him. Wondering what his adversary would do first, Logan screamed out his lungs next as Romulus' hand buried itself deep in his stomach and took hold of what it had come for. The feral's eyes grew wide in shock and he spit blood instantly as he was unable to breathe. In front of him Romulus grinned darkly and raised him into the air, his hand still buried in him. While he coughed up even more blood and panic took over, Logan grabbed for his adversary's wrist and held onto it, even as he was pulled close and his eyes looked straight into the black ones of Romulus.

"Is that yer heart…?" the man snarled and tightened his grip. "_Son_?" With a swift move he ripped it out and threw the limb body over the bridge, watched how it landed in the water. His eyes gave the heart a satisfied look and he threw it aside, glared at the jet that was coming closer. Before it could even reach the bridge, he had disappeared into the shadows again…

**I made it and revealed my Romulus before Marvel did. Yay! : ) So, I think you can pretty much guess who he is now, right? Those of you, who have seen the Wolverine movie, will know it, since I cited him in some way. The chapter, at least the part from after the Japan flashback, was very much influenced by the movie. I saw it three times already and I love it. : ) Please let me know what you think!! Thanks to all reviewers! See ya!**


	55. Chapter 52

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

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**I'll post updates on how far I am with my stories. Would be cool to meet some of you guys there. ; )**** Page address is: http:(slashslash)twitter(dot)com(slash)Dany2311**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 52**

Sinister entered the dark room and walked over to the huge machine in front of him. His eyes took in the sight of the person that was deeply asleep in the tank, a pen scribbled down the information he got from the monitors. He knew there was still some work to do before they were able to proceed, but with each passing day they came a bit closer to their ultimate goal. When the door behind him opened, he didn't bother to turn around. He knew who it was… "You showed yourself…," Sinister said and went over to a computer to type in some commands. He created a new file and typed in the information he got.

"So?" Romulus asked. "I took care of it."

"It won't last… Not with their healing ability. And thanks to you we lost Creed," Sinister replied coldly. "First that mongrel, now Creed. It was unwise to attack them with only two people. I told you to take some of the clones."

Romulus went over to the tank and looked at the sleeping Apocalypse. "As far as I remember we had a deal," he grunted and crossed his arms, his black eyes shining in the dark. "Both of'em were my men. 'n I don't intend t'give up on'em so fast. Ya should better take care of this mess." He nodded at the tank. "I thought he was oh sp powerful…"

Sinister scowled. "He's not up to his full strength. The last battle had used up most of it," he said and went over to work on the machine again. "You are way too impatient. We helped you so far, didn't we?"

Romulus chuckled. "'n ya better don't screw me over, Sinister," he growled darkly and turned to leave. "I'll take five clones."

"What for?" Sinister demanded to know and turned to exchange a look with the feral, who'd stopped at the door.

"T'bring my son back home, what else?" he grunted and left.

"I told you it was a mistake to make that deal with him," Sinister snarled into the direction of the tank. "He can't be controlled…" Opening his eyes for a moment, Apocalypse looked back at him and Sinister nodded. "I know. I'll be patient, master. Our time will come." Smirking darkly, he pushed a button and turned to leave.

* * *

"He has done it again, hasn't he?" Northstar asked while entering the kitchen, only wearing a pair of black boxer briefs. A look out of the window was enough for him to groan aloud. "Will that guy ever listen?!"

"Apparently not," Scott said and sipped on his coffee. "Hey!" he called before Jean-Paul was out of the backdoor. "Don't forget! Meeting's in one hour to discuss the new schedule for next term. Charles wants you to take part!"

"Yeah, I know," Northstar waved off and closed the door behind him, ready to hold a new lecture. Something he did almost every two hours for about a week by now. "You're not supposed to get up alone!" He stopped next to Daken, who was sitting on the stairs and once more examining his hands. A habit he'd accustomed himself to since he'd been allowed to leave the ICU. Sighing, Jean-Paul ran a hand through his still tousled hair. Getting the feral to talk had been hard before. Now, it was nearly impossible. "C'mon. I help you back to bed," he offered, but Daken withdrew his arm as if he'd been burned and used the banister for leverage to pull himself up. His muscles hurt and his body seemed to weight a ton all of a sudden. Willing his legs and arms to move was exhausting and all he wanted was to destroy something in rage. When his right leg didn't want to work as fast as his upper body did, he stumbled.

Quickly, Northstar caught him and pulled one of the feral's arms around his shoulders. "Don't be such a ridiculous pickhead!" he cursed and took as much of Daken's weight on him as he could. "Hank told you that you shouldn't walk alone!"

"I don't need help!" Daken growled furiously.

"Sure. That's why you nearly fell down the stairs two days ago." Helping him, he led him through the kitchen and back to his room that wasn't too far away. After the feral was back in bed, Jean-Paul left to get him something to eat and put the tray on to the free side of the bed. "I've to take part in that meeting. Do me a favor and stay in bed," he begged and, after exchanging a last look with Daken, went into the bathroom to shower and get dressed. When he left the room again and saw that the feral was once more glaring at the wall, he began to feel worried once more. "Will you be alright while I'm gone?" he asked, but there was no reply. "Eat your breakfast, okay?" After a last look, he left the room and headed for the kitchen first to grab a sandwich and juice and then went to Charles' office for the meeting. It was then that he realized that he had taken too long. Everyone else was already there. "Sorry," he apologized and sat down next to Rogue.

"How's he doing?" the Professor asked with a concerned look.

"I don't know…," Northstar shrugged, but his looks spoke volumes.

"He's still not sleeping right?" Hank asked and looked over his schedule.

"If you ask me, he's not sleeping at all…," Jean-Paul mumbled and sipped on his juice.

"Well…," Charles began. "I assume everyone has the new schedule, am I right?" he received nods from every one except Northstar. "I'll let you know in a second, Paul," the Professor promised and looked at the paper in front of him. "I made some changes due to the current situation. Since Raven is expecting twins, Scott will teach math only this term, Hank will be doing the mutant genetics and ethics classes like last year, Jean biology and First Aid, Remy French, Kurt German, Ororo History and Bobby and John will take over Logan's PE and Self Defense classes. Peter does the Art class. I'll do Politics and Physics again. I asked Jean's father to join the staff. He will do the Geography class from now on."

"What about our youngsters here?" Hank asked with a nod at Kitty, Jubilee and Rogue.

"We will help new students to get along here, of course," Jubilee replied. "That's no secret!"

The Professor smiled. "Actually that's true. But they will also do the counseling again with the help of the senior staff. Which leaves open Narya and Paul." He looked at them and smiled. "Since we have so many babies and toddlers, I would like the two of you to take care of them."

"Like a kindergarten?" Narya asked.

"If you want to call it that… Fine with me," Charles replied. "Do you agree?"

"Sure," she nodded excitedly and gave her old teammate a look.

"Why not?" Jean-Paul shrugged. "What about Alex?"

"Alex will do some administrative things for me. Scott did it before, but he wanted to step back a bit," the Professor explained. "That was actually all." He watched them leaving and went back to his paperwork.

"So, Mr. Hot-Kindergarten," Jubilee said and patted Northstar hard on the shoulder, "that was a nice back view of you in the morning." She wiggled her eyebrows at him, which made him roll his eyes. "How's your boyfriend really doing?"

"He's not my boyfriend, Jubes!" Jean-Paul sighed.

"Uhu…., guess what?"

"What?"

"Wolvie kept on saying _'No, Jean'n I are just sharin' the bed!'_. And guess what happened!" she said and he crossed his arms after reaching Daken's door again.

"What?"

"Boom, she was pregnant with twins!" the woman said and poked him into the chest.

"Well…," Jean-Paul smirked, "I'm not pregnant with twins if that's what you wanted to know." He laughed when she groaned playfully. "You're boyfriend's waiting at the corner by the way," he winked and slipped quickly back into the room.

"Men…," she cursed and joined Bobby.

"Done drooling all over him?" he asked with a roll of his eyes.

"I wasn't drooling, I was gathering information!" she lectured him and walked next to him towards the stairs.

"On what?"

"On their relationship status, what else?" she said and he groaned. "What?!"

"Who cares?" Bobby replied and shook his head.

"We girls do, because two hot men together…," she said and grinned. "That's hooooot!"

He rolled his eyes and pulled a face. "Maybe for you it is… I couldn't care less."

"Well, I'd be worried, if you cared," she smiled and linked arms with him. "What are we going to do today?"

"Something that doesn't involve more than one man!" Bobby replied and led her upstairs.

While the couple had been talking Jean-Paul had returned to the kitchen to dispose of the untouched breakfast tray. By now he really didn't know what more he could do. When he returned to the room, he could still hear the water in the shower running. Frowning at the door, he finally decided to check on the feral and knocked. "Are you alright in there?" he asked, but didn't receive a reply. "Hiro?" he asked and waited once more, his gut feeling telling him to just go inside, no matter if Daken would switch into another rage; one of which he had too many since he'd woken up in the ICU. The former Alpha Flight member knew it was some form of PTSD that the feral had developed and that it didn't help at all that the man refused to talk about it. That Daken was more on the edge like usual was no secret to him or anyone else in this house. He snapped way more often and easier than before, at night he couldn't sleep, at day he refused to leave his room and always kept a watchful eye on either the window or the door. And since he refused to go and see one of the doctors, Jean-Paul thanked Google for helping with the diagnosis!

His hand reached slowly out to touch the doorknob, his mind counting from five backwards and in the end, he pushed the door open. Hot steam had filled the room and for a moment he felt like walking into a sauna. "Jeez…," he mumbled and aimed for the shower behind which the feral was. "Hey, are you alright? You're in there for at least…," he began and pulled the curtain a bit aside, his eyes widening in shock as he saw the water and tiles. "What did you do?!" he asked panicky and reached out to switch off the water, his eyes turning towards the feral, who sat in the shower and had his legs pulled close, his eyes staring ahead and was shaking heavily. "Goddamn it," Northstar cursed and went to get a larger towel. When he returned he tried hard to not look at the blood that was smeared all over the tiles, giving the impression as if an animal had been slaughtered in the shower. With all his might he pulled the feral up and wrapped him into the towel, his blue eyes looking at him with concern. "I can't leave you alone for a minute, can I?" Jean-Paul asked angrily and dragged Daken into the bedroom, where he put him down on the bed and cupped his face. "Hey, you there?"

"Leave me alone!" the feral grumbled and pulled his head away.

"No, I won't! You don't eat, you don't sleep and now you're already trying to cut yourself into pieces!" Northstar replied, still not believing it. "Damn it, Hiro, you need help!"

"I don't need help!" Daken suddenly barked at him and his eyes were full of sheer hatred. "I don't need you or anyone else!"

"Right…," his opposite nodded and crossed his arms. "That's why you're shaking like a leaf under hot water…" Only shaking his head he went over to the drawer and pulled some clothes out of it. Wordlessly, he put them next to the feral and toweled him off, then dressed him. "You'll listen to me now," he said and, after wrapping him into the sheets next, he gave him a serious look. One that Daken returned with a glare of his own. "You are in shock, you've been through something horrible and you suffer from a serious case of post traumatic stress disorder… So you either talk to me about or I'll get Hank and tell him to restrain you, because this," he said and pointed at the bathroom, "was the last thing I watched you doing without saying something! Understood?" he asked and kept eye contact, even if Daken's eyes narrowed to slits.

"Are you threatening me?" he asked in the end and Jean-Paul ran both hands over his face, shook his head in disbelief.

"I'm trying to help you," he replied calmly and sighed. He watched the feral, who had looked away and was now glaring at the bed, for a moment, before he reached out to wrap him into an additional blanket. The skin was covered with cold sweat and his own felt like fire in contrast to Daken's. "You're not getting warmer, are you?" he asked, but didn't expect a reply. The more Northstar was surprised that Daken shook his head after a moment. "Right…," he sighed and pulled the sheets on the side he always slept on aside, before he beckoned him to lie down and tucked him in. "I'll make you a tea," Jean-Paul said but stopped at the door to give the feral a look. "And you'll drink it!" he added warningly before he walked over to the kitchen. When he returned again, Daken still lay on the same spot and watched him closely. "Sit up and drink it!" Northstar said and waited for the other man to do so, before he put the cup on the bedside table and stretched out on the bed, taking Daken into his arms. "And now, you'll sleep, understood?" he demanded and received another glare. "You haven't slept for almost a week, your body and mind need rest and I want you to close your eyes and sleep now. I'll stay here, so no need for you to worry about anyone coming through the window or door."

"Stop treating me like a little child!" Daken warned him.

"Then stop acting like one!" Jean-Paul replied. "Not even a two year old is as bad as you."

Growling, Daken crossed his arms under the sheets and blanket and glared at the door, tried to get accustomed to the way he was laying now. He knew his body claimed sleep, but his mind was too occupied, the beast within refused to sleep, was still afraid that the enemy only waited for him to close his eyes and then they'd strike… Another thing was that the feeling of being cared for was completely foreign to him, he didn't know what to make out of it and kept on asking himself why people even cared for others, if all they did was betraying or hurting each other in the end. He didn't understand why they even bothered to bond or looked for a partner or started families. To him it was useless and completely unnecessary. People like him were lone wolves, better off alone and didn't need others to look after them. Still, a part of him liked being held and felt safe and that confused him even more… It didn't take long and the feral began to feel really sleepy, the fact that Northstar kept on stroking lightly over his back didn't help the cause either and he fell asleep.

* * *

Everything he could feel was pain, claws ripping through him, shredding his clothes, tearing into his skin, canines biting into his flesh, felt his blood leaving his body… And the pain… It was everywhere. It made him freeze in his movements, not a single limb wanted to react to his commands. His heart beat in every inch of his body, while that face in front of him smiled at him. It was like looking into a mirror, like staring at his twin. Except for the fact that his twin was pure evil… The pain suddenly became unbearable and his twin held something up, something that was beating and bloody, something that belonged into his chest and was now gone…

With a loud and long roar Logan leapt up and lashed out, felt his claws cutting through something and struggled against the hands that were touching him. Like a feral animal he began to fight against whoever it was, didn't feel the needles that were still stuck in his skin breaking or being torn out. His aim was the door and he ran for it. He saw something blue leaping at him and lashed out, disappeared in the elevator and backed off, panting and terrified. As soon as the door opened again, he was gone and out of the next window, following the scent to the familiar wood…

"Did you catch him?" Moira shouted out of the ICU, but Hank's look spoke volumes.

"No…," he growled and pressed a hand on his bleeding arm, a wound that his wife took quickly care of. "For someone who's been half dead the past days, he sure is very agile…"

"I wonder what this was about…," she mumbled and dressed his arm before she reached for the phone.

"Charles already knows," Hank interrupted her and hissed. "I better go and help them."  
"Be careful!" Moira warned him and began to tidy up, while Hank headed upstairs.

On the outside he ran into John and Jean, who led the search party. "Do you know where he is or what's gotten into him?" he asked and the redhead's eyes instantly fell on his bandages.

"He attacked you?!" she asked shocked and Hank couldn't help but give a brief snort.

"He's torn the whole ICU to shreds. We can buy new equipment thanks to him."

Exchanging a look with John, Jean's frown deepened. "What's gotten into him…?" she said more to himself and used her telepathy to find him. Beckoning the others to follow him, she kept on scanning the area with her powers, while John followed the scent.

"Is he feral?" Scott asked and followed them through the woods.

"I'm not so sure…," Jean replied. "He's…."

"Scared…," John finished with a grim look on his face.

"Logan and scared?" Scott asked surprised and stopped when John gave them a sign to stop. "What?" He watched how the feral sniffed and looked aside, moved a bit into that direction, before he remained frozen on the spot. "John, what is it?" Scott asked and reached for his visor, but the feral already turned back into their direction.

"I thought I smelled someone…," John grumbled and began to walk into the other direction again. "Logan should be over there. But I can't tell if he's hiding in a tree or not."

"Wait here," Jean suddenly said and stopped them with a weak psychic wave. She then walked deeper into the wood and towards the lake, where she had spotted Logan with her powers. Her concern became stronger since he was sitting crouched on the ground and was rocking himself back and forth. "Logan?" she asked carefully and approached slowly, always keeping a cocoon around her in case that he'd attack. "Logan?" Jean asked once more and reached out to touch his shoulder, but instead of lashing out, he turned his head and looked at her wearily. "What happened?!" she demanded to know and knelt down next to him, the telepathic cocoon forgotten. All that remained was the worry for him and she still tried to figure out what could have happened that had him react this way.

Only shaking his head, Logan lowered his head again and buried his hands in his hair. His breathing was still fast but by now he had it mostly under control. Still, his mind was elsewhere…

"Honey…," Jean said and reached out to touched his cheek and turn his head back into her direction. "What…happened?!" she asked once more. "Scott and the others have been looking for you for two days and all of a sudden you were unconscious on our doorstep. And now this reaction… "What happened to you?!" Her frown deepened when she realized the look he gave her. His look was teary, desperate and somehow lost and she began to wonder once more what had happened and especially: who had done it. "Logan, talk to me!" she begged him and cupped his face, held his gaze until he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her as close as possible. "You're scaring me …" Pulling him close, too, she looked up when John came closer.

"What's wrong with him?" he asked and knelt down next to them, reached out to touch his brother's shoulder. The emotions that he picked up on completely overwhelmed him. "Logan…?" he said and met his brother's eyes when this one raised his head slowly. "Hey, what is it? Who did this to you?"

Looking at him for a while longer and still being on an emotional rollercoaster, Logan lowered his gaze with another shake of his head. "It's _him_…," he replied barely audible and looked back up at him. While Jean frowned and didn't understand a thing, John tried to read in his brother's eyes. While he, too, frowned first, his eyes grew wide.

"That's not possible…," he said hoarsely and sat down on the ground in complete shock.

"What's not possible?!" Jean demanded to know and looked to and fro between them.

"You said you killed him…," John said more to himself than to the two others.

"Yeah…," Logan snorted. "That's what I've thought, too…" He ran a hand over his face and through his hair.

"Are you sure?!" John asked and received a cocked eyebrow.

"Except Romulus's carryin' around a mirror lately…," Logan replied sarcastically. "It's him!"

"You've seen Romulus?!" Jean asked and her eyes widened when she read Logan's eyes. "He did this to you?"

"Are you really sure?!" John asked once more, still not believing it.

"He ripped my fuckin' heart out while smilin' at me, so yeah!" Logan growled angrily and got up, beginning to pace.

Jean watched him for a moment before she looked aside. Scott, Hank, Remy and Kurt had come closer and were watching the whole scene in confusion. To her right, Logan was still pacing like a caged tiger, muttering curses under his breath, while he kept his hands buried in his hair.

"What's going on?" Scott asked and looked at her.

"Romulus attacked Logan," she told him and earned surprised looks.

"Really? So who is dis guy?" Remy asked out of interest.

"Our father…," John spat and slammed his fist into the ground before he got up. "God damn it!" he cursed aloud and slashed at a tree with his claws.

"Your…," Scott began and looked from Logan's grim looking face to John's. "I thought he was shot? At least that's what I've seen in that memory of yours."

"Not John, Scott," Jean said with a shake of her head. "The man who's probably their biological father…"

Logan snorted. "It was like lookin' at my twin, Jean, so cut out that fuckin' _probably_!" he snapped and stopped pacing for a moment to glare at the lake. "'n I'd bet that's why he was always hidin'…"

"But that guy was an idiot!" John said after a moment of silence, still more than angry and looked at his brother. "How is it possible that this guy is behind all of this? An idiot like him can never be the mastermind behind all of this shit. He's been manipulating us for years!"

"If ya had fought against him, you'd know!" Logan grunted. "He must've been though some kinda Weapon X stuff…"

"Why?"

"Coz he's massive, he's agility'n strength ain't from this world'n the fact that he's been doin' this shit for years makes it obvious that he's been worked on," Logan growled. "That guy ain't t'be underestimated. I wasn't able t'do anythin' against him…," he added darkly and turned back to the lake.

"Aside from this…," Hank said. "We need to figure out who had brought you back here."

"What do ya mean?" Logan asked and looked at him over his shoulder.

"That we've been looking for you and couldn't find you," Scott said. "And then all of a sudden it knocks on the door and tadaa…there you are."

"Unconscious and half dead," Hank added and watched how Logan began to frown.

The feral sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. He had a good guess. A surprising one, but a very good one… "Would ya leave me alone? I need t'clear my head."

"You shouldn't be alone after this," Kurt said worriedly. "That S.H.I.E.L.D. guy said Romulus killed everyone that has seen his face…"

"I doubt he'd be so stupid t'attack me here…"

"No, seriously, Logan…," Scott began but Jean raised her hand to stop him.

"Fifteen minutes," she told her husband with a serious look on her face. "If you're not back in there by then, we'll come and get you."

Only nodding, Logan fixed his eyes on the lake once more and waited for them to be back inside the mansion. He then did, what he wanted to do the whole time through. "Ya brought me back here, didn't ya?" he asked and heard someone behind him stepping out of the shadows.

"Yeah…"

Nodding, Logan turned around and looked at the man in front of him, who looked nothing like before. The hair and muttonchops were short and brown again, the clothes completely black, several layers were worn over one another and he wore a black duster, too. . "Back t'the roots, huh?" Logan asked and crossed his arms. "What do ya want?"

"Ya know what I want, Jimmy," Creed replied and moved closer, stopping next to him. "I wanna find that bastard'n kill him fer good."

"'n ya helped me because…?" Logan demanded to know, still eyeing the different version of the same man.

"As much as you hate it…," his opposite said matter-of-factly and smirked. "We're brothers."

"Right…," he nodded rather sarcastically. "'n brothers look out for each other… I remember."

Growling, Creed stepped closer and glared at him. "Ya can't kill him alone," he whispered in a menacing low voice. "Neither can I. Ya need my help in this as much as I need yers, 'n ya know that!"

"Do ya even know what kinda things ya did under his control?" Logan asked back, facing him. "There ain't no way in hell that I can convince my team of this!"

"I don't remember!" Creed snapped. "As I said the last thing I do remember is that I tracked ya down after Liberty, that we fought'n ended up in that bar before those goons came'n caught us!"

"I haven't forgotten about that either!" Logan growled back and remembered how they had ended up talking over some beers after their fight on Lady Liberty. It was then that he had learned that Magneto had promised Sabretooth to help him get his memories back in exchange for some work. They had been in the middle of talking when agents had attacked them and taken him into custody, too. They had ended up on a helicopter in chains and it had been Sabretooth who had helped him. If he hadn't thrown him out of that helicopter, Logan was sure he'd ended up back in Weapon X as well. "So what do ya suggest?"

Creed shrugged and looked around attentively. "He's already after me…"

"He sent clones?"

"Yeah. Five of'em."

"Jesus…," Logan cursed and shook his head. "We don't know where he is. 'n he shouldn't be underestimated. That guy's dangerous like hell…"

Watching him for a moment, Creed tilted his head. "Well, he's after me. We could lure him into a nice, deadly trap…"

"He'd figure that out…," Logan disagreed with a shake of his head. "Except we outsmart him…"

Creed turned his head when he heard noises from the mansion. "I'll try t'find him," he grunted and turned around. "I'll get back t'ya."

"Be careful'n don't let him catch ya," Logan said and met his gaze. "I don't look forward t'fightin' on the Empire State next."

Chuckling low, Creed disappeared and Logan quickly jogged back towards the mansion, just in time to run into Jean in the garden. "Comin'…," he grunted and pulled her quickly with him. He knew there was a chance that she would pick up on Sabretooth and he wanted to prevent that.

"What were you doing so long?" she asked and slipped an arm around his waist, too.

"Thinkin'."

"John heard you talking to someone…," Jean replied and looked him straight in the eyes.

"I was just cursin'…," Logan shrugged and broke eye contact. "I'm fine, alright?"

"No, you're not!" she disagreed. "Not after what happened to you and especially not after your reaction from before."

He sighed heavily. "Fine, then I ain't alright. Still I won't talk about it, okay?" he snapped and regretted it almost instantly.

"Fine," Jean snapped back and headed for the door. "Don't even start imagining how hard it was for me or your children or ask how I am, Logan. Why should you care that we were worried about you? I mean, I'm just your wife, not that it matters!" she said angrily and shut the door into his face, before he had a chance to reach out.

"Idiot!" Logan cursed through clenched teeth and went quickly after her, grabbed her hand before she could disappear behind another door. "I'm sorry!"

She huffed and turned her head away from him, blinking away her tears. "Let go of me!"

"Darlin'…," Logan said when she tried to pull her arm away once more. "Jeannie, I'm sorry!" he mumbled into her neck after he'd finally managed to pull her close and held her captive against his chest. "I'm an idiot, okay?" he said when she clung to him and began to sob.

"We thought we had lost you!" Jean cried into his shirt and slapped his chest hard before she hugged him. "And you dismiss it as if it was nothing!"

"I don't!" he replied and she met his gaze.

"You do! You keep on saying that you're fine when you're not! You even attacked Hank and injured him without noticing it. Do you even know why?!"

"Coz…," he began and was at a loss of words. Something that made her nod slowly.

"See?" Jean said and wiped her tears away. "You can't find a reason because you won't admit that it bothers you a lot!"

Logan sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Do we have t'discuss that now?" he asked wearily. "I'm tired."

"Of course… Uncomfortable subject and mister is tired," she huffed and turned around to ascend the stairs to their rooms.

"What the hell is wrong with ya?" Logan demanded to know and followed her, keeping his voice low because of the children.

"That it's always the same with you, that's wrong!" she snapped and told him with one look to stay quiet. "The children are sleeping so don't make a scene!"

Rolling his eyes, Logan stomped past her and into the bathroom, while she aimed straight for the bedroom. In it, he looked at himself in the mirror for a while and narrowed his eyes. All he could see was the face of the man he hated the most, of the man he wanted to see dead on the ground, preferably with his head on his claws. He truly couldn't believe it. All those years he'd been the puppet of his own father, had been used and abused by him, had been experimented on and he'd bet it had been Romulus, too, who had granted the hits on every women he'd loved. He'd bet his shitty life that it was him who was responsible for their deaths in any way possible…

"Daddy?"

Startled, he turned and looked straight into Jack's worried eyes. He'd been too absorbed in his thought that he hadn't heard him coming. And probably speaking to him… "I'm sorry, pumpkin… What did ya say?" he asked and knelt down to be on eyelevel with his son.

"I asked when did you return? Mommy told us you were on a mission…," Jack replied and leant in to hug him.

"An hour ago or so…," Logan lied and smiled at him. "Did ya behave, kiddo?" he asked and chuckled when his son grinned. "As I thought."

"I don't wanna go to school tomorrow…," Jack sulked and Logan knew why. "I hate classes…"

"I know," his father sighed and pulled him close. "If someone bullies ya, ya come to me, alright?" he said and received a nod. He knew how much Jack hated to go to school with the older children. "'n now c'mon. It's already late'n you've t'get up early. Go t'bed, okay?"

"'kay…," Jack said and returned the kiss he was given. "Night, daddy."

"Night, kiddo," Logan replied and got ready for bed. After he'd checked on his children and had greeted the wolf and his family, he went into the bedroom and pulled a face. Even if she tried to hide it, he knew that she was crying silently. He closed the door slowly and went over to lie down next to her, reached out to touch her shoulder and pulled her close after she'd turned around. "I'm sorry, darlin'…," he said once more and held her in the dark room, while she sniffed into his neck and leant into him. "We'll talk after classes, okay?"

"Don't tell me you want to hold your classes after what happened?!" Jean asked shocked and let go of him a bit.

"No, not before next week," he calmed her down.

"I hope so!" she said and ran a hand over her face.

"Darlin'?" Logan asked after a moment of silence and kept her eyes on her in the dark.

"Hm?" Jean made and looked up, felt his lips touching hers in the next moment.

"I'm sorry, okay?" he said and stroked over her cheek.

"You're impossible, Logan, I hope you know that…," she grumbled and wrapped her arms back around him after he pulled her closer. "We were really worried…"

"I know…"

"And you were half dead!"

"Mhm…"

"Are you even listening?" she asked and raised her head a bit, but figured that he had fallen asleep. Sighing, Jean cuddled back up to him and listened to his heartbeat, her mind still too occupied with the events of today…

* * *

"No, sweety, you can't have that!" Rogue said and quickly put the vase on to a shelf, Tommy's big, yellow eyes looking at her in confusion. "It can break, you know? Why don't you go over to Jamie and Alex and play with the toys, hm?" she asked and took his hand to lead him over to the group, smiled when Taylor and Nick followed her on all fours.

"You're so stuck with them!" Jean-Paul laughed and looked briefly up from where he sat on the ground with Jean-Luc.

"Well, and my son's your fan," she shrugged smiling and pulled Nick up into her arms, his soft fur caressing her skin.

"Yeah, he truly is," he nodded and watched how the boy sat down on his lap and pointed at the book Northstar was holding.

Rogue watched how he began to read a story to her son and became thoughtful. "How come you know how to handle little children so well?" she asked when he was done and frowned when she noticed the look he gave her. "Sorry, did I say something wrong?"

"No…," he replied and shook his head. "I, ehm… I had a daughter once."

This was an answer she hadn't reckoned with. "You had a daughter?!" Rogue asked and was completely thrown off. "But I thought you were into guys only?"

"It wasn't _my_ daughter in that sense," Jean-Paul replied and handed Jean-Luc a sippy cup. "I adopted the girl after I found her in an alley."

Nodding and figuring that the story didn't have a good ending considering that he used the past tense, Rogue waited a moment. "What was her name?"

"Joanne."

"And I'm right to assume that she isn't alive anymore, am I right?" Rogue asked carefully and he nodded. "What happened?"

He sighed and pulled Jean-Luc back up when the boy walked back over to him. "I took her to some doctors after I found her and they said she was dying of AIDS. She must have been infected in her mother's womb. She died about 6 weeks later."

"Oh my God, that's terrible…," she gasped and watched him for a moment, but he waved off with a shake of his head. "I'm so sorry to hear that, Paul…"

"It's okay," he said and gave her a half smile, watched how the older kids around Jamie played with the toys, while the younger ones crawled around, Jean-Luc still being attached to him. "He's really daddy fixated, isn't he?"

Rogue laughed. "You have no idea!" she said. "Isa and he always have a competition on who's allowed to sit on daddy's lap."

"How does Isa deal with Remy and Bobby?" he asked out of interest and looked at her.

"Remy is Remy and Bobby is Daddy. She's actually dealing pretty well with it. When her son held the book up for Jean-Luc to take it again, she shrugged. "And he loves to hear stories. So…go on."

"Alright…," Jean-Paul sighed playfully when the door next to him opened.

"Where's the hoody?" Daken asked in his usual nice manner.

"You mean where's _my_ hoody that you love to borrow," Northstar corrected him and received a roll of Daken's eyes. "In the laundry. Take the other one that is in the drawer." He frowned at Rogue since she was smiling at him after Daken had left again. "What?"

"You're an item, aren't you?"

"No, we aren't!"

She nodded, still smiling. "Sorry, if I don't believe you."

He snorted. "Why is everyone so convinced that he is my boyfriend when he's not?" he demanded to know. "Because he is NOT!"

"Uhu….," Rogue made and pulled Taylor on her lap. "He so is."

"No."

"Oh, yeah."

"No!" Northstar insisted.

"Mhm,…," she nodded, still smirking.

He sighed and shook his head. "He's not. Really!"

"You share a bed, you always hang out together, you train together, you…," Rogue listed when he cut her off.

"Still, we're NOT together as in _boyfriend_," Jean-Paul insisted. "Who came up with that anyway? I mean first I'm accused of doing Logan behind Jean's back, now I've a boyfriend that I don't even know of… What's next?"

"Item!" Rogue insisted and tried hard not to smile. "Right?" she asked Taylor, who looked at her with his blue eyes. "I mean it's really not a bad thing," she said after a moment and made Northstar frown at her. "You're both very handsome and Jubilee is drooling all over the two of you anyway. And…both of you are single."

He chuckled. "She is?"

"Oh, yeah."

"Well, she keeps on bugging me about the whole boyfriend thing for nearly 24/7 anyway," Jean-Paul shrugged.

"But you like him!" Rogue noticed and threw him off guard. Her smile widening when he stared at her speechlessly. "Yeah, you do."

"So?" he shrugged and lowered his head, so that his dark hair covered up his blush. "He's handsome…"

Rogue nodded and smiled at Jamie, who was occupied with his toys and once more very sociable. "Yes, he is. Well, he's Logan's son in the end. He had to be handsome, right?"

Jean-Paul laughed. "True," he nodded, smirking.

"But seriously…," she began and he turned to look at her. "If Daken wasn't that messed up,…would you…?" she began and indicated with a movement of her hands what she wanted to say.

Thinking about it, he shrugged first but nodded in the end. "Let's say I'd try harder then…"

Smiling satisfied, Rogue nodded. "As I've thought…" She looked up when the door was opened once more.

"I can't find the damn thing," Daken growled and shot a glare at her first, before his eyes settled on Jean-Paul.

This one shrugged. "Last time I saw it, it was in my drawer."

"No, it's not!"

Sighing, Northstar handed Jean-Luc over to him and aimed for the door.

"Hey, what am I supposed to do with it?!" the feral asked and held the boy as far away as possible, but the other man had already closed the door behind him.

"How about trying not to let my son fall to the ground?" Rogue asked after watching how he held him. "He doesn't bite."

"Your kid?" Daken asked and received a nod. "Well, then take him!"

"I'm pretty occupied as you can see," she replied and hinted to the fact that Taylor still sat on her lap, while Nick used her leg for support. He only huffed and twitched his eyebrows, before he put the boy into her arms and crossed his. "Thanks a lot. Holding two little children like this is really an easy job…," she said sourly.

"Well, then stop making so many," he grumbled and received a cold look from her in return. "What?!" he snapped.

"I really wonder what he sees in you," Rogue said and turned her head away when he narrowed his eyes, watched how Jamie looked two and fro between them, before he returned to playing with his friends.

"What's it to you?" Daken asked and stared her down first, but began to smirk darkly. "You know that I can make them cry just by standing here, right?" he said and Rogue narrowed her eyes warningly. "I see you understood. Then you better be nice to me, don't you think?"

Before she could reply, the door opened and Northstar returned. He handed the hoodie to the feral and began to wonder why the temperature had dropped in the room. The tension was undeniable. "Okay, what did you do or say?" he asked Daken, who shrugged and aimed for the door.

"He threatened to make them cry," Rogue said and Jean-Paul sighed, while the feral glared at her.

"Be nice!" he warned Daken and gave him a gentle push towards the door. "Go and train or whatever you were up to."

"He's so mean!" Rogue complained after the feral was gone and was glad Jean-Paul took her son from her. "Thanks."

"He's never been with people and doesn't know how to deal with it."

"Doesn't apologize that he threatened to make the children cry! Attacking children is a no go."

"I know," he sighed and sat back down on the ground with the boy on his lap. "He just needs time to get used to it. I know he's impossible on his bad days and today is a bad day."

"If he's that mean on a bad day," Rogue began and gave him a look that spoke volumes, "what's he like on a good day?"

"Like Logan on a bad day actually," Northstar replied and shrugged when her eyes were close to pop out of her skull. "As I said, he was kept underground. He doesn't know what being and dealing with people is like. He can be charming if he wants to be."

"You mean if he wants something!" she corrected him and he chuckled nodding.

"Right…"

Both looked up and towards the door when it was opened again and smiled when Narya entered with a tray full of food and drinks. "Sorry, it took me a while longer, but Logan decided to empty the fridge obviously," she apologized and handed each of them a cool drink. "Why the long faces? She asked confused and looked to and fro between them.

* * *

"Aw, fuck!" Logan cursed and sucked on his thumb while glaring at the hammer. His gaze shifted when Scott began to chuckle.

"You're supposed to hit the nail, you know?"

"One more wisecrack'n ya can do this shit alone!" Logan warned him and Scott rolled his eyes.

"Dramaqueen," he mumbled and went on with his work.

"Shut up, Slim!"

"Hey, it wasn't me who hit your thumb, alright? So stop snapping at me," Scott complained and returned the glare he was given, before he turned and went on painting the wall. "Didn't you sleep well at night, do you lack sex or did your hockey team lose?" he asked rhetorically and shook his head. "Your mood today's terrible…"

"Yeah, yeah'n yeah," Logan growled, while hitting the nail with the hammer. He then jumped off the ladder and looked at his work, not seeing that Scott was looking at him curiously.

"Wow…," he said impressed and the feral turned around, his brows furrowed.

"What?!" Logan growled.

"You seriously lack sex… Wonders never cease."

"Look who's talkin'!"

Scott smirked and faced the wall again. "Difference is…," he replied and smirked at his teammate, "my girl's pregnant. What's your excuse?"

"Ya wanna do this alone?" Logan asked with a threatening undertone.

Scott sighed. "Don't be so grumpy, alright? I already told you I'm thankful that you're helping out with the rooms…"

Snorting, Logan went over to the next task and began working on the shelves. "So…someone's not gettin' any, huh?"

"Says you, huh?" Scott replied while he was still painting the wall. "I don't mind it. She feels bad enough most of the time." He looked at Logan, when this one chuckled. "What?"

"Yer the first guy who says that he doesn't mind havin' no sex," he replied. "Don't forget yer still have 6 months t'go. If yer still sayin' it in 3 months, then somethin's really wrong with ya."

"I don't have a healing factor like you, Logan and besides…"

Logan cocked an eyebrow and fully turned around. "Yer a boy, Slim. That fact alone should make ya desperate after a couple of weeks!" He went over to the bowl with ice and grabbed a cool beer out of it. When Scott came over to him, he handed him a bottle and sat down on the round to look at their work. They were already working on Raven's and Scott's new rooms for about a week and somehow it still looked like too much work to him. At least he couldn't remember that painting his rooms or putting up the furniture had been that much work back then…

"I at least don't get desperate after two days only!" Scott returned the tease and sipped on his beer.

"Well, I at least was getting' a lot when Jeannie was pregnant," Logan teased him back and gave him the meanest self-righteous smile he possessed. "Okay, not with Jamie because of what happened before, but other than that…"

"Okay, okay, I got it!" Scott quickly said and Logan chuckled. He shook his head and looked around the room, too. "What did you mean before with that I saved you? I saved you from what?" he asked after a moment of silence and looked aside.

"From watchin' Dora," Logan grunted and sipped on his beer.

"They're still watching it?"

"Ya have no idea!"

Shrugging, Scott pulled his legs closer. "Can't be that bad, Logan. It's just a TV show for kids."

"_Can't be that bad_?!" Logan asked and looked at the man as if he thought he was nuts. "I hope you'll have two girls'n that they make ya watch it every day!" he added growling and shook his head. "Can't be that bad…." He snorted. "Ya have no idea! Watching Lion King for the two hundredth time's nothin' compared t'watchin' Dora…"

"That often?" Scott asked.

"Yeah…"

"Wow… So that means you can actually sing the songs by heart by now, huh?"

Logan gave him a look that spoke volumes. "I can write ya the whole scripts of all Disney movies by now," he replied and Scott laughed. "Oh yeah, I so hope you'll have two girls!" he mocked and glared at his bottle. During the silence he began to think and wondered if Victor had found Romulus by now. He hadn't heard of him in about two weeks. Thinking about it, he hadn't seen Daken in the past three days either…

"You know… Thinking about it I believe it's good it turned out this way…," Scott suddenly broke the silence and Logan cocked an eyebrow at him.

"What do ya mean?" he asked.

"I mean you and Jean…" Seeing how Logan's eyebrow went further up, he sighed. "I never told her, but… Well, I think she figured that much…"

"Figured what?"

"That I was afraid of her…," Scott admitted and lowered his head.

"_Afraid_ of her?" Logan asked and furrowed his brows even further. "Why?"

His teammate shook his head. "When we got together she had to concentrate very hard to even lift up and object or to read minds. After Liberty Island her powers pretty much got out of control. She tried to hide it, but I noticed how powerful she suddenly was and the Professor got scared, too. He told me that it was an unusual development and that he could tell she was developing rapidly."

"If he hadn't put those blocks into her head in the first place," Logan growled with an angry look, "it wouldn't have come that far'n she'd have gotten a choice t'learn how t'control her powers. It was his fault!"

"I know it was wrong of him to do this…," Scott agreed. "But what I mean is that I doubt I could have stayed with her… I don't understand this dual personality thing as good as you do and let's be honest…" He turned his head to met Logan's gaze. "The two of you would have landed in bed sooner or later anyway. I'm not stupid!"

Logan chuckled. "Same Jeannie told me some time ago…"

Scott huffed. "Good for her…" His eyes took in the room once more and a small smile became visible on his lips. "And I'd have never imagined sharing my life with Mystique either…"

Logan shrugged and sipped on his beer. "Can't plan life…"

"True… Still it's unbelievable…"

Remembering something, the feral looked aside and watched the man intently for a moment. "Why did Jeannie hug ya on her birthday?" he asked and Scott slapped his forehead.

"Right, you have been in the ICU when we announced it…," he mumbled and Logan began to frown.

"Announced what?"

"That we're going to marry next year," Scott smiled and nodded when Logan cocked an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, I asked her…"

"Wow… Someone finally grew some balls."

"Oh, shut up!"

"'n she really agreed on marryin' ya?" Logan whistled. "Wow, she's braver than I thought." He ducked when Scott threw a dirty towel at him and chuckled.

"What's it like having twins?" he asked after a moment and met Logan's gaze.

"Honest answer?"

"Sure…"

"Hell!"

Scott hadn't reckoned with this. "Why?" he asked and sat up.

"Coz it is. Ya don't get any sleep, ya have t'take care of both of'em at the same time, ya put one t'sleep after tryin' for hours'n the other one wakes the siblin' up again… You'll argue with yer partner, coz yer both tired like hell. Forget about alone time or sex, yer both too tired'n too much on the egde. Not t'forget that ya have Alex, too. If yer lucky he won't get jealous."

Staring at him for a good while, Scott heaved a deep breath. He had reckoned with every answer, but this. "That bad?"

Logan shrugged. "Worst case scenario."

"Damn… It looked so easy when you had to take care of them by yourself…"

He chuckled and nodded. "Yeah, it was very _easy_!" he replied ironically. "It can be hell on earth, trust me! When yer tired'n about t'drop dead t'the ground'n the won't stop cryin'…?" he asked and held Scott's gaze. "Trust me, ya sometimes want t'just smash'em. 'n then they smile at ya for the first time'n ya feel like the happiest guy on earth. Babies can be sneaky bastards." He sipped on his beer and had to laugh when Scott pales noticeably. "Too late t'run Slim!"

"Well, if you managed to raise them I'll manage, too," Scott said self-assured and got up. "Come on, let's get back to work. Break was long enough."

"It ain't me who starts whinin' about back pain again, ya know?" Logan mocked and went on working on the furniture.

"I'm older than you in the physical way, okay? And besides….you have a healing factor!" Scott teased him back and took the paint brush.

"No," Logan replied and smirked evilly at him. "I've Jeannie, who's very good in…"

"Argh! I don't want to hear it!" Scott quickly said and began to work on the wall again.

Laughing aloud, Logan turned his head towards the door and cocked an eyebrow at Daken and Jean-Paul. "Somethin' wrong?"

"No, we just wanted to ask if we can borrow one of the cars," Northstar waved off and looked to and fro between both men.

"Why?" Scott asked skeptically, still not liking the fact that Daken was in the house.

"He needs clothes," Jean-Paul explained with a nod at the feral next to him. "I don't mind sharing mine, but by now it's really becoming problematic…"

"I actually don't think it's such a great idea…"

"Same here," Logan agreed with a nod. "It ain't safe out there."

"No, I actually meant him leaving the grounds," Scott said with a nod at Daken.

While Daken rolled his eyes, Jean-Paul sighed. "Logan, we can't always hide at the mansion. And he really needs clothes."

"Then take yer phone'n call if somethin's wrong." Logan said. "Put my number on speed dial."

"Or better said…," Scott began and looked at the two mutants, "buy the stuff online."

"Oh c'mon!" Northstar said and gave him a rather annoyed look. "He needs to get out of here, too, don't you think? If you want him to stay inside, why don't you chain him up? Problem solved!"

"Can we have a car, yes or no?" Daken growled and looked at Scott and Logan in his usual annoyed way.

"Yeah, just take the black SUV," Logan waved off and something crossed his mind. "Do ya even have money?!"

"Yeah, we do. Thanks," Jean-Paul said and dragged Daken with him, before his looks would kill Scott. "How about a movie, too?" he suggested when they sat in the car and he started the engine. "Or wait… I guess you've never been to the theatre, right?"

"Don't think I missed much, did I?" Daken asked supported his head with one hand.

"Are you kidding? You missed a lot!"

"Is that so?"

"Yeah," Northstar nodded and gave him a brief look before he concentrated on the streets again. "Did you see…like…Lord of the Rings?" The frown he received was answer enough. "Okay, then we're going to watch that later."

"Why?" Daken demanded to know.

"So that you get your late education on life," Jean-Paul teased him and was surprised that he actually found an empty parking lot within five minutes. "I think we should check out some sportswear and everyday clothes," he suggested and led him over to one of the stores that Rogue had told him about. "And to make sure that you got it," he said before he pushed the door open, "no black clothes!"

"I like black…," Daken grumbled and buried his hands in his pockets before he followed him inside the sports shop. "Just grab something and let's go…"

"Stop sulking and get going," Jean-Paul replied and pushed him over to some work out clothes. When Daken just crossed his arms, he rolled his eyes and picked some clothes in the feral's size. "Here, go and try them on."

"Why? If it's my size, they'll fit," Daken asked annoyed.

"To see how the look at you, pinhead," Northstar replied and closed the curtain. He sat down with a sigh and knew it would be a very long day before they would actually be done shopping… To his surprise the feral actually agreed on the clothes and they could quickly go over to the next store, in which they looked for shirts of all kinds and everything else they needed. Since Jean-Paul had quickly figured out _why _Daken was so quick on agreeing on clothes, no matter what he picked for him, he pushed him into the next changing cubicle with a look that spoke volumes.

"They suck," Northstar heard Daken grumbling after a few seconds and sighed.

"What sucks this time?" he asked and leant back in the stool he was sitting on, watched how Daken pushed the door to the changing cubicle open and gave him a very annoyed look. Northstar looked at him intently and shrugged. "What sucks?"

"This!" Daken grunted and pointed at himself.

"I think it looks very good."

Narrowing his eyes, the feral tilted his head in a warning gesture. "It sucks!"

"I actually think it looks very nice," the sales woman agreed and smiled at him. "Denim looks good on you and they fit very nicely."

Daken glared at her. "When I ask for an opinion, I tend to look at that person, so since I didn't look at you, who exactly asked for it?" he snapped and disappeared in the cube again.

"Sorry, he hates shopping," Jean-Paul apologized with a weak smile. "And he's pretty moody today…"

"Well…," the woman said and brushed her hair back, "your boyfriend should work on his manners, I think."

"Ehm, he's not my…," he began but she was already gone. He sighed and gave the feral a sour look when he joined him again. "Was that necessary?!" he asked him and led him to the checkout to pay for everything. "She only tried to help."

"She was a damn annoying bitch," Daken growled and waited for him to pay, his eyes taking in the whole room and staring everyone down that dared to look at him in a funny way.

"Still, it wasn't a nice a thing to do," Northstar replied and came to a halt in front of the door. "So… You wanna go and see a movie or not? If, then we should bring all of that stuff to the car first," he asked and waited for a reply.

"I don't care," Daken grumbled and went over to the car after grabbing two of the bags.

"That's what you always say…"

"Then why are you asking?" the feral asked and turned around.

Sighing, Northstar rolled his eyes. "You are so moody today, it's unbelievable. What the hell is wrong with you?!" he asked in complete annoyance and opened the car door, put the other two bags inside of it, while the feral rather threw them inside. "The only thing you do since yesterday is sulking and snapping. Mind to tell me why?" he demanded to know and crossed his arms.

"What do you think why?" Daken snapped and glared at him.

"That's why I'm asking," Northstar shrugged and began to frown when Daken looked around for a moment, before he came very close and looked up at him.

"You damn well know why!" the feral growled darkly and it dawned upon his opposite what he was talking about.

"Because I didn't feel like it yesterday?" Jean-Paul chuckled. "That's why you are at war with everything and everyone?"

"Think that's funny?!" Daken hissed and narrowed his eyes warningly.

"Actually, yeah…," his opposite replied and smirked at him. "But well… If you promise to behave from now on, you might get lucky later. _Might_! Didn't say you will, okay?" he added and closed the door again. "So, wanna see a movie, yes or no?"

When they left the movie theatre later it was already dark and they headed straight for the car. "I'm hungry…," Daken grumbled and looked out of the window while Jean-Paul was driving.

"What do you feel like? Pizza? We could grab some on our way home," Northstar suggested and frowned at the man next to him when this one snorted.

"Home…," Daken grunted to himself and was still looking out of the open window when they drove past several buildings that were fully illuminated.

"What did you just say?"

"Nothing…," he mumbled and watched how people or happy couples walked down the streets together, heard what they were talking about and switched his attention to the buildings and cars again. He knew he could manipulate them into arguing with each other, but for whatever reason he didn't feel like it. Only days ago, he would have done it for fun… His eyes lowered and he looked at his hands, thought he could feel the foreign metal in him. It had taken him a good while to even move properly with all that extra weight and all he wanted was for it to be gone again. He had never asked for it.

"Hey…"

He startled when a hand touched his shoulder and realized that he had been too distracted with his own thought that he hadn't noticed that Jean-Paul had already gotten pizza and some soda to drink. Confused, Daken looked around and realized that they were in a parking lot, he could smell the food inside of the small restaurant and heard the people in tt chatting with each other.

"You alright?" Northstar asked concerned and frowned at him.

"Yeah," the feral grunted and opened the box to grab a slice.

"We should eat here. It'll be cold until we reach the mansion again," Jean-Paul suggested and looked at the clock. He was sure Logan had a fit because they were gone for a good while. Thinking further about it, he was sure it was rather Scott who sat in front of the telly and checked all channels on who Daken might have killed in the past hours… After he had eaten two slices, he sipped on his soda and realized that they were practically the only ones there. He looked aside and watched the feral eating for a moment, thinking about several things as Daken suddenly looked him straight in the eye.

"Wanna know whet your pheromone level tells me?" he asked and the man next to him smirked.

"I can't believe you nearly ate the whole thing all by yourself," Jean-Paul replied and put the empty soda bottle on the ground behind him.

"Said I was hungry," Daken grunted and jerked his head aside with a frown.

"What? Something wrong?" Northstar asked alerted, but the man next to him shook his head after a moment.

"No. Thought I heard something though…," Daken said and nodded at the wheel. "Let's go."

"Alright," the other man shrugged and started the engine. Soon they were back on the road home. "I hate it when the roads are so damn dark…," Northstar cursed and squinted in hope to be able to see better.

"You're doing fine," Daken grumbled.

"Thanks a lot Mr. Super-Eyesight."

They could already see the lights of the mansion from afar as one of the tires suddenly burst and they came to an awkward halt. "You've gotta be kidding me… If we don't have another one we can walk through the whole wood…," Jean-Paul cursed and was about to open the car door as Daken grabbed his arm. "What?" he asked surprised and didn't like the look the feral had on him at all.

"What's the quickest way?"

"Straight through the woods," he replied and Daken let go of him. "Who is it?"

"Too many for my taste…," the feral grumbled and pulled him over to his seat. "Open the door and run!"

"I'm way faster than you. I won't leave you behind," Jean-Paul disagreed and held on to his arm.

"Just run!" Daken grumbled and pushed the door open, dragged the other mutant with him. As if someone had given them a signal, they both started running towards and through the woods. "They're right behind us," he told him and jumped over a fallen tree.

"Which direction?" Northstar asked and held onto his wrist so that Daken could run faster than usual with his help.

"Four of the on your right."

Without looking, Jean-Paul aimed into that direction. "Don't look at it!" he warned the feral before his body began to glow and light shot into the direction, blinding the Devils that were after them. He heard the whimpers they uttered and concentrated on the mansion again that was still too far away.

"Didn't know you can do that," Daken panted and tried to keep up with him.

"You never asked," Northstar replied and pulled the cell phone out of his pocket to press the speed dial. He heard Logan answering the phone as something solid bumped into him and he fell, the phone landing somewhere in the dark. Before he could turn to face his attacker, he heard Daken growling and the sound of claws extracting. It didn't take long and warm liquid splashed into his face, something else falling to the ground. He knew the feral had just beheaded some of their enemies.

"Come on!" Daken demanded and pulled him back up, began to run again and heard how more of their enemies were coming closer.

"How many?"

"Too many!" he growled and nearly slipped when Northstar quickened his pace. "Go ahead!"

"No!" Jean-Paul replied and aimed his hand behind them, light shooting out of it. "Just tell me where they are!"

"Who? The ten above us in the trees or the ten surrounding us?" Daken asked sarcastically.

"The direction is all I need," Northstar replied and could see the end of the wood when Daken let go of his hand. "What are you doing?" he barked and nearly stopped running, but saw how the feral leapt at something right above his head. The growls and whimpers mixed and something was slammed into the tree next to him. "Jeez, warn me next time!" he said and grabbed Daken's wrist again to run faster. Together they aimed for the exit and reached the secure grounds of the mansion, as a shot echoed through the night from afar.

Daken heard how the Devils whimpered and ran for the other end of the woods, while he stopped running and tried to catch his breath. He turned his head when the backdoor of the mansion was opened and looked back at Northstar when this one touched his shoulder. He frowned and tried to read the odd look on the man's face. "What…?" Daken began as Jean-Paul suddenly fell forward and dropped to his knees as he caught the fall. "What's wrong?" he asked and looked the man over, his eyes widening a bit as he noticed how Northstar's shirt became quickly soaked at the chest and back. While he supported him with one arm, he used his other hand to feel for a wound. "Shit…," Daken cursed barely audible and looked up, his breathing unusually fast, as a hand touched his cheek.

"You have…such beautiful eyes…," Jean-Paul breathed hard with a dazed smile and went completely limb in the next moment…

**This chapter really gave me a headache. I was having serious writer's blocks the whole time through and didn't know how to go on or end the chapter. Thanks a lot to MidLifeCrisis, who is always there to discuss stuff concerning the story. : ) And thanks a lot to all of you, who have reviewed the last chapter! Please let me know what you think. ; ) See ya!!**


	56. Chapter 53

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 53**

While they sat on the terrace with beer in their hands and looked at the starry sky, Logan and James remained in a comfortable, but thoughtful silence for a while. They had begun to talk about their lost friends that had died during the attack on the Alpha Flight HQ and were now thinking about them and the past. With a heavy sigh, James looked aside and at Logan, who stared at his beer and was obviously brooding. "So…," he said and the feral looked at him. "We're cousins, huh? Who would have thought…"

"Yeah…," Logan grunted and sipped on his beer before he heaved a very deep breath. He thought about how much he would miss Puck, who had been one of his closest friends, thought about what Heather and James would do now that their team was gone… "What's yer plan?"

James shrugged. "I don't know… Maybe retiring, maybe joining your team…" He shrugged again. "I really don't know…"

"Fair enough," Logan grumbled and emptied his fifth beer on this evening.

"But then again…," James began and Logan looked at him again, "I don't know if staying here is such a good idea either."

"Why?"

"Well Ororo gave us her child and she can tell me whatever she wants, but it hurts her a lot to see her son everyday."

"It was her decision t'give him up," Logan grunted and received a nod.

"Yes, but it's still her baby. I mean… Imagine you grow up and think your parents are your parents and then you get to know that they aren't," James replied and slapped his forehead when Logan snorted in a sarcastic way. "I'm sorry! I didn't think about your situation… Of course you'd know…," he apologized, but Logan shook his head. "So what are you going to do about him? Your father I mean."

"I'm gonna find him'n kill him," Logan growled full of hatred and glared at the woods. "He's gonna pay for what he did…"

"He nearly killed you last time!"

"Yeah, because I wasn't prepared for him bein' still alive."

"You know that we'll help you," James said and put a hand to Logan's shoulder.

"Thanks, but this is family business," Logan replied which made the man next to him chuckle.

"We're cousins. That means, it's also my business, okay?"

Smirking, Logan nodded. "Right… But I want ya t'stay outta it. He can injure me, but without rippin' my head off he can't kill me."

"Well, if you need help…," James said and made an and-so-on gesture with his hand.

"I know…"

They both turned around when the door was opened and Jean appeared in it, already wearing her short, silky and dark red nightgown. "I want to go to bed. You coming?" she asked Logan, who only smirked at her.

James sighed playfully and shook his head. "I don't need to be a psychic to know what you're thinking…," he said and patted his back. "Keep it down, okay?"

"Maybe…," Logan replied and tidied quickly up before he joined Jean. "Night!"

"Night," James said and got up, too. "See you at the wedding later." He shook his head smiling, when Logan kissed the redhead's neck possessively and held her attached to his waist. "Logan?" he asked and the feral looked up after a moment. "This here is the kitchen. Your bedroom is upstairs," he teased him and locked the backdoor.

Blushing, Jean brushed her hair back. "Oh, you should check on Heather!"

"Why?" James asked concerned, his playful mood immediately forgotten.

"Just check on her," she replied and wished him once more a good night, before she retreated to her rooms, where Logan pulled her into a hungry kiss as soon as she had closed the bedroom door. Smiling against his lips, she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist after he had pulled her up, was surprised about how excited he already was. Her tongue began to tease his playfully while he carried her over to the bed, where he put her gently down and kept most of his weight off her. "Someone's hungry," Jean joked and laughed when he growled into her neck, where he placed gentle bites. "Or better said starved, hm?" she added and ran her hands through his soft hair, while Logan used his hands to pull her gown down and traced her skin with gentle bites and kisses, until he had reached her legs. She raised her head a bit to see what he was doing, felt how her heart skipped a beat in sheer excitement as he grinned darkly at her and ascended her body slowly, like a predator. She instantly knew that he would take his time to drive her nuts with desire, before he would grant her any release, Biting her lower lip, Jean settled back against the covers and heaved a deep breath when he parted her legs gently…

* * *

Out of breath, James reached his room door and went quickly inside, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. "Heather?" he called when the bedroom was empty and was about to head for the bathroom next, when the door was opened by her. "God, baby, what's wrong?" he asked fully concerned now and went over to the picture of misery to pull her close. His wife hardly ever cried and the fact that she was sobbing uncontrollably now had him on full alert. "What happened?! Is something wrong with Taylor?" he asked since the boy was nowhere in sight, but she shook her head and wrapped her arms around his waist. Concerned, he cupped her face and tried to read anything in her eyes, but they told him nothing except that his wife was a complete mess. Not knowing what else to do, he led her over to the bed and sat down on it with her on his lap. "What happened?" James asked after a moment and stroked soothingly over her back, his neck and shirt already soaked with her tears.

"I…I had an appointment today…," Heather sobbed and looked into his terrified face.

"Did…they find something serious?" James asked, his heart nearly bursting in his chest in fear when she nodded. "What is it…?" he said and swallowed hard when she got up to bring over some papers. Looking at them, he couldn't reach out and turn them around, the fear of losing her was too great. "Just tell me. What is it?" he begged her and looked into her face, while Heather reached out and turned the first paper around. He lowered his eyes and thought his heart would stop beating instantly. "That's not possible…," James mumbled and pulled the paper up to have a better look at it, knowing that what he saw wasn't possible at all. "This can't be…" Shocked he stared at her and now completely understood why she was such a mess, he could tell that he had teared up, too.

"I can't believe this…," Heather said in a teary voice and took the paper from him with a shake of her head. "I mean…," she sniffed and wiped tears away that were instantly replaced by new ones, "we tried for so long… And they said it would never happen… And now this…" Biting her lip, she began to sob once more and sat down on his lap, where she wrapped her arms tightly around his neck and cried into it.

"We're really going to have a baby…," James mumbled, still shocked and completely overwhelmed by the news. Letting out a happy laugh, he pulled her as close as possible and didn't care that he was crying, too. "I can't believe this…," he said into her neck and closed his eyes, holding her close and rocking her gently. "How far in are you?" he asked her after both of them had calmed down enough and let go a bit so that she could sit up.

"Nearly nine weeks according to Jean," Heather sniffed and leant into his touch when he reached out to wipe her tears away. "What…," she began and bit her lip while playing with his shirt. "What if it won't last?" she finished her sentence and the fear was mirrored in her eyes.

"Don't even think about it!" James warned her and cupped her face.

"But I could never endure it to get my hopes up again, just to be crashed once more…," she replied terrified, but he shook his head.

"This will work out this time, alright? This will work out!" he said and gave her a completely serious and determined look. "We're going to have that little squirt, okay?"

Trying to smile at him, Heather sniffed and watched how her hands played with the collar of his shirt. "Still I'm scared…," she whispered and felt like crying again, but he pulled her close.

"I know… Me, too," James mumbled into her neck and closed his eyes. He still remembered too well how hard they had tried and how often they'd been painfully let down. Even more so how crushed both of them had been, when the doctors had destroyed any hopes that had still remained and had told them it was impossible for them to have a child on their own. He opened his eyes to look at the ultrasound pictures, felt how she leant her head against his to do the same. "April then, huh?" he asked and pulled her closer. "Taylor will be one by then…"

"Yes. It will be a whole lot of work…," Heather replied and he chuckled.

"I so don't care if I don't get any sleep for weeks as long as this works out!" James said with a happy smile and pulled her into a long and loving kiss. "Where is Taylor anyway?"

"He fell asleep while playing with Nick. So we decided to let him sleep over," she explained and he nodded in understanding. "Let's go to bed. My head hurts from all that crying…" Tiredly, she ran a hand over her face and had barely gotten up, when he pulled her into another kiss.

"I love you," James said and embraced her.

"I love you, too," she smiled and reached out to dry his cheeks with her hand.

* * *

Satisfied and with a content smile on her lips, Jean rested her head on Logan's shoulder and stroked lazily over his stomach, whereas he had an arm wrapped around her waist and did the same. She shivered a bit when the layer of sweat began to cool on her skin and snuggled closer to his warm body, while he turned around and pulled her close into a warming bear hug.

"Think the Cajun'n Popsicle will stick t'the rule'n sleep in another room?" Logan grumbled and cuddled up to place tiny kisses up and down her neck.

"The way Kitty threatened them…," Jean replied and made him chuckle. "Mmm…go on," she sighed and turned around a bit to give him better access.

"Ya like that, huh?" he teased her and went on nibbling, biting and kissing his way along her jaw, down her neck to her collarbone and back up again, made sure to pay attention to the sensitive spot below her ear. "Another round…," he growled huskily into her ear and she sighed.

"I'm tired, Logan…," Jean mumbled and looked at him through heavy lidded eyes.

"Ya don't have t'do anythin'," he smirked and wobbled his eyebrows until Jean sighed once more. "Yer will's no match t'my overwhelming charisma, darlin'," Logan teased her and rolled Jean on to her belly, straddled her afterwards and parted her legs a bit.

"Yes, that must be it," the redhead replied and shivered at his touch. "Or maybe you're just too predictable and I knew that you would do all the work, if I just said that I was too tired, honey?" she challenged him and had goose bumps everywhere when he chuckled deeply into her ear.

"Did ya predict this, too?" Logan challenged her back and used a very deep and slow thrust, which made her arch her back against him and moan. "Guess not…," he grunted and buried his head on her neck again to go on with his teasing.

* * *

"Remy doesn't like dis…," the Cajun said and pulled nervously on his tie, his face pale. "Why did I agree on dis, mon ami?"

"That's what I'm asking myself…," Bobby mumbled and thought he was sweating, even if this wasn't possible. "God, can they just come?! Right now? I want to get this over with…"

Next to him Scott laughed and shook his head. "Nervous, aren't we?"

"Oh, shut up! Your turn's next!"

"Oui. And den it's us who'll 'ave fun," Remy agreed and sighed, began to play with his cards and wondered why Kurt quickly took them away from him.

"You'll blow up the vhole garden!" the Elf said and handed the cards to his wife, before he sat back down next to her.

"Merde…," the Cajun coursed and looked for something else to occupy himself with.

"Question, and please….make my day!" Tony begged after tapping Narya on the shoulder. "Please tell me Logan was as nervous as they are!"

"Well, I haven't been here for his first wedding," the blonde apologized with a shrug and Tony's eyes instantly fell on John, who shook his head, too.

"Me neither," he grunted and Tony sighed in disappointment. "But, if it makes you happy, he was nervous on his second!"

"Damn, I'd have loved to see that…," the Avenger said and pointed at Ororo. "But she was here for the wedding, right?" he asked and didn't wait for a 'Yes' before he settled on the chair behind the weather goddess and leant forward. "You know, you're my favorite woman here, right? And I've always been nice to you, haven't I?"

Laughing, Ororo waved off. "Just tell me what you want, Tony!"

"Oh, just a minor information on one of the guys here," he said with a serious look on his face and acted as if it wasn't as important to him as it actually was. "Really minor information, nothing big."

"Shoot," she smiled and turned around a bit to have a better look at her.

"On a scale from 1 to 10," Tony said and leant further in, "how nervous was our favorite Canadian on his wedding day?"

Ororo quickly checked the area to make sure Logan wasn't in sight, before she whispered, "Make it a 12."

He chuckled and nodded. "As I've thought. Thanks a lot, sweetheart! You just made my day," he said and returned to his seat.

"A 12?" John chuckled, since he had heard it and shook his head.

"'ow about we just go'n get a beer, mon ami?" Remy suggested after checking on his tie for the tenth time. "Just grab a car'n go?"

"You do realize that they will kill us for this?" Bobby asked and thought his heart was about to break through his chest or fall out of his mouth. He'd never been that nervous before and was closer to vomiting than he liked. "I swear, if they don't show up within the next five minutes, I'll puke!"

"I'll tell Kurt to make sure that it's on camera, okay?" Scott smiled and watched how Logan approached them. "And thinking about it, I'll better tell him now," he added and made sure he was out of the way before the feral arrived.

"Ya'n him, follow me!" Logan grunted and stepped aside after pointing at Remy first and Bobby next. Both men exchanged a surprised look, swallowed and began to wonder about what they might have done to piss the feral off.

"Did you sneak into their room?" Bobby hissed into Remy's direction.

"Non, Remy slept on da couch. But maybe you did, non?" the Cajun replied with a half glare and stopped when he realized that he had nearly bumped into Logan. "What's da matter, mon ami? Remy didn't do anythin'! If somethin' 'appened, den it was 'im." He nodded at Bobby, who's jaw dropped.

"Hey! You Judas!" he complained and nudged him hard into the ribs.

"Shut up, both of ya!" Logan growled and they swallowed hard. "Before I get the girls, let me tell ya one thing 'n ya better listen!" he warned them with a glare. "If I find one of my girls cryin' 'n get t'know that ya hurt'em, then don't even bother t'run'n hide, coz I'll find ya, understood? I'll track both of ya down 'n will hurt ya like you've never been hurt before, if ya dare t'hurt'em! Got it?" he demanded to know and looked to and fro between the two men, who looked completely intimidated and only nodded quickly. "'n that's a promise!" he added before he stomped back towards the mansion and left them standing there.

"The thing about grabbing a car you mentioned before?" Bobby asked shocked and watched Logan leaving, whereas Remy nodded and watched him, too. "Erase that from your memory! Now!"

"Already done, mon ami!" the Cajun replied and exchanged a look with him, before they walked back over to their original positions. "Remy dinks da whole thing was a very bad idea… Pissin' off da Wolverine? Dat's not good, mon ami. Dat's not good at all…"

"I totally agree with you…," Bobby said and heaved a deep breath, now really wishing he could just puke.

"I so knew he'd do this…," Scott smirked and took Raven's hand into his. "Remind me to make a bet next time!"

"Next time would be our wedding," she reminded him and he paused for a moment before he said, "Forget I just said it!"

Smiling at him, she handed Alex over to him and sighed. "I'm going to be so fat…," she complained and looked at how her blue robe stretched over her body.

"I already told you, you look gorgeous," he tried to soothe her and leant back a bit, so that Alex could sleep against his chest.

"I already have a small bump and I'm not even four month in, Summers!" Raven snapped and rolled her eyes. "Men…," she cursed and Ororo patted her hand.

"They just don't know better. Don't mind him," she winked and looked aside. "TJ, would you sit back down, please?"

"But it's boring, mommy! And Jack's running around, too!" the girl complained and rolled her eyes after a warning look from her mother. Sulking, she sat back down and crossed her arms, watched how Jean told her son to sit back down, too. The redhead then looked down the aisle and towards the mansion's backdoor, wondered what took Logan so long to get Jubilee and Rogue.

"Mommy, why do we have to wear this?" Lily asked and pulled a face, since she hated dressing like a girl. Her hands pulled on the white gown and noticed that Laura looked unhappy, too. In fact both of them were the only ones of the girls that hated being dressed like one.

"Because it's a wedding sweetheart and you're a flower girl," her mother explained with a smile. "And you look very nice."

"It sucks, mommy!" Laura cried and sulked. "Daddy knows that we hate gowns!"

"And daddy hates suits, still he is wearing one, honey," Jean said slightly annoyed. "Sometimes you have to do things that you don't like. Now stop pulling those faces!" When she turned once more to look down the aisle, a small smile became visible on her lips…

* * *

Jubilee heaved a very deep breath when she saw the others from far away and clung harder to Logan's left arm, while Rogue occupied the right one. "I'm so gonna puke…," she said over and over again, felt her heart beating in every inch of her body and grabbed the bouquet of yellow roses harder. "Can we just turn around, please?!"

Chuckling, Logan looked down on her. "Darlin', I survived it, too, okay?"

"Did Remy pick a good suit?" Rogue asked him, sounding terrified and nervous, too. "Please, say yes!"

The feral wobbled his head. "Dunno. Looked rather violet t'me," he joked and smirked when the woman's eyes grew wide. "Just kiddin', darlin'!"

"Logan!" Rogue cried and wanted to hit him with her red and white roses, but thought better of it. "God, I'm going to die…," she whined instead and hit her face on his arm.

"Just wait until it starts," he teased them and waited for the priest to nod, before he led them down the aisle. The nervousness he picked up on from both couples overwhelmed him and he began to think about his wedding. Had he been the same and had been _that _nervous on that day? Probably yes, since he hardly remembered it… With a sigh he looked at the two young women on his arms and couldn't believe how fast time had gone by. He thought it had been yesterday when Rogue had entered his car or that Jubilee had talked to him for the first time…and now he was leading them down the aisle, past everyone else, heard the whispered of the others on how beautiful the bridges looked and wondered how Bobby could still be standing with his heart beating that fast… His eyes briefly searched for Jean and returned the warm smile she gave him with one of his own and a wink. When they stopped in front of the priest and Bobby and Remy, Logan embraced both women firmly and kissed their cheeks, before he sat down next to Jean and pulled Jamie on to his lap.

"You did great," Jean teased him with a whisper and took his hand into hers smiling.

"Thanks, darlin'," he whispered back with a low chuckle as Ororo tapped his shoulder from behind.

"If I had known that you were so talented in picking wedding gowns, I'd have taken you with me when I had bought my one," she told him with a wink and he rolled his eyes.

"Be happy that I talked Jubes outta the yellow one!"

"Oh, I so knew it!" Ororo said and stifled her laugh. She watched the couples at the front smiling and sighed heavily, remembered her own wedding and suddenly felt very old…

Behind her Narya, who had Anna on her lap and leant into John dreamily, while she watched the ceremony, listened to the words of the priest. She was just deeply in thoughts when Logan turned his head a bit and exchanged a look with his brother, saw how Logan smirked and turned back around. Confused, she raised her head and looked at John. "What was that about?"

"What do you mean?" he whispered back innocently.

"You and Logan, talking about me!"

He snorted and grinned. "We didn't _talk_ about you, baby."

Narya gave him a warning, but playful glare. "Then eye-contact-talking about me!"

Chuckling, he shook his head and took her hand. "It was just silent communication," he assured her, but still smirked. "Meaningless. Really!"

"You're mean!" she pouted and rested her head against his shoulder again. "Very mean!"

Smirking, he kissed the top of her head and leant his head on hers, when his daughter frowned at him. "What's wrong, baby?"

"When are you going to marry, daddy?" Anna asked him bluntly and loud enough for everyone to hear. Confused, she looked around when the others began to laugh. "I wasn't making a joke!" she defended herself and pouted.

John hushed gently her and gave the priest an apologetic shrug. "Not so loud, okay?"

"But when are you going to marry?" Anna whispered into his ear and he shook his head, smiling.

"You want us to live together, you want us to have a baby, now to marry…," he listed and pulled her on to his lap. "What's next?"

Thinking he was serious, she began to think about it very hard. "A dog!"

"A dog?" he chuckled and nodded. "Baby, I think we need to talk. Really!"

"A cat will be fine, too, daddy, but I'd rather have a dog!" Anna assured him with a nod and turned back around to watch the ceremony.

Next to them Moira stifled her laugh and pulled Nick further up. "Well, John…" She winked at him and kissed the top of her son's head, the cat-like ears tickling her nose. When Narya reached over to carefully stroke through the fur, she smiled since Nick began to purr in his sleep. "Cute, isn't he?" she asked and was once more completely in love with her adopted son.

"I'm always amazed again that he could be really yours and Hank's," Narya replied. "His fur has your hair color…"

"It will probably get darker when he gets older," Moira said and stroked absently over Nick's back. When she looked up again and listened to the vows, she teared up almost instantly. "God, I hate this part…," she sniffed and thanked Tony for handing her a tissue. "Always the same with me…"

"It's genetic," the Avengers shrugged and looked at her. "Women are supposed to cry rivers on a wedding, while men have to get drunk."

"Then Logan is a wom…," Ororo began, when said man turned his head quickly into her direction with a warning growl.

"Would ya shut up!" he hissed and narrowed his eyes.

"Never mind…," she quickly said.

"He cries at weddings?!" Tony asked and gave his former team member a questioning look.

"I think she means his own wedding," Narya shrugged and patted Moira's back soothingly.

Only shaking his head, Logan turned back around and heard how the priest announced that both couples were now husband and wife and that the husbands could kiss the women in front of them. Sighing, he shook his head once more. He felt old…

"You're not old!" Jean scolded him and slapped his arm gently.

"I _feel_ old!" he grunted and smiled at Rogue when the woman looked at him. "'n besides, darlin', I AM old!"

"And you're also too old for a midlife crisis," Jean replied and handed her daughters the baskets with flowers. "Go ahead!" she said and got up to take pictures from them and the other girls, while Logan once more grumbled that he was old after while watching his daughters scattered flowers in front of the newly weds.

"You're not!" his wife scolded him mentally.

"I so am," he replied on the same way. "It's been just yesterday that Lily'n Jack brought us the rings'n we walked down the aisle…"

"God, he has a midlife crisis, I can't believe it…," Jean groaned with a shake of her head and sighed heavily.

"Bit late for that, don't you think?" Tony winked at her and got in line to congratulate the newly weds. "Jean, darling, since you're my favorite woman here," he began and smiled at her, "can I ask you something?"

"I know what you want to ask, Tony," the redhead smiled back at him with a knowing look. "And I won't tell you!"

He feigned shock. "Am I that predictable?!"

"In this moment,….yes!" she laughed and brushed her hair back.

"Damn…," he said and sighed. "Well, I'll go and join the _I'm old_-club over there," he added and motioned towards Logan, Hank and Scott. "Because together we can at least be old AND hot, you know?" he said and thought about it when he looked at Hank. "Make it old, hot and furry!" he corrected himself with a wink and Jean couldn't help but laugh.

When she sat next to Ororo and watched how Logan danced with Rogue first and Jubilee next, she couldn't help but think that he was right. To her it's just been yesterday that they had married and now the twins would soon turn 10. "He's right…," she sighed and brushed her hair back. "We're old…" Seeing how he looked up and flashed a smirk at her, she turned to look at Ororo.

"Very old indeed…," the weather goddess nodded and watched her daughter playing with the other children. "Good for the children to talk us into letting them change their clothes…," she said, since TJ had just fallen down and her knees were covered in grass.

"Well, knowing Lily and Laura they would have run to Logan and starting whining about their gowns anyway," Jean sighed and sipped on her drink. "And you know Logan when it comes to his little girls, right?" she added with a look that spoke volumes.

"Oh, yes, I do!" Ororo laughed. "He can't say no…"

"Exactly!" From afar she watched how Scott got up to get Raven something to drink and saw how Alex excused himself to go over to him.

"Ten bucks that they will start fighting again…," Ororo commented and the redhead nodded.

Scott looked briefly aside as he poured water into a glass and gave his brother a brief look. In the past weeks they had done their best to get out of each others way and he was sick of fighting. "What do you want?" he asked and looked at the blonde man next to him.

"Just asking how you are?" Alex shrugged and got something to drink for Lorna, too. "We haven't talked a lot lately…"

"Yeah, and I wonder why," Scott mumbled and was about to return to Raven, when Alex grabbed his arm.

"Can't we just….sit down and talk? We're not teens anymore, Scott, and this fighting or the silence is really damn annoying by now!" Alex said, not hiding his annoyance.

"Do we have to discuss this now?" Scott asked, annoyed, too. "If you want to talk, sit down at our table, okay?" he added after a moment and went back to join Raven and his son again. "Here," he said and handed her the glass, which she took thankfully.

"What did he want?" she asked after sipping on it and noticed that his brother was talking to his wife first, and came over to them next. "Scott…?"

"Hey," Alex greeted her and nodded at the empty stools. "Do you mind?"

"Told you if you wanted to talk to come over, didn't I?" Scott asked and put his son down that he could join Tommy, Jean-Luc and Jamie. He waited for them to finally sit down, before he said "So…talk."

Alex sighed. "It'd damn annoying by now, okay? Us, I mean. We act like twelve year olds…"

Scott nodded, but didn't reply.

"You're brothers, so I guess that comes with it," Lorna said and watched how the newly weds danced with each other. When her eyes caught Logan, who dragged Jean over to the dance floor, she became thoughtful. "Well, not with all brothers obviously…"

"Still, it sucks!" Alex grumbled and sighed. His eyes fell from Raven back to Scott. "Can't we just…start over? Forget about the past and all the shit that came with it?"

Looking at him for a while in utter silence, Scott exchanged a look with Raven, who could only shrug. "We can try…," he finally said and smirked when Jean stomped on Logan's food. "I hope you're a better dancer than her," he said while taking Raven's hand and saw out of the corner of his eyes how Logan flipped him off with his middle claw.

"When's your wedding?" Lorna asked out of interest.

"Maybe July or August next year…," Raven shrugged. "We haven't decided, yet."

"And the babies?" Alex asked next.

"March," Scott replied. "What about the two of you?"

"Nah…," his brother pulled a face and shook his head. "Kids are not for me…"

"Why not?"

"Well, they're loud, they cost money, you don't have that much alone time anymore," Alex listed and Scott began to frown. "I mean, you were always the family centric guy anyway. You always wanted to find the perfect wife and have kids."

"Right, and you always wanted to have a career…," Scott nodded.

"Yeah…"

"Well…," he sighed and shrugged, while he watched his son playing with his friends. "You miss out on one of the greatest things in life. Trust me!"

Alex nodded and followed Raven's and Scott's look. "Yeah, maybe… I don't know." When he saw how Tony tried to talk Logan into letting him dance with Jean, a thought crossed his mind. "But then again… If someone like Logan manages it…"

"No!" Logan growled and wrapped a possessive arm around the redhead next to him. "Ask 'Ro!"

"Oh, come on!" Tony sulked playfully. "It's just a dance, Logan. I won't kidnap her or anything."

"Are ya so sure about that?!" the feral growled and cocked an eyebrow at his opposite, when Jean laid a hand on his arm.

"Just one dance, okay?" Jean asked and he narrowed his eyes at her. "Be nice, honey!" she smiled and kissed his lips, before she beckoned Tony, who grinned at Logan, to follow him.

Grumbling and muttering curses under his breath, Logan went over to the bar and grabbed a beer, one, which he downed instantly. "Treacherous bastard of a…"

"Aw, come on," Heather cooed and put a hand to his shoulder. "It's just one dance."

"Yeah, with _him_!" he growled and grabbed another beer.

She giggled. "You're jealous, huh?" she noticed and nodded when he seized her up for a coffin. "Yes, you are… Come on," she said and took the beer from him, then led him over to the dance floor. "Have a dance with me then."

When they were in the middle of it and he held her close, Logan had to think about the affair they had decades ago, the many stolen kisses or touches when the others hadn't been looking or the many nights she had sneaked into his room. He still wondered why James hadn't killed him after he had told him about it… He sure as held would have done it… "Sorry, what did ya say, darlin'?" Logan asked, since he had been too caught up in his thoughts that he hadn't paid attention.

"I said it finally worked out," Heather repeated and smiled at him, while he frowned.

"What worked out?!" he asked, confused. About to tell him, she teared up again. "Hey," Logan said concerned and touched her chin to make her look up. "What's wrong?"

Embracing him, she buried her face on his neck. "I'm pregnant…," Heather sobbed and felt how he tensed up.

"Really?!" Logan asked and stepped back to look at her, her nod confirming it. "Heath, that's great!" he said and smiled, knew how hard they had tried to achieve this. When he realized that they were still on the dance floor, he led her aside and to the pond where they sat down.

"I'm just afraid that it won't last…," she told him after a moment of silence and stared at the water. "I mean… This would be a dream, Logan," she added and looked at him through wet eyes. "A dream coming true…"

"Listen…," he said and took her hand. "Don't put the same pressure on yerself than Jeannie, did, okay? Just believe in it'n be happy. No matter what, ya can't influence it."

"I know…," Heather nodded and looked at their hands. She sighed and wiped her tears away. "Only Jean knows so far…"

Picking up on the hint, he nodded. "My lips are sealed," Logan promised and returned the smile he was given. "Promise me somethin'!"

"What?"

"Make sure Mac faints! I don't care how!"

Giggling, Heather nodded. "I'll try my very best." She looked up when excited noises could be heard and looked aside. "I think they're throwing the bouquets now…"

"Don't nee t'catch it," Logan shrugged and preferred to watch from afar. "'n besides… There ain't any single women left in this house, anyway…," he added self-assured and waited for the fun to be over.

"Daddy!" Lily barked and ran over to him, waving Jubilee's bouquet at him.

"You've gotta be kiddin' me…," he grumbled and buried his face in his hands.

Laughing, Heather patted his back. "Just your luck, Logan, huh?"

"Daddy, look!" Lily said proudly and held him the flowers right under the nose. "Aunt 'Roro wanted to catch it, but I was faster! Great, huh?" she told him excitedly and jumped on to his lap.

"Yeah… Really great, darlin'…," Logan mumbled, when suddenly Jack aimed for his lap, too.

"I don't wanna marry her!" his son barked and clung to him for dear life. "Daddy, tell her I won't marry her! Jubes said I have to marry her now!"

"Marry, who?!" Logan asked confused when he saw Isa waving at him from afar, holding Rogue's bouquet. "Yeah… Just my luck…," he grunted and sighed heavily.

* * *

His head hurt and he felt dizzy when he opened his eyes slowly just to look into light. It took his eyes a moment to become used to it and when he realized where he was, he began to frown in confusion. He tried to sit up, but a searing pain made him fall back into the pillows nearly instantly. It was then that he remembered…

"You're finally awake," someone said on his right and he turned his head slowly. "How are you doing, Paul?" Narya asked him in full concern and got up to make it easier for him to look at her. "Wait! Just let me call someone," she added quickly and pressed the emergency button that was on the wall next to the bed. "So, now tell me. How are you feeling?"

Trying to speak, Jean-Paul noticed that his throat felt awfully dry. He swallowed several times.

"Here, maybe this will help," Narya offered and helped him to raise his head a bit when she gave him something to drink. "Better?"

He nodded and sank back against the pillows. His blue eyes looked around, noticed the machines next to the bed, the IVs… "What happened?" he croaked and looked at her again. It was then that the door went open and Hank entered.

"You're awake!" the furry mutant said, smiling in relief. "That's very good!" The doctor in him instantly began to check on the machines and noted down the changes. "Are you in much pain?"

"Only when I move…," Jean-Paul replied and looked at him through heavy eyes. "What happened?"

"You don't remember?" Hanks asked concerned.

"I do, but why am I here?"

The man next to him frowned and exchanged a brief look with Narya, who looked back at him, worried about her friend. "Well…," Hank began, "Logan alerted us after getting a phone call and we left the house, just to run into Daken, who rushed over to us with you in his arms. Do you remember that you've been shot?"

Jean-Paul frowned deeply. He did remember that they had gone shopping, then they had gone to a movie theatre, afterwards to eat some pizza… And he remembered that they had to run through the wood, where they had been attacked by those Devils… But everything afterwards… "No…," he finally replied and looked up.

"You were very lucky, my friend," Hank said and crossed his arms. "The bullet has entered through your back and exited right next to your heart. A millimeter or two further left… Well, I think you're getting my point," he told him. "Jean and I did a surgery. You'd lost a lot of blood and you were very weak. We weren't sure if you would make it."

Processing what he had just been told, Jean-Paul looked at him and shook his head. "I don't remember that…," he mumbled and closed his eyes for a moment. "How long…?"

"Almost ten days," Narya said and took his hand into hers. "We were very worried…"

Jean-Paul nodded and tried to get into a more comfortable position as the pain was back. He heaved a deep breath and pressed a hand to his chest. "Where's Hiro?" he asked after the pain had subsided a bit.

"Who?" Hank asked and raised the morphine a bit.

His patient sighed and closed his eyes again. "Daken…"

"Right…," the furry mutant nodded. "I keep on forgetting that his name is Akihiro, since only you call him that."

"Didn't answer my question, Hank…," Jean-Paul replied tiredly and looked at him. "Where's he?" The silence he received was answer enough. "Don't tell me you've kicked him out?! That wasn't his fault!"

Hank quickly motioned for him to not make any rush moves. "Careful!" he warned him. "We didn't, even if Scott was pretty vocal about it. He left after the surgery."

"Why didn't you stop him? Him leaving and being on his own is exactly what this Romulus guy wants!" Jean-Paul protested and pressed his hand firmer against his chest.

"He left at night, Paul," Narya told him. "I'm sorry, but…"

"Don't say you're sorry, because you're not!" he said. "All of you are happy that he's gone, except Logan and I. …all that work for nothing!" he cursed and covered his face with one arm. "Damn it!"

"You need to rest," Hank said after a moment of silence and put a hand to Jean-Paul's shoulder. "I'll check on you again later. When the pain becomes stronger again, push the button on your right." He beckoned Narya to follow him, watched how she touched her friend's shoulder briefly, before she left the room with him.

Letting the arm sink again, Jean-Paul glared at the ceiling for a moment before he rolled carefully onto his side, pressing a hand against the wound on his chest. He really couldn't believe what he had just heard… Still, he couldn't think about it further since the morphine began to fog his brain rather quickly. Tiredly, he closed his eyes and fell asleep…

* * *

Scott didn't like it. He didn't like it at all…

First Xavier had interrupted the self defense training for the X-Men and Logan had followed him without any bitching against the Professor, then Xavier had returned, alone, and asked John to go on with it, while Logan was miraculously gone for the rest of the day… And now, they sat together for dinner, he watching the feral and this one refused to say what had happened… The whole thing stank, but he couldn't figure out why…

"Daddy?" Jack asked and Logan looked down on him while chewing on his sandwich. "Did you tell her that I won't marry her?"

"Yeah, I did," his father nodded and smirked when Isa pouted.

"See?" Jack told Jubilee and stuck out his tongue.

"Well…," the woman cooed and shrugged. "You'll marry her anyway. And you know why?"

"Why?" he asked, skeptically.

"Because…you're destined to do so!" Jubilee grinned.

"Says who?" Jack challenged her and mimicked his father's scowl to near perfection.

"Says I!" she replied. "And trust me, it'll be this way! Why? Ask me again in about ten years."

"Forget it!" Logan quickly said. "He ain't gonna marry no one at 19!"

"Right!" his son agreed. "Coz marriage sucks!"

"Is that so?" Ororo laughed and the boy nodded. "And why is that?"

"Because parents do naughty stuff," Rachel said and hr brother nodded.

"And this is disgusting!" Jack concluded.

"And how come you know what parents do?!" Scott asked out of interest and his eyes fell instantly on Logan, who was very quick to point a finger at his wife.

"She made me do it!"

"Is that so?" John Grey asked, laughing and shook his head, while Tony gave the feral a skeptical look.

"Does that actually mean that _you_ from all people gave them the birds and the bees talk?" he asked Logan and whistled. "Man,…that means they must have a complete wrong picture of it…"

"What's that supposed t'mean?" Logan grunted and cocked an eyebrow at him, while Jean could only shake her head and told her children to go upstairs and get ready for bed.

"It means that as far as I know you, and I know you quiet well, you probably told them that sex is a very, very bad thing, that kissing makes you sick, that parents really only sleep next to each other in a bed, that…," he listed when Jack stuck his head back into the kitchen after he had heard what Tony had said.

"Mommy actually forced daddy to tell us how babies are made," he informed Tony and added, "With a book!", before he headed back upstairs.

"See?" Logan told the group. "My wife's evil personified'n she loved t'make me suffer!"

"Uhu… She's evil," Tony nodded. "That's why you asked me to do create a matching replica of your old Avengers mask to your X-Men uniform, hm? Trust me, I don't want to know _what_ exactly you're going to do with that mask. My bet? Kinky and leather's included!"

"What mask?!" Scott asked and looked to and fro between them. "Why do you want a mask to your uniform all of a sudden?!"

"Maybe he misses his old costume?" Tony shrugs. "I mean… You know 119 year old grandpas, don't you? They always come up with new, crazy ideas. As long as he still finds the way around here, I'd call myself happy, if I were you!"

Ignoring it, Scott's eyes were fixed on Logan, who continued chewing on his sandwich and ignored him. "Why's my feeling telling me that you're up to something?"

"Because he's Logan?" Kitty asked and emptied her glass. "I'm off to bed. Good night guys!"

"Wait, we're leaving, too," Bobby quickly said and pulled Jubilee with him. "Night!" he called while leaving the room, followed by Remy, Rogue and their children.

"You're up to something…," Scott repeated and got up when he heard a knock on the front door.

"Whatever ya say…," Logan grunted and aimed for the fridge to grab another beer, as he froze and sniffed. His eyes quickly scanned the room, but he realized that John and Narya were already upstairs, too, and began to calculate the chance of the group realizing _it_… It didn't take long and he heard Scott barking threats that he would make use of his powers, when the man, he'd picked up on entered; once more dressed in black and the look grim.

"I found him!" Creed said and Logan closed the fridge quickly.

"Where?!"

Before his opposite could reply, Scott arrived and grabbed the feral's arm. "I told you, you have no business here and when I tell you to…," he began, when Creed growled and pulled his arm back with a might that nearly sent Scott against the wall.

"Don't!" Logan said quickly and grabbed Victor's arm before the man could do something stupid. His eyes bore into the one's of his half brother.

"Then tell him not t'touch me!" Creed growled and glared at Scott.

"Logan, who is this guy?!" this one demanded to know, thinking that the man looked familiar, but he couldn't figure out why.

Chuckling in amusement, Creed tilted his head. "_Who _I am?!" he asked and turned back to his brother. "Is that guy for real?!"

"Follow me," Logan sighed and led the way out of the backdoor and towards the terrace. "Where did ya find him?!" he demanded to know, ignoring that the others were watching them.

"I swear I've seen him before…," Scott said and watched the two men talking with each other.

"I knov, but vhere?" Kurt asked and Scott could only shrug.

"I have no id…," he began when he noticed something that nearly made his heart stop. "Sabretooth…"

"What?!" Ororo asked and jumped off her share, her eyes wide. "Never!"

"I swear that guy is Sabretooth!" Scott insisted and felt his assumption proven right when the feral turned his head briefly to grin darkly at him. "This _is _Sabretooth!" he said aloud and aimed for the backdoor, his hand on his glassed. "Get off the grounds! Now!" he barked angrily at him and ignored Logan's comment to calm down. "No, I won't! He has no business here. Or have you forgotten what he has done?!"

"No, but he has!" Logan replied, getting angry. When he saw how the rest gathered on the terrace, too, he stepped in front of Creed, who could only grin darkly at them. "Listen, he's been used by…"

"Oh, sure!" Scott snapped. "He's been brainwashed, hasn't he? He doesn't remember the things he did and now acts as the good guy, who comes to save the day!" Glaring at the feral, he switched his eyes to Creed. "You have a minute to get off the ground or so help me God…"

"What's going on here? I'm trying to put my children to bed!" Jean demanded to know and made her way through the gathered X-Men. Confused, she looked from Scott to Logan and then to the man behind her husband.

"Your husband works with Sabretooth!" Scott told her, his eye never leaving the feral.

"Sabre…," Jean began and eyed Creed in confusion.

Sighing, Logan shook his head and ran both hands over his face. "Would ya listen for a moment…?" he asked them annoyed and on edge. "He knows where Romulus is…"

"Of course he does," Hank replied, snarling. "He works for him!"

Rolling his eyes and getting impatient, Creed touched Logan's shoulder and met his gaze. "Are we gonna get him, yes or no? He won't be at that place all day!"

"Sure," Logan nodded. "I just need t'make a phone call and suit up. He looked at the group warningly. "Don't ya dare t'touch him!" he warned them and went inside to go and get his phone first.

Smirking at them, Creed crossed his arms and leant back against the banister, but wondered why Storm looked at him the way she did. He smelled her fear and heard her fast heart beat, while the others oozed of hatred for him. Still, he couldn't care less about them. When Scott's hand twitched he snarled. "Ya heard what Jimmy said, right?"

"Do you think I care?" Scott challenged him. "I want you off the grounds!"

"Time t'change the disc, don't ya think?" Creed asked nonchalantly and tilted his head when his eyes came to rest on Jean. Picking up on the scent that covered her, he smirked. "Ya left four-eyes here fer my lil' bro', huh? Good choice!"

"Shut up!" Scott barked and was about to pull down his glasses, when Logan grabbed his arm hard.

"It was an order!" the feral growled and stared the man down.

"If you work with guys like him, I won't follow your orders anymore, Logan, and I doubt the others will!" Scott hissed and pulled his arm back. "Where are you going?" he asked when Logan turned, holding his uniform under his arm and beckoned Creed to follow him.

"We're gonna kill this son of a bitch!"

"Logan, you can't do this alone!" Jean called after him, but he gave her a murderous look.

"This is family business! So stay outta it," he warned her and disappeared in the shadows.

"Family business, my ass!" Scott said. "Get Hank, Kurt, get Remy and John. We're going, too!" he ordered and disappeared inside, followed by the two mutants.

"Why did I have to marry one of the most reckless men on this planet?!" Jean cursed. "I swear to got, if he returns in one piece, I'll…"

"Did you see this?" Ororo asked, her voice completely not her own.

Frowning, Jean looked at her. "See what?"

"He almost looks like him…," her best friend whispered. "He almost has the same features…"

"'Ro…," Jean sighed and reached out to embrace her, but Ororo backed off as if she'd been burned.

"What if he has picked up on Taylor?! What if he'll figure out that he's his…," she asked almost panicky and with tears in her eyes. Shaking, she wrapped her arms around herself and fell back against the wall.

"Hey, he didn't and even if…," Jean tried to soothe her. "He won't get your son! Okay?" she promised her and finally managed to embrace her. "Let's go back inside. We better lock down the school…"

After they had suited up, Scott led the group towards the hangar. "And it was really Sabretooth?!" John asked, putting on his gloves and shook his head when Scott nodded. "Why would he work together with him?!"

"Well, why would Logan allow this psychopath of a son to stay here?" the man asked back and stopped dead in the tracks when he realized who was standing next to the jet. "How did you get here so fast, Logan?!" he demanded to know and walked closer. He would have sworn that he had heard a motorbike leaving the grounds. "And why are you wearing that mask?!" he asked next, since the feral's face was covered by it. Only shaking his head, he sighed. "Anyway, Charles gave us the location after he'd read Creed's mind. We're heading that way and I want all of you to be on full alert, understood?" He frowned when he noticed John's look. "What's wrong?"

"Why don't you have a scent?!" the feral asked his brother.

"Creed probably told him to cover it to not alert Romulus," Hank shrugged. "We're waiting time. Let's go!"

Still skeptical, Scott and John followed Logan, who hadn't said one word into the jet. After everyone had taken their seats and buckled up, Scott started the engines and the jet roared to life. "Next stop, Manhatten, Empire State Building," he announced.

"I vonder vhat the guy vants there…," Kurt said and held onto the armrests.

"Remy doesn't care. 'e still 'as to get 'is revenge on Creed," Remy replied darkly and made sure he had enough cards with him, while his other hand hold his stick. "And 'e will get 'im!"

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After their arrival, they got the information from Charles that Deadpool was on top of the building and that he guessed that Romulus wasn't far away. If, he was there at all… Scott had long given up on asking Logan for any directions and had turned to John instead, who had gladly given them.

The X-Men headed for the roof, just to stop dead in the tracks. They had expected a lot, but not this…

Romulus grinned amused at the group in front of him and chuckled. "So…," he began and tilted his head a bit to look at Logan, "ya think yer lil' group can stop me, hm?" His chuckle changed into a full roar of laughter. "Well… Fine. I'll have fun smashin' their heads. In the end, ya did me the favor'n came." His nails extended and his eyes narrowed. "Yer gonna regret it…, _son_!" Romulus growled.

"I wouldn't be so sure of it!" someone behind him suddenly said and he turned around, just to see how a second Wolverine landed right behind him, followed by Creed.

"What the hell…?!" Cyclops said and looked to and fro between the Wolverine in front of them and the one next to Sabretooth. The one in front of them wearing the leather suit and a fitting mask to it, the one on the opposite side of them the new suit and a fitting mask.

Chuckling, Romulus's attention was back on the other Wolverine. "Nice trick… I already wondered why I couldn't smell ya…" Angrily, Daken pulled back the mask and looked at him full of hatred. "So… Yer daddy's lapdog now?" he asked and his canines flashed when he smiled. "That's a shame…"

"Shut up!" Daken growled and extracted his black claws on both hands, kept the one that extended in his inner wrist inside.

"Think they care fer ya? Hm? No one ever cared fer ya but me, Daken!" Romulus went on and stared him down in return. "I took ya in'n raised ya! 'n that's how ya thank me? By joinin'em?"

"You killed my mother!" Daken barked at him and made a step forward. "You killed her for nothing!"

Romulus grinned. "No! Yer father did."

"That's a lie!"

"Is it? Her fate was sealed the moment yer father laid eyes on her…," he said and smirked when Logan growled behind him. "What makes ya even think he cares fer ya, Daken? No one does. Yer a killer without a conscience… No one will ever care fer ya! Yer alone in this world. The only one who does care's me." He smirked when he sensed Daken's insecurity. "I mean those people behind ya are afraid of ya. They hate ya! Or did that professor of'em manipulated ya enough in thinkin' they could ever accept a monster like ya? Coz that's all ya are for'em!" he grunted further and his smirked widened when he noticed the reaction of the feral. "Yer better than'em, Daken. Yer the top of our species! 'n they know that! That's why yer always been alone. Coz people fear what ya are!"

"That's enough!" Logan snapped, pulled down his mask and stepped forward to pull his son behind him. "Leave him alone, ya son of a bitch! Yer mind games won't work on him anymore!"

Romulus chuckled darkly. "Ya sure? They worked quiet well up t'know…" His eyes fell on Daken again. "He's usin' ya! Yer father doesn't care fer ya, he never did!" He glared at Logan. "He didn't even check if yer still alive in yer mother's womb. He just left ya t'die!" he hissed and Logan's eyes grew wide, while Daken's head shot up. "'n now that he needs yer help, he cares fer ya…," Romulus added and looked at Daken. "Do ya think that's fair? That he deserves yer help now?"

Logan turned to look at Daken, saw the insecurity and doubt in his eyes. "Don't listen t'him, kid! He only tries his mind games on ya t'get ya back under control."

"But it's true…," his son replied and seized him up for a coffin. "You didn't make sure that I was dead. You just left!"

"Daken…," Logan began and saw the attack too late. "Watch out!" he barked and pushed Daken quickly aside before Romulus could leap at him. Instead the feral bumped into Logan, who crashed to the ground, was grabbed and thrown against the wall with a might that he went right through it.

"Yer dead!" Romulus growled and looked at Daken through black eyes. He reacted quickly as Creed jumped at his back with an angry roar. "'n ya, too!" he added and leapt at his son with his full agility.

Since he had caught his fall, Creed was already back on his feed and met his father in mid way, buried his claws as good as he could into the taller man's chest and tried to hold on to him. "Jimmy!" he barked and cried out it pain when Romulus' claws went through his flesh and ripped his skin off his body.

"Damn it!" Cyclops cursed as Logan jumped at Romulus next and let his hand sink. "I can't aim at them like this…" He watched how Wolverine buried his claw into the back of Romulus in a full berserker rage and used the other one to keep on lashing out at the feral and to stab him over and over again, while Creed did the same on the front. Still, Romulus just grabbed both ferals, raised them above his head as if they weighted nothing and slammed them into each other with a might that Scott thought he could hear bones crushing. The attack had happened so fast that he had barely reached for his visor again as Romulus aimed for Daken, who still stood motionlessly next to them and stared at the ground. He was about to call out for Daken to watch out, as John turned quickly into his ghost form and attacked Romulus on his own.

Roaring, John lashed out and left three long and deep gashes in his opponent's face, who gave him a surprised look first, but chuckled next. "Right…," Romulus growled. "I forgot about the son who no one wanted…"

"You're going to die for what you did to our family!" John growled and his eyes flashed red in rage. Even more so when his opposite chuckled amused.

"Family?" Romulus asked. "Which family? The father who didn't know how t'bang his wife, the grandfather who thought yer worthless brother'n ya were a disgrace or the mother who never gave a shit about ya?" he challenged and earned the reaction he had expected, when John leapt at him with an angry roar. Quickly, his hand went into the white fog and made a fist. A movement which made John freeze on the spot and his eyes widened in shock. Romulus grinned. "Ya forgot somethin'," he grinned. "I know yer mutation, so I also know yer weakness."

Watching how John began to struggle against the grip, Scott aimed his visor at the feral and shot, but his adversary had seen the attack coming and quickly turned so that the beam hit John instead. "Shit!" Cyclops cursed and reached out to stop Remy from throwing a card. "No one attacks as long as he has him!" he ordered and his eyes briefly checked on Logan and Creed., who were still out cold. Or better said, slowly began to move.

"Hurt, doesn't it?" Romulus asked the man that practically hung on his hand like a fish on a rod. "How much do ya think it'll hurt when I rip yer intestines out?" he added and flashed his canines when John glared daggers at him through eyes that mirrored the pain he was in. "Is that yer spine I'm feelin'?" Romulus snarled and tightened his grip. His eyes switched towards Daken, who had looked up by now and was looking back at him. "Why that look, Daken? Ya didn't really think I'd care fer a worthless mongrel like, ya, did ya? Ya ain't even of pure blood… No one cares fer genetic trash like ya."

Beginning to breathe heavier, Daken narrowed his eyes to slits, felt how the animal in him wanted to come out and rip the man he had regarded as a father for decades to shreds. But the training he had to undergo worked and he couldn't access the rage as he wanted. "I'm gonna kill ya…," he snarled instead and tightened his fists to extract his claws. "I'm gonna rip your fucking head off!"

Laughing, Romulus acted impressed. "Sure…," he nodded and grinned at him. Within less than a second he threw John off the roof and leapt at the surprised Daken instead, who reacted too late and found himself falling off the roof, too, next.

Unseen of Romulus he buried his claws into the wall and bit his lip hard as a blinding pain rushed through his whole body, as his shoulder was dislocated. When he opened his eyes again he realized how far away from the grounds they actually were, noticed that Nightcrawler had jumped after John, caught him and was now trying to stop the bleeding far underneath him. He looked up and heard Cyclops shouting command after command to his group, who desperately tried to get the upper hand against their enemy, but he knew better… Romulus was a failed experiment that had gotten out of control, created to take down mutants, the first weapon before his father and uncle. Groaning, he reached up to bury his other pair of claws into the wall to ease the pressure on his wounded shoulder. Over and over again the destructive words were repeated in his mind and the rage began to take over. The man who had been his father figure, the man he'd been loyal to and who he'd killed hundredth of people for… The man who had murdered his mother just to get him and had done those things to him… His eyes flashed red and a growl escaped his lips. He would kill him for this…

About to climb up the wall, Daken looked up as a huge shadow flew past him to the ground and only because Gambit shouted for Logan, he knew that Romulus had just thrown his father and Creed down the roof next. The roar from the roof made the hair on his neck stand up. He knew what Romulus was capable of if the beast in him was unleashed. He'd been the target of that rage too often and the fear of the man was anchored deep within him.

Panting, he closed his eyes and concentrated on his shoulder, located it with a rapid move and bit back the scream as the pain blinded him. He had to get up to that roof, no matter if it was the last thing he did. Daken reached out to begin his ascend, as Nightcrawler grabbed him from behind and aimed for the ground. "Let go off me!" he barked at him and soon found himself on the ground in the middle of the others. Furiously, he grabbed Kurt by the collar and pulled him close. "What do you think you're doing?" he barked and Nightcrawler's eyes widened in shock.

"I… We've to retreat…," he stuttered and teleported quickly away and closer to Scott.

"We need to get away from here and that quickly!" Cyclops ordered and looked at the mess in front of him. "Goddamn it…," he cursed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Remy dinks he's comin'!" Gambit said and held a card ready. "Dere was a shadow up dere." He pointed at one of the windows and Scott turned quickly.

"Hank, we need to go!" he shouted urgently and looked aside when Daken came slowly closer. "Are you alright?"

Surprised, the feral looked back at him and nodded after a moment. He then took in the sight in front of him. Both his father and Creed had landed on a car, Logan first, Creed on top of him, the car had been reduced in its size due to the impact, both ferals didn't move and considering the huge amount of blood that dripped from the car wreck, he doubted they would move so soon again. The car itself already stood in puddle blood and more and more was added to it the longer they stood there. In the end Colossus went over and grabbed both men quickly, shouldered them and rushed them back to the jet, followed by Kurt who teleported the unconscious John towards it.

"We need to go, come on!" Cyclops told Daken and pulled him with him.

**I actually thought I wouldn't be able to finish the chapter before Wednesday, but somehow it worked. Thanks to all reviewers!! I'm glad you liked the last chapter and hope this chapter was okay, too. : ) Please let me know. I'll try to update asap. Same goes for Weapon X. See ya!**


	57. Chapter 54

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

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**LACEYLOU76, please get back to me via PM!!!**

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**I just read the preview of Dark Wolverine and figured that my Daken is still way too nice…**

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**WARNING: **** This chapter contains a non-explicit scene between two males. I marked the M parts with ****BOLT letters and the end of them also with BOLT letters****. If you don't like it, skip the bolt letters parts!!!**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 54**

"Sit down and wait here for medical attention," Scott instructed Daken and turned to leave the infirmary again, when the feral growled what he'd expected of him.

"I don't need medical attention!"

"Yeah, that's what Logan keeps on saying, too…," Scott nodded and left, surprised to see _who _was about to give the feral medical attention. "Do you want me to stay with you, just in case?" he asked concerned, but received a shake of a head. "Are you sure about this?!"

"Well, Hank and Moira are trying to patch this idiot of a husband up…," Jean replied with a look that spoke volumes and disappeared behind the door with a tray full of equipment in her hands. She did notice the roll of the eyes that Daken gave her and tried hard to keep her cool. "Take off the upper part of the uniform, please," she said and arranged the bandages next to her. To her surprise he did it, but he kept on glaring at the bed and ignored her. Remaining silent, too, Jean did her job and examined his upper body. Up to now his wounds were healed and she couldn't find anything that would have her worried. When her hand touched a spot between his left shoulder and neck, he flinched. "What did you do?"

"Relocated it…," Daken grunted and heaved a deep breath. He didn't like it at all that it was her examining him, that his father's scent was covering her or that she stood behind him and touched him. He hated it when he couldn't see what people were doing…

Frowning, Jean examined the spot and it was no secret to her that she obviously caused him a lot of pain. "You must have injured your neck and shoulder blade more than you think…," she thought out loud and he snorted.

"So? It'll heal… Can I go now?" Daken asked annoyed and was about to get up, when she held him back with her powers.

"Not so fast!" the redhead scolded him and went over to a drawer, where she pulled out some sweatpants and grabbed a towel. "You'll go and take a shower and afterwards I'll dress your wounds," she ordered and handed him both things, whereas he gave her a deadly look.

"You're kidding, right?!"

"No," Jean replied and crossed her arms. "I'm not. You've got ten minutes."

While he heaved a very deep breath, he narrowed his eyes but got up and left the room, muttering curses under his breath. When he returned and had sat back down, she stood once more behind him and was examining his neck. Daken gritted his teeth, especially when she turned his head carefully to the right and the pain jolted down his spine. "Careful, dammit!"

"I say someone has a very nice strain or whiplash injury…," Jean said and noted it down on the chart. "And before I hear any complaints, I won't make you wear a surgical collar. Don't worry. I know you'll rip it off the second I put it on. But I can't do an MRT either without turning you into a living magnet…," she went on and put ointment on his wounded shoulder instead. While she massaged it carefully and picked up on how much pain he was in, she used her powers to ease it a bit.

"What are you doing?" Daken snarled and was about to turn his head, but thought better of it immediately.

"I eased your pain with my telepathy," Jean explained and began to dress his shoulder. "Don't move your arm too much for the rest of the day. Same goes for your head. It should be fine in a couple of hours," she told him and went over to the basin to wash her hands, while he rubbed his shoulder and watched her intently. After Jean had taken more notes she looked up and met his eyes. "You should lie down for a while in your room. From the way you look you haven't eaten or slept much in the past two weeks, haven't you?" she asked and he looked away. "As I thought." She nodded. "I'll bring you a high protein shake. It will push your healing factor in its speed and your wounds will heal faster." When she aimed for the door after he'd gotten up, too, she noticed him swaying a bit. "Do you feel dizzy?"

"No…," Daken grumbled. "It's cold…"

"Cold?" Jean asked since the room had a normal, rather nice temperature, and went over to touch his forehead, which earned her a growl from him. "You're healing… Lie down, I'll bring you the shake. You should feel better then," she told him and aimed for the elevator, followed by a more than suspicious Daken. While she kept her eyes on the ground, he was watching her from aside.

"Why so nice all of a sudden?" he finally grunted and she looked up. "I'm not dumb, okay?"

"No one said that you are…," Jean shrugged. "Scott told me what happened, so I hope you'll finally open your eyes and understand that we are not your enemies." She held his gaze until the door of the elevator opened and stepped outside. "Your clothes are in the wardrobe in case you want to change into something warmer," she told him before she aimed for the kitchen.

"Which clothes?" Daken asked, frowning.

"The ones you bought and left in the car."

Still frowning, he aimed for his old room door and went inside, very much surprised to see what he saw…

"You're back?!" Jean-Paul asked shocked and sat slowly up, his eyes looking the feral up and down in surprise. "What happened to your shoulder?" he asked concerned and watched how Daken went over to the drawer and got his favorite hoody out of it. His mind still tried to process why the feral was suddenly back after nearly two weeks and he noticed that Daken wouldn't look him in the eyes for once. But before he could ask, there was a knock on the door and Jean entered. "Hi…"

"Hey," she greeted him back and went over to place a tray with food and drinks on the nightstand. "Drink the shake and then eat something," she told Daken and then looked at Jean-Paul. "I hope you didn't walk around?"

He sighed. "No, mom, I only went to have a shower…," Northstar replied playfully annoyed.

"Good," Jean smiled and aimed for the door again. "Make sure he stays in bed, too, for today and that he doesn't move his head too much! Oh, and he should put warmth on his neck. Make sure he does so."

"Did you have an accident or something?" Jean-Paul asked concerned, while pressing the hot pack Jean had brought carefully on Daken's neck and turned fully around to have a better look at the man next to him, noticed that he was shivering. Knowing that the feral was in a major healing obviously, he pulled him instinctively closer. "That I got shot wasn't your fault, okay?" he said, sensing Daken's thoughts. "I don't blame you…"

"Why do you have to stay in bed?" the feral asked after a long moment of silence and after drinking the protein shake.

Northstar sighed. "Order from the docs. I spent the last two weeks more lying around than anything else… I'm boring my pants off…"

"Hm…"

"By now it's damn annoying… Did you know that there are 18 small holes in the ceiling?" he added jokingly and cuddled up to spend more warmth. While he rested against Daken, he began to think about the past weeks and how lonely he had actually felt without the grumpy feral. "I've missed you…," he admitted barely audible and pulled him even closer, while his free hand still pressed the pack against Daken's neck.

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Hank was looking at the x-rays in front of him and could only shake his head, something Moira noticed when he entered the lab. "I never knew you could dislocate so many bones with adamantium coated to them…," he said and disposed of the pictures when he put them down. "I hope I relocated everything….," he added and couldn't help but look at them again.

"What about his organs?" his wife asked and came over to hand him a coffee.

"His liver and kidneys began to heal, the rest should follow up," Hank told her, adding "I hope. In the end his organs were pretty much attached to his bones… I don't even want to know how much damage his brain has taken!"

"Well, if what Scott said was true and they fell out of that height…," she said and leant back against the desk. "With Sabretooth landing on Logan… He probably left even more damage than Logan had suffered before."

"Probably…," he agreed and was surprised when Jean entered.

"Are Paul and Daken here for some tests?" the redhead asked and knew the answer just by looking into her friends' faces. "I told them to stay in bed, damn it!" she cursed and motioned to leave again, when Hank put the cup aside and joined her.

"They are not in Daken's or Paul's room?" he asked and she shook her head no.

"I already looked in to both rooms. Paul's untouched and the pillows and blanket are missing from Daken's bed. But both of them are somehow…gone," Jean told him, slightly annoyed. "Can anyone in this house listen to what I'm saying just once?!"

"My guess is you meant your husband with it?" Hank asked and followed her into the elevator. "His organs are healing and I relocated everything. If it makes you happy, he should feel really miserable when he wakes up."

"He'll feel even more miserable after I'm done with him," she hissed and her eyes glowed for a brief moment. She led the way out of the elevator and down the corridor. "Maybe some of the others have seen them? My guess is the rec room. Jubilee should be there."

"Isn't that always the case?" he smiled and followed her and, as Jean had guessed, Jubilee, Bobby, Rogue, Kitty, Peter and Remy were all gathered in front of the television, watching a movie he wasn't really interested in.

"Have you seen…?" Jean began when Jubilee hushed her. "I don't really care about interrupting your movie now, Jubilee! Have you…"

"Sshhh!" the younger woman made once more and gave Jean a warning look. "You're gonna wake them up!"

"Wake them up?!" Hank asked confused and, as Jean, stepped closer.

"They're sleeping," Rogue told them and nodded at the sofa opposite of her.

Jean frowned and moved around the sofa, just to sigh and shake her head. "So much to _stay in bed, please_… He must have gotten this from his father…," she complained, since Daken lay sprawled on the couch, was deeply asleep and Jean-Paul was doing the same on top and between the legs of the feral with his face down on Daken's chest and his arms wrapped around the feral's waist. To her both didn't make any sign of waking up so soon…

"Aren't they cute?!" Jubilee cooed and made Bobby roll his eyes big time. "I swear they are so cute together!"

"Yeah… A cold blooded killer and an all-time happy guy," her husband mumbled. "Very cute! A very nice match…"

"Oh, shut up!" Kitty said and leant back against Peter's chest.

"What now?" Jean asked Hank, who could only shrug.

"It's Daken's neck, not mine. In how much pain was he?"

"Very much. I also told him to put warmth on it…"

"Oh, he's sleeping on the hot pack actually," Rogue told her without taking her eyes from the TV. "Paul made sure of it."

"Still they should rest in bed and not on a couch…," Jean insisted and went over to touch Daken's cheek. "And he's still cold…"

"That's his character," Bobby commented and hissed when Jubilee's elbow met his ribs.

"I agree that they'd be better off in bed," Hank nodded and went over to shake Jean-Paul carefully. After saying the man's name for several times, this one cracked one eye open and looked at him sleepily. "You're supposed to stay in bed!"

"Mhm…," the man made and turned his head to go on sleeping on the feral's chest.

"Paul! Wake up, come on!" Hank said and shook his once more. "Go to bed and sleep there!"

Moaning in displeasure, the man sat up a bit and ran a hand over his face. "We fell asleep, huh?"

"What are you doing out of bed anyway?!" Jean demanded to know and crossed her arms.

"We couldn't sleep… And besides, I can't stand staring at the room anymore," Jean-Paul replied, his voice drunk with sleep and he looked at the still sleeping feral. Reaching out, he stroked through the feral's hair and over his cheek. "Hiro?"

Hank watched the scene frowning and exchanged a look with the redhead, who could only shrug. He waited for Daken to wake up and get into a furious fit… At least he himself had been in great danger after touching the feral only for a brief moment before.

"Akihiro!" Jean-Paul tried once more and pulled on Daken's arm when the feral grumbled something in his sleep. "Let's go to bed, come on," the former Alpha Flight said gently and pulled the disillusioned man up, who was clearly drunk with sleep and still healing. Blindly, he grabbed the first thing he touched and supported himself on it, much to Jean-Paul's displeasure. "Oh, come on…," he cursed and wrapped an arm around the feral to keep him steady, while his free hand took the blanket and pillows.

"Do you need help with him?" Jean asked, but he shook his head.

"Not the first time, but thanks," Jean-Paul told her and wished them a good night before he dragged Daken back to his room.

"I would have thought Daken would get into a fit…," Hank said impressed and looked at Jubilee when the woman giggled.

"We caught them smooching!"

"They didn't smooch!" Bobby groaned.

"They were about to do it!" Jubilee insisted and Kitty raised an eyebrow.

"Where they?"

"Oh, yeah, they so were," Jubilee nodded.

Jean only shook her head and beckoned Hank to follow her. "How are they doing?" she asked when they entered the elevator again and meant the two ferals in the basement.

"Speaking in car terms…," Hank replied and crossed his arms. "Total loss!"

She sighed and shook her head. "So much to _I'll be more careful_…," she cursed and followed him to the ICU, where Logan lay in the bed on the left, heavily bandaged and attached to machines and IVs, while Creed lay on the right and looked pretty much the same, but with less IVs and machines attached to him.

"Why would he work together with him….?" Jean asked and shook her head, thinking about what Sabretooth had done.

"I don't know. But considering his looks, something must have changed…," Hank said also looking at Creed. "The last time I saw him, he looked like the same savaged beast we know. Now, he clearly looks like a brother of Logan… They truly share similar features."

"They are nothing alike…," Jean said darkly and went over to Logan to take his hand into hers. "Logan's not the animal he is…"

"I don't know… I think something really changed…," Hank disagreed and began to check on the machines. "You should have seen Romulus, Jean," he said after a long silence and met the woman's eyes. "He looks so much like Logan… It's scary."

"Logan won't rest until he has killed him…," the redhead said thoughtfully and stroked over her husband's hand.

"That guy is huge. Logan in his feral form is nothing against him. You should have seen how that guy threw Logan and Creed around like balls…," he replied and shook his head with a sigh. "And he has expected us. At least from his reaction…"

"Maybe someone told him?" Jean said in a tone that spoke volumes and gave Hank a look.

He frowned. "Do you think Daken did?" he asked and shook his head. "I mean Daken is pretty much a wolf in sheep clothing, but you haven't seen his reaction, Jean. Romulus tried to kill him and told him that Daken's only a worthless pawn to him to get his revenge on Logan."

"I wasn't thinking about Daken, Hank…"

"I don't think Creed did it either. He tried to catch Logan's fall after Romulus had thrown him off the roof," he told her and shook his head. "If Romulus has a spy here, it must be someone else… Or, considering the fact that he used Logan and Daken throughout the years and managed to stay hidden… Well, maybe he is that smart. He definitely had some work done."

"Who knows…," she sighed and reached out to touch Logan's sweaty forehead. "He's feverish…," she said more to herself than to Hank and went to get a cool pack, which she pressed against Logan's forehead. To her surprise he twitched his face and opened his eyes a bit, looked at her for a moment without really noticing her due to his drugged state and fell asleep again. Reaching out, she stroked gently over his cheek and pressed the cool pack further against his forehead.

"Do you need help here?" Hank asked after a while and Jean shook her head. "Who'll be watching over the children?"

"My father. Narya told John not to dare and get out of bed, so I didn't ask him."

He nodded. "John was lucky that Kurt caught his fall and that the attack didn't damage him… Anyway, just call out for help mentally, if something's wrong."

"I will. Good night," Jean replied and watched Hank leaving, before she dimmed the light in the room with her powers and kicked off her shoes. Tiredly, she cuddled carefully up to Logan and took his hand into hers, concentrated on his slow heartbeat that lulled her into sleep. She didn't notice, after switching off the light completely, that Creed was watching her intently, his brows deeply furrowed for a while, before he, too, went back to sleep.

* * *

Jean-Paul blinked against the light that fell into the room through the small spot between the two curtains. He sighed heavily and rolled on to his back, one hand rubbing his face, the other reaching out. Frowning, he sat up and saw that the spot next to him was indeed empty. Drowsily, he looked at the open bathroom door and heard the water running, was glad that the feral hadn't just left as he'd first thought. A look at the clock told him that the others were probably already having breakfast and that he, too, should be up already by now. Since Daken occupied the shower and he knew how the long the feral actually needed in the bathroom, Jean-Paul decided to at least brush his teeth before he'd join the rest in the kitchen.

After he was done and had taken his time to try and bring an order into his tousled hair, he gave the shower curtain a look and could only shake his head. He'd always doubted tat men existed, who needed longer than any women in a bathroom. The proof was right behind the curtain…

"I'm going to have breakfast. Leave some water for me, okay? I want to have a hot shower, too…," Jean-Paul called and walked past the shower to get a shirt and pants, as he was suddenly grabbed and found himself pressed between the tiles and Daken in the next second. When his lips were released again, he pretty much didn't care about his briefs being completely soaked. Instead, he could only stare at his opposite speechlessly and in complete confusion. "Okay… Are there any drugs you've taken that I should know about?!" he demanded to know and received a low chuckle.

"No…," Daken grunted and carelessly kicked the man's briefs aside after pulling them down. "You've insisted on a _hot_ shower, haven't you?" he challenged and began to smirk darkly.

* * *

"And really all of us have to take part in this?" Jubilee whined and wanted to bang her head on the kitchen isle when Scott nodded in silence. "But why?!"

"Because our team needs training and we didn't have a session in quiet a while. That's why!" the man replied annoyed and turned the page of his newspaper, reached out to hand Hank the economics part. "Besides the Professor wants to talk to the whole team, too. I don't know if that will happen before or afterwards…"

"Is _'e _taking part in it, too?" Remy demanded to know.

"I don't think so. Creed's not part of the team," Scott said rather matter-of-factly. "I'm more concerned for Logan not being up to it…"

"Ya should worry about yer own ass," the feral suddenly grunted and entered the room with Rachel attached to his back and the twins on his arms.

"You said ass, daddy!" the little redhead gasped and looked at her father with huge eyes, when this one put her carefully down.

"Nah, ya must have heard wrong, darlin'," he waved off and dropped the twins on their casual stools, before he opened the backdoor for Miloh, Callie and their already pretty big cubs.

"Mommy has so heard it!" Laura said and climbed on her stool. "She made the thing with the eye roll and sighed."

"Then she's heard wrong, too," Logan quickly grumbled and handed them their breakfast, before he noticed that Jamie was nowhere in sight. "Where's Jamie?!"

"This will so not happen to me!" Scott teased him without looking up and grinned when Logan began to sniff and look around. "Just for your information, he's not here."

"Thanks, Scooter, I can see that!" Logan grunted.

"See what?" Jean asked after entering the room and after giving her husband the warning glare for the word he'd used.

"That 'e's lost 'is baby boy," Remy chuckled amused and wiped his son's mouth clean with a tissue.

"You what?!" the redhead asked shocked and couldn't believe her ears.

"Well…," Logan began but shrugged.

"That's so you, why am I not surprised?" Tony laughed first and took Jean's hand next, his face completely serious. "This…would have never happened, if you had picked me instead of him." He made a playfully hurt face and lowered his gaze with a shake of his head, while patting her hand. "But you had to break my heart…"

Jean groaned when Logan began to growl warningly. "Instead of marking your territory, you should help me find our son!"

"What does marking your territory mean, mommy?" Rachel asked and Jean sighed.

"You don't want to know!" Bobby quickly said and raised both hands. "Or better said…_I_ don't want to know!"

"Logan!" Jean urged and the feral sighed. "Don't give me that look now, mister, it's your fault that our son is gone!"

"He ain't gone…," Logan began and noticed the looks he was given. "He…just ain't here…," he added and cleared his throat.

"Impossible…," his wife mumbled and looked up when Jean-Paul came around the corner, the hair still damp from the shower.

"Don't…crack any jokes!" he warned the group in a whisper. "He's already pissed off enough…," he added and sat quickly down on his stool.

"Why?" Logan asked, but saw the reason with his own eyes in the next second, as his eldest son entered, eyes dark, mood below zero and with Jamie attached to his left leg; his youngest being completely happy and smiling at every one, while he held onto the feral's pants like a little monkey.

"Take…him…off….me! Now!" Daken snarled and glared at Jean, who quickly tried to get Jamie away from him; the mood of the man not being a secret to her at all. "This is your fault!" Daken growled and sat down next to Jean-Paul.

"He likes you," this one shrugged and handed him the bread basket.

"_You_ were supposed to watch over him!"

"And I said I was sorry that I had forgotten to get the books from the library," Jean-Paul apologized and sighed. "Jeez, you were alone with him for what? Maybe five minutes?"

"Thirty-three!" Daken grunted and glared at his youngest brother, who was calling out his name and wanted to get back to him. "I'm so going to kill him…"

"He calls you Hiroki?" Jubilee laughed and the glare was now on her, accompanied by a warning snarl. "How cute is that?"

"Think that's funny?!"

"No, uber-cute!"

"Jubilee…," Jean-Paul said through clenched teeth. "Not when he's in that mood…"

"Oh, come on! What will he, do? Jump over the…," she began and broke off, realizing that Daken was suddenly not opposite of her anymore. "Damn…," she whispered and turned slowly around, trying to give him her best smile. "Hi…!" Holding her breath, she backed off against the kitchen isle, when a very pissed off looking Daken leant in slowly and placed both of his hands next to her body.

"You were saying?" he snarled and she swallowed hard.

"Ehm… That… Well…," Jubilee stuttered and looked at Logan for help.

"Ya got yerself into this, kid," this one shrugged and went on with his breakfast.

Jubilee's eyes were fixed on Daken's dark, hazel ones, then went down his chest, swallowed at how his shirt was wrapped around his pecs and then switched to his muscular arms. She couldn't help thinking that the room was suddenly very hot…

"You do realize that your wife's pheromone level tells me that she wants to mate with me?" Daken asked without taking his eyes of her and addressed Bobby, who dropped his spoon in shock.

"What?!"

The feral only shrugged and returned to his seat, ignoring that Jean-Paul shook his head at him.

"That's so not true!" Jubilee tried to defend herself, but her cheeks were scarlet red and she avoided her husband's gaze; once more receiving a shake of Logan's head.

"Oh, really?" Bobby mocked angrily and huffed. "Well, then go and have fun with him."

"You could pay me and I wouldn't touch her," Daken grunted and kept stared Bobby down in return.

"Alright…," Jean-Paul sighed and looked at the feral from aside. "I don't know when your mood has gotten so bad, but how about keeping a lid on it and just eating your breakfast?"

"She started it," Daken shrugged and ignored him and the others.

"You're like a teen sometimes…," the man next to him sighed and shook his head.

"Yer takin' part in the Dangerroom session, too?" Logan asked them after a while and whereas Daken frowned, Jean-Paul shrugged. "We'll meet in fourty minutes. He can have one of my uniforms."

"Not over my dead body!" Daken spat and glared at his father.

"Well, then wear one of his," Logan shrugged and got up to free Jamie of his high chair. "'n ya won't run off again, understood?" he told him and kissed his cheek, before he put him down.

"What kind of session did you plan?" Jean-Paul asked him and watched out of the corner of his eyes how Jamie looked at Daken from afar first and walked over to him next. "Logan…"

"He can't hurt him," the feral waved off, but kept a watchful eye on his youngest.

"Daddy, can we go outside and play?" Jack asked after putting the dirty dishes into the sink and stormed out when his father nodded absently.

"I swear I'm gonna kill him…," Daken growled and clenched his fists angrily. He watched through narrowed eyes how Jamie reached out and pulled on his jeans to get his attention. "Take your fingers off me!"

"What's your problem?!" Scott asked angrily and put his newspaper down. "He's a little child!"

"Not for much longer…"

"Wow… He really got the full dose of your DNA, didn't he?" Tony asked Logan impressed.

"Hiroki, wanna hug!" Jamie said and startled when the feral suddenly jumped off his stool as if a bee had stung him. Feeling threatened, he began to whine and ran over to his father to hide behind this one's legs.

"Would you calm down?!" Jean-Paul asked angrily and gave Daken a rather hard push. "Damn it, you scared him!"

"Think I care?!" the feral snapped and narrowed his eyes as Logan picked up his youngest to soothe him. He couldn't help but growl and left the room furiously.

"Jesus…," Jean-Paul said and shook his head. "His mood swings sometimes happen so fast that I really begin to think he has a dual personality…"

"Well… That's genetic," Hank explained and earned a confused look. "Logan has a dual personality, too. Wolverine's his negative. Same goes for Jean and Phoenix."

"Just that they don't act like rebellious teenagers!" Scott corrected him and shook his head when Jamie was still sobbing into his father's neck. "How can he scare a little child so much?!"

"If you ask me…," Tony cut in, "he's jealous. Because daddy here gives his love to his children and he is the son that no one wanted. So he hates daddy for not wanting him and his siblings even more for receiving the love and attention he never had." He was about to lift his cup and take a sip when he became aware of the looks he was given and his eyes switched from one mutant to the next. "Damn… I was right, wasn't I? I knew I should have gotten into psychology…"

Logan huffed and shook his head, while he swayed Jamie a bit. It was then that he realized something. "Why did ya leave Jamie alone with him?" he asked Jean-Paul, who sighed.

"Jean asked me to watch over him, because she had to check on you when you were still sick, so I said yes and forgot that I still had to get some books for my paper that the Professor wanted me to write. So I asked Daken to watch over him for a minute, ran into Jubilee and it took longer than I thought…"

"And you left Daken from all people alone with Jamie?!" Scott asked shocked.

"He wouldn't seriously hurt him, Scott!"

"Oh, I'm not so sure about that!" the man replied and stuck his head back into his newspaper. "I think he is very much capable of carrying out his threats."

Jean-Paul heaved a deep breath and looked at Tony for a while. If he thought about it, the man wasn't that wrong in the end. He, too, thought that Daken reacted the way he did because he was jealous of what his siblings had… "I think he's right with this jealousy thing…," he said more to himself and looked down when someone pulled on his leg. Smiling, he pulled Jamie up and held him close. "Done crying?"

"No…," the boy still sniffed and held on to the man's shirt.

"Understandable. I promise I'll get back to him for being so mean to my little pal," Jean-Paul promised, smiling back at Jamie and sat back down on his stool with the boy on his lap. "What do you want me to do? Pick his nose?"

"Yeah!" Jamie nodded.

"'kay. I'll do that then," the man nodded and ruffled the boy's hair a bit.

"Well… Have fun with your little session later. The real man in this mansion has to go back to do real work," Tony announced and aimed for the door. "And I really mean _real work_!"

"I thought ya were done with the new system…?" Logan asked, his brows furrowed.

"Yes, and now the Professor asked me if I could help Forge with some modification to your jet," his friend replied and grabbed two bottles of water before he disappeared around the corner.

"He's just agreed so that he has a few more days in which he can go on my nerves…," Logan growled and crossed his arms.

"You mean a few more days to flirt with Jean and get a rise out of your reaction…," Scott mumbled and put down his newspaper. "So… We'll meet in twenty minutes. Get ready and make sure someone watches over the children!"

"Yes ma'am!" Kitty saluted and quickly ducked out of the room quickly.

Scott sighed. "Is it my age that no one takes me serious anymore?!"

"Slim… No one ever took ya serious!" Logan grunted and headed for the door to get ready and suit up. As the team leader he still had to chose a program and think about the teams and the constellation.

"Thanks a lot, Mr. Authority…," Scott grumbled and got up, watched how Jean-Paul was holding his hands out for Jamie to high-five them, before they settled back on playing a game of clapping their hands. When Jamie kept on saying five words over and over again, he began to frown, crossed his arms and leant against the doorframe. "What is it he's saying?"

"Sounds like counting on Japanese to me," Jean-Paul shrugged and laughed when the boy hit one hand hard twice. "Wonder where you got that from."

"Logan already teaches him Japanese?!" Scott asked surprised and startled when said mutant suddenly stood behind him. "Jesus, Logan…"

"Who teaches whom Japanese?!" the feral grunted and cocked an eyebrow at his youngest, especially when this one started counting again. "Did ya teach him that?!" he asked Jean-Paul, who shook his head quickly.

"I don't speak the language, Logan. You should know that!"

"Isn't that a bit early? I mean you're already raising him bilingually…," Scott asked and looked at the man next to him.

"Well, _I_ didn't teach him t'count t'five," Logan replied and looked at the watch. "How about suitin' up already?!" he asked and waited for the younger mutants and Hank to leave, while Jean-Paul got up with Jamie on his arms, who still counted happily.

"Roku," Logan told his son and pulled him into his arms. "Roku's six. Can ya say that?" he asked Jamie, who thought about it. "C'mon… Ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku…"

"No!" Jamie said determined and shook his head, which made his father groan.

"Traitor! Trust me, I figure out who taught ya that!"

Thinking about it, Jean-Paul followed the group to the basement after Logan had handed his youngest over to Moira and James, who were sitting on the terrace and were watching over the children together with Narya, John and Jean's father, and couldn't help but smirk. Even more so when he stood next to Daken in the Dangerroom and pulled on his gloves. "So…," he whispered and gave him a cocky look. "You hate Jamie so much that you teach him how to count on Japanese?"

"Don't know what you're talking about," the feral grunted without looking back at him. "Your uniform sucks by the way."

"Well, it's the one I've never worn before. Logan offered you to…"

"Forget it," Daken grumbled and pulled off the leather jacket, throwing it carelessly into a corner.

"I just want to remind you of the fact that you're actually wearing _my _suit!" the man next to him commented that move and shook his head when he received a shrug only.

When Scott and Logan entered the rest of the group looked up and wondered what exactly was planned for today. Since Scott joined their side, they knew Logan had the command, much to Daken's displeasure…

"We'll work in teams," the feral announced. "Scott will go with 'Ro, Kurt, Hank'n Remy, Bobby with Jubilee, Kitty'n Pete, Jeannie stays we me…"

"I won't work with you…," his son suddenly growled and crossed his arms.

"I know. That's why ya team up with Paul," Logan replied. "Coz I doubt ya would work with anyone here." He ignored the huff he was given and looked at the ceiling. "Load simulation X345," he commanded and Moira's computer generated voice confirmed it. When the room began to change, he gave his son a warning look. "Don't injure anyone!"

"Afraid, old man?" Daken mocked and looked around when he and Jean-Paul suddenly stood in the middle of a warehouse. "A warehouse…?!" he asked disappointedly. "That's too easy…"

"I wouldn't be so sure of that. Jean can practically do whatever she wants with you," Jean-Paul said and looked around, too.

"Oh really?" the feral mocked. "Let's see how much in control she is after I'm done with her…" Without saying anything he headed for the stairs and ascended them quickly, didn't make the tiniest sound and went into a crouch in a dark corner to observe the room. "Stay in the shadows, damn it!" he hissed and pulled Jean-Paul roughly into the corner with him.

"Sorry… I'm not trained for black-ops like you…," the man snapped back and went into a crouch next to Daken.

* * *

"Sooo… Wolvie can sniff us out, Daken can sniff us out, Jean can telepath us out," Jubilee listed and slammed her fist into her other hand. "I say we're fucked!"

"Not so loud!" Kitty hissed and, while she followed Peter, kept an attentive eye to the upper level.

"Right, as if Logan or mohawk-guy won't hear us if we whispered…," Bobby mocked and kept an eye on the doors behind them.

"Someone so doesn't sound jealous…," Kitty said casually.

"Guys…, please," Piotr begged in a hushed voice. "Concentrate!"

"As if _my _wife can concentrate when mohawk-guy's around," Bobby spat angrily and wanted to kick something.

"Oh, please!" Jubilee snapped back.

"Please what?! I thought you wanna do him?" her husband replied. "Well, go ahead! Have fun!"

Next to them Piotr exchanged an annoyed look with his wife and was about to scold his two friend and remind them of their mission, as Kurt suddenly appeared in the middle of them.

"Guten Tag!" the teleporter greeted and all the group heard were two loud _bamfs _before they realized where they suddenly were.

"Great! This is so great!" Kitty said angrily and stared at the closed Dangerroom door. "Thank you very much!"

"Hey, why are you mad with me?!" Jubilee and Bobby asked at the same time just to return to glare at each other.

"Logan will be so pissed off….," Piotr mumbled and slumped down to sit on the floor, a move that was mimicked by Kitty, who was as angry as he was.

"If this had been a real mission, we'd be dead!" Kitty said and he nodded. "Don't you dare to say another word!" she warned her two friends. "Not one! If Logan gives _us_ a sermon because of you, then I swear…!" Furiously, she slammed her fist into the wall.

Inside the Dangerroom, Scott and his team were entering the next room and communicated via hand signs, knowing that the feral could hear them too easily. Hank sniffed and paid an attentive eye to a corner on the lower level. When his eyes narrowed, Scott nodded at the group and gave them a sign to get ready. While he reached up to touch his visor, Ororo and Kurt took the left side of him, Remy and Hank the other. He waited another moment and nodded at Kurt, who quickly teleported to the upper level and back. A silent curse left Scott's mouth when the teleporter shook his head in silence. He was sure that someone had been in that corner a moment ago, he'd seen a shadow… But since also the feeling of threat had vanished, he lowered his hand again and gave his group a sign to move on, but stay alert. Only Hank's sudden "Uff…" made him turn quickly and he barely managed to jump out of the way before the furry mutant would have crashed into him. "Storm, Gambit!" Scott shouted, but frowned. He didn't feel a threat at all, instead he felt like…

Storm gave their leader a confused look when Cyclops suddenly started laughing without any intention to stop. She knew something was up and moved closer to Remy and Hank out of instinct. Her eyes quickly scanned the room, her ears still heard Scott laughing uncontrollably and she looked aside to search the eyes of their teammates, when… "Remy look out!" she shouted and the Cajun turned, just to feel how a feet connected hard with his cheek and his view blackened instantly. "Hank!" she called and her eyes white when she summoned her powers, heard Beast snarling next to her and was ready to strike, as Daken had all of a sudden vanished again. "Where is he?!" she asked and looked quickly around, heard the feral chuckling in amusement. "On the left!" she said and aimed a lightning bolt into that direction.

"No, on the right!" a voice behind her suddenly said and she turned to throw another attack into this direction.

"Or maybe left…?"

Turning again, she began to pant and backed off. "Do you see him?!"

"No…," Hank replied, his voice grim. "He's manipulating us with his pheromone control. I don't feel any danger at all and Scott obviously thinks this here is a comedy show," he went on, since their leader was still laughing on the ground. He heard the faint sound of wind, knew its cause. "Northstar is distracting us, while Daken moves. I guess the first is where the latter isn't…"

"To be honest, Hank, I don't hear anything!" Ororo panted and reached up to touch her face, felt the cold sweat and began to pant harder. Her hands were shaking, her senses out of control…

"'Ro…?" Hank asked surprised. "It's only training!"

"The…walls… I want out!" she cried and clung to Kurt, who had teleported back to the ground concerned.

"Everything's alright…," he tried to soothe her and pulled her close, while she completely lost it.

"'Ro, it's Daken! He's manipulating you. What you feel isn't real!" Hank tried to convince her as a sudden "Left!" and "Right!" echoed through the room, the voices coming from their two adversaries, who told each other where to attack, and something solid bumped into him next, while he had to close his eyes as wind rushed by and tore Ororo and Kurt with it.

"I guess that means the lion's left over," Daken smirked and his eyes narrowed when Hank snarled. "Show me what you got, old man!" he mocked and landed a quick, solid hit to his adversary's chest, made use of the opportunity that Hank needed a moment to recover and moved quickly behind the furry mutant. His concentration on the pheromones was never broken, not even as Beast turned to attack him and gave the empty space behind him a confused look.

His growl became louder as the feral chuckled once more and Hank guessed that it was Northstar again, who helped Daken to move even faster than normal. His eyes quickly checked on Remy and Scott, knew that he couldn't count on their help and wondered where Logan and Jean were… With his teeth bared, he shook his head, tried to clear his thoughts and concentrate. What he was feeling right now, wasn't real. He knew that. And he also finally understood what their big mistake had been and why Romulus wanted Daken back. They hadn't only underestimated the feral, he understood that by having someone as Daken under ones control, the outcome of a battle didn't need to be predicted. It was too obvious…

A movement on the right caught his attention, but it were the claws on the left that suddenly came out of nowhere and Hank looked straight into Daken's cold eyes.

"I guess that means your dead," the feral simply said and Northstar came to a halt next to him. "I hope my old man will finally be a challenge or I'm going to fall asleep while standing…," he sighed, watched how Kurt came for Scott, Remy and Hank, and smirked when Logan suddenly landed on the ground behind him. "So… Is this going to take longer than 2 minutes and 46 seconds?" he challenged his father and huffed when Jean landed next to her husband. His powers were already working on her and he smirked when she grabbed her head. His dark hazel eyes locked on his father's lighter ones and his grin widened. "You coming, _daddy_?" he mocked and quickly reached for Northstar's arm, before Logan's claws hit the ground where he'd been standing before.

Growling, Logan went back to the redhead's side and took a protective stance next to her. "He's tryin' t'break yer concentration," he told her mentally to stick to their initial plan of no vocal communication. In the end that was another thing which made them stronger as a pair and also more deadly. "Whatever he makes ya feel, it ain't real."

"I know…," Jean replied on the same way and her brows furrowed deeper. "I…can't concentrate…"

Logan cursed and pulled her quickly into a corner so that he could shield her with his body. "Try harder!" he said and his eyes tried to follow the sound Northstar made with his running. He knew that with the speedster's help Daken was even more lethal and faster than usual. And the pheromones working on him, too, didn't help the situation either.

"Tired, old man?" Daken's voice mocked from his right and then front and Logan growled. He'd be damned if he'd lose to his son…

"Jeannie…," he sent mentally and kept his face expressionless. "I'll distract Daken, you'll take care of Paul."

"How?" she asked and looked at him, her mind dizzy with all the pheromones running wild around her.

Logan shook his head and smirked. "Do ya need Paul's help while dressin', too, kid?" he mocked arrogantly and shook his head playfully. "Too afraid and insecure t'fight people on yer own, huh? It's amazin' that ya were at least capable t'put on those pants. Or did Paul have t'help, too?" As he'd expected, an angry roar was aimed at him and Paul's shrieked "Hiro, no!" told him that his plan had worked as planned. "Jeannie!"

"Already got them!" the redhead smiled and she looked up at the furious feral and Northstar, both men hovering in the air above them. "Want me to drop them?" she asked Logan and returned the smile he gave her.

"Nah… I think it'll help _him_ t'cool this hothead of his…," Logan replied and he addressed the computer to shut down the program, waited for Jean to open the door and tell the others to come in again. Of course he noticed the amused smiles of his teammates. "Put'em down."

Nodding, Jean gently released her hold on Daken and Jean-Paul, the latter clearly happy to finally have solid ground underneath him again, the first seizing Logan up for a coffin. "Attack him and you'll get to know what I'm really capable of, Akihiro!" she warned the feral, who ignored her went on glaring at his father.

"I have t'admit as a team ya work great," Logan said towards his son and Northstar, before his eyes settled on Daken. "But yer such an arrogant, hotheaded kid… Ya could have easily beaten us, but one insult's enough'n ya lose all self control. If I were ya, I'd work on that!" With a disappointed look he turned and beckoned the other to follow him, as Daken's snarl suddenly became louder. As he'd expected, his son leapt at him and Logan quickly jumped to meet him in midair and threw him down. "I would think twice about it, if I were ya!" Logan growled back and pressed his son's arms to the ground, while the younger feral tried to free himself. "Ya might be a grown-up man but ya behave like a rebellious teenager."

"Get off me!" Daken barked at him and Logan frowned.

He was sure he'd seen panic and fear for a moment in his son's eyes. Getting up, he turned his head when there was a knock on the wall at the entrance. He turned and cocked an eyebrow at Creed, who was leaning against the wall and had his arms crossed.

"I told him to stay in his room or I'd lock him up!" Scott hissed angrily, but was held back by Logan. "Tell him to stick to the rules!"

"We're late for the meetin'…," the feral told him.

"He's coming, too?!" Scott asked shocked and exchanged a look with the rest of the group.

"Who is that guy anyway?" Daken grunted but without addressing anyone and followed the group towards the door.

"Your uncle, or half uncle if that counts…," Jean-Paul told him and received a deep frown. "He's your dad's and John's half brother." As he walked past Creed, who eyed all of them with his hard and cold look, he could feel the hairs on his neck beginning to tickle. The feral scared the hell out of him, not only because he was a giant… He also began to wonder why Creed's eyes switched from him to Daken behind him and back, a smirk becoming visible on his face, a chuckle audible next.

"Victor…," Logan warned him and kept an attentive eye on him, but began to frown when Daken suddenly froze on the spot after taking a closer look at Creed's face. He froze in his movement, too, his team alerted by the sudden change and they watched how Creed's eyes narrowed and Daken's eyes widened.

"What's yer problem?" Creed growled and didn't like it at all to be stared at that way. He wondered why the man in front of him was looking at him in such a strange way anyway, tried to remember if he had met him before but figured that this wasn't the case. "Get lost!" he grunted warningly and was about to push Daken away, when this one backed quickly off against the next wall and pressed himself against it. Cocking an eyebrow at him, Creed looked at Logan, who had come closer, alerted by the feelings of his son that he could pick up on. "What's his problem? Except that he's a fag."

"Excuse me?!" Jean-Paul snapped and joined Daken's side, his hand gently shoving the feral closer to him. He was well aware of the fact that Creed must have done something in the past, which had the feral react that way.

"I think ya heard me, didn't ya?" Creed asked him, his eyes narrowed to slits and it wasn't before Logan shoved him aside that the tension was broken a bit.

"If ya don't behave, I'll lock ya up myself, understood?" he warned the taller feral, received a glare but knew Creed had understood him. Concerned he turned to give his son, who still stared at Creed like a rabbit that was about to be run over by a car, a look. "What's wrong?"

As if the voice had woken something in him, Daken's eyes switched to Logan and instantly narrowed. "What's it to you?" he grunted and turned to head to the changing room, leaving Jean-Paul to give him a worried and confused look. "What did ya do t'him?!" Logan demanded to know and Creed growled.

"I don't even know who that fag is!" he spat and was caught by surprise when his half-brother slammed him into the opposite wall.

"Call my son a fag once more 'n I rip ya a new one!"

Surprised, Creed eyes widened for a moment before he chuckled. "That's….yer son?!" he asked amused and grinned even wider when Logan growled warningly. "Right… 'n that's yer son in law, eh?" he asked with a nod at Northstar, who looked, to everyone's surprise, like a volcano ready to explode. Up to now they only knew him as an all-around happy guy, someone who got up in the morning and was already in a good mood. But right now he looked ready to punch someone. "'n ya didn't drown him after birth?" Creed asked casually, still smirking at Logan before his eyes switched to Jean-Paul. "What's more embarassin' t'have a fag as a son…"

"Shut up!" Logan growled warningly and let go of Creed. He, too, was ready to explode.

"You've always been too soft about it anyway," the feral called after him when Logan walked towards the changing room again. "That's the reason why they kicked ya outta the army…"

"Oh, 'n ya would know, huh?" Logan spat, ignoring the looks they were given. "At least I didn't get myself a death penalty like ya always did fer us!"

"No, instead ya got a 6 months sentence thanks t'yer buddy the judge," Creed replied sarcastically and followed him. "Just coz ya had t'protect this…" His eyes switched to Northstar. "…scum."

"Says a mutant, huh?" Logan replied and stopped at the door, his hand already opening the zipper of his uniform jacket. "Go into the room over there, sit down 'n wait!" he demanded before he disappeared behind the door, surprised to find Daken sitting on a bench. "Ya okay?" he asked, but his son turned away from him. Sighing, he got changed and ignored the others that had entered a moment after him. Still, he watched Jean-Paul closely and gave him a nod when the man looked up to meet his eyes. He knew that if someone could figure out what had happened between Creed and Daken then it was him. "Meetin's now, hurry up!" Logan grunted and left the room again, not caring about Charles, who was already waiting in the Conference Room for the group. "Keep a lit on it!" he warned Creed, who only smirked back at him.

The Professor waited for everyone to take their seats and remained silent for a moment. "I called in the meeting today because I believe that some of you deserve an explanation…"

"Yes, like why Daken was suddenly back again and what he is doing here," Scott said with a nod at Creed. "Daken left, you and Logan had a fight and all of a sudden the two of you went all secret with each other. The next moment we think it's Logan who's with us on the plane, but then it's Daken…"

"I know, Scott," Charles nodded and steepled his fingers. "And yes, Logan and I worked in secrecy, but mainly to protect you."

"As always…," Scott mumbled and broke eye contact.

Charles gave Ororo, who sat as far back from Creed as possible a brief look and tried to calm her mentally. It was no secret to him that she wanted to be anywhere but here and that she was more than tensed, since the feral was staying with them. "Both Logan and Jean-Paul had come to me and asked me to find Daken," he said and received a surprised look from Logan, who hadn't known that someone else had asked for it. "After I found Daken, I immediately told Logan where to find him and he went to meet his son to tell him that he was hunting down Romulus and needed his help on the battle."

"So dat's why 'e left de gym and wasn't see all day…," Remy said and carefully pressed the cool pack against his jaw, the bruise already visible. "Merde, dat 'urts…," he cursed and lowered his hand a bit so that Hank could take a look at it.

"And why didn't you tell us then that it was Daken in your uniform and not you?" Scott demanded to know from Logan, who sighed. "I mean that guy could have killed us all!"

"Oh, c'mon!" the feral snapped and glared at the man. "If he wanted t'kill ya, he'd have already done it. 'n besides… I knew ya wouldn't listen t'me tellin' ya t'stay at home!"

"Of course not!" Scott said with a glare in return. "You can't disappear with _him_ without us following you!" He had given Creed another nod, clearly showing how much against the feral being there was. "He claims that he doesn't remember a thing. How do you want to be so sure of it?! Maybe it's a trap, maybe Romulus also calculated in that you would try to get Daken back and now both of them are here!"

"Coz he doesn't lie 'n ya don't know where I found Daken!" Logan snapped back and felt how Jean put a calming hand to his arm. "'n it's nothin' t'ya anyway!"

"Of course…," Scott nodded and huffed.

"I read Victor's mind while he was unconscious, Scott," Jean told him. "I can assure you that there is no memory left of what he has done in the past 13 years."

"Still it might be a trick!"

"Believe whatever ya want," Logan grunted and crossed his arms, kept his eyes on the table in front of him.

"What was your stupid stunt supposed to be anyway?" Hank asked. "I mean you three against him, fine, but you knew how dangerous he was and still you attacked him. What was the outcome supposed to be, except that you fell off the Empire State building, where in a coma for about a week, that I had to relocate every bone, that…"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it, okay?" Logan snapped and shot another glare at him. "We tried t'attach a locater t'that fucker…"

"Wow… That worked out, huh?" Scott mocked and shook his head.

"If ya hadn't shown up, it might've…," Creed grunted and crossed his arms.

"Who asked you?"

"Scott!" Jean said sharply. "Could we just go on with the meeting, please?!"

"Anyway." Charles went on after clearing his throat. "As I said, I owe some of you an explanation and I promised Logan to tell everyone at once, so that there are no more secrets…" While he closed his eyes, he folded his hands in front of his face and went back some decades ago. He knew what he was about to tell them now would anger a lot of the team… "As you already know I knew about who Logan was before he arrived here. In fact my father was one of those scientists that worked at Weapon X and after I became aware of what the project was about and what they had taken from Logan, I vowed to atone for my father's sins and give Logan back what he had lost. So when I picked up on Rogue and realized who she was with, I saw the perfect opportunity to do this. But of course I knew that if Logan ever got to know the whole truth behind this, and this includes what I knew, his attack on me, the consequences of this and what I was keeping from him, I knew that that he would leave almost instantly. So I chose the easiest way out and lied to him… I know that this was wrong and I'm deeply sorry for this," he said and opened his eyes for a moment to look at Logan, waited for his reaction but the mutant went on staring at the table. "Logan, will you accept my apology?" he asked and the feral looked up to meet his eyes with a cold glare of his.

"Maybe…," was all he grunted before his eyes were locked on the table again.

"I dunno what yer talkin' about but Jimmy volunteered fer Weapon X," Creed grunted and frowned when all eyes, including Logan's were suddenly on him.

"I what?!" Logan asked and cocked an eyebrow, listened to the repetition and his frown deepened. "Who told ya that shit?!"

"It ain't shit, it's the truth. Don't tell me ya don't remember!" Creed said and sunk deeper into the chair he was sitting in. "I dunno about what yer Prof knows, but I know that damn well that Stryker tricked ya into joinin' him. He faked yer girlfriend's death, knowin' that ya would want revenge'n ya joined him."

"And you know this because?" Scott asked.

"Coz it was me who helped him, idiot," Creed grunted and growled warningly when Scott let out a brief chuckle. A look at Logan told him that he was confused. "How can ya not remember this?!"

"How can ya be so sure that it's the real thing?" Logan asked in return. "As far as I remember ya raped 'n murdered Kayla on my birthday 'n a few days later I got kidnapped by those fuckers!"

Chuckling, Creed shook his head. "I raped 'n killed her… Yeah, sure. That bitch worked for Stryker, too."

"Watch yer mouth!" Logan warned him and was held back by his wife.

"Can't deal with the truth, huh?" Creed asked grinning. "Fine, then… After ya left Stryker's group he figured that he had t'keep an eye on ya, so he picked a girl that you'd like 'n forced her t'use her mutation on ya. When he figured out that this wouldn't help, he made a new plan, which had me huntin' down our old team so that he could come t'ya 'n warn ya about it. We then faked yer girl's death, knowin' that you'd track me down. Which ya did…" Smirking, he waited for Logan reaction but this one still glared at him only.

"So Stryker was in the perfect position t'offer ya the tools fer defeatin' me," Creed went on. "'n ya fell right fer his trap…"

Knowing that all eyes were now on him, Logan thought about all of this for a moment. His senses told him that Victor hadn't lied, still his memories were different. Then again it was too long ago as that he could still care about it. Right now they had other problems to deal with… "Whatever, I don't give a shit," he grunted. "Go on," he added and meant the Professor with it.

"Fine…," Charles nodded and his eyes fell on Remy and Scott. "The three of us have also met way before your arrival here," he announced and Scott's jaw dropped. "In fact, the two of you have met Logan before, too. You just don't remember."

Frowning, it was Logan who scrutinized the Professor now. "I don't remember it either…"

"I know. But I don't know why, Logan…," Charles nodded. "But I assume Victor here can tell us more."

Creed's eyes narrowed. "About what? I caught that whelp, that's it."

"Yes, but would you tell Scott about there where and why, please?"

He sighed in annoyance. "At his school, coz Stryker wanted him."

Confused, Scott shook his head. "I don't remember this… Which school? And why would Stryker want me?!"

"He wanted yer powers, what else?" Creed mocked.

"Anyway," Charles interrupted them, "I went to the island where Stryker kept his caught mutants and did his experiments on them. It was then that I met Scott and brought him and the other mutants into safety. I erased what had happened from their memory and brought them back home. A terrible mistake in Scott's case as I may add… But as far as I know it's been Logan, who freed the mutant children and it's been Remy, who had brought Logan to that island…"

"Remy doesn't remember dis…," the Cajun said and shook his head, his eyes searching for Logan's, who only frowned deeply at him.

"Which is strange, as I may add," Charles said, deeply in thoughts. "Maybe you had an accident or something else caused this amnesia…"

The Cajun could only shrug.

"Why didn't you tell me?!" Scott asked the Professor, his voice clearly sour.

"Because I didn't find it necessary, Scott. I thought you were back in safety…"

"Not necessary? As you didn't find it necessary to tell Logan that his mother was still alive?"

"Scott…."

"No!" the man insisted and shook his head. "You can't always play with our minds as you like!"

"I know… That's why I called in this meeting," Charles defended himself. "To tell you the truth once and for all!"

While Scott huffed, Logan gave Jean a look. "Ya know what? By now he should be my bondservant, as often as I already saved his sorry ass…"

"Funny, Logan!" Scott snapped and crossed his arms.

"Is there anything else, Charles?" Hank asked, since two hours had already passed.

"I think we should also talk about our new enemy…," the man replied. "We need to take every possible precaution…"

"No, we need t'find him 'n kill him!" Creed ad Logan said at the same time and exchanged a glare with each other.

"Logan," the Professor began, "I know you won't like it, but as far as I'm concerned Daken is the only one who can possibly tell us how to find Romulus. In the end he was practically raised by him…"

"Explains why he's fucked up…," Creed mumbled.

"Says ya, eh?" Logan snapped. "Who got beaten up all the time by his so called _father_?!"

Victor growled and narrowed his eyes. "Who believed his daddy was his daddy?!"

Logan clenched his fists under the table and tried hard not to strangle the feral in front of him instantly. "At least my daddy wasn't a fuckin' loser and drunkard!"

"Well, it ain't my mother that had an affair with this fuckin' loser…," Creed snapped back and got up at the same time Logan did and his nails extracted instantly when a _snikt_ from opposite of the table echoed through the room. Both ferals bared their teeth and growled deep in their chest. They completely ignored the rest of the group, who tried to talk some sense into them, only had eyes for the opposite and they tensed their muscles to be ready to attack. Feeling his blood rushing through his veins in rage, Creed knew that only one little move was enough to make Logan snap and he was dying for a good brawl to get rid of all the tension and anger he felt. So he grinned and winked, knowing what Logan's next move would be.

Letting out an angry roar, Logan leapt over the table and crashed into Creed, who was about to slam him into the next wall, as both of them were suddenly thrown in to the walls on the opposite sides of the room. Confused, they shook their heads and looked for the source, finding it in the angry, burning eyes of Jean.

"One of you move, I dare you!" she warned them and, to make her threat clear, gave them an additional push into the wall. When Creed broke eye contact and she was sure he had understood that she meant what she said, her eyes fell on her husband, who was still glaring at her. "And you dare to call your oldest son a hothead?" Jean asked him and broke her control over the two ferals. "Sit down, behave or I'm really getting angry!" she warned them once more and sat back down, her arms crossed.

"Does she mean it?" Creed asked Logan after a moment of silence.

"Oh yeah…," this one mumbled and went back to his chair to sit out the rest of the meeting.

* * *

From his position on the bed Jean-Paul watched how Daken left the bathroom, a towel around his hip, another one used to dry his hair and stopped in front of the drawer to get a pair of black boxer briefs out of it. The former Alpha Flight member had his pillow pulled close and lay on his belly at the end of the bed, his head resting on the soft object, while his eyes remained on the other man. Of course Daken hadn't said one word about what had happened with Creed and he was wise enough not to push it. If he thought about it further, he pretty much didn't know anything about him at all, except that Logan was his father, that he was part Canadian, part Japanese, arrogant, moody, had aggressive tendencies, behaved like a rebellious teenager, hardly spoke at all, loved to read, was smart, could manipulate emotions and was very good at hand-to-hand combat, handsome and…

"Whatcha looking at?" Daken suddenly grunted and Northstar realized that the man had sat down at the head of the bed, his piercing eyes on him.

"At you," he replied truthfully and shifted his position, so that he now lay correctly on the bed. Realizing that Daken wouldn't say anything except a brief twitch of his eyebrows, Jean-Paul pulled his pillow closer again and watched the feral reading for a while. "When did you notice it?" he asked out of interest and received a frown. "That you were also into guys, I mean…"

Daken sighed and went back to reading. "I didn't," was all he had to say.

This time it was for Northstar to frown. "What do you mean, you didn't?" he asked confused. "You're also doing guys… You don't do the same sex without being into it."

"I don't care who I'm with. It's just sex, that's all," Daken grunted and turned a page in the book.

The man next to him watched him thoughtfully, thought hard about that answer. "What about your first?" he asked and shifted his head on his arms into a more comfortable position. "Was it just sex, too?"

"Sure."

"Why?"

"I needed his ID card."

In a rush Jean-Paul's head shot up. "You wasted your first time because of an ID card?!" he asked and stared at the feral agape in disbelief. "Why?!"

Daken looked back at him frowning and shrugged. "Why not?"

"Because… Because it's something special. Something you should share with someone you love?" Northstar said as if the man next to him was dumb. But this one only snorted.

"In what kinda world do you live in?" Daken asked with a shake of his head and went on reading.

"That's what I'm asking myself about you…" Jean-Paul started when the book went shut with a loud _bang_. One look at the feral was enough to tell him that he'd gone too far. The cold and angry look he received was enough to make the hair on his neck stand up. "I mean let's be honest… Have you ever loved someone? Or cared for someone? Or been with someone that didn't serve any purpose to you?" he asked quickly before Daken could snap.

"What's it to you?"

Northstar nodded knowingly. "As I thought…"

"What?!" Daken growled and threw the book aside.

"You never had a relationship, right?"

"So?"

Jean-Paul sighed in frustration. "That's sad…," was all he could say about it and held the feral's gaze, even if the man was glaring at him. "I mean… Being with someone you love is the best thing that can happen to you."

"Sex is sex," Daken insisted in annoyance.

"No, it's not," Northstar replied and supported his weight with his arms. "There's a huge difference between sex and making love."

The feral huffed and turned around to pull his pillow into another position. "There's no such thing as love or loyalty or any of this shit that you believe in. Wake up, that's the real world!"

"How do you want to know if you've never been in love?" Jean-Paul challenged him and held the look he was given.

"Because I don't care," Daken growled and turned further around. "So are we gonna do it today or not? Your annoying questionnaire kills the mood."

Jean-Paul sighed and rolled around so that he was now lying on his back and stared at the ceiling. "I told you what I want."

"And I told you no!"

"Then forget about it," he said with a determined, but also slightly angry look on his face. "I'm not a doll you can put on the bed and use whenever you like, alright? I've my pride."

Daken shrugged and got up. "Fine…"

Watching him, Northstar began to wonder what the man was up to and frowned as he got dressed. "What are you doing now?"

"I want sex today. If you're not willing, I'll find someone else," the feral growled and pulled his black shirt over his head. He ignored how Jean-Paul sat up in a rush as he grabbed his boots.

"You're kidding, right?" the other man asked, but realized that this wasn't the case. Getting up, he grabbed Daken's arm, ignored the angry growl he was given. "Why is that such an issue for you that I want equal rights in bed?" he asked but received a cold glare only. "I just said that I don't want you to be on top all the time. What's wrong with that?!"

The feral pulled his arm away and went for his jacket. "Your loss…," he grunted and walked to the door, but Jean-Paul blocked his way.

"You know what your problem is?" the man asked. "You can't stand the thought of control! For you sex is about power and control over someone else and you are afraid to give it to another person."

"Get out of my way!" Daken hissed warningly, but Northstar shook his head. A twist of his wrist was enough and his claws showed. "Get…out of my way!"

"Why don't you just admit that you're afraid of feelings?" his opposite challenged. "You don't know how to handle them because you never experienced them."

Growling, Daken shoved him out of his way and left the room, hearing how the man followed him.

"If you go and sleep with someone else, you can forget about me ever touching you again, Hiro!" Jean-Paul warned him after they had reached the rec-room and a brief look aside told him that some X-Men were still up and watching a movie.

"So? I don't depend on you," the feral shrugged arrogantly and gave him a challenging look. "Jealous, huh?"

"No, I pity you," Northstar replied and, while the feral crossed his arms and tried to keep his face emotionless despite of being angry, put his hands to his hips. Of course he felt his emotions becoming negative thanks to Daken's mutation and the feral felt that way. "Keep your mutation under control, will you?" he asked and sighed.

"_Pity me_?!" Daken snarled and came slowly closer until he stood right in front of the other man.

"Yeah, pity you," Jean-Paul said. "You're 42 years old and don't know the meaning of the most natural feelings. You are too stubborn to admit that you're scared, you see people as pawns that you can use whenever you like and instead of giving an honest answer, you chose the easiest way out and run," he listed, ignoring that the X-Men had stopped looking at the screen and were now watching them arguing. "I mean, I'm trying! I really do. I try to show you that there is more than blood, death and pain on this world, but by now I really have my doubts that you even want to see it. I'm tired of it. You can't use people like you want. Even if you don't have any, but we have feelings, alright? So if you leave today, I can assure you that you can forget about me! I'm not your whore." Still angry, he turned and headed back to his room, but stopped at the corner. "There's a great difference, you know?" he added, hinting to their former conversation about making love and just sex. "But I doubt you'll ever experience it with your way of dealing with people. That's why I pity you." With a last angry, but also disappointed look, he turned around the corner and headed for Daken's room to get his things.

He had just grabbed his clothes from the stool next to the bed as the door was opened and closed again. Jean-Paul didn't bother to turn around, he knew who it was and didn't intend to stay. "I'm staying, alright?" Daken grunted annoyed and threw his jacket into a corner, his shirt and jeans following.

"Good for you," the other man mumbled and started when his wrist was suddenly grabbed. He looked aside just to look right into Daken's angry eyes. "That hurts…," Jean-Paul said rather matter-of-factly and nodded at his wrist. When the feral let go, he rubbed it and gave it a look. "Why did we have the discussion anyway?" he said and went on packing, the marks of Daken's hand visible on his wrist. "The only thing you know is violence and how to hurt people…"

"I said I'm staying!" Daken snarled and glared at the man when this one turned. "So what's your problem?"

Northstar shook his head with a sad smile. "It's not about you staying. We both know you only do it so that you can get an advantage out of it. I'm talking about you not understanding what I mean."

"Because it's bullshit!" Daken grunted and lay down in bed, his face a mask of anger.

"That's what you might think, because you don't know any feelings besides anger and hate!"

"And I don't give a shit!" he snapped and pulled the sheets over himself.

"Of course, that's why your mood's so good…," Jean-Paul muttered sarcastically and received a low snarl. He sighed and threw his clothes to the ground before he sat down on the edge of the bed. He had enough of them fighting. By now he was getting headaches from it. "Honestly, what is your problem, Hiro?" he asked and turned to look at the feral, who glared back at him in silence. "Do you think I never noticed that you tense up when I embrace you from behind or that you dislike it when someone stands behind you?" he said, but the man was still glaring at him with a cold look and Jean-Paul knew he wouldn't get any reply. Besides that, he was too tired to discuss it any longer. "Fine, whatever. Then stay silent," he shrugged and was about to grab his things when Daken spoke up.

"It's just an act. Why are you making such a fuss about it?"

Northstar turned to stare at him in disbelief. "That's all it is for you? An act?!" he asked and snorted with a shake of his head. "You don't know jack, seriously!"

"Well, then explained it!" the feral mocked and watched how the man next to him turned fully around to kneel on the bed. His hazel eyes were locked on Jean-Paul's blue ones and he was still not sure if he even cared about what the man would say next. Or why he had even asked.

"Explaining won't do…," Northstar said in the end and his opposite rolled his eyes. He ran a hand through his black hair and thought about what to do. He looked at Daken's bare chest and decided to stay in the end, even if his mind told him not to. The shirt and pants her wore fell to the ground and he went under the sheets, reached out to switch off the lights. Still, he wasn't satisfied with the situation and turned to look at the feral next to him in the dark, wondered what the man was thinking about right now, if he thought about the situation at all…

In the end, he moved closer and supported himself with one arm on the opposite side of Daken's head, while he was leaning half over him. Even in the dark he could see that the man was frowning at him, but it didn't stop Jean-Paul from pressing a gentle kiss to the feral's lips. "Let me show you…," he whispered against them and opened his eyes again to see the reaction. He could tell that he had confused the man even further and went on kissing him slowly and gently. It didn't long for him to feel Daken's hand on the back of his neck, trying to force him into a harder kiss, but he resisted and told him no. "Slowly and without force. Take your time," Northstar reprimanded him and waited a moment before he tried again. **Even if the feral was still too hurried and forceful in between, Jean-Paul was determined not to give up and went on with the kissing and caressing him in a slow and gentle speed, allowed his hands to roam over the feral's well-toned body to learn were this one was most sensitive and concentrated on those spots deliberately. Every time he felt Daken tensing his muscles or earned a sigh from the feral, he lingered on that spot for a while longer and began to enjoy teasing the man underneath him clearly.** Nevertheless, as soon as Northstar reached between their bodies, Daken gasped and pushed him aside as if he'd been burned.

"No!"

Frowning, Jean-Paul gave his opposite a surprised look and took the sight in. He saw the widened eyes and also noticed the quickened pace of the man's breathing. It was then that something clicked in him. "You've been abused…," he said more to himself and started when Daken suddenly pushed him down, baring his teeth in a low, menacing growl.

"No!" the feral insisted and glared at him warningly, but Northstar remained unimpressed despite the shock the man had given him with the sudden attack.

"Don't lie to me!" Jean-Paul said and sat up a bit. "You're scared, you hate to be touched if you're not in control…"

"I'm not scared!" Daken growled and his opposite huffed.

"Sure… Widened eyes, rapid heartbeat, quickened breathing," Northstar listed and added sarcastically, "No, of course you're not scared!" The feral growled and narrowed his eyes. "Who did this to you? That Creed guy? Is that the reason why you reacted the way you did before?" he asked him after a moment and dared to move closer again, his hand reaching out to take Daken's, who gave this gesture a confused look. "I wouldn't have forced myself on you or hurt you, you know?" he said calmly after a moment of silence and looked at their hands. He sighed and let go to look up with a weak smile. "Let's just go to sleep," he suggested and had already lain down again, as he still received an odd look from aside. "What?"

"I want you to go on!"

Northstar sat up in a rush. "You…what?!"

"Go on!" Daken demanded once more, this time putting more force into it.

"No!" his opposite said and shook his head in disbelief. "You've been abused, you were scared before, so I definitely won't go on!" He watched how the feral's eyes narrowed. "Seriously, Hiro… You don't want it. You're not ready for…"

"What makes you think you know better what I want than I do myself?" Daken asked rather cold and sat up, supporting himself with one arm. "That shit was your idea and I want you to go on!"

"Yeah, but I didn't know about what happened to you…"

"I don't care about it! Now go on!" Daken snarled more forcefully and growled warningly when Jean-Paul shook his head. "Do you think I can sleep with this?" he asked and nodded at his lap. "It's your fault so do something about it!"

Smirking at how the sheets looked like a small tent, Northstar raised his head to meet the feral's eyes. He considered what to do, was torn between going on and just going to sleep. "Can't you just…," he began and shrugged, "go to the bathroom and…take care of it?" A look at the narrowed eyes of the man next to him was answer enough and told him that this wasn't an option. "I really don't wanna do it without you being comfortable with it…"

"Great that we talked about it," Daken replied sarcastically. "Can we go on now?"

"Do you even care?"

"No!" he said and moved over to stop only inches from Northstar's face. "Right now…I don't care." His hand reached out to pull his opposite into a hard kiss, which he broke in between. "Slowly, I remember…," Daken mumbled against the other mutant's lips and leant back a bit when Jean-Paul suddenly chuckled. "What?" he grunted rather displeased.

"Was that actually a tease? From you?" Northstar asked him smirking.

"So?" the feral shrugged.

"We have to practice on that!"

Rolling his eyes, Daken tilted his head. "Just shut up, will ya?" he asked and rolled onto his back with a sigh. Annoyed, he closed his eyes but open them again as he was straddled, his hazel eyes looking up and into the smiling face of Jean-Paul.

"Fine…"

"Fine?!" Daken asked confused.

"Yeah. Fine, I'll shut up," his opposite replied and leant slowly in, his lips barely touching the other mutant's ones. "Still, we have to practice on your teasing."

Growling, the feral rolled them around. "Shut up!"

Chuckling, Northstar pulled him back into a gentle kiss and got lost in it. **To his surprise Daken managed to control his feral nature enough to make the whole process more enjoyable and lasting. Of course he felt the feral's powers working on him, but this time was different. The mutant knew that the man underneath him wasn't doing it deliberately, but because he had lost control and made an experience that was completely foreign to him. After he'd worked his way down under the comments of grunts or soft moans, Northstar remained there for a while longer and kept his eyes on the feral's face while he continued his work. Since Daken's cheeks were flushed and he kept his eyes closed while his mouth was open a bit, he guessed that he was doing something right. The grip the feral had on the back of his head was usually strong and rather forcing, but gentle and caressing now. When hips began to meet his rhythm, he let go and ascended the muscular body again, traced the tattoo with his hands and tongue, before he reached out blindly to search for the tube in the drawer.**

"**Why did you stop?" Daken mumbled against his lips and pulled him closer with his arms to rub against him.**

"**Because I don't want this to be over so soon…," Jean-Paul replied and let him know what he'd do next to prevent the feral from startling. He wanted to show him that it wasn't just an act, that there was a difference and that it wasn't about power and humiliating him, as the abuse had been. Still, he could feel him tensing up a little. "You alright?" he asked after preparing them both and let the tube fall to the ground, getting settled between the feral's legs and pressed a calming kiss to this one's neck. He kept on telling him to relax enough and did his best to tease sensitive spots to keep Daken's mind from what he was doing and refused to move faster than necessary to give his partner enough time to adjust to him. He used slow and deep strokes first, but reached a faster, still gentle pace the more the feral's and his excitement rose. Both men clung to each other and became more and more desperate for release, while trying to keep the same pace. When Jean-Paul began to notice how his partner tensed and something warm spread between them, Daken surprised him by biting down on his shoulder in a half growl and half moan. The pain and the trembling body underneath him sent him quickly over the edge, too, and both remained on top of each other, trying to catch their breaths and basking in the afterglow which soon set in. **

Exhausted, Northstar rolled them over so that both of them were lying next to each other, but kept his arms firmly wrapped around the feral and felt their heartbeats thumping against each another. To his surprise Daken allowed it and remained in his arms even in sleep…

**I tried to hurry up with this chapter. I didn't expect that I'd actually finish it today, but well… You'll get your update on the weekend as promised on Twitter. : ) It's almost Saturday here. Thanks to all reviewers!! I really appreciate getting a feedback and hearing what you think. I'll get back to those I can, but I also want to thank all non members for leaving one. You guys rock!!! As I said, my exams are coming up soon, so I'm not sure how often I can type on the new chapter. I'll do my best! See ya!**


	58. Chapter 55

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

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**Granted the wish of one of you and named Laura's favorite cub. ; ) The name was picked by one of the readers.**

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**I absolutely LOVED Dark Wolverine. The issue was great and Daken is such a manipulative, horny a-hole. LOL My version really is way too nice…**

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** LACEYLOU and GHOSTHREE3:**** Did you receive my messages? If not, please use my email: scullyone(at)t-online(dot)de **

**Somehow has problems with the messages…**

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**One of you asked about how I'm going to explain Remy's age. I thought about a solution and found one. I will include it in later chapters****. : )**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 55**

The bed shifted and the sudden movement interrupted his sleep. Drowsily Jean-Paul opened one eye and gave the digital clock a look. "It's not even 4 a.m., Hiro…," he mumbled displeased and rolled quickly over and onto his belly to try to get back to sleep again. From afar he heard how the door went shut and he buried his face in his pillow.

Daken ran a hand through his hair and aimed for the kitchen, a frown very much visible on his forehead. He was confused, even more than that. He had trouble to understand what had happened at night, why he had lost control and especially why something in him had enjoyed it. After he had grabbed the first bottle out of the fridge he could reach, he slumped down on a stool and stared at the ground. Something like that had never happened before. To him it was just an act, just doing it, no feelings, no attachment. Just the pain and getting satisfied, that's what the act was about, wasn't it? But then there had been no pain last night, no force, no one that hurt him and enjoyed doing so. He had completely lost his mind and even been vocal. He was never vocal and especially: he was never the bottom. Never! Not even versatile, he was always the one in control. And then he had completely lost it and even enjoyed what they had done. It was so completely not him…

"Somethin' wrong?!"

Starting, Daken's head shot up and he needed a moment to realize that he hadn't heard his father coming, nor that Jamie was sniffing into Logan's neck and waiting for something to drink. Had he really been that far gone? Only frowning at him, he looked away again. His father was the last person he wanted to see or talk to at the moment.

"Daddy!" Jamie whined and wasn't pleased that he was dropped on the kitchen isle.

"Hold on a sec, baby. I only have two hands," Logan grunted and fished in the fridge for the bottle. "Sit still or ya gonna hurt yerself!" he warned his youngest, who tried to reach out to him and handed him the sippy cup next. Nevertheless, his eyes were still on Daken, who seemed to be deep in thoughts. "Ya smell confused…"

"So?" Daken replied and looked into the opposite direction.

Logan sighed. "Look, it takes a while for yer mind to work normally again. I know that, I've been there. It's hard first because ya don't know who ya really are without all those control mechanisms in yer head, but it'll get better."

"It's not about that!" Daken grunted before he could stop himself and received a cocked eyebrow. "Just forget it!" he snapped and left the room before his father could say something else.

"Weird…," Jamie said and looked up at his father, who nodded in agreement and pulled him up again to return to their rooms.

Back in his room Daken sat down on his side of the bed and looked at the man who was sprawled all over it, deeply asleep and with his right hand on the feral's side. He was still confused and trying to understand it. His mind was buzzing again and his hand reached up to squeeze the back of his nose. He dreaded thinking if he had too much on his mind already, it exhausted him. After he had pushed Northstar's hand away and lain down, his eyes switched to the windows and once more he began to frown. What on earth was he doing at the mansion anyway? He couldn't care less about the people here, he didn't even like being here… He didn't like people, especially not cheery ones like the man next to him… He loved to have fun manipulating others, to use his emotion control to influence happy couples or to get whoever he wanted into his bed, so why on earth was he staying here?!

Next to him Jean-Paul sighed in his sleep and rolled onto his side. It didn't take long before the man had his arm wrapped around the feral's waist and cuddled up. Daken turned his head briefly to look at him, the frown still clearly visible and thought about what to think. He'd never been with someone for longer than one night before, he had never felt a need or desire to do so and when it came to Jean-Paul they practically lived together. But he couldn't tell why he even allowed it. He didn't need people, he couldn't stand people, so why was he…

"I can hear the wheels in your head turning…," Northstar suddenly mumbled into his shoulder and, after a look to the side, Daken realized that the man was awake. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing…," the feral grunted and turned his head away. "Go back to sleep…"

"I can't, thanks to you…," the other man sighed and ran both hands over his face. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing!"

"Okay, then I'll guess…," Jean-Paul said and supported his head with one arm, the other still resting on Daken's hip. "You're confused!" He watched how the feral's head shot into his direction, the eyes suspicious. "It wasn't that hard to guess, you know? It's written all over…" He pointed between Daken's eyes. "…here." Holding the glare he was given for a moment, he turned around and pulled his pillow closer. "It's okay to be confused, okay? It's a new experience for you and you first have to try and find out what to make out of it. Just go back to sleep…," Jean-Paul suggested and kept his eyes on the man next to him. He wondered what Daken was thinking. Right now he looked at him as if he wanted to beat him up. "What? You don't want to talk about it, you deny something is wrong, you don't want…" His eyes grew wide as the feral placed a rather hard kiss to his lips. Now it was for him to frown. "Okay… What was that for?" Northstar asked.

"I hoped you'd shut up, that's all," Daken sighed and got settled on his side again, his back to the man behind him.

"I know I talk too much when I'm tired…," Jean-Paul admitted and reached out to trace the tattoo. "How come you can have a tattoo with a healing factor?"

"Metallic coloring," the feral mumbled and pulled the sheets higher. "Go…to sleep!"

"Hm…," Northstar made and stroked over the dragon's tail that ran from the right side to the left of Daken's lower back, once more, before he cuddled up and closed his eyes again. "Night…"

After giving the man another distraught look, Daken got settled again and occupied himself with staring at the wall in the dark; still unsure of what to make out of the situation.

* * *

When Jean woke slowly up she instantly realized that something felt odd. She lay on her side, her pillow pulled close by her hands but there was definitely something more or less heavy on her hips. As she guess, either Miloh, Callie or one of their cubs had sneaked into their bedroom again and was now sleeping half on top of her. Sighing, she cracked her eyes open, just to frown deeply next. "What are you doing there?" she asked Logan, her voice still thick with sleep. He was the reason why her position felt so weird, since he rested his head on her hip, his arms and hands held loosely on to her legs and his eyes were watching her intently. "Logan? Don't tell me you actually moved that much in your sleep that you ended up in this position…?" she asked, but he shook his head. "But?"

"Couldn't sleep," he grunted and cuddled further up to her, not caring that his position on the bed was completely wrong.

"Why? Did you have a nightmare?" Jean asked concerned and sat up a bit, much to his displeasure.

"No…," he grunted and closed his eyes again.

"But?"

"Jamie woke me up at least twice, then one of the cubs escaped and I had to go after it…," he listed and let go of her legs to ascend her body slowly and rested his head on her chest next.

"You're heavy," Jean scolded him gently and began to stroke through his hair. "And besides… We have to get up soon for our classes."

"Screw 'em," he mumbled and pulled her closer with his arms. "I'm tired…"

"Still you have classes today, mister!"

"Fine, then I'll send those kids on a survival trip in the woods 'n while they get lost, I'll take a nap…"

"Don't you dare!" she said and squealed in surprise when he suddenly turned them around. "Logan!"

"Clock says we still got 20 minutes!" he announced, smirking and wobbled his eyebrows.

"So?" she asked playfully and acted as if she didn't know what he was hinting at. "You said you were oh so tired…"

"Hm…," he made and began to nibble on her throat. "I think I can manage…"

"Mhm," she made in return and pulled his head closer with her hands. "And you complaint about feeling old… I don't want to be responsible for an old, tired man not to be able to do his job, you know?"

"Well…," she heard him mumbling against her throat and it sent a jolt through her body. "Maybe I'll collapse 'n ya have t'do mouth t'mouth…"

"And you think I'd do this?" Jean teased him and laughed when he growled against her skin, his hair tickling her at the right places. "If you want to get some, honey, you should hurry up!"

With a playfully hurt expression, Logan sat up a bit and gave the clock and then her a look. "15 minutes, darlin'!"

"You said you were old! I'm just concerned for some parts of you needing longer than usual…," she shrugged flirtingly and bit her lip, which he gently caught between his teeth in the next moment. When he rubbed against her pelvis in the next moment, she moaned softly into his kiss. "Okay, maybe not…," she acknowledged smiling and wrapped her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss.

"Maybe someone's concerned that she can't keep up with the old man anymore," Logan teased her back and chuckled when he landed hard on his back next with her on top. "Careful, darlin', old men have a sensitive back."

"Hm…," she smiled and her eyes began to glow, her mind searching for his most sensitive spots and attack them. Phoenix in her head snickered with her. "Maybe the old man should just lay back then?" she offered and placed her hands next to Logan's head to kiss him, when this one sighed. "What?"

"Kids…," he only said and it didn't take long before they could hear Rachel calling out for them.

"Damn…," Jean agreed and rolled off him, just in time before the little redhead stormed in.

"Mommy, I can't find my book!"

"I'll be right there, honey," her mother replied and noticed Logan's sour look. "Take a cold shower then, baby," she said and kissed him, before she got up to help her daughter.

"Cold shower…," he huffed and ran a hand over his face as he remembered something. "Hey, dontcha have a free period around 11?" he asked her mentally.

"Yes, why?" she asked back and he chuckled loud enough for her to hear. "You have a very dirty mind, old man!"

"Then I suggest ya spent your free period in the locker room downstairs…"

"Dirty…mind!" Jean sent back through their link and heard him chuckling again.

"Then it's settled," Logan said and got up to get ready for the day. When he left his room with some fresh clothes in his hands, he was nearly run over by the cubs. "Jesus… We really have t'think about somethin'…."

Hearing it, Laura looked up in shock. "You can't give them away, daddy!" she cried out and hugged one of the cubs.

"Sweetheart, we don't have enough room for all of 'em," Logan replied and sighed when she gave him trembling lips. "If someone of the others takes 'em, they'll still live in the same house, baby!"

"No! You can't give Ryan away, daddy!"

"Who's Ryan?!" the feral asked perplexed and looked at the black and white cub that sat next to her, wagging its tail and showing him his pink tongue. "Great…," he sighed and looked into her teary eyes. He should have figured it out by himself. The cub always sneaked into the girl's room and slept on her bed when it thought Logan wasn't watching. As far as he knew the white cub always hang around Jack and Lily, so he guessed that they would start a tantrum, too, if they decided to give it away. "We talk about this later, alright?" he said and went into the bathroom to take a quick shower.

"Can you go on helping her?" Jean asked after squeezing past him into the bathroom. "I can't find her French book either."

"Great…," Logan grunted and threw his dirty clothes into the corner of the bedroom. "Kiddo, I'm tellin' ya this for the last time," he began and began searching for the book in Rachel's and Laura's room. "Pack yer back the evenin' before!"

"Sorry…," Rachel mumbled and looked under her bed and on her desk.

"Go get ready for school, I'll find yer book," her father grunted after Jean left the bathroom and went through the whole bookshelf the kids had. While he muttered curses under his breath and heard how Jean prepared Jamie for the day, there was a knock on their room door and he went over to open it.

"Uncle Logan!" his godchild Isa greeted him happily and hugged his waist.

"Mornin', kiddo," Logan smirked and pulled her close for a moment. "What's the matter?"

"I accidentally took Ray's book with me," she apologized and handed the missing French book over to him, seeing that he cocked an eyebrow at her. "I didn't notice it. I'm sorry!"

"No problem, kiddo," he waved off and handed Rachel the book when she came out of the bathroom.

"Got to go. See you later!" Isa said and ran back downstairs quickly.

"Did ya have homework t'do?"

"No," Rachel assured him. "But Remy wanted to write a test today…"

"A test?" he asked and sighed. "I hope you studied for it…"

"Daddy!" his daughter cried and crossed her arms, her eyes giving him the typical _you're-stupid_-look. "You taught us French from when we were like this tall!" she scolded him and showed him how tall by holding up her book.

"Yeah, yeah…," he waved off and grabbed her quickly to carry her back to her room, chuckled when she squealed and tried to free herself from his grip.

"Mommy, daddy wants to eat me!" the girl cried out and began to laugh when he tickled her.

"Well I didn't have breakfast so far."

"Mommy!" she squealed, even louder when he began to growl playfully and heaved deep breaths when she was finally released again.

"C'mon, breakfast time," her father said and beckoned her to hurry up. "Don't forget yer school stuff!" he added and called out for the rest of his children to do the same, whereas he went over to the desk he shared with Jean and grabbed the papers he needed for his classes today. While he took his sports bag, Jean went to get her papers and he smirked at her. "Don't forget, darlin'… In the locker room at 11 a.m.," he said and wobbled his eyebrows, clearly noticing her blushing.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Logan," she replied and walked past him towards the door, where she took Jamie's hand and helped him downstairs.

"Ya so know what I mean," she heard him saying, while he closed the door behind him and descended the stairs next. "I'll be waitin'. If yer not comin', I'll track ya down!"

"Go on dreaming, honey…," Jean smiled and let go of Jamie's hand when the boy had spotted something ahead of him. Realizing who it was, she gave Logan a concerned look, but he only shrugged.

"He won't hurt him, trust me," he soothed her mentally and watched from afar how Jamie grabbed Daken's jeans and held onto it, while his son rolled his eyes and tried to walk normally with the boy attached to it. "God, I'm so stupid…"

"Why?" she asked him through their link.

"Jamie can suddenly count from 1 t' 5 'n I wondered who might have taught him that…," he replied and shook his head. "'f course it was him."

Frowning, Jean gave the spot where Daken had been just a moment ago a look. "Are you sure?!"

"Who else? The kids said they didn't do it, I didn't do it 'n the only one who speaks Japanese next t' us 's Daken."

"So much to he hates him…," Jean mumbled and put her papers on a free table in the kitchen before she sat down.

After most of them had eaten and already left for their classes, Logan leant over Jean's shoulder when she reached out to take her papers and pulled her close with one hand. "Don't forget our date, darlin'…," he whispered into her ear and kissed her, while he grabbed his papers and bag, too. "'n don't forget, I'll sniff ya out!"

"We'll see!" she said and gave him a gentle push, after another kiss, and aimed for the door, when Jean-Paul nearly smashed into her.

"Sorry!" he apologized and stormed over to grab something to eat and drink, his eyes always on the watch. "Why didn't you wake me up?!" he asked stressed out. "I'm running late."

Daken shrugged. "I did wake you…," he mumbled and kept his eyes fixed on the newspaper. "Ten times actually…"

"So not true!" Northstar cursed and gulped down the juice.

"Right… It's been 14 times," the feral replied and turned a page.

Huffing, the other man gave him a quick kiss. "See you later!" was all he said, before he stormed out of the kitchen and left Daken with a perplexed look on his face.

"A see you later kiss from your _not-boyfriend_, huh?" Tony asked and kept a serious face. "Well, I'll stick with the majority of this house here and say…LIAR!"

"Think I give a shit on your opinion?" Daken growled and went on reading, whereas Tony chuckled.

"Forge did a sketch and wanted me to give it to you," the Avenger said and handed the feral a paper with a sketch of a uniform that had Wolverine's look, but Daken's tattoo designed on those parts that were covered with leather. The design and the tattoo on his skin merged fluently into each other and began where the other ended.

Frowning, Daken looked up. "What's this supposed to be?!"

"Well…," Tony shrugged and tilted his head to take an ironic look at the paper. "It looks like an uniform to me… But it might also be an…"

The feral rolled his eyes and narrowed them. "I _know_ what it is, moron, I was referring to its purpose!"

"As far as I was told you were complaining about your daddy's and boyfriend's, sorry, not-boyfriend's uniform, so the Professor asked Forge to create one for you. All he needs is to scan your body and tada, you've got your very own, kinky, leather suit!" Tony explained, adding "For battles, not bedrooms!" and headed for the hangar again to go on working on the jet.

Narya looked up from watching over the smaller children and her lips, as Rogue's, curled into a smile. "Good morning!" they both said and giggled when Jean-Paul blushed.

"I'm so sorry!" he apologized and joined the group in the reading circle.

"Someone must have been up very late or…someone has been very tired," the blonde teased him and smiled when Jean-Luc instantly stumbled over to Jean-Paul to sit on the man's lap.

"Maybe…," this one only said and the women giggled once more. "What?"

"Nothing…," Rogue smirked and pulled Tommy on her lap closer.

* * *

While he leant against one of the lockers Logan looked at his watch and waited. She had two more minutes to appear or he'd go and look for her. She should know that he was serious about their "date" and also that he'd go and track her down… He looked up and kept his eyes fixed on the door as he heard the elevator arriving, went closer to the door when footsteps drew closer and grabbed the approaching person as soon as this one had entered. "Yer lucky," he said huskily and kissed her neck. "One more minute 'n I'd come t'get ya."

"I chose the easiest way out…," Jean replied, kissed him back and wrapped her arms around his neck. Still, she couldn't help feeling uncomfortable. "It's not really safe here…"

Logan chuckled and pressed her further against the wall. "No one's here beside us…"

"Tony and Forge?" she asked and threw her head back as he bit gently into her neck, his left hand stroking over her breast.

"Talkin' t' Chuck."

"Hank?"

"Teachin'…," Logan whispered and opened her blouse with his free hand. "That reminds me of somethin'…"

"Of what?" she asked, her cheeks flushed and got confused when he left the locker room, pulling her with him and into the lab towards her desk.

"This room's got a table," he smirked and sat her gently down, before he was once more all over her. His kisses grew more impatient and feverishly, while he got blindly rid of all clothes that were in his way.

"Don't make a mess like last time," Jean reminded him and pulled him into another long and deep kiss, her legs drawing him closer to her. She sighed heavily as he began to move and closed her eyes to drown into the emotions and feelings. Since Logan allowed Wolverine to come to the surface a bit, she did the same with Phoenix, knowing how both of their negatives got impatient the longer they were separated from their mate. The sooner she let go, the more aggressive and passionate she became, felt how an immense power began to built deep in her the closer she came to the end. When they did reach it together and her body began to tremble, a psychic wave was set free that exploded into every direction, destroyed every glass close by and soon afterwards they heard the alarm, which meant the school was in lock down.

"What the hell was that?!" Logan asked her, surprise and shock mirrored on his face, since he, too, had felt the wave going right through him.

"I…couldn't control it…," Jean mumbled and lowered her gaze in shame, wondered how this could have happened. "I'm sorry…"

"No need t'apologize. I'm fine!" he said and turned his head. "Get dressed. Cyke 'n 'Ro are on their way down," he announced and helped her closing the buttons on her blouse, before he pulled up his pants and closed his belt. When the elevator door opened he reached out and smoothed her hair quickly, then took a casual stance just in time when the door opened.

"Are you alright?!" Ororo asked them panting and took a quick look around the room. "Same here, Scott. Look!"

"What's wrong?" Logan asked, acting completely innocent.

"Something destroyed all windows upstairs. We went into lock down," Scott said and looked at the damage, not seeing how Jean bit her lip and looked away. "It must have been an attack… Siren and Banshee didn't do it. We would have heard them…"

"It…was my fault…"

Surprised Ororo and Scott looked at the redhead and exchanged a look. "Why? What happened?" the weather goddess asked and made a step forward. "Did the two of you have a fight?!"

Sensing her fear and confusion, Logan thought about what to do and stick to her _easiest way out_ story. "Yeah…," he lied and didn't look back when Jean gave him a surprised look. "Things got a bit…heated up…"

"Really?" Scott asked skeptically and crossed her arms. "Must have been a real bad fight, hm?"

The feral nodded. "Ya can say that…"

"And what was it about?" Scott demanded to know, still skeptically.

"Well…," Logan began and scratched his head.

"Him leaving with Creed," Jean quickly said and he nodded in agreement. "We…talked about it and…things got a bit too heated up. I'm sorry…"

"You already gave him a sermon," Ororo sighed and shook her head. "I thought it was settled?"

"It's now!" Logan assured her and watched her leaving after she had uttered a loud groan.

"Well…," Scott said and gave both of them another skeptical look, before he turned to leave. "Next time you…_fight_…that much," he said and stopped at the door, but didn't turn around, "you might want to close your zipper, Logan, and Jean should pay attention to the buttons of her blouse…, don't you think?"

Shocked, Jean's head shot up, her cheeks scarlet red and she stared at the now closed door. Instantly, she began to close her buttons correctly and heard how Logan pulled up his zipper before she buried her face in her hands for a moment. "I knew it was a bad idea…"

"He caught us, so what?!" Logan grunted and took her hand to pull her off the table.

"I destroyed _all_ windows, Logan!" she said sourly and fixed her hair once more. "I should have controlled my power, I lost it! This hasn't happen in….months!"

When the elevator door closed, he crossed his arms and leant back against the wall. "Ya know what it tells me?" he asked and she looked up, straight into his smug face. "That ya had it good!"

Reaching out, she slapped his arm. "This isn't funny!" Jean scolded him angrily. "I probably scared everyone…"

"They'll get over it," he shrugged and looked up when the elevator came to a halt, the door opening on the first floor just to reveal a very sour looking Charles Xavier in front of it.

"Jean? In my office. Now!" was all the bald man said before he turned and wheeled back down the corridor.

"Dammit….," the redhead muttered and felt how Logan took her hand securely into his.

"I won't leave yer side," he assured her and led her to the Professor's office. On their way they walked past several students and staff members who were tidying up the mess on the corridors. The feral felt how his wife got more and more upset and squeezed her hand reassuringly.

"What happened?!" Charles demanded to know as soon as the door to his office had been closed. "Jean, what did you do?!"

"I…don't know…," the redhead replied, avoiding his gaze. "I don't know how this could have happened…"

When Logan noticed that the Professor's hard eyes were now on him, he shrugged.

"Jean, you did not only destroy all windows… It was a telepathic blast so powerful that it must have reached far beyond the mansion's walls!"

"I'm sorry…," Jean mumbled and kept her eyes on the ground, tried to figure out what might have caused the loss of control. She looked up when she felt how Logan squeezed her hand.

Sighing, Charles squeezed the back of his nose and shook his head. "I would have thought that you were a bit more careful with your powers and how to control them. I'd appreciate, if you cleaned up the mess you did and repaired those windows…"

Knowing that this was all, Logan led Jean out of the room where he hugged her for a moment. "Ya alright?" he asked her worriedly and cupped her face.

"I feel like a schoolgirl…," she cursed and aimed for the garden.

"Well, the sermon he gave me after I destroyed the sixth fridge…," he buried his hands in his pockets and followed her, "that one was worse…"

"It's not funny, Logan!"

"I ain't makin' fun here!" he said with a serious look. "It happened, ya can't change it! In a few days it'll be forgotten…"

"Says you…," she mumbled and stopped next to the pond. "Step back a bit!" Waiting for him to do so, Jean fixed her eyes on the mansion and began to concentrate on the glass that lay splintered everywhere.

Logan watched how psi-flames began to cover her and knew that her eyes were glowing, even if he couldn't see them from where he was standing. His eyes switched to one window and he saw how the glass set itself back together. "Woah…," he made impressed and crossed his arms, waited for her to be finish. When she heaved an exhausted breath, he went over to support her. "Ya okay?"

"I don't know…," Jean said frowning. "Something doesn't feel right…"

"In what way?" he asked and scooped her up into his arms.

"That's not necessary, Logan…," she began to protest, but he shook his head.

"What doesn't feel right, darlin'?" he demanded to know and she sighed.

"I don't know… I'm so tired…"

Logan watched how she leant her head against his shoulder and cocked a worried eyebrow. He was aware of how exhausting using her powers could be for her sometimes, but such a strong reaction like this…was just odd. Not thinking twice, he told Charles mentally that she wouldn't hold any more classes today and that he, too, had to drop out for the moment. Upstairs, he put Jean on their bed and tucked her in, his eyes still worried. "Jeannie?" he asked and caressed her cheek, but didn't get any reply. _"Chuck, somethin's wrong!"_

"_I can assure you, Logan, that Jean is only sleeping,"_ the Professor tried to soothe him, but that wasn't enough to calm him down.

"Sleepin' my ass," Logan thought and sat down next to his wife to watch over her. In the end, he leant his head against the headboard and closed his eyes slowly to doze a bit, not reckoning with him falling asleep.

* * *

"I hate this weather…," Northstar mumbled and looked warily out of the window. The rain was constantly dripping against the windows, the thunderstorm that raged on the outside loud as ever and he was bored. The Saturday had started good with all of them relaxing at the pool and when Logan has suddenly gotten up to pack his things together and had announced that there was a storm coming up, he'd thought the feral was joking. But then, only a couple of minutes later, the world was going to end. Now they were sitting in the rec-room, the younger ones were playing a game, the men playing cards, most of the women sitting together and watching a Hugh Jackman movie, while he was resting against his feral, who was once more reading a book. By now, Jean-Paul thought, Daken must have read all books in the library at least twice… With his head resting cozily between shoulder blade and chest, he looked at the screen and paid attention to the movie, too. At least for a while. Somehow he felt restless…

"My leg's dead thanks to you…," Daken suddenly grumbled and tried to get into a more comfortable position on the couch.

"Want me to kiss it better?" Northstar teased him and grabbed the feral's free arm to pull it around his waist. "It's nice that way…"

""For you…"

"What are you reading anyway?!" Jean-Paul asked and tilted his head to have a look at the title. "Is that German?!"

"So?"

"Since when do you know how to speak German?!"

"Since before you were born…," Daken grunted and went on reading the book. For a moment his eyes switched aside to watch what Northstar was doing with his arm and he couldn't help but roll his eyes. "You're such a woman…"

"It's _nice_ that way!" the man next to him said once more and looked back at the screen.

"Nice my ass…"

"Yeah, that's one nice, too," he replied and tried hard not to smile, but made an angry look when Bobby made a gagging noise.

"Need me to pat your back?" Daken asked and shot him a glare.

"No, thanks. I already feel nauseous enough…," Bobby mocked and played his card.

Playfully sniffing the air, Daken waved his hand in front of his nose and made a disgusted face. "Well, maybe someone should tell you how to use a shower then," the feral shrugged provokingly, but kept his face straight, even if Kitty and Jubilee stifled a giggle. "I could carve a bar of soap for you and show you how to use it… "

"Maybe you can use your claws as chopsticks instead? To feel more at home, you know?" Bobby snarled and ignored Logan's warning _"Hey!"_.

"Being half-Asian I should feel insulted by your display of racism, but since I know that your intelligence is that of a nutshell, I will forgive you," Daken concluded and his smirk became even more visible. He knew Bobby hated him and loved getting a rise out of that man… Chuckling to himself, since Remy barely managed to stop Bobby from shooting an ice beam at him, he returned to reading his book and let his pheromones do the rest.

"Asshole!" Bobby cursed and threw his cards on the table, fists clenched. With a last angry look at Daken he left the room.

"Was that necessary?" Scott sighed and shook his head.

"He started it as far as I'm concerned," Daken shrugged nonchalantly.

"Behave!" Jean-Paul scolded him and tried to get comfortable again.

Watching them out of the corners of his eyes, Logan played his cards and turned his head briefly as he picked up on something. "Lily?" he asked and looked at the girl that sat on her mother's lap. "Go on playin' for me for a moment, 'kay?" he asked and handed her his cards before he jogged upstairs to check on what the dogs where fighting over.

"Soooo," Remy smirked and looked at the girl. "Dink ya can beat Remy?"

Only clicking her tongue, Lily wobbled her head and played her card.

"As far as I know she can beat Logan," Hank said, a deep frown in his face, while he thought hard about what to do. It was no secret to the others that he sucked in playing cards. On his shoulders sat Nick, hands buried in Hank's fur, while the cat-like mutant rested his head on his father's and watched the group attentively. Hank groaned and just played the first card he touched.

"That was very stupid, Uncle Hank!" Lily said and played one of hers instead.

"That was stupid actually," Scott replied and played one of hers, but Remy chuckled.

"Non, mon ami. Dis was very stupid!"

Scott watched how Remy picked one of his cards and gave him a cocky smile. "Damn…"

"Actually," Lily said and held up one card. "You are all very stupid!"

"Merde…," the Cajun cursed and threw his cards on the table. "I'm out…"

"Same here…," Kurt nodded and rested his head on his hands.

"Yeah…," Scott followed and so did Hank.

Smiling, Lily grabbed the poker chips that were in the middle of the table and began to riffle next.

When Logan returned with a still displeased Jamie on his arm, he was surprised to find Lily playing cards with Jack, Laura and Rachel instead. "What's the matter?!" he demanded to know and placed Jamie on the ground.

"They said I was too good for them and that they'd be impoverished, if they kept on playing against me," Lily told him without looking up from her cards. "Daddy?" she asked and beckoned him to come closer. After he had leant down a bit, she looked at the sulking men briefly, before she whispered into his ear "They suck! But I didn't tell them because I didn't want to hurt their feelings!"

Laughing aloud, Logan ruffled her hair and sat down on the empty chair. "Let's see if ya can beat yer old man then," he said and earned looks that spoke volumes from his children.

"Dad…," Jack said with a roll of his eyes. "You know you'll lose against her!"

"True…," Logan nodded, but smirked. "So… Forget about poker chips. It's chocolate bars for ya!"

"So much to _don't you dare teaching them Poker_…," Jean sighed and leant her head back against the backrest of the couch, her eyes switching over to Daken, who noticed that he was being watched and shot her a brief glare. She knew Jean-Paul had sat up straight and kept a distance to the feral out of respect to the children. The man, while watching the movie with them, had looked down when Jamie had walked straight over to him and pulled him on the couch with a smile.

"You know men, don't you?" Heather asked with a roll of her eyes. "They never listen…"

"So true…," Ororo nodded.

"Hey!" James complained. "We are nice and caring individuals, okay? It's you who always hurt our feelings!"

"Such a drama queen…," his wife sighed and sipped on her drink. "Ask Paul! He at least understands us. Right?"

The man chuckled and held out his hands for Jamie to clap them. "If you say so…," he said and watched how the boy gave Daken a look from aside. He knew what would happen next…

"Hiroki?" Jamie asked and moved closer to the feral, who seized the boy up for a coffin. "Tired. Wanna hug!"

"Hug yourself…," Daken grumbled and looked back at his book, when someone suddenly climbed on his lap and got settled, then pulled on the man's arm until the boy had built a small nest for himself. Lowering his gaze, Daken growled. "Take him off my lap. Now!"

Jean-Paul gave the boy a look. "Jamie, do you wanna sit on my lap to sleep?"

"No…," came the immediate reply and Northstar shrugged.

"You heard it."

"Take him off!" Daken demanded more forcefully and tried to move his arm, but figured it wasn't possible. "He's using his powers on my arm…"

"Yes, because he wants to sleep and you to stay in this position," the man next to him lectured him, trying to hide his smirk. "He likes you, live with it…"

"I wonder why…," Scott mumbled and received a slap to his arm from Mystique next to him. He watched how Logan ushered his children to get upstairs and ready for bed after three round of playing cards with them, while Northstar managed to peel Jamie off from Daken's arm and handed him over to the older feral.

"So, tell me, Scott, what does it feel like to lose your girl to my old man?" Daken suddenly asked and received surprised looks.

"What's it to you? Mind your own business," Scott replied sourly, but his face darkened noticeably.

"I'm wondering though… Did you pick the first girl that came along because you really like her? Or because you're trying to hide that you don't like girls at all?" Daken smirked when he picked up on the emotional changes in the man. He knew he had hit right home. He hated that guy and that he thought he was something better than him. He would show him who was at the top… "I mean…," he went on and shrugged. "My dislike for you not withstanding, but if you ever need a refreshment of how to do a guy…"

"That's enough!" Scott said furiously and got up, the red light becoming visible behind his glasses for a moment. "One more word and I swear…."

"Scott! Don't!" Hank said and took a hold of his friend. "That's only what he wants…"

"Hit a nerve, huh?" Daken asked innocently. "But well… I wouldn't touch you anyway. He smells way nicer," he added with a nod at Jean-Paul next to him.

"I swear if Logan or the Professor won't kick him out soon, I'll kill him!" Scott cursed, surprised about his own words and felt the rage eating him away. The smirk Daken gave him should have told him _why _he was feeling the way he did.

"Scott!" Raven said and took his hand. "Just ignore him, okay?" she begged.

"Snotty son of a…." Angrily, Scott freed his hand and left the room before the situation would escalate.

"Was that necessary?" Jean-Paul asked Daken rather sourly and sighed.

Only shrugging, the feral got up. "I'll go to bed. You coming?"

"No…," Jean-Paul said displeased with the whole situation and looked back at the screen. "I'm not tired, yet… And besides, I'd like to strangle you right now…"

"Fair enough…" Daken shrugged and left the room.

"I have to agree with Scott. If he keeps on provoking people like this the situation will escalade sooner or later," Hank complained. "Especially with him and Creed being here…"

"And what he said was utterly mean. I'm surprised Scott didn't blast him," Raven said with a look at Jean-Paul. "And don't you dare apologizing for him again. I don't really understand how you can stand being with him at all!"

"He's different with me…," Northstar mumbled and pulled his legs close on the couch. Nevertheless, he was asking himself the same thing. He couldn't understand that Daken refused to even try getting along with others…

"Yeah, because he can get something _special _from you!" James said, making sure to put as much emphasis into the word "special" as he could. "Seriously, Paul, you can do way better than him…"

"You mean better than Mike or Chris?" his former teammate asked and snorted. "Oh, yeah… Absolutely… The first one ending up fucking my best friend, the second one cheating behind my back for months." He nodded sarcastically. "And you honestly think Hiro's worse? You've gotta be kidding me, James!"

Heather sighed. "That's not what he meant… We know that Chris was an asshole. But we're worried about his influence on you and that you might not be voluntarily with him…"

"Not…voluntarily?!" Northstar asked, shock and anger rising at the same time. "What the hell do you think he's doing with me?!"

"I guess they refer to his ability to control pheromones…," Jean said. "I'm not saying that he's manipulating you now, Paul, I just think they are concerned that he's using them to keep you controlled."

"Oh, yeah… Definitely…," he snorted and got up. "I think I'm tired in the end. Good night…," he said rather sourly and retreated to his room.

"Wow…," Narya said impressed. "I haven't seen him that angry in quiet a while…" She turned her head towards the door when Logan reappeared.

"What the hell happened this time?!" he demanded to know, crossed his arms and leant against the doorframe. "Why's Paul lookin' that pissed and why's Slim in a full rant in the kitchen?"

"Probably because your sweetheart of a son said some really mean things," Raven shrugged and got slowly up. "I'm off to keep him from doing something stupid…"

Logan sighed. "I told ya t'just ignore him…"

"Easier said than done if he keeps on sharing low blows…"

He watched her leaving and walked back over to the redhead to sit down next to her, his arms instantly pulling her close and on to his lap. "Missed me?"

"No…," Jean lied and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Liar!"

Watching them, Ororo shook her head smiling. "So much to destroying half of the mansion because the two of you had a fight…"

Blushing a bit and hoping Ororo hadn't figured out, too, that Logan and she had been far from fighting before, Jean snuggled deeper into her husband's embrace. "I'm tired…"

"Again? Ya slept all afternoon…," he said and cocked an eyebrow at her. In the end he shrugged and pulled her up. "Well, then let's go…" After they had wished the others a good night and retreated to their rooms, where he put her gently down and touched her forehead. "Ya ain't getting' sick, are ya?" he asked her worriedly but Jean shook her head.

"No, I don't think so… I'm just tired."

"Hm…," he made and dropped his clothes to the ground, then lay down next to her. He waited for a good while and looked at her in the dark, waited for Jean to pick up on it. "I'm missing somethin'…"

"What?" she mumbled and cracked one eye open a bit.

"Well, no one's cuddlin' with me…," he smirked and wobbled his head, his smirk turning into a grin when she moved over to him and rested her head on his shoulder, while her arms were wrapped around his waist. "That's better…"

"Softy…," Jean teased him and closed her eyes again.

"Love ya," he whispered and kissed her forehead, before he, too, closed his eyes and rested his head on hers.

* * *

"Got yer lunch?"

"Yeah."

"Somethin' t'drink?"

"Yeah…"

"Yer pad?"

Jack and his siblings sighed dramatically. "Yes, dad!"

"'kay…," Logan nodded and watched how the other children entered the bus. "Behave, be careful…"

"…don't talk to strangers," Jack said.

"…don't touch anything," Lily added.

"…if there's danger, run, hide and call the mansion," Rachel went on and her father cocked an eyebrow at them.

"…and if you're not feeling well, tell a teacher. We know, daddy, you're telling us over and over again," Laura groaned and rolled her eyes. "It's just a school trip!"

"Which can be…," Logan began.

"…very dangerous, we know!" the siblings concluded and crossed their arms. "Can we go now?!"

Scratching the back of his head, Logan shrugged. "I guess so…" He bent down to give each of them a brief hug and kiss and watched how they ran over to the bus where Rogue and Bobby were waiting and ticked their names off the list. When Remy walked past him, he grabbed him. "Don't ya dare 'n let somethin' happen t'em!" Logan growled warningly, hating that the younger team was supposed to watch over the children for the trip to the museum. "One tiny scratch 'n I'm on yer throat! One kid missin' 'n I'll kill ya, understood!"

Staring at him with widened eyes, Remy swallowed and nodded. "Remy will pay attention!"

"I hope so, Cajun!" Logan grunted and let go of him. He waited for the bus to be through the gate and for it to close, before he sighed.

"Wow… If I had known that you've become so mushy…," a very well known voice said next to him, "I'd have filmed this and put in on Youtube…"

"Shut up, Tony!"

Tony smirked and patted his shoulder playfully. "Don't worry. The worst thing that can happen is that the museum burns down, or one of your kid gets lost, or…"

"Shut…up!" Logan growled, but his eyes gave the gate a worried look.

"Let me guess!" the man next to him said and followed him back inside. "You never left your children alone, did you?" he asked and the look he received was answer enough. He nodded. "Well, as I said… The worst thing that can happen is…"

"Shut up!" Logan said once more and stopped next to the rec-room, wondering why everyone was gathered there instead for having lunch. "What's wrong?"

"Kitchen's occupied…," Scott said sourly. "And I'm starving!"

"Why occupied?!"

"My guess is your sweetheart of a son used his pheromones once more on someone else…," James said and didn't bother to look up from the television. "They're at least making out in the kitchen…"

Logan coked an eyebrow and turned his head a bit to listen in, but decided quickly not to do it. "I thought they had a fight?"

"Not anymore obviously…," Scott grumbled. "I'm hungry!"

"So?" Logan shrugged and crossed his arms.

"I guess he means," Tony said and leant against the doorframe, "Daddy, tell sonny-boy to switch the kitchen for the bedroom."

"Why me?!"

"First of all, he's your son and then you're the boss," Scott said. "And I'm really, really, starving!"

"Bite yer ankle," Logan said and cracked his neck to get rid of the tension.

"Fuck you, Logan!"

"By the way, since it was my turn t'go shoppin'," the feral said and smirked at his favorite object of teasing. "I found somethin' really cool!"

"And what?" Scott asked rather bored.

"Toilet paper!"

"Oh, wow… Never knew it existed," Scott mocked and shook his head with a sigh.

"Nah, ya dunno the best thing about it, yet!" Logan smirked. "The brand's called SCOTT. Always knew ya were an ass, but never that ya were a butt wipe, too!"

"Stay here!" Scott barked and went after Logan, who had quickly ducked out of the room after the others had begun to giggle or laugh.

"What's their problem with growing up?" Daken grunted and rolled his eyes, hearing Scott's curses and his father's chuckles as if the men were right next to him.

"Well let them have their fun," Northstar replied and pulled the smaller man closer to rest his head against his. "I'd really appreciate, if you stopped being so mean to them all the time…"

"I don't like them…," the feral growled and even more so when he was once more wrapped into a loving embrace. He still didn't know how to deal with it and his senses told him to push the man away and stab him. "What's up with you and all that cuddling today?!" he asked annoyed.

"It's nice…"

"No, it's not. It's unnecessary!"

"Unnecessary?!" Jean-Paul asked and looked at him in shock. "Jesus… You really don't know shit!" he cursed and let go of him.

"You're a bitch today…"

"Wonder why!" he said with a glare and aimed for the door, not feeling in the mood for spending more time with the feral for now. Nevertheless, he didn't reckon with his arm being grabbed. "Let go!"

"Get a grip, okay?" Daken snapped and released his hand just in time when Tony looked around the corner.

"We don't want to interrupt your lovey-dovey session, but….some of us are starving."

"Hope you die!" the feral growled and shoved him out of his way, while Jean-Paul shook his head, looking angry as ever and aimed for the backdoor.

"So…I guess that means the kitchen's clear?" Tony asked and turned towards the corridor. "Kitchen's clear!" he barked and went over to the fridge next.

"Please, tell me we still got noodles!" Scott said and began to rummage in the cupboards, while the others began to set the table.

"Well, I don't know about you, but I still got mine," Tony said with a shrug and put a huge pot on the stove.

"Got what?" Scott asked and began to fill it with water.

"My noodle."

"You're a pig," he replied and shook his head. "You're actually worse than Logan…"

"He was my student until he turned to the dark side," Tony told him and crossed his arms. "And he got so much potential, you know?"

"Did they have another fight?" Narya asked when all of the were eating, but Jean-Paul was still sitting on the stairs of the terrace on the outside. "He's been in a really bad mood since yesterday… I don't know him like that…"

"If you ask me you don't have to ask for the source," James said. "Daken has a bad influence on him, no matter how much he tries to defend him. They don't match at all…" He looked briefly up but realized that Logan wasn't paying attention and looked out of the window instead. "I mean, I'm sorry, Logan, but your son really is an arrogant asshole!"

"Wow! Finally someone else who noticed!" Scott said impressed.

"Scott…," Jean sighed but he shook his head.

"It's true, Jean! He doesn't belong here."

"That's the same you've said about Logan years ago…"

He shrugged and gave Logan, who was now frowning at the calendar a brief look. "He, and I know the world's going to end because I'll say this now, was nicer!"

"Oh my God!" Ororo gasped sarcastically. "And next he's going to propose to him!"

"Oh, shut up!" Scott said with a heavy roll of his eyes. "Why's he staring at the calendar anyway?!" he asked, when the feral suddenly mumbled _"Shit!"_, got up and was out of the backdoor next. "Shit what?!"

"I have no idea!" Jean shrugged and handed her father the bowl with noodles. When she looked aside and watched how her husband was now half sitting next to Jean-Paul and had a hand on the man's shoulder, she began to frown. "This can't be about Akihiro… He's far too upset for…"

"Oh shit!" James suddenly cursed after he, too, had looked at the calendar. "It's his birthday!"

Tony frowned. "So he's crying because we forgot about it?!" he asked in complete confusion.

"No, it's about his twin sister… It's her birthday, too, in the end," Narya said and bit her lip hard. She wanted to slap herself for her stupidity. "What kinda friends are we? He must feel so horrible!"

"I still don't understand the _why_…," John said next to her and gave her a questioning look. "So it's his and his twin sister's birthday. Where's the problem besides her not being here?!" he asked.

"Because Jeanne-Marie's dead," Heather said and watched how Logan tried to comfort him sadly. "Her death was the reason why he wanted to leave Alpha Flight and we sent him to you. He couldn't stand being in a surrounding that reminded him of her anymore. Both of them were very close and inseparable. It's his first birthday without her…"

"But how did she die?" Kurt asked out of interest.

"We were out one evening and he had seen how a child ran on to the street to catch his dog, but didn't see the truck. Paul used his mutation to save both of them," James explained and he, too, was looking out of the window. He could tell by the way Logan had tilted his head that the man was listening in. "Suddenly there was a guy with a gun who barked the typical hate speech against mutants. Jean-Paul didn't see that the guy was aiming the gun at him because he was asking the boy if he was fine, so his sister reacted and threw herself at him for protection. She died in his arms…"

"That's so sad…," Ororo said with tears in her eyes and swallowed hard.

"What's sad is…," James said, his eyes suddenly hard, "that the man who aimed the gun at him was the father of the boy he'd saved!" He nodded when a shocked _What?!_ Echoed through the room. "And Paul never said, not once, that he should have let the truck hit the boy. He's too good for this. The tip of the iceberg was when we got home from the hospital and he finds his so-called asshole of an ex-boyfriend in bed with his best friend… So I think you do understand why we, as his family, don't agree with Daken. He deserves better than this!"

"Speaking of which…," Tony said with a nod at the door and they realized that the feral had just entered to grab something to drink out of the fridge. "Since you're Mr. Hearing-aid's kid, and I know you listened in, how about you going outside and doing what you're dad's doing, since you now know why you're not-boyfriend is…" He stopped when the backdoor went shut with a loud _bang_. "Wow… My way of persuasion… Do you think I should try this on my bank?!"

"I'd rather say he was annoyed of you…," Scott concluded and thought the air would freeze when Logan got up and exchanged a brief look with Daken. "I call that frosty…"

"I still don't really understand why he hates Logan so much…," Jean's father said thoughtfully. "I thought he knows the truth about his mother now?"

"If you ever want to hear my theory on daddy issues, you're more than welcome!" Tony replied and handed the bowl of noodles back over to Jean. "Just for you, sweetheart!"

"Thank you so much, Tony. What would I ever do without you?" she smiled playfully and put the rest on Logan's plate, much to Tony's shock.

"Hey! He'll think I have some hidden feelings for him!"

"I guess he already knows," Jean said and took her husband's hand after he had sat back down. "Right, honey?"

"Just for your information!" Tony pointed a finger at Logan. "I saved the noodles for her, not you!"

"Think I care?" Logan grunted and cocked an eyebrow at him.

"Oh yeah, you so do!"

"I so don't!"

"Yes, you do," his wife nodded smiling.

"Right, I do," Logan nodded back and began to kill the noodles with his fork.

"How's he doing?" Heather asked, her voice full of concern, but Logan shrugged.

"Pretty much upset…" He cocked an eyebrow once more when James suddenly began to frown. "What?!"

"Where did they go?!" the man asked and the group realized that the two men on the outside had suddenly disappeared.

After they had walked a bit, Jean-Paul sat down on the edge of the pond and starred at the water. He neither felt like talking or doing anything in particular, he just wanted to delve in his sorrow, think about his beloved sister and someone to hug him, so that he wouldn't feel so damn lonely… He looked up when a bottle was held into his direction and sipped on it without much thinking, just to pull a face next. "God, that's horrible…," he said and realized that it was a bottle of Ororo's favorite juice. "If you want to kill me, just stab me…," he grumbled and handed the bottle back to Daken. "What do you want anyway…?"

The feral shrugged and put the bottle next to him. He then began to analyze what he picked up on and tried to understand why the man was so upset. Dead to him meant dead and there was no point in thinking about it further. You couldn't get back what you'd lost and the only thing that was left to do was to go on. For him life only consisted of the strong ones that were fit enough to survive. Everyone that was too weak would get killed. That's what life to him was about. Either you won, or you lost and paid the price, no time for mourning those that weren't good enough. That emotion or pity for others were foreign to him anyway. He couldn't care less. Life was about pain and being alone and being disappointed and deceived by others. There was no love or loyalty or sticking together to the end. It was bullshit and he wondered why others even bothered to find a partner and shared their lives. Being with someone meant that you were responsible for that person, too. He didn't want any of that. He didn't care about others or what they felt or thought. In the end you ended up alone anyway, so why even bother? Why should he cry for a mother that had hated him and had forgotten about him as soon as she finally had her _own _son? Or for a father that had first tried to kill him and then shot himself because he'd been too weak to do it? Or for a younger brother that had come into his life after 10 years and had taken his place as the son in the family? He still wondered if his so-called "mother" had found her baby in the end and if that had been the reason why she had wanted to kill him…? No, he didn't regret what he had done at all. He couldn't care less…To him people were the prey and he was the predator. Those who were too weak got killed and that's all there was to it. He was strong, so he would remain even after the apocalypse had come…

"Would you hug me?" Jean-Paul suddenly said next to him and Daken awoke from his thoughts.

He gave the man next to him an indefinable look. "Why?"

"Because I need it right now…," Northstar mumbled and buried his face in his hands, just to run them over it next. "Just for a moment, please…," he begged and looked at the feral with pain in his eyes. In the end he just hugged him and closed his eyes, was surprised when Daken actually pulled him a bit closer and allowed him to stay in that position for a while.

"Why didn't you kill that guy that shot your sister?" the feral asked after a long moment of silence.

"That wouldn't have brought her back…"

"No, but he deserved it!"

"Who am I to judge it, Hiro?" Jean-Paul mumbled into the man's chest. "Killing him would have made me as bad as him, wouldn't it?"

"I'd have killed him…"

"I'm not like you!"

"No, you're too soft," Daken concluded and received a rather cold look.

"And you're too cold!" Northstar replied and leant back into him. "Killing that guy would have meant a child loses his father… And the boy would have been the last one to punish. In the end it would have been for him to suffer…"

"That's life…," the feral shrugged.

"10 years older than me and you don't know shit…," Jean-Paul sighed and lay down on the stone of the pond, his head in Daken's lap, to stare into the sky. "I mean that Romulus guy raised you like this, I know, you can't help it. But still there's so much you don't understand…"

"Or maybe I just see things for what they are," Daken said.

"And what? Bad, bad world?! Only black or white, but no grey?" Northstar shook his head. "How do you want to judge about it anyway? You've been kept in the dark, you never learned how to actually live with people except for manipulating and killing them."

Daken shrugged once more. "If you had seen or done the things I have…, you'd understand."

"I don't think I want to know…"

"Fair enough…"

Remaining silent for a while, each one of the followed his own thoughts. "When's your birthday anyway?"

Daken looked down and met Jean-Paul's blue eyes. "I don't care…"

"You mean you don't know…," Northstar said and sat up. "Raven said you're a winter guy, so… How about December or January?" He noticed the furrowed brows he was given. "1975, right?" he asked. "I'll find a day that'll fit to you."

"What for?!" Daken grunted.

"Everyone needs a birthday!"

"I don't."

"You do," Jean-Paul insisted and lay back down to rest his head in the feral's lap. "Just a moment, okay?"

"You said that before…," Daken growled and sighed when the man closed his eyes. He let his eyes travel around the garden for the moment and figured that the group was already done eating. When his eyes scanned the area into the other direction again, he soon became bored. "Can we go back inside now?!"

"Only under one condition!"

Daken cocked an eyebrow when Northstar opened his eyes and looked straight at him. "What?"

"We'll watch a movie together that I pick," he said and received a groan, "AND we'll cuddle."

"You do realize that I wouldn't mind killing you, don't you?" the feral threatened and got up.

"If you hated me so much, you'd have already done it, Hiro," Jean-Paul replied. "So I take that as a yes."

"I do hate you!"

"Yeah, I know. I hate you, too," he nodded and took the feral's hand to drag him back over to the mansion. When Daken suddenly stopped, he nearly fell. "What the…?!" he asked rather angrily and turned, but his eyes grew wide. "Oh shit…"

"Ya know… It's really cute. Watchin' ya'n him getting' all cozy with each other," Romulus smirked and showed his sharp canines. "But I think playtime's over 'n yer comin' back home now," he added more forcefully and his gaze darkened.

"He is home and he's not going anywhere!" Northstar snapped and grabbed Daken's hand firmer, his eyes never leaving the devils that were slowly encircling them. Clenching his fists, he readied his light powers in case he needed them.

"Cute, really," Romulus chuckled. "I think I'll have fun torturin' ya t'death… I'm sure yer a screamer." He watched them retreating further to the mansion for a while. "While I'm here I think I'll take my son right back with me, too. He's still here, ain't he? Hidin'?"

"Yer gonna take no one, asshole!" Logan suddenly snarled and Romulus's eyes switched towards the roof, where Logan, John and Creed had already taken an attack stance, while Scott led team two into the garden. "Take those beasts 'n piss off!"

"Or what? Yer fallin' off the roof again?" Romulus challenged. "They're comin' with me 'n there's nothin' ya can do about it!" He smirked and his eyes narrowed. "_Son_!"

"He really looks like him… How scary is that…?!" James mumbled and his eyes kept on switching between Logan and Romulus. "Sure it's his dad and not some older twin? Maybe Logan is his younger clone or something…"

"Shht!" Scott made and kept his hands on his visor, watching how the Professor wheeled closer.

"I'm not someone who likes violence, but consider this a warning. Leave the grounds peacefully and my X-Men won't attack you," Charles said and Romulus's smirk widened.

"Who's gonna stop me, Xavier? Ya weren't able t'do it back then 'n ya damn well know ya won't be able t'stop me now. So who's gonna try it?" He lifted a hand and the devils took their position, claws out and baring their teeth at their enemies. "Ya do realize there are more where those are comin' from, don't ya? I want my son 'n this traitor 'n no one will get hurt. Attack, 'n you'll start somethin' ya won't be able t'stop. 'n trust me, Xavier, ya won't go down that road!"

"I'm not scared of you, if that's what you think!" the Professor replied in his usual calm voice, but with force behind it. "Victor and Akihiro will stay here, where they are safe from you!"

"Alright…," his adversary shrugged and chuckled next. "Just tell me… Do ya think those X-Men wannabes can protect those children at the museum? Hm?" he asked and picked up on the emotional changes of some of them. "Victor'n Daken, or yer getting' those children back in pieces!"

"He's bluffin'…," Creed mumbled and exchanged a look with Logan and John. "He might have clones with him, but he doesn't have any means t'attack them…"

"How can you be so sure?" John demanded to know and Creed's eyes narrowed.

"Ya can smell a bluff, can't ya?"

Logan gave them a sign to shut up. "Jean?" he asked loud enough for her to hear.

"He's lying. The children are fine," the redhead replied and stepped forward. "You'll leave. Understood?"

"Oh, so she's the one yer gonna throw at me?" Romulus mocked. "Let's see…," he said and acted as if he had to think very hard. "Phoenix, right? Yer the annoyin' pain in Apocalypse 'n Sinister's ass, but their problem actually is that they can't figure out how t'beat ya. In fact it's so easy, it's almost a shame…"

"Oh really?" Jean mocked and her body became engulfed in flames. "And you do realize that I can vaporize all of them at once, don't you?" she asked with a nod at the snarling devils that only waited for a sign to attack. "You included?"

Romulus acted impressed. "Big mouth… I hate bitches like that," he growled but the redhead remained unimpressed. "The trick is," he went on and tapped the side of his head, "it only needs the right spark 'n ya turn into a demon. We've seen it on Alcatraz… Just one drop of fuel into the fire's enough. That's what Sinister doesn't realize…" He gave Daken an amused look. "If ya think they can protect ya, yer wrong! Or do ya really believe that woman will still protect ya after gettin' t'know it's been ya that killed her child? That she lost him coz of ya?" He bit his lip smirking as his ears picked up on Jean's quickened heartbeat and knew he had hit the right nerve. "All the misery she's been through afterwards, all those tears fer her lost son, just coz of ya…" Romulus shook his head, feigning surprise. "Ya murdered yer step-mother's baby 'n don't even have the dignity t'tell her?!"

"It was an accident and you damn well know that!" Daken barked into his direction, but realized that Jean's black eyes were already on him. "It wasn't me…"

"I don't think she cares though…," Romulus smirked and knew what would happen next. He made a careful step back when the redhead became completely engulfed in flames, her eyes and faces demonic. "There she is…"

"Jean, no!" Logan barked next and jumped off the roof to bring his wife down. "Don't! Control her!"

"Get off me!" Dark Phoenix snarled and sent him crashing through the windows. Her eyes were fixed on Daken, who backed slowly off. "You…killed my baby…"

"Jean, don't, please!" Charles begged and concentrated on her, but she knocked him out with just one psychic attack.

"You're going to die!"

"What's the plan now?!" Tony barked from above them and landed next to Scott, who didn't know what to do. "How can we stop her?"

"We can't… No one can…," Ororo said and saw Romulus' satisfied smile. "Whatever he's up to that's exactly what he wanted!" she added and watched how Jean pushed Northstar, who was still trying to protect the feral behind him, out of the way and kept on approaching Daken, who didn't know what else to do besides extracting his claws.

"How dare you?!" the redhead snarled and her already veiny face became even darker. "I'm going to rip you apart, limb for limb…"

"No, ya won't!" Logan growled and took his stance in front of his son, his claws out and his teeth bared. "This is what he wants, Jean! Push her back, dammit!"

"You think I take orders from you? You're just a tamed animal," she hissed and snarled back when Wolverine growled warningly at her. "He murdered our son, so how dare you getting into my way?!" she barked at him and sent a wave into every direction that had the X-Men landing hard on the ground, while the devils whimpered. "Get out of my way, or I'll kill you!"

"Jean, don't make me do this!" Logan begged and panted. "Please, listen t'me!"

"No!" she barked and hit him with another wave, her eyes fixed on Daken, who felt truly scared for the first time in his life. "Get…out of my way!"

"Yer not gonna touch my son, understood?" Wolverine snarled, his eyes now as dark as hers. He went into a low attack stance, claws ready and bared his teeth at her, while the flames around her began to dance more furiously. She, too, narrowed her eyes at him and began to snarl back; furious about his behavior and that her mate dared to threaten and disobey her.

"Then…," Dark Phoenix hissed back and took hold of him with her powers, her face and eyes a complete mask of fury, "…you're going to die, too!"

**So this was the chapter for July. I've lots of exams coming up, so I won't be able to type at all. And yes, I know… I'm mean leaving you hanging like that. ; ) But so many of you asked for DP or for Jean to lose control, so there she is. LOL I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'll try to type as fast as I can after I'm done with me exams. The last exam will be on July 31, so I'll try to hurry up afterwards. Please review!! See ya!**


	59. Chapter 56

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

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**So sorry for the long wait. Exams got delayed so I have them till mid August and then my internship at an elementary school begins. I have way too much to do, so I probably won't be able to update before the end of September. I still have two academic papers to write, too. : ( But I'll try and do my best. Just be patient, please. ^^**

**I've been visiting my family and finished the chapter there. Since I didn't have any access to the net, I couldn't upload the chapter since today. I already started typing on the new chapter but as I said I'll be quiet busy with the internship and academic papers. I'll try to update asap!**

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**Thanks a lot to **_sammygirl001_** who helped me out a lot with the beginning of the DP/Wolverine scene!!**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 56**

"Then you're going to die, too!" Dark Phoenix' hiss echoed eerily through the garden, causing the anxiously watching X-Men to gasp in shock.

How could this have happened? How could all go to hell in the span of just a few minutes?  
Wolverine's eyes narrowed dangerously in response to his mate's threat. "Yer wouldn't dare," he growled.

The enemy in his wife's body chuckled darkly. "Try me, darling." And as if to prove her point, she sent another blast of energy in his direction, nearly knocking him off his feet in the process.

Pain exploded across his chest, as his upper body was ripped open and knitting itself back together in the same moment. Panting heavily due to the strain on his body, Logan resumed his defensive position in front of his son. "Stop it, Jean! Yer gotta fight her! Push her down! This ain't the time t'take yer revenge!"

"Not the right time?" she mocked. "What would be the right time, then? Who are you to deem it the 'right time'? I say this moment is as good as any other for him to die for what he's done. To _our_ son!" Her voice no more than a whisper, but at the same time as loud and clear as if she had screamed it to the world.

A shiver ran down his spine. What was he supposed to do? He didn't want to have to fight his wife, his soulmate... But he couldn't let her hurt his son, either. Growling in frustration, Logan tried one last time to calm her down. "Jeannie, please. Stop this, I beg ya. He's the enemy," he said, pointing at Romulus who watched the spectacle with a satisfied smirk on his lips, "not Daken! Not my own flesh 'n blood, just like Jake is our flesh 'n blood. Don't ya see, Jeannie? Don't ya see that he's manipulatin' ya?"

Jean gave him a look as if he was the dumbest thing she had ever laid eyes on. "Do you think I'm stupid? Of course I know that. The real question here is, do I care? No. I don't. The only thing I care about right now, is to see him suffer for what he's done. And now there's been enough talking. Either get out of my way, or die along with him." Her voice was as cold as the color of her skin.

Logan clenched his fists and gave Daken over his shoulder a brief look, noticed that his son still tried to figure out what the hell was going on at the moment. An idea crossed his mind as he thought about their Dangerroom session a few days ago and he tried to give his son a hint through his eyes as this one switched his attention briefly to him. When Daken nodded weakly and had found his composure again, Logan turned back to the furious redhead. A resigned sigh escaped his lips. "So be it."  
Then, he attacked. Claws extended in front of him, he charged at her, a roar accompanying him. He knew it was pointless to attack her this way, but what other choice did he have?  
Just before he reached her, he ran into a solid wall of air, before being thrown backwards. He crashed on his back, the force of the impact causing him to slide a few more feet before coming to a halt, leaving the grass and earth uprooted in his wake. When he opened his eyes again he looked straight at Scott, who stood above him and had his arms crossed.

"What was this stupid stunt supposed to be, Logan?!" the X-Men asked with a shake of his head and switched back to Jean, who was now facing Daken. "She's going to kill him…"

Shaking his head to clear the stars in his vision, Logan got to his feet, growling angrily. Jean stood in the same spot, not having moved an inch, as if nothing had happened. Confused, he cocked an eyebrow at her, his senses on high alert and screaming for him to move. "Oh fuck…," Logan mumbled when her eyes narrowed in on him and that was the only warning he got, before another energy wave sent him through the air, pummeling him as if he was a stunt dummy, helpless against her rage. Nonetheless, when her attack stopped for the moment, he got back to his feet, unsteady and groaning in pain.

"Stay down, darling," came her cold voice, "you know you can't win against me. What's the point in enduring this much pain for nothing?"

"Not for nothin'!" he managed to say. "For my son!"

That seemed to be the wrong thing to say, for she threw her head back and howled in rage, an otherworldly sound, sending chills through his very core. "And what about our son?!" she screamed at him. Not awaiting his reply, she lifted him into the air, with the power of her mind, sending him crashing through the woods. He felt the branches tear at his skin and flesh, felt his blood, just as much as his conscious slipping away from him. The last thing he heard, before falling limply to the ground a good couple of miles away, was the painful howl of his son. Then everything went black.

Daken hated to admit it, but he had never been so scared in his entire life. Seeing his father so helpless, at the mercy of the...demon...in his step-mother's body, fixated on killing him – well, that was doing very interesting things to his ego, to say the least. He swallowed hard, when her cold, black eyes settled upon him.

"Now it's your turn," she promised him and then the only thing he felt was pain.

He wasn't even aware of the howl that was ripped from his throat. He had never felt so much pain; intense pain, seeming to spread through his very veins, into the last corner of his body and then even deeper into his every cell. Fire. His body was on fire. His subconscious was trying to escape the pain, trying to close down against it, but something seemed to prevent him from reaching the sanctuary in his mind. It took him a few moments to notice that the pain had stopped. His body still felt as if it was being ripped apart and put together again, but no new pain was coming. Slowly opening his eyes, he came face to face with cloud-sprinkled blue sky. What an irony, he thought, trying to sit up. He had never even noticed that he had ended up on the ground. The process of trying to reach a sitting position was harder than he'd thought, but when he managed, he lifted his eyes and had to suppress a gasp.

Dark Phoenix was standing as she had before, her onyx black eyes intently watching him. Then a small smile stole onto her lips, making him swallow in fear. "Are you back with me, yes?" her voice had taken on a singsong quality, making him shiver involuntarily. Her smile widened. "Good, because I am far from being done with you." Her smile vanished, being replaced by cold indifference. And the pain started anew…

It seemed to spread from different places on his body, outwards and inwards until there was not an inch that didn't hurt. Electricity and fire and acid, all seemed to have taken up space in his body, using it as a host to merge and spread. Even his cells seemed to scream in pain. And still he couldn't pass out, couldn't escape the pain. His eyes were frozen wide open, still staring at the blue sky above him, which seemed to mock him with its warm and welcoming color, mocking him in his pain. Not being able to stand the sight, he forced his eyes to close. As soon as his lids fell shut, a blinding pain was added to the already existing one. Wrenching his eyes back open, the new pain ebbed away. Trying again in desperation, he closed his eyes, only to be greeted by the same pain returning. Groaning, he left his eyes open, let his mind and body be consumed by the agony racing through his body, and continued to suffer. But the beast in him began to fight back. He had suffered more pain during his life than normal people had, he was trained to endure the most excruciating pain possible and even if this, the pain he was suffering now, was stronger than anything he'd ever experienced, he managed to clear his mind for the merest second that he needed to focus.

"Kurt, get the Professor," Scott ordered since Dark Phoenix was distracted for the moment and he soon heard the familiar _bamf _twice next to him. Hank immediately knelt down to check on Charles, while Scott tried to analyze the situation. Romulus was still amused by watching Dark Phoenix, the Devils that had accompanied him were facing them and pacing restlessly. They were obviously waiting for a sign to attack. Victor had disappeared in the woods, to go looking for Logan as he guessed and the group behind him was tensed. He knew why. No matter what they'd throw at Jean, she would mercilessly destroy them. They needed a plan…

"Suggestions?" Ororo asked, her eyes fixed in the scene further down in the garden. "If we attack her, she'll kill us all…"

"Yes, but we can't just stand and watch either…," Hank replied and got up again. "Kurt, please teleport with Charles into the infirmary and stay with him. Moira should be there."

"Okay," the teleporter said and reached out to touch the Professor. In a blink of an eye they were both gone. "He wants something…"

John knew who _he _was and nodded. "Question is what he wants. I doubt he's here just because of Creed and Daken…"

"Maybe Sinister sent him to get the Cerebra files…," Scott suggested. "In the end Daken and the rest were unsuccessful to get their hands on them in the past."

"Cerebra files?" Tony asked and heaved a deep breath. The sun was mercilessly shining down on them and his suit… "Jarvis. Air conditioner on max, please!" he begged and sighed in relief as it got cooler instantly. "Thanks."

"My pleasure, sir!" the computer replied.

"Cerebra files list all detected mutants and their classes, also their locations," Scott explained. "Charles created them so he could find mutants in case it was needed. If our enemies get their hands on those files…"

"Just say it," Tony said. "We're fucked!"

Scott nodded and began to frown. A look at Romulus told him that the feral wasn't happy either. "What's going on?!" he asked and made a step forward, his hand ready on his visor again. Next to him Tony closed his helmet and zoomed in on Dark Phoenix and Daken.

"Seems like Logan jr turned the table…," he said.

"How so?" Hank asked and joined his side, he too watching what was happening, wondered why Dark Phoenix was backing off, while Daken approached her. "What's he…," Hank began when he began to understand. "His mutation…"

"It shouldn't be possible, Hank," Scott disagreed with a shake of his head. "She doesn't know anything besides hatred, fury and a passion to destroy. That's what the Professor told us about her. There's no way he can make her feel fear!"

"Except he makes her feel what he does…," James said.

Daken had his eyes narrowed and concentrated harder than he ever had. Usually it was easy for him. A person came past him, he detected their emotions, he took control of them and turned them into what he needed them to be. It was easy for him to control someone that way. He never broke a sweat. But she… She was different. He only detected fury and hatred and he definitely didn't want to strengthen that. So he tried to feel fear and make her feel it, tried to remember his mother and make his adversary feel sad, tried to remember the pain he had suffered and forced her into it, too. Once he had her, he only needed to throw all the pheromones he got at her. But he was glad that she seemed to be confused for a start. If he could only…

"How…dare you?!" Dark Phoenix hissed and her black eyes began to glow like fire. "You think you can control me?" Furiously about it, she concentrated on him or at least tried to struggle for the control of her fury again. She wanted to destroy him and make him suffer first until his mind would break and even then she didn't intend to stop. But thanks to his manipulation she didn't detect something else and only felt a strong wind going past her, before Daken was gone.

Scott blinked and made a step back as Daken reappeared in front of him all of a sudden. "What the…?" he began when he became aware of Northstar next to him, too.

"Any plans?!" the speedster asked, his eyes never leaving Dark Phoenix, while she was glaring at him.

"I guess you pissed her off even further…," Scott mumbled and his mind was quickly working on a plan. On the one hand they had to deal with Dark Phoenix, on the other with Romulus and those beasts. Their powers were no match against Phoenix's, he knew if some could stop her then it was Logan. "Okay, listen up!" he said, his eyes watching what Phoenix was doing. "It's useless to attack her, we make two teams and deal with this Romulus guy instead. Storm…," Scott began when a sound to his left alarmed him. His hand instantly reached for his visor and he aimed for whatever had caused the noise, just to drop his hand and let his jaw drop. "She did pull a number on you, didn't she?"

Answering with a growl only, Logan slapped Victor's hand away that had held him steady up to now and glared at his wife. His shirt was torn and bloody, same went for his jeans, his arms and face was blood stained, too… He was done playing, the beast in him wanted revenge. Angrily, he tore off what remained of his shirt and cracked his neck. "I'll deal with her," he told the group darkly. "'n ya stay outta her way!" Logan warned his son with another glare before he aimed for Dark Phoenix.

Bored she sighed and shook her head. "You'll never learn, do you?" she asked and sent a psychic wave his wave but he dodged it. Snarling, she raised her arms and went airborne when he jumped at her with an angry roar, snickered when Wolverine missed her only by inches but let out a surprised gasp as he used the wall next to them to jump even higher. He tackled her with his full weight and at maximum speed and held her in a deadly grip, even after they had landed hard on the ground. "You're so dead…," Dark Phoenix snarled in barely more than a hiss and aimed another psychic wave at him. Since he held onto her for dear life, it sent both of them crashing against the opposite wall.

"What on earth is he trying to do?!" Hank asked after they had crashed into another wall and then landed on the ground again.

"I've no idea…," Scott replied and frowned when Romulus mumbled something. "He's going to attack or send them inside," he alarmed the other. "Storm, they can't reach you in the air. Attack them from there, but watch out for Jean!" he ordered and she disappeared after a brief nod. "John, Hank and I make sure they won't get inside, Tony can help Storm, James you'll block the terrace with Narya and Jean-Paul, Heather goes inside and stays there, Victor and Daken will attack in the field."

Hearing it, the two ferals snorted. "Of course…," Victor grunted and stared Scott down. "Throw us into the first line."

"If you don't like it," Scott hissed back, "then go. No one forced you to stay with us!" Without giving him another look, he headed for the back entrance and took a stand with his team, while Tony joined Ororo in the air and readied his repulsors.

"He knows how to work in the field, huh?" he asked her and she guessed that he meant Scott.

"He's been our leader for years until Logan took over," she told him and heard him chuckling in his armor. "Scott is the best defense tactician you can find, while Logan is the best offense one." She watched how some more devils left the woods and joined the others of their pack. "He didn't lie when he said that there are more where those came from…"

"I've got your back, dear!" Tony replied and waited for their adversaries to make the tiniest move. Underneath him Victor and Daken took their stance, claws out and ready for battle, which Romulus commented with an amused laugh.

"So they sent the pawns t'die first, huh?" he asked and grinned. "Fine with me." The nod from him was enough and ten devils at once aimed for the two ferals; their sharp teeth bared, their claws out they ran at them on all fours.

"Great…," Daken cursed and made some steps back to buy some time, while he tried to focus his pheromones on them.

"We can't just stay here and watch!" James said, knowing that neither Victor nor Daken had a chance against ten of those clones.

"Stay there!" Scott barked at him. "We'll deal with it, you are the second line of defense."

"Why is Daken waving with hand behind his back?!" Narya asked in confusion since the feral was clearly doing so. "Does it mean anything or is he wounded?"

"It's a sign," Jean-Paul said and was gone before one of them could stop him.

"Paul!" Narya shouted after him.

"Damn it, stay back!" Scott ordered and ducked when another psychic wave spread through the garden. A look aside told him that Logan had clearly trouble to keep up with the furious redhead, who enjoyed ripping the skin of his bones.

"Woah!" John made impressed and shocked at the same time and Scott followed his look.

He, too, made a step back as he noticed the bloody mess in front of them. On the ground lay the ten bodies of those devils that had attacked, their heads neatly cut of, the blood still dripping off Daken's claws. The feral himself was back on his old place next to Victor, Jean-Paul attached to his arm and he knew that they had pulled the same stunt on those devils as they had on the whole X-Men team. "Impressive…"

"Impressive?!" John asked. "He cut off their heads in less than a second."

"As Logan said…they work great as a team," Scott mumbled. "Watch out for their claws, try to attack quickly and keep away from that Romulus guy," he told his group and gave Tony and Storm the OK to start their attacks.

In less than two seconds the garden was turned into a battlefield. On one side the X-Men fought against the devils, while Wolverine and Phoenix battled on the other side. It wasn't before Dark Phoenix let out a loud howl that some X-Men looked aside and saw her falling to the ground, Wolverine's claws stuck in her leg. Retracting them, Logan cupped her face roughly and forced her to look at him. "Fight her back, Jean!" he begged her and his face was as much pained as hers.

"I can't…," the redhead cried and held on to his hands. "She won't let me…"

"Damn it, darlin', concentrate 'n fight back!" he replied and kept his eyes on her green ones, but realized that they began to darken. "Jeannie, don't make me do this! Yer stronger than this bitch!"

"Who do you call a bitch, you tamed animal?!" Dark Phoenix snarled and sent Logan backwards before he was even able to realize it. Furiously, her black eyes looked around the garden and smiled. Death and destruction were everywhere. She loved it. But she wanted something else. Instantly her eyes fell on the younger feral, who, with the help of Northstar, went back and forth through the garden like a lightning bolt. The light Northstar was using to blind their adversaries made them look like a shooting star that roamed the grounds in super sonic speed. It was hard to focus on him, she had to admit it, but she caught him by surprise and tore him away from the speedster. "Gotcha!" Phoenix smirked and held the surprised Daken immobile in the air, while Jean-Paul had landed crashed through the windows. In less than a second she took the information she needed from Logan and healed her leg, before she began to focus on Daken once more. "Now…where were we?" she asked sweetly and slammed him into the stairs of the terrace. Since James was helping out the others by now and Narya had gone inside to check on Jean-Paul, there was no one to stop her now. In the end Logan was still unconscious and Victor had his hands full at protecting him.

"Stay away from me, witch!" Daken snarled angrily, his powers once more focusing on her but she remained unimpressed.

"I want to see your level 3 powers getting through my level 5 shield," Phoenix mocked him and pressed him further against the stone until she heard his bones cracking. "Oh…," she feigned surprise as he kept himself from crying out in pain, "…no adamantium bones? What a shame. That means I can kill you way faster than I intended to." Smiling at him, she raised him into the air a bit and slammed him against the stone floor of the terrace. "You'll wish you'd never been born!"

"Too late for that!" Daken snarled back at her, his forehead glistering with sweat. His breathing was hard due to the fact that she was tearing his bones and organs apart. But he was determined not to give her the pleasure to cry out or show any other sign of defeat or pain. "Is that all you can do?!" he mocked and she snarled.

In the meanwhile Logan had woken up and watched in horror how Dark Phoenix was once more attacking his son. "I need t'get through t'em!" he barked at Victor, who snorted.

"Good luck tryin' that…" He stared down the devils that surrounded them and tried to work out a plan. "Suggestions?"

"Back t'back!" Logan said and Victor smiled at the familiar stance.

"Just like old times."

"I need t'get t'him!"

"Yeah, I heard ya the first time!" the older feral mocked and bared his canines at his adversaries, while he heard Logan growling at the ones on his side. He knew those devils were making a huge mistake by attacking them together. They were a team, knew how the other one worked and had always been deadly together. Their enemies had always feared them and they had made themselves a good name back then in the war days… Everyone who would get in their way would end up dead. And he'd be damned to change this now. When the first devil jumped at him, he linked arms with Logan to swirl them around and turned away from the attack, knowing that his brother would take care of the attacker, while he lashed out at the ones in front of him. Like dancers they used the others claws and body to defend themselves, grabbed an enemy in mid air knowing that the brother was already waiting with his claws behind him. Roaring, Victor slammed the devil in his hands right into Logan's claws, heard the air leaving the beast's lungs and lashed out to cut off his head. He had barely regained his stance when Logan threw another one at him and Victor once more took his head easily off. The whole time through a satisfied smile was visible on his lips. He drowned in his rage, enjoyed every bit of it, loved the killing and the blood and the dead bodies and to watch how the lights went out in the eyes of those he killed. He knew they were still the best at what they did and that this would never change. In the end they weren't like _them_. They were pure rage, wild, animals trapped in the bodies of men… And he hated it.

"Victor!" Logan yelled and he turned too late. The claws of three enemies had already stabbed through his back and he could feel their sharp teeth biting chunks out of his neck. Still, he wasn't worried, he'd knew what would come and Victor was right, since Logan had already jumped at them with a furious roar. It didn't take long and their heads landed on the ground. "Pay attention!" Logan warned him and helped him up, much to his other brother's disapproval.

"I hate to admit it," Hank said and watched the two ferals working their way through their enemy's line, "but as a team they work perfectly together… I don't approve of their methods though, but…" He nodded impressed.

"Creed's still an animal…," John grunted jealously and looked aside when Narya gave him a thumbs up through the broken window. "Paul's okay."

"Daken isn't…," James said and watched how Dark Phoenix still enjoyed making ground meat out of him. "I say we attack them from here. That gives Logan time to attack her." He shielded his eyes when Tony blasted two of their enemies and realized something. "Hey, where's Romulus?!"

"Damn…," Scott said after he had noticed it, too. "When did he leave?!"

"Who said he left? Maybe he's inside?" John replied and followed Hank into the mansion.

While her eyes burned in rage, Dark Phoenix held Daken captive against the wall, enjoyed how the blood was dripping from his mouth and nose. "Having enough?"

He coughed up blood and spit it into her direction. "If that's all you can do…," the feral panted and forced himself to grin at her, "then you're really pathetic…"

"What…did you just say?!" she asked in barely more than a whisper and her eyes narrowed.

"I said…you're…pathetic!" Daken repeated and closed his eyes when she slammed him once more against the wall. He could tell his healing factor was having the day of its life by keeping up with the damage she caused. He was sure she could easily kill him, but he had realized something she hadn't yet. "Or what else…would you call a mother…who murders her husband's son…in front of her own?" he panted and nodded aside, her black eyes following his hazel ones.

Realizing that Jamie was staying next to them and watched her closely, Dark Phoenix made a step back and tried to decide what to do. "Go back inside!" she ordered in the end, but the boy shook his head. "I said…"

"No, mommy!" the boy whined and began to breathe hard, his senses telling him that there was danger and he hated that feeling.

"Go back inside, Jamie!" Phoenix snarled, getting impatient because of his disobedience and her eyes began to glow.

"No!"

"Jamie…," she hissed and felt how her rage began to focus on him.

"No, mommy!" he said once more and went for Daken's leg. While he held onto it and watched her with tears in his eyes, his body began to shake and his entire senses were focusing on the threat she displayed for him at the moment.

"Piece of cake," Victor snarled and gave one of the heads a good kick.

"Yeah, sure…," Logan huffed and still tried to get his breathing back under control. He wanted a shower and that quickly. His body was covered in the blood of his enemies and his own and he hated that smell. And thanks to Jean he was sore to the core… Picking up on the happiness Victor felt, he could only shake his head but considered himself lucky that his brother hadn't lost it. "Anyone hurt?" he asked the group next to him, but despite minor cuts or bruises he couldn't detect anything. After heaving another deep breath, he turned back towards where Phoenix and Daken had been and his eyes grew wide. "NO!" he shouted and instantly started into a sprint, his eyes fixed on his youngest, who was whining by now and didn't know where to go. "Jean, no!"

"What's the matter?!" Hank asked and joined Scott's side again, but his eyes grew wide as soon as he knew what was wrong. "Oh God…"

"We're fucked!" John told them and jumped through the broken window. "The Professor said the children are already on their way back and only minutes away from here. We can't let them see this." Seeing their shocked looks, he began to frown and looked aside to find out what was wrong all of a sudden. "No…"

"We need to do something!" Ororo shouted from further down the garden and began to run over to them. "She's going to kill him!"

"Too late for us to do anything…," Scott mumbled since Phoenix's body was already covered in flames. "Shit!" he cursed and realized that Logan wouldn't reach her in time either. "It's too dangerous to attack her all at once, she only needs to step aside and we'll hit Jamie…," he thought out loud and only heard the boy screaming aloud as everything went black around him.

When Scott came by again he stared directly at a sky that was on fire. His ears were roaring so much as if he was suffering the aftereffects of shell shock and his body felt heavy like hell as he tried to roll onto his back. Around him the others lay scattered in the garden, were either still knocked out or barely awake. Through the fog of his brain he became aware of someone touching him and realized it was Kurt, who looked down on him with a concerned look on his face. Still, he couldn't understand what he was saying. Since he couldn't find his voice either he shook his head as good as he could and was thankful when Kurt helped him up.

"Scott?" he heard Charles in his head and looked up when the man wheeled closer. "Do you understand me, son?"

"Yes," he thought and held his aching head. "What the hell happened?!" he asked and looked around, watched how Kurt now helped Ororo up who seemed to be as disillusioned as he was. "My ears… I can't hear…"

"You should be fine again in moment."

"And my head…," Scott groaned mentally while holding it. "Where did that explosion come from?!"

"I wouldn't necessarily call it an explosion…"

"Then what…?" Scott asked and realized for the first time that Logan was kneeling over an unconscious Jean and obviously trying to wake her up again. "She's down…? How?!"

Charles followed his gaze and folded his hands in front of him. "Jamie felt threatened and attacked Jean with a blast of his own, while Phoenix attacked him at the same time. Their powers must have collided and created a gigantic psychic wave that must have ended miles from here… Remy at least contacted me and said that the bus was hit and they now have to walk. The good thing is it will give us time to clean this mess up…"

Scott groaned as his hearing came back and clutched his head even firmer. "What about Jamie? Is he…?"

"Oh, he is more than fine," the Professor replied but the smile didn't become visible on his face. "I'm just concerned about the amount of power this boy has… He took Phoenix out in just one blow…"

"And Magneto!" Scott reminded him and finally found the strength to take a good look at the mess the mansion and garden was. Most windows were burst, the bodies of the devils they had killed lay scattered around, next to them heads and blood seemed to be everywhere. He could only shake his head. "How are we supposed to clean this mess up?!" he muttered to himself and went over to help Narya and Hank up.

The Professor in the meanwhile looked back at Logan and his face became concerned. He wheeled over to him and gave Jean a worried look. "She doesn't react," Logan told him, panic visible in his face. "Her vitals are fine, but she doesn't react."

"Let me see," the bald man requested and reached out to touch the redhead's forehead. He gasped almost instantly.

"What?!" Logan asked and furrowed his brows even further.

"She doesn't let me in…," Charles told him but corrected himself mentally. _Something_ doesn't let me in. While he had his brows furrowed, too. He gave Jamie a look, who sat on the ground next to the door and was watching them innocently and completely oblivious to what he has done. "He is too powerful, Logan…"

"Oh, really?" the feral mocked annoyed and gave his wife another look. "I honestly don't care about him right now. Jamie's fine, Jean ain't."

"Maybe she's battling her within. We should give her the time she needs to recover, Logan. Why don't you bring her to the infirmary for Moira to have a look at her?"

Watching how his brother pulled his wife up, Victor narrowed his eyes and gave one of the bodies another kick. "He'll never learn…"

"Learn what?" Scott asked and the feral realized that he must have said it aloud.

"That we ain't like ya," Victor growled in disgust. "'n t'find a mate that ain't crazy… We're better off alone."

"He is not like you!" John spat and received a low chuckle and a grin.

"Sure he is," Victor replied. "Ya don't know him at all."

"You think?" the other feral asked snarling and also Victor began to bare his teeth.

"Hey, stop it!" Scott said and stepped between them. "We've to clean up this mess before the children come back home."

"No," Victor replied and crossed his arms. "Ya have t'clean up the mess. I already did enough." With that he walked over to the mansion and let them stand there.

"Asshole," Scott said and tried to figure out where to begin. "Okay, remember that hole in the wood? We bring them there. Leave one for Hank. He wanted to analyze it."

"We should burn them. It's too risky that they might heal," John suggested and grabbed two bodies.

"Good idea," Scott agreed and helped him together with Kurt and James.

"What a mess…," Narya sighed and shook her head.

"I'll use rain to clean the garden. Would you be so nice and take care of the windows?" Ororo asked and rose into the air to summon clouds.

Tony, who stood on the terrace waited for Heather and Narya to join him. "Helluva day, huh?" he asked and opened his visor, noticing Jamie, who was watching him intently. "And he's one creepy kid. Like this Michael Myers guy minus the mask and knife."

"I don't think he knows what he's done, Tony," Narya said and pulled Jamie up. "Right, sweety?" she asked with a sad look on her face and stroked over his hair.

"Oh no, hold on!" Tony said while following them. "He's claws, right? Then he's Freddy Kruger! I'll call him pizza face from now on."

"Don't be so mean to him!" Heather scolded him.

"He destroyed my suit!" he replied sourly. "This suit can withstand nearly everything and after one blast from pizza face it's dead! That kid killed my suit and I bet it's been the first victim in a long line of murders," Tony insisted and gave Jamie a look. "Right, pizza face?" He looked up when someone came quickly closer. "And daddy doesn't look so happy about it either."

"What's the matter, Logan?" Narya asked when he took Jamie wordlessly, but angrily from her and went back to the elevator.

"He put Jean into a coma, now he's gonna wake her up again," the feral grunted and disappeared with his son behind the doors.

"See?" Tony asked while heading for the elevator, too. "As I said. Creepy kid!"

Downstairs Logan aimed instantly for the ICU where the Professor and Moira were already waiting for him. "Here," he grunted and handed Jamie over to the bald man.

"Logan, don't be so angry!" Moira scolded him and checked on the machines to her right.

"I ain't angry, I'm pissed!"

Charles sighed. "No reason to be, Logan. It wasn't Jamie's fault either," he told him after reading the boy's mind. "His Phoenix force used a telepathic blast to protect himself and Daken, but it isn't the reason for Jean being in that coma…"

"Then what the fuck's the cause of this?!" Logan demanded to know and gave him an angry look.

"I'm sorry but I don't know," Charles shrugged. "She doesn't let me in…"

Moira let go of the IV and scribbled some notes on her pad. "Where's Daken? I should check on him, too." While Logan only shrugged and realized he had completely forgotten about him, Charles nodded at her and began to look for Daken with his mind. The feral, who watched him, didn't like the look he was given at all.

"What?!" Logan asked and felt how his heart skipped a beat.

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While the sharp claws were buried in his chest, blood dripped out of his wounds and down Romulus' hands that pressed him painfully against the tree, Daken stared in the black eyes of his opposite. He had followed him into the woods, wanted to kill him and now here he was and stared into Romulus' eyes. The eyes of a demon, a psychopath, of someone you wouldn't dare to mess with, if you didn't have a strong death wish. Thinking about them, he thought they looked like the eyes of that killer in this Asian horror movie he'd watched with Jean-Paul; lifeless, soulless, but at the same time psychotic and ice cold. The messy, long black hair of which strands had fallen into the feral's face didn't help to change the impression the man tend to leave on others. He appeared and you knew you had just faced the reaper. That creature neither knew mercy nor pity. You met him, you could already start digging your own grave…

Romulus chuckled low, twisted his sharp nails just a bit to inflict pain on his adversary before he smirked his twisted, psychotic smile and showed his sharp canines. "Before I kill ya," he said, his voice a low grumble in his chest, almost like a roaring lion that tried to whisper, but menacing none the less, "I want ya t'know how much I enjoyed watchin' yer bitch of a mother die…" He waited for the insult to struck home and was rewarded by the reaction he's expected when Daken narrowed his eyes just a bit. Romulus knew he had caused the younger feral's blood to start boiling, knew the weak spot the man had, one that he had tried to erase in Daken, but he had failed miserably. Even if the man had never known his mother, he loved her deeply. Something Romulus couldn't understand. Nevertheless, the thing he did understand was to hurt him right where he would hurt him the most, and he'd enjoy every bit of it… "Did ya know that she was singin' t'ya when the first bullet hit her?" he asked in the same low voice and chuckled to himself. The speeding up of Daken's heartbeat, the blood rushing faster through the man's veins and the moment the breath had caught just for a tiny second in his throat, while his eyes had widened… Once more a reaction Romulus had expected and wanted. "That she tried callin' fer help so that someone could at least save ya? Her blood was still warm when I cut her open… In fact she died when I pulled ya out of her womb!"

Daken stared at him, horror in his eyes and he couldn't help picturing it… His mother in that beautiful rosé kimono she'd been wearing in his father's memory, a hand on her belly, smiling, singing one of those many Japanese lullabies he knew, content, happy to feel him moving within her, reacting to her singing and waiting for him to be born. Then the bullet that suddenly shot through one window, hitting her right in the chest, surprising her. Maybe she had gasped, maybe screamed when she had fallen to the ground, maybe she had felt him reacting to it, maybe he had felt that her and his life were in danger? _First bullet_, he had said, hadn't he? Maybe another one had struck, hit her in the throat or had injured her so badly that she couldn't call for help? Maybe her cry for help had been her gurgling up blood, maybe it had only been a hoarse whisper? Then he saw her looking up, saw with her eyes how Romulus had entered. He knew the feral hadn't carried a knife, knew he had used his claws to cut her open. He wondered if she had curled up, if she had tried to protect him, if she had cried… Then the blinding pain of nails cutting deep through her skin, searching and digging for him. He'd bet she had cried, more in fear for him than in pain. He wondered what she had thought when she had seen him after Romulus had torn him out of his haven…

Romulus's smile widened when he noticed how Daken began to tremble, relished the horror and realization in his almond shaped eyes. But he wasn't done, yet. Now came the home run for him. "Oh, 'n yer daddy of course…," he began and Daken's teary eyes shot up, his thoughts still caught between picturing his mother's death, while his brain tried to signal him that he should pay attention now. "I think ya should know how much he actually loved her 'n ya. He always used t'stroke over her belly or kiss it every mornin' and night. Probably his way of sayin' good mornin' or night t'ya. He loved ya so damn much…" Faking sympathy, Romulus sighed heavily and patted Daken's head like a grandfather would do, if he used a loving gesture towards his grandchild. Here and now, it only was a mocking gesture, even if he was in fact the grandfather and Daken his grandchild. "Ya should have seen how he'd broken down after realizin' that he'd not only lost her but ya, too…"

He pictured it again. His father being on his way home, picking up on her blood, running back home as fast as he could just to find her lying in her own blood, dead… Blood everywhere, on the ground, on the carpet, her rosé kimono now scarlet red… Had he cried out after finding her? Had he tried to pick up on him, despite Romulus telling him he hadn't? Had he even realized or noticed that she'd been cut open and he'd been stolen?! Only shaking his head, Daken lowered his gaze, his teeth grinding against each other while his jaw was tensed so much that his muscles actually hurt. Something was stroking over his cheeks but his mind was too far gone to even realize that he was crying. Crying for a mother he'd never known but was desperate to know, for a father he'd never known and had hated for 42 years without a reason in the end, just because he'd believed all the lies Romulus had thrown at him, because he'd filled out the role he'd been destined to play since his creation… A stupid pawn without any conscience on his own… Why hadn't he seen through this before? Why had he been so fucking stupid?

"It's been so much fun usin' ya against him," Romulus went on and grabbed Daken's jaw harshly, his nails cutting through the tanned skin. "You've been such a good lap dog… Done everythin' I told ya t'do…" He patted his cheek in another mocking gesture, smeared the few droplets of blood on the even skin. "But that's all ya have ever been t'me, Daken. A lapdog. A shame I've t'kill ya now. In the end you've been the perfect weapon 'n so loyal t'me…" He sighed and shook his head ironically, smirked next and his eyes gleamed with bloodlust. "But well… I think I'll get over it very quickly."

Daken glared back, felt his blood becoming hot in his veins as rage took over and he himself felt a passionate bloodlust rising within him. He wanted only one thing and that was to destroy the monster in front of him, to rip him into pieces until nothing was left of him… "I'll kill you, you son of a bitch…," he snarled through gritted teeth but Romulus could only laugh.

"No, ya won't. You'll die now 'n I'll have fun watchin' yer daddy cryin' over yer dead body! That's always been yer purpose anyway… Breakin' yer father again. Ya just never realized that," his adversary announced and flashed his canines, thinking about the best way to do it. He knew how his race could be destroyed, had done it countless of times. But he didn't want his _pup_ to die immediately. He wanted the dramatic moment so that he could relish in it. In the end he loosened his grip on Daken's throat, turned him around and smashed him against the tree face first, but it wasn't before he lashed out quickly that Daken's eyes widened and a shocked gasp escaped him.

He didn't feel the pain first, it wasn't immediately there. He just fell, his legs giving way to his weight, or better, they weren't there anymore. At least not to him, he couldn't feel them. When he fell, his breath caught up in his throat, strong arms wrapped around his numb body and finally there was at least some response of it as he felt Romulus's hot breath on his neck…

"Greet that bitch of a mother from me, will ya? It's a pity I didn't have the time t'have some fun with her, too…," the demon in front of him snarled, his eyes even colder than before and before Daken could reach out to steady himself, Romulus let him fall into the dirt. "I guess the prince has fallen in the end…," the shadow above him mocked for a final time and turned to disappear in the shadows; the place where he'd been hiding for centuries and the place that had been Daken's home for years…

While he stared at the crone of the trees above him, not hearing any noises around him for the first time – something he would have found unusual since he usually could hear for miles -, he tried to think about everything that demon had done to him, the things he had done for him… But thinking was hard somehow and he wondered why, since usually he was a quick thinker, brilliant in some ways, always had a plan B and C in case A went wrong, always calculated ahead what his enemy would be doing, if he did this or that, he was always ahead of them, would always be, that's how he'd been raised… So why couldn't he think now…? And where were his legs? Had Romulus torn him into two? But if he had, he would feel pain, wouldn't he? So why was he numb? Why couldn't he breathe? Why were his senses failing him…?!

"Shit…," Northstar suddenly said next to him after he'd finally found him, but Daken didn't hear it.

His eyes remained on the trees above him, his mind wondering if they had always been so dark? No, bright. They were bright all of a sudden… How long had they been fighting? It hadn't been dark when they had started, so it couldn't be morning already, could it?

Next to him Northstar had kneeled down, his eyes wide in shock and fear and he reached carefully out to touch the feral's cheek in order to get his attention, but Daken's eyes remained on whatever he was seeing in those trees. "I'll get help, okay?" Jean-Paul said, his voice clearly shaking. "Just hold on. I'll be right back!" he promised and began to run back to the mansion at full speed, his heart in his mouth and breaking through his chest. Before he was even out of the woods he began calling out for the only person he could think of in that moment. He didn't have to run very far, saw that his cry for help had been heard, so he stopped sharply and ran back again to the feral that was still lying as he had left him and was staring up ahead. "Your father's coming! He's on his way…," Jean-Paul said while he took Daken's left hand that lay flat on the ground into his and touched his cheek with his free one to show him that he wasn't alone. "Help's on its way… Just hold on," he added and stared at the mess in front of him, unable to control his shaking and the strong urge to throw up. He was back to a couple of months ago, on that particular street, his sister in his arms, holding her and begging her not to leave him while her blood was soaking through his clothes… The life slowly draining from her.

Swallowing, he looked behind him and waited for Logan to finally appear. Mere seconds were minutes to him right now, time seemed to stretch and here he was, shaking like a leaf in fear and terrified of what would happen in the next second. He was desperate for Daken to just look at him, to give him just one of his looks that he tend to give him whenever he did something that annoyed the feral, hoped for one brief smirk, no matter how brief and small that would tell him he was alright. He always gave him those brief signs, why not now? Why not now that he was waiting for them, wanted to see them…? Once more he turned, not realizing that maybe ten seconds had past since the last time he'd done it. He felt cold, terribly cold inside and out. "God damn it, Logan, come already…," Northstar cursed and looked back down at the feral in front of him. He thought he could see the blood on his clothes, his hands, his sister's blood that had seemed to be everywhere, just that it wasn't his sister now, but that didn't matter to him. It was the same horror, the same fear that had him in a strong grip, that seemed to choke him and…why did he feel so cold…?! And was it him begging for him to stay? To not leave him, too? If so, then why couldn't he hear his own voice?!

The leaves hypnotized him… While they had been dark before, then bright, they now seemed to glow in different colors. Everything seemed to glow and shine, seemed to spread more and more light with every minute that passed. If they were minutes that is. Daken couldn't tell, couldn't think, didn't feel. He just stared ahead, watched the leaves glowing and dancing above him. Their impact on him was mesmerizing, he just wondered why he had never realized it? Why didn't the brightness hurt his sensitive eyes anyway? And was someone touching him? He hated to be touched, feared it… And someone was talking next to him, wasn't he? But looking aside meant he had to leave the light and colors for a while and he didn't want to. It was too much effort to move, he couldn't feel, couldn't think, but he wanted to know. No, it wasn't just someone, there were two shadows next to him. Black and frightening, not like the colors above him. He wasn't sure if he wanted to look at them for real…, didn't want to be dragged away from the light and those colors. He liked them more… But something told him it was important to look aside, so he did and his flat breath was caught in his throat as he saw _her_ next to _him_. Why was she here? What was his mother doing there next to his father?!

"We need to get him inside," Logan said, his eyes mirroring the horror he felt within.

"How?!" Northstar asked next to him, his eyes teary and his body still shaking uncontrollably, while his hand refused to let go. "He's bleeding all over the place…" He watched how Logan tried once more to get his son's attention, told him that he'd be alright, that they'd help him, that he'd be fine. But to him it appeared as if he was standing far away, watched everything from another perspective, saw himself saying things, doing things, refused to accept what his mind was telling him over and over again. To his surprise Daken was suddenly staring back at Logan and whatever he saw next to him. He felt a sharp stitch in his chest but wanted to ignore it, since he knew _those_ eyes, he'd seen them before, it were the same his sister had when…

"Gomen…nasai…," Daken croaked, his voice barely audible and he didn't know who to look at first. He wanted to look at his mother, wanted to smile back at her, hug her, feel protected by her, hear her voice… He longed so much for her that it hurt. Why was she here anyway?!

"What?" his father asked and after a nod from his mother he turned to look at his father, wondered why he looked so worried, wondered where those colors had gone, wanted to look into this warm light again. He didn't like the here and now, he felt cold, colder than ever before, colder than after every healing. It was then that he felt someone holding his left hand, saw _him_, wondered how he fit into this picture, why he was there with his parents and why he was crying. Why wasn't he warming him like usual…? He'd always done it before…

When his mother touched his cheek, Daken looked back at her and then at his father, remembered his question, so he repeated what he had said before, asked himself why it was such a huge effort to even say it. "Gomen nasai…otousan…" He was about to wonder why his father gave him a confused look when his mother was suddenly above him, smiling warmly at him, turned his attention back to the colors and light. He liked that more, it was nicer, warmer, made him forget about the cold, made him smile back at her and close his eyes when she kissed him gently.

"What are ya sorry for…?!" Logan asked confused and bent further over his son, waiting for his answer or a reaction, just to realize that there was none, that his son was staring ahead without any sign of life in his eyes. And he just felt as if he had died with him.

**This chapter was easier to write. I wrote the whole ending first and then began with the beginning. After a friend helped me out the chapter practically wrote itself. I know it's shorter than usual but I regard it as a "filler". The next chapter will be longer and up to now chapter 60 will be the last one of this sequel. And I can already say so much: It will literarily speaking go out with a bang. Just watch the 2012 trailer and you know what I'm talking about. Considering that I planned 30 chapters each for each sequel we came pretty far. ^^ Please let me know what you think and I'm sorry for the long wait but college kept me quiet busy and will still do so until the end of September. Please take your time and review! See ya!**


	60. Chapter 57

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

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**Sorry for the long wait but I was and still am incredibly busy with college. Internship is over and I've still got 3 academic papers to write… I haven't forgotten about the Weapon X finale either. I started typing that chapter in July but couldn't finish it, yet. Sorry for that, too.**

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**I refer to X-Men Origins Wolverine and the comic book Wolverine Origins here. Since I write movie verse, I'm trying to merge past chapters (so what I've written before the Wolverine movie) with the movie and Logan's life before the X-Men.**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 57**

While he was staring into fire, watched the flames dancing without really being aware of them, he was hugging his legs and rested his head on Narya's shoulder; didn't feel her embrace or that she kept on stroking through his black hair, he felt nothing, empty, alone, as horrible as he had felt when his mind had finally understood that his twin sister was dead, had died in his arms…

"Do you really not want to take this pill Hank left for you?" Heather asked him concerned, sat on the table opposite of her two team members and rested her hand on his arm, her fingers lightly stroking over it. But he shook his head. He was already numb, so why should he take a pill to numb himself even the more? What had she just asked anyway?!

"You should…," James said concerned and remained standing next to his wife. "You need to rest… Or better said you should rest…"

Once more he shook his head. Why should he rest? In a bed with _his_ scent on it, alone, hurting, miserable…? He wouldn't be able to sleep anyway. Rest…that's what _he_ was doing now. He wouldn't hear any of it.

Hearing how his breathing hitched for a moment, Narya pulled him closer and exchanged a look with Heather and James, her eyes teary. "You can also sleep in my old room…," she offered and kept on stroking through his hair. "John won't mind if I stayed with you for tonight. He'll understand…"

Whatever she had asked of him, he shook his head, didn't care, watched the flames dancing their mad dance in the stove. He wondered why he didn't feel the warmth of the fire. He usually did…

"Hank needs to give him something…," James said determined with a shake of his head, knowing what a shock looked like since he had seen it too often on missions before. "I'll go and tell him."

"Okay…," Heather nodded sadly and looked back at Northstar, who was just staring ahead, his clothes still stained with blood that wasn't his. She knew by just looking at him what kind of hard blow he must have taken and began to feel even more miserable than she already did. Seeing a close friend suffering so much wasn't something she wanted to see. Reaching out, she stroked over his cheek for a brief moment, then returned to resting her hand on his arm while he kept on staring into the fire. She began to wonder what he was thinking, if he was thinking at all… When James returned she looked up.

"He'll be here in a minute," he told them and sat down next to her on the table, his eyes focusing on his friend. "Paul, you might want to shower and change your clothes…," he suggested and raised his head when he heard someone approaching, realized it was Scott and noticed the look on the man's face. "And?"

Scott shrugged, a heavy sigh leaving his mouth and slumped down on the couch next to them. "Jean is still out cold and Logan doesn't want to talk to anyone…," he informed them and gave Jean-Paul a look. "What about him?"

"I told Hank to give him something so that he'll sleep," James told him and received a nod. It was then that Hank entered the room, a syringe in his hand and joined them.

"Did he say anything so far?" he demanded to know but nodded when they shook their heads. "Same with Logan…" Reaching out, he took Jean-Paul's arm and disinfected the crook of it. "I'm sorry, Paul, but you should really sleep…," he apologize and was about to inject the substance when Logan interrupted him.

"I need the jet!"

"What for?!" Scott asked confused and got up. It was then that Logan lowered his head and Scott assumed that he tried to regain his demeanor. He wondered what is friend needed the jet for… "Logan?"

"T'take him back home…," was all the feral said and swallowed once. "I'll bury him next t'his mother where he belongs…" The depressing silence in the room was no secret to him, it annoyed him, too. Pity was the last thing he wanted, so he cleared is throat and looked up, his eyes hard. "I'll take the jet then."

"You shouldn't go alone, Logan!" James warned him but received a no.

"My son, my business," was all the feral said before he turned. Still, he was interrupted once more.

"I wanna come with you…"

Logan stopped at the door and turned his head, his eyes falling on Jean-Paul, who had looked up and was staring right back at him. Considering his request, he nodded in the end and the speedster was at his side in less than a second. "But ya do as I say," he warned him and received another nod. Together they turned and headed for the corridor. "I need t'pack some things. Could ya take Jamie 'n bring him t'John? He's still in the shower downstairs."

"Sure," Northstar nodded and pulled the boy, who had sat on the ground up and headed to the elevator with him. Once downstairs, he aimed for the showers and narrowed his eyes when he nearly ran into Creed, who had just been about to towel himself off. He ignored the growl, glare and hatred in the feral's eyes, just wanted to walk past him, but of course Creed wouldn't give him the satisfaction…

"Think ya can crop a feel?" the feral snarled and growled when the speedster just walked past him.

"Is John still here?"

Victor crossed his arms over his massive chest and furrowed his brows. "No one's here for ya, fag."

"We're not a bit homophobe, huh?" Jean-Paul mocked and wanted to aim for the door again when Creed grabbed him by the collar. "I've got a kid here, damn it!"

"Think I care?" the feral snarled darkly and was about to push him when a hand grabbed his wrist hard. "After I'm done with ya…"

"Let him go!" John growled and tore Creed's hand off Northstar's shirt. He waited for the taller feral to go into the corner again, which he did after a warning glare. "What's the matter?"

"Logan asks if you could watch him?" Jean-Paul told him with a nod at Jamie.

Considering it, John shrugged in the end. "Give me ten to fifteen minutes, okay?"

"Sure. I'll wait outside." Doing so, he looked up when the elevator opened and Logan came out of it, a dufflebag in his hand. He told him what John had said and followed him to the ICU where Jean was. His heart nearly stopped as he looked at the second bed at the end of the room. He didn't hear how Logan told Jean that he had to leave for a moment and would be back as soon as he could.

"I've gotta talk t'Hank for a minute," Logan announced and left the room, leaving Jean-Paul with Jamie on his arm staring at Daken's body.

He went slowly closer, his heart beating strongly in his chest and swallowed hard. He didn't dare to look at the covers, which were still soaked with blood, or how grey the feral's skin looked compared to his usual tan. Still he looked like being just being asleep.

"Hiroki sleepin'?" Jamie suddenly asked aloud and Jean-Paul felt his heart clenching painfully. Still, he tried to smile and keep his composure.

"Yeah… He's sleeping," he nodded and had to swallow hard to keep himself from crying. "We won't wake him up, won't we?"

"No…," Jamie replied and shook his head. His green eyes fell on the feral in the bed once more and he pointed at him. "Nighty night?"

Sighing, Northstar shook his head. "You can't say nighty night to him, Jamie. He's already sleeping," he tried to explain but the boy began to whine and stretched into the direction of the bed. "Jamie! No!"

"Nighty night!" Jamie whined and tried to free himself.

Considering what to do, since he feared that the boy would use another psychic wave like he had in the garden, especially if he became too agitated, Jean-Paul pulled him closer and heaved a deep breath. "Fine," he said calmly and Jamie looked at him. "But careful, okay?"

"'kay," the boy nodded and reached out once more while the man bent down a bit.

In the meanwhile Logan was watching Hank and got more and more annoyed the more time passed. "Furball…, I wanna leave sometime today!"

"I know, Logan, but I don't know how you could possibly transport him," Hank tried to explain himself and sighed. His mind was working on a solution. "We don't have…." He looked up and looked quickly away when the feral narrowed his eyes. "…caskets…"

"A blanket or whatever will do, too…," Logan whispered and kept his eyes on the ground.

"Besides…," Hank began and cleared his throat. "I don't think you should go alone and…"

"Paul's comin' with me…"

"…and not in your condition in the end you…"

"I'm fine!"

"…just lost your son," Hank concluded and looked back up, noticing that Logan refused to look back at him. "You don't need to keep up your tough guy image, Logan, I can see that you're hurt!" He waited for a reply but knew he wouldn't get one. "I'd feel better if you took a team with you. Just in case…"

"No!" Logan growled and raised his head to glare at him. "My son, my business. Paul's comin' with me, period."

Sighing, Hank nodded. "Fine… Then take at least a comm device with you so that we know you're fine." He began to frown when he noticed the look on the feral's face. "What's the matter?!"

"What does that lamp over there mean?"

"Which lamp?" Hank looked aside and jumped out of his chair, which again alarmed Logan.

"What?!"

"It's the emergency button from the ICU!"

Squeezing past Hank, since they both wanted to leave through the same door at the same time, Logan, who was the faster sprinter, reached the ICU first. His eyes instantly fell on his wife but frowned when she looked as lifeless as before. When someone called his name his head jerked aside and his eyes grew wide.

"He won't listen to me!" Jean-Paul said, the fear and shock echoing in his voice.

"Oh my God…," Hank whispered and leapt forward to help the speedster to keep Daken down. "How is this possible?!"

"Jamie just touched him…"

"Jamie did this?!"

Nodding, Northstar gave the boy, who sat in a corner and watched them innocently, a look. Still his eyes fell back on the feral. "He's disoriented. He must think he's back with Romulus."

"Logan?" Hank called and awoke the feral from his shock. "Keep him down. I need to sedate him. The more he moves the worse his injury will get."

Only nodding, Logan went over and pushed his son as gently down as possible. His mind still tried to understand what had just happened. His son had been dead. His spine broken and therefore his healing factor hadn't been able to repair the damage anymore. So how on earth was this possible?!

"Whatever powers Jamie has, Logan, he's way too strong already… He just touched Hiro…," Jean-Paul said and leant down to say calming words in hope Daken would stop fighting against them. He looked up when Hank returned and made room for the furry mutant.

"I hope I won't kill him with this…," Hank mumbled and injected the liquid into Daken's system. When the feral slummed limply to the ground he immediately searched for a pulse and counted the beats in his head. "Okay, he's weak but fine. Paul, could you change the covers, please?"

"Sure…," the speedster mumbled, his mind still trying to process what had happened just now.

"And Logan, you need to help me with him. I need to clean his wounds and treat them," Hank ordered and helped Logan to pull Daken carefully up. "We need to be careful with his spine. It was broken in at least three places." He looked briefly aside when John left the shower and gave them a confused look. "Don't ask!"

"Alright…," John mumbled and looked at Logan instead.

"Jamie's in the ICU," was all his brother had to say before he disappeared in the lab with Hank. In it, he helped Hank to put Daken carefully on his belly and went for the phone to call upstairs and tell someone to send Moira downstairs.

"This is one giant mess…," Hank cursed and shook his head. "Pull on a pair of gloves and help me clean those wounds. We can't risk it that he gets an infection."

"Can ya fix it?" Logan asked after a moment since even he could tell that Daken's spine was one big mess. "I remember ya said our healin' factor's in our spine… What if ya can't fix it?" he asked and didn't like the look he was given at all.

"If he survives…, he probably won't be able to walk…"

"Worst case scenario?"

Hank shook his head and checked on the breathing tube he had attached. "No."

"Then tell me the worst case scenario," Logan demanded and stepped aside when Moira entered, ignored the shocked gasp of her and waited for the news instead.

"Depending on how severe his spine was damaged in specific areas he might need machines to live. The worst case scenario is that he might be unable to eat, drink, breathe, maybe talk, let alone move any limbs. He will need machines to do most things for him and help for 24/7," Hank explained and waited for Logan's reaction, which was grim and thoughtful up to now. He was well aware that the feral had understood what this would mean.

"If that's the case…," Logan began, his voice calm, "then you'll let him die."

"Logan…," Moira began but he told her with one look only to shut up.

"No! I'm his father 'n I know that he wouldn't want t'live like this. Neither do I want him t'suffer like this!" he said, his face grim. "If that's the case you'll let him die or I'll make ya do it!" With that he left the room wordlessly.

"He didn't seriously mean this, right?" the brunette asked her husband and looked at him for confirmation. "I mean the part with forcing us to do it…"

"You can bet on him being very serious about it, dear," Hank replied and pulled the lamp on the ceiling further down. "I don't even know where to start here… This Romulus guy knew what he was doing…"

Nodding, Moira bent further down to have a better look at the mess in front of her. "He definitely needs at least two or three transfusions. Do we still have enough blood stored?"

"I hope so. If not Logan will give us as much as we need." While she went to check on the storage room, he began to examine the mess further and used medical equipment to stretch the large wound on the back in order to have better access. When he could see the spine better, he began to frown deeply and still did so when his wife returned.

"What's the matter?" she asked concerned and began to prepare the transfusion.

"His bones…," Hank mumbled and didn't know what to say. "I have never seen something like this before…"

"Adamantium laced, aren't they? We have seen Logan's bones before so what's so confusing about them?"

"No, that's not it, Moira," he said and looked up when she came closer again. "His bones are black. But it doesn't look like they were laced with some metal… The color seems to be natural…"

"No one has black bones, Hank," Moira disagreed. "Who knows what Romulus or Sinister did to him."

"They coated his claws, ribs and skull as far as we know," he said and used a scalpel to get an example, which he wanted to examine later. "We can assume they couldn't finish the bonding because they lacked the resources. Or they didn't finish on purpose to make him suffer and planned to proceed sometime later… But his spine looks too natural to me. I just don't understand why his bones are black…" After he had put the glass with the example on his desk he went back to finding a starting point. "What do you suggest?"

Moira shook his head and examined the spine further. "We don't have the necessary equipment… We could try and use nails but his spine looks too fractured for this method…"

"My thoughts exactly," Hank agreed. "We could try to solve this puzzle and restrain him. Maybe use some spinal cord donation to push his healing factor. If he lies still, his spine should mend by itself."

"You don't really believe that Daken will lie still, Hank," his wife said and gave him a look that spoke volumes.

"No, I don't…"

"Besides he needs to be moved. It's too risky that he will suffer from an embolism."

"True," he nodded. "The only thing we can do then is using one of the medical corsets that will prevent him from moving around too much. Anything else won't work," he suggested and she nodded. "But first…," Hank sighed and shook his head, "we have to try and find out how to repair his spine… Judging from the way his skin looks his healing factor is obviously kicking in again, which means the only thing we need to do is putting his bones back together so that the nerves can heal properly."

"How long do you think will it take him to heal?" Moira asked after getting the equipment they would need.

"Probably a week. Maybe more. It depends how long it will take his healing factor to kick in properly." Hank gave the monitors a look. "Judging from his body temperature his healing should fully kick in soon."

* * *

"I'd say we can assume that whatever Romulus had wanted…," Charles began and leant back with a heavy sigh. "Well I don't know. But obviously he couldn't find it or his aim was something else."

"But what?" Scott asked while he stood at the window, his arms crossed and looked into the darkness of the garden. "I assumed he came for the Cerebra files."

"Which he probably has," Ororo shrugged. "He probably couldn't access them."

"Or he came for Akihiro and Creed," Hank suggested.

"Maybe he just came to piss us off," John mumbled and kept on staring at the table in front of him. "Whatever conclusion we come up with, we're probably wrong."

"I'm afraid you are right, John…," the Professor nodded, still being deeply in thoughts. "My concern is something else at the moment…"

"Jamie?" Scott asked without looking aside and knew Charles was nodding. "What are you going to do about him? In the end he took out Dark Phoenix with one blow.

"And Tony's suit, the school bus, every electrical device in the area of a couple of miles and he brought Akihiro back from the dead by just touching him," Hank added, his face grim. "I know Logan will kill you if you dared to put some shields or blocks into the boy's mind, but it can't go on like this either, Charles. He's way too powerful!"

"I am aware of that Hank…," the bald man nodded absentmindedly. "But I don't intend to do anything about it. On the one hand I promised Jean and Logan not to interfere, on the other hand Jamie isn't a threat. He just felt threatened and wanted to protect himself… Still I'll keep a close eye on him from now on." He paused briefly and looked into the round before his eyes came to rest on Hank. "How are our patients doing?"

Hank shrugged and heaved a deep breath. "I can't tell why Jean doesn't wake up. Physically she is completely healthy, her neural functions are fine, too. From a medical point of view there is no reason at all for her to remain unconscious for so long," he explained and let the news sink in. "Akihiro on the other hand is still healing and… Well considering how long he has been without oxygen…" He shrugged. "We can't tell, yet, _how _he's going to wake up. At least he's breathing on his own again."

"I see…," Charles nodded. "I assume Logan and Jean-Paul are both downstairs?"

"Actually Moira and I forced Paul to go upstairs and sleep," Hank said and couldn't help but smirk. "But of course we all know Logan and that brick wall of a head of his…"

"Of course we do," Ororo nodded.

* * *

While Logan sat next to Jean's bed and held her hand, he kept on watching the screen that monitored the redhead's heart and brain functions. Tiredly, he gave his wrist watch a brief look and sighed. Once more it was way past 3 a.m. and nothing had changed at all. His wife was still unconscious, his son wasn't any better either and the exhaustion became too noticeable by now, since he was taking care of his children at day and sat in between next to his wife and son, waiting for them to wake up. Of course, as stubborn as he was, he ignored Hank and Moira who kept on telling him to go upstairs and sleep and remained seated next to Jean. But if he was honest to himself he was tired as hell. So he didn't think twice and lay down next to the redhead, pulled her close after pressing a gentle kiss to her lips. "A penny for yer thoughts, Jeannie…," he mumbled into the crook of her neck and nuzzled her before he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

"I would still like to know what this is…," Jean said and looked around the white room in which she stood.

"You wanted for things to be as they should have been…," a voice that sounded too familiar told her and the redhead sighed.

"You still didn't tell me who you are!"

"I told you that there's no need to tell you. You already know," the voice replied, sounding bored. "So… Are you sure you want life as it should have been?"

Jean huffed and crossed her arms, her eyes seeing white only. "I only said I wanted my son back!"

The voice chuckled. "Yes, which means life as it should have been. But are you ready to see life for what it should have been?" the voice asked her and didn't bother to wait for an answer. "Well, then let's get started, shall we?"

Jean began to frown as she suddenly stood in the middle of a room she somehow knew but couldn't tell why. In front of her was a long corridor, dimly lit, a dark red carpet leading down the hallway. Frowning, she looked around, taking the mansion in as it suddenly dawned upon her. "This is…," she began as a door opened behind her. Turning around, she saw an older man leaving the room, followed by a younger one who she had seen before and a woman she wished she didn't know. "What is going on here?!" Jean mumbled and walked over to them, curiously to know what they were talking about. She automatically glared at Elizabeth Howlett, hated the woman with a passion, while Jean began to wonder why John Howlett II. looked completely crushed. She assumed that the older man was John Howlett I., Logan's grandfather, remembered how much the feral hated the man and noticed that he looked rather angry compared to his son. When she had reached the group and began to listen in, her eyes grew wide in shock. "This can't be…," was all Jean could say and made a shocked step back, her hand covering her mouth.

"You wanted life as it should have been," the voice reminded her and chuckled. "You got it."

"No!" the redhead protested angrily. "This isn't right!" To prove the voice wrong she entered the room the Howletts had left and froze on the spot as she reached the bed, a shocked outcry leaving her throat. "No!"

"I told you so…," the voice said, sounding bored. "Life as it should have been means no mutants. And he was a very sickly child. What else did you expect?"

"Not this…," Jean said through gritted teeth, tears streaming down her cheeks, while she looked at the dead child in the large bed. She couldn't suppress the trembling of her hand when she reached out to stroke over the child's pale and cold cheek. "Logan…," she whispered and bit her lip hard as the scenery changed all of a sudden and she was now standing on a dark street, snow covered the ground and was still falling from the sky. She could tell just by looking at people walking past her how cold it was. Again, she was confused and looked around, tried to figure out what she was supposed to see here. But then her green eyes fell on an alley and something told her that this was the right way. So Jean walked over, looked at people a tad closer and tried to guess which year it was but couldn't figure it out. After reaching the alley, her eyes grew sad when she saw the bundle that was two young boys who had cuddled up to each other to escape the cold. In the end it had been in vain and they had frozen to death, still holding on to each other. It wasn't before she turned back around that she took a closer look and all breath caught in her throat. She had seen the taller and older boy before and when the memory hit her, she stumbled backwards in shock, heard the voice chuckling once more. "How cruel are you?" Jean hissed and her eyes began to glow for a moment. "Why are you showing me this?!"

"You wanted life to be this way. You said so!" the voice reminded her and the redhead leant down to pull the young and frozen Victor aside a bit, had trouble to do so since the boy had his arms wrapped around his younger brother. "What else did you expect? Two little boys, living on the streets, no one to take care of them…?"

"I want out of here!" Jean demanded, her voice thick with tears as she couldn't pull her eyes away from the two frozen bodies in front of her. Before she could say something else she was suddenly standing on a battlefield. Confused, Jean looked around, watched how one soldier after the next fell dead to the ground, while others shouted commands or used their rifles. The sky was dark with smoke, old planes flying above her head and dropping bombs everywhere, making soldiers scream when they were either hit or barely managed to jump away. The redhead's green eyes kept on searching for what she was supposed to see here but couldn't make anything out.

"This here and the accident afterwards," the voice suddenly said and Jean startled a bit, "has really happened by the way. But thanks to your wish, the outcome is entirely different."

"What am I supposed to see here?"

"Just look to your right," the voice chided here and Jean did as she was told, just to see how a younger looking Logan, dressed in full combat gear and with a rifle in his hand ran past her, shouting for another soldier to take cover as he himself was hit and landed like a lifeless doll hard on his back. Unable to scream in shock, Jean startled as a young Victor Creed crouched down next to the man and began shaking him panicky.

"Jimmy!" Victor shouted and stared at the small hole in Logan's forehead, a small trace of blood leaving the wound, while the man stared at the sky through dead eyes. "JIMMY!" he barked once more, sounded almost begging the man in his arms to wake up again.

Helplessly, Jean watched how another shot echoed through the air and Victor's back of the head seemed to explode, before he, too, collapsed on his brother's body and didn't move anymore. She had hardly realized for real what had happened, when the scene changed again and she was now in the middle of a dark corridor, a room with a large, burning oven up ahead. Men in uniforms were walking up and down the corridor, whereas they were talking in German. Jean guessed that this was one of the many camps during World War II and wondered why she was here. Nevertheless, she remembered that the voice had told her this here had happened, too. Only the outcome was different. Behind her someone suddenly started yelling in an angry voice and her eyes grew wide as she watched how five Nazi soldiers tried to drag another man, who's head was covered by a bag down the corridor towards the oven. Before she could even realize what was about to happen, she found herself standing right opposite of Logan and Creed, both dressed in army gear and also both tied to two poles, facing someone behind her. When Jean turned around after Victor had told Logan to wake him when it was over, she tried to cover herself as bullets suddenly flew past her, the howls behind her making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She watched in horror how both ferals slumped dead to the ground and thought her heart would either stop beating or break in her chest. She couldn't pull her eyes away from them or the pool of blood that began to build on the ground. Seeing it, she had enough. "I want out of here…," Jean mumbled and stepped back, her eyes still on Logan. When the voice chuckled once more, she felt anger rising within her. "What's so funny about this?! Who the hell are you anyway?"

"You still haven't figured out, huh?" the voice mocked her and giggled again. "Well, you should know by now."

"If I did, I wouldn't be asking," Jean snapped and frowned when she was suddenly standing in the mansion's garden on a sunny day, even more so when she heard her children laughing at the pool. "What the…?!" she began as a dark haired boy suddenly ran up to her, holding a ball up for her to see.

"Mommy, wanna play?"

Looking at him more closely, she could only come up with one conclusion. "Jamie…?"

"With things as they should have been," she heard the voice saying, "Jamie doesn't exist. I hate to repeat myself, but that's how you wanted it…"

The redhead furrowed her brows. "Then who…," she began as she became dizzy and heard her heartbeat in her ears, pounding strongly and fast. Completely shocked and speechless, she stared at the boy in front of her, whose nearly black hair was sticking up and who stared back at her with light hazel eyes.

"Mommy?" he asked, his face looking confused as he looked back at her and wondered why she gave him the look she did. "Why are you crying, mommy?!" he said and was even more surprised when his mother pulled him into a firm hug and sobbed into his neck. "Why are you sad?!"

"I'm not…," Jean sniffed and leant into him, refusing to let go. "I'm just happy…" Cupping his face, she stroked over his cheeks and tried to memorize his face as good as she could, took in his messy, dark hair, the big hazel eyes and wished this wasn't just a dream or whatever it was. But she knew this moment wouldn't last, that it would be over in mere seconds from now. And she refused to let go, was unwilling to lose him again. Still sniffing, she leant in to press a gentle kiss to the boy's forehead, before she pulled him close again and closed her eyes. When she felt him slipping away she felt a part of her dying once more. "I love you,…Jake," Jean mumbled and stared at her now empty hands, wondered what she had done to deserve a personal hell like this. "Why are you doing this to me…?!" she demanded to know in a whisper and wiped her tears away. She heard the voice sighing heavily.

"You still don't get it, do you?" the voice asked and Jean looked up just to look at a city that must have faced the apocalypse.

The sky was dark, looked like being on fire, the city was a ruin and she was surrounded by dirt and destruction. "What is this…?" she asked and listened to the explanation she was given, her eyes growing wide as she watched how mutants were used to clean up the mess that was left of the city and treated as slaves.

"You want your lost son back?" the voice asked her coolly and Jean couldn't tear her eyes away of what she saw, how mutants were treated. "Then your kind will face extinction very soon."

"I don't understand…," the redhead said and shook her head.

"You've seen it and still don't understand?" the voice mocked her.

"Seen what?!" Jean asked and looked up in hope that she'd see the source of that voice somewhere. "Understand what?!" she added impatiently and her eyes widened in shock as a scene she had witnessed before began to repeat itself in front of her. As a phoenix, one much brighter and stronger than her own, spread its wings in front of her, she noticed its core for the first time and was surprised to find a handsome face with dark hair and angry, green eyes staring back at her. "That's…"

"Jamie, yes. Or Genesis as his codename later is," the voice said and Jean watched how the phoenix attacked hers and destroyed it easily, nearly as if it wasn't there at all. If she was a level 5, what… "Oh, he's a whole new level," the voice told her and finished her thoughts. "Time, space… It's meaningless to him. You can do whatever you can imagine. He can do whatever he wants."

Letting the news sink in, the redhead swallowed hard and stared at the man in front of her agape. If her negative was a walking and breathing death, then what was her son?

"Mutantkind's only hope," the voice said and Jean was suddenly back in the white room, even more confused than she'd been before.

"How come you know all of this?" she asked and looked around, but couldn't see anything besides white nothingness. "Who _are_ you?!"

"I'm surprised you still haven't figured it out…"

"Apocalypse?!" the redhead gasped and made a step back when the voice chuckled amused.

"Oh, please… If you actually listened to what I keep on telling you…," the voice said and Jean turned when the source of it was clearly behind her, just to stare at herself in a white leather uniform with a golden phoenix on it. Gasping, she opened her eyes and sat up, her heart racing in her chest whereas her eyes had trouble to get used to the dark room. Confused, she turned her head and looked at the softly beeping monitor next to the bed, realized that she was in the infirmary at the mansion and guessed that it was Logan's arm hugging her waist. With a trembling hand, she brushed her damp hair back and wiped the tears and sweat from her face. Not only was her heart racing in her chest, her mind was too occupied, too. The images and things she had seen kept on reappearing and made it impossible for her to clear her mind. When Logan sighed next to her and shifted in his sleep, she looked aside and decided to settle back down; the images of him as a child and during those wars instantly reappearing in front of her inner eye. She thought she could feel his pain and hear the cries and howls again, when she remembered what she had actually done to him during their battle. Feeling incredibly guilty, she turned around in bed and stared into the darkness, thought about what she had possibly done and how much pain she must have caused him by sending him through the air like a lifeless doll. She remembered the blood on his face, body and clothes and knew she must have hurt him quiet a lot, knew that there was no way she could apologize for doing it as he shifted again and cuddled up to her from behind. Almost instantly Jean picked up on his so familiar scent, which always soothed her mind, and, exhausted as she still was, made her feel sleepy. Nevertheless, she couldn't help but think how hard it would be to even look him in the eye on the next morning.

A couple of hours later Logan opened his eyes and felt a bit more relaxed that he had before. A look aside made him sigh in disappointment. The redhead next to him had her eyes still closed and didn't give the impression that she would wake up soon. Reaching out, Logan caressed her face and pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek. His eyes then fell on the bed on the other side of the room and two tired eyes looked back at him. "Any changes?" he asked, his voice still thick with sleep and ran a hand over his face.

"No…," Jean-Paul replied and shifted in his chair. "Hank was here a few minutes ago. He wanted me to tell you not to complain about back pain."

Logan cocked an eyebrow at him. "Why?"

"Well, let's say I wonder, too, how anyone could sleep in the position you did," the other man shrugged and watched how the feral got slowly up, winced when Logan cracked his neck and stretched, the stretching making his spine pop back into place, too, with several, loud cracking sounds. "Jeez, Logan…"

"What?" the addressed asked but Jean-Paul waved off. "I'll go 'n take a shower. What about ya?"

"Already have," the speedster yawned tiredly and put his arms on the bed to rest his head on it. He kept his eyes closed for a while but decided to go and get some breakfast for the two of them in the end.

While he was greeted by the rest of the X-Men upstairs, Logan went back to the infirmary and thought he was still dreaming. "Jeannie…," he said and stared at the redhead who stood next to the bed of his son and gave him a weary look after she had turned around. He noticed that she avoided his eyes but didn't care about it. Instead, he went quickly over to her and pulled her into a firm and relieved hug. "Jeez, darlin'… Ya scared the shit outta me," he mumbled into the crook of her neck and stroked over her head lovingly. "Are ya alright?!" he asked worriedly and cupped her face, trying to meet her eyes. He began to frown when she still refused to look at him directly. "Jean?!"

"Am I…responsible for this?" she mumbled with a barely noticeable nod at Daken.

"No. Romulus did it," Logan replied and tried to figure out what he could possibly say to make her feel less guilty. "Jeannie… No one's mad at ya. Ya didn't hurt anyone…"

She huffed and turned around so that her back was to him. "I hurt you and wanted to kill my own son… I'm a monster."

"Hell no, darlin'!" the feral protested and forced her to look at him, noticed the pain and self loathing in her eyes. "Romulus wanted ya t'lose control. I'm neither mad at ya, nor do I blame ya for anythin'. 'n besides…Jamie is one happy camper 'n has asked for ya just yesterday."

Still hating herself for what had happened and her actions, she looked away again. "Still I wanted to kill him…"

"No," Logan said and shook his head. "Not ya. She did. 'n ya know that she ain't ya as much as he ain't me. Ya would rather sacrifice yerself than hurtin' our kids, darlin'." Pausing for a moment, he just looked at her and felt incredibly happy to have her back. "'n now stop pullin' that face 'n come here," he demanded and opened his arms for her. "Coz I missed ya, darlin'." Having said this, he pulled her close and held her against his chest, closed his eyes and inhaled her scent while she still oozed self loathing, but leant back against him. "It wasn't yer fault so stop blamin' yerself…," he mumbled and pulled her over to the bed where he sat down with her on his lap. "No one blames ya. Ya had us all worried like hell…" Leaning into her, he held her close and stroked over her back. "Yer ain't in pain or somethin', right?" he asked after a moment and looked at her from aside.

"No…," Jean mumbled and looked back at Daken. "What happened to him?"

Logan sighed. "Romulus broke his spine. In fact, he killed him 'n Jamie…"

"He killed Jamie?!" the redhead asked shocked and stared at him through widened eyes.

"No, no!" he quickly said and shook his head. "Jamie… Paul said Jamie touched him 'n then… Well, Akihiro just…woke up. I dunno…" He shrugged. "Hank 'n Moira did somethin' t'support his spine 'n gave him blood transfusions. He just needs t'wake up again…," he told her, sounding rather depressed as she noticed. Logan cocked an eyebrow at the redhead when she got up to stand next to Daken's bed again. He wondered though how her attitude towards his son could change that quickly. In the end, she had wanted to…

"He didn't do it," Jean said after picking up on Logan's thoughts and took the chart into her hands to read it. "It was just as you said…"

The feral began to frown and gave her a puzzled look. He knew she was talking about their lost son, but didn't quiet understand what she was hinting at. "What do ya mean, darlin'?"

"You told me back then that it wasn't meant to be," Jean replied and concentrated on Daken's spine. "You were right…"

He was surprised. "Just like that…?"

"Yes. Just like that," she mumbled and turned back around. "I mended his bones. That's all I can do."

Nodding, Logan still gave her a skeptical look. To him she didn't act normal and he knew she was hiding something. "Jean…," he began and cocked an eyebrow at her. "Is there somethin' I should know?"

She sighed and hugged herself, considered what to tell him. "A lot actually…"

"A lot? A lot like what exactly?" he asked and hopped off the bed to walk over to her, stopped in front of her and touched her chin to make her look up at him.

Jean looked back at him, noticed the confusion and worry for her in his eyes. Still, she didn't know what to tell him. She was still too confused of what she had seen herself. "I don't know what to say, Logan…," she therefore said and broke eye contact.

"How about what ya hidin' from me?" he suggested and crossed his arms. "The Jean I know doesn't accept her son's death just like that, darlin'. Just for yer reminder but I can't count on two hands anymore how often we've fought about him. 'n ya wanted t'kill Akihiro coz ya thought it was his fault 'n all of a sudden ya accept it?!" He shook his head. "Not ya. Not the way I know ya, darlin'."

Jean sighed and ran both hands over her face. She felt tired, didn't want to think anymore or to talk. She just wanted to sleep. "Can we talk about it later, Logan? I'm tired…," she begged and gave him a pleading look while he was still suspicious. "Please… I'll tell you everything you want to know. Just let me sleep…"

"Fine…," he shrugged and made room for her to walk past him.

Of course she noticed that he had become distant to her, knew how much he disliked it if she kept something from him. Not knowing what else she could do, Jean touched his cheek and pressed a light kiss to his lips. "I promise I'll tell you," she assured him but his expression didn't change. "You coming, too?" she asked after he had reached the door but he shook his head. "Okay… Which day is today by the way?"

"Wednesday," Logan grunted. "October 18th…" He noticed her shocked look. "Yeah, just my thoughts… Go 'n lie down. Kids have school 'n Jamie's with Raven."

After the doors had closed behind him he gave them an odd look, wondered what she wanted to tell him later that had made her change so much. In the end, he went back over to his son and reached out to touch his cheek. He noticed instantly that the younger feral was burning up and blamed it on whatever Jean had been doing to him. "About time…," Logan muttered to himself and slumped down in the stool next to the bed to read through the magazine Northstar had left on the nightstand.

* * *

"That's all?" Logan asked after Jean had finished and gave her a look from aside. She nodded and had her eyes still fixed on the bed sheets, her hand playing with the white linen. He let what she had told him sink in, thought about what it might meant and how she must have felt after seeing the war scenes he had lived through. But right now only one thing mattered to him more. "Lemme see him…"

Jean's head shot up but he refused to look at her. She hesitated a moment but reached out in the end to touch his head and send the images over. Attentively, she watched the look on his face, regretted that she couldn't see his eyes since he kept them close, but noticed the small, sad mile on his lips. When the memory was over she withdrew her hand and waited for him to say something.

"Looks like Jack," he said after clearing his throat. "But with Jamie's hair."

"Yeah…," she nodded and her eyes returned to the sheets once more. When he reached out to cover her hand with his she entwined them. "There was no Rose, Logan…," Jean suddenly said and it earned her another cocked eyebrow. "Victor raised you…"

"That can't be, Jeannie!" he replied and shook his head. "She was my playmate when I was a kid. She always hang out with Victor 'n me."

"That might be true, Logan, but you never escaped with her. Victor ran away with you and took care of you ever since," Jean told him and knew he refused to believe it somehow. "That actually explains why he always reacts so jealous and overprotective when it comes to you…"

He shook his head. "I remember livin' with her in that minin' colony. I remember Smitty takin' care of me, Jean."

She sighed and sat up a bit to pull her legs close and rest her arms on them. "Maybe you were there. But with Victor and not with Rose…"

"It can't be true, Jean!" Logan insisted and got up to look out of the window. He knew he had no right snapping at her but he refused to believe that his memories were not real. To him they were real. He remembered how she had helped him escape and had cared for him, how they had lived together in one of the cabins in the colony, how he had impaled her on his claws after someone had accidentally pushed her on the. She had been his first love for Christ sake, so how couldn't it be true?! While he rubbed his face for a moment a thought crossed his mind. "Be right back," he grunted and headed for the door.

"Where are you going?" Jean asked softly but he was already gone. Sighing, the redhead ran a hand through her long her and looked at the empty side next to her, contemplated if it was the right thing to do. She knew how precious his memories were for him and how hard he always took it if some were not real.

"Mommy?"

Startled, she looked up. She hadn't noticed her daughter at all. "What's the matter, sweety?"

"I can't sleep," Rachel pouted and climbed onto the bed to cuddle up to her mother. "Where's daddy?"

"He forgot to do something. He'll be right back," Jean soothed her and began stroking through her daughter's red hair. "Why do you have trouble sleeping?"

"I don't know…," the little redhead mumbled into her mother's arm and snuggled further up. "Can you tell a story, mommy?"

"A story?"

Rachel nodded. "How did you meet daddy?"

Jean blushed a bit and pondered on how she could tell her daughter about it. In the end it hadn't been the typical lovey-dovey meeting children often used to picture… "Well…"

"Was is romantic?!" Rachel asked excitedly and turned in her mother's embrace, looked at her with big green eyes.

"Well, I wouldn't call it romantic but…," Jean began and definitely didn't intend to say 'Daddy was unconscious when Uncle Scott brought him here and nearly broke my neck after waking up'. "Hm… Well, you know that daddy is Canadian, right?"

"Mhm," Rachel nodded and held her plush wolf close.

"So grandpa picked up on daddy and Aunt Marie and sent Uncle Scott and Aunt 'roro to find them."

"Why was Aunt Marie with him, mommy?" Rachel asked, her brows furrowed.

"She ran away from home and met daddy on her way. So he decided to drive her to the next city. Anyway, they got in trouble and Aunt 'roro and Uncle Scott helped them, but daddy was unconscious and I had to treat him," Jen went on when Rachel suddenly clapped her hands.

"And then he woke up and it was love at first sight!"

"Something like that…," her mother nodded.

"And then you got together and had Jack and Lily, right?" the girl asked, still completely excited and not tired at all.

Jean smiled and kept on stroking through her daughter's hair. "Actually, we didn't get together before 4 years later…" She noticed the look her daughter gave her.

"Why?!" Rachel demanded to know, since she had always pictured her parents to have fallen for each other instantly. So that it had actually taken four years for them to hook up was a rather big shock for her.

"It's complicated, baby," Jean said and remembered how much of an emotional chaos meeting Logan had been for her. All the secret thoughts and dreams, the fear that she was broadcasting and Scott would pick up on her desires… "Back then I was with someone else. I liked daddy a lot from the very first moment we met, but I couldn't just leave my boyfriend at that time, you know? So some things happened and in the end I ended up with daddy," she told her daughter, who still looked at her with big eyes.

"And then you had Jack and Lily?" Rachel asked.

"Nearly two years later, yes."

"And then you had me, right?"

"Over a year after Jack and Lily were born," she told her daughter, who seemed to think about something. "Something on your mind?"

"But how come daddy has an older son then, mommy, when he loves you?" Rachel blurted out and Jean sighed.

"Well daddy is actually much older than he looks, baby."

"How much older than you is daddy?"

"77 years older than me actually," Jean said and Rachel made an impressed sound. "So he met Akihiro's mommy around the time I was born."

"But then Akihiro's as old as you…"

Jean realized that she had never thought about it like that and realized that her daughter was actually right. Daken was just a year or a few months older than her. "That's weird…"

"What, mommy?" Rachel asked but the older redhead waved off.

"Nothing, sweety." In fact it was very weird to even think about it. What else besides 'weird' should she think if her husband's oldest son was as old as she was. She almost felt like one of those celebrity women who had a much older partner. She turned her head to look at her watch and realized that Logan was gone for quiet a while by now. She only hoped he wouldn't get into trouble again…

After he had left his rooms, Logan had headed right to the second floor and towards a room at the far, far end of the corridor. Practically, the most remote location for a room he had ever seen. He didn't bother to knock gently at the door and it also didn't take long for it to open.

"What?!" Victor growled and glared at down at him.

"Got a question," Logan grunted and walked past him into the room where he crossed his arms. "Do ya remember a Rose?"

"Sure do," Creed grinned darkly and licked his lips while closing the door. "Pretty gal."

"So she existed?" Logan asked and received a cocked eyebrow from his half brother, who slumped back down on the messy bed, only wearing black briefs.

"Did ya hit yer head or somethin'?!" Victor asked. "Ya were followin' her around like a dog." He watched Logan for a moment and picked up on the man's confusion. "What's the matter, Jimmy?"

Logan looked up, his brows furrowed. "At that night…," he began and Victor knew which night he was talking about. "What happened t'her?"

"Are ya nuts or something'?!"

"What happened t'her, Victor?!" the feral said louder and with more force in his voice. "I remember her runnin' away with me 'n that we lived together in a cabin in a minin' colony. 'n now Jeannie tells me that ya have been takin' care of me." When Victor began to chuckle in amusement, Logan shot him a deadly glare. "What?!"

"Nothin'," Creed waved off, still smiling. "They really fucked up yer head pretty good, huh?" Still amused, he got up and looked at his brother for a moment, slowly approached him like a predator and picked up on the change in Logan. He knew the other feral was alarmed and ready to fight back if necessary. "Missin' the lil' gal, huh?" Victor teased him and chuckled low.

"Just answer my question, Victor," Logan grunted and kept an attentive eye on his opposite. He knew the feral was up to something but couldn't quiet tell what.

"Hm,…maybe our father killed her, maybe I did, maybe ya did 'n ya can't remember," Creed purred and approached him further, grinned when Logan made a step back. "Why do ya wanna know anyway?"

"Coz I don't remember ya takin' care of me," Logan growled and his bare back hit the wall behind him. Before he could move aside, Victor had his arms placed on both sides of Logan's head and still gave him the playful, smug grin. "Cut it out!"

"Ya don't remember me takin' care of ya, hm?" the older feral grunted and chuckled when the younger one began to growl warningly. "What's the matter, Jimmy? Back then ya were perfectly fine with us cuddlin' or bein' close."

"Cut...it....out, Victor!" Logan growled warningly and slapped Creed's hands forcefully away.

His opposite chuckled amused and stepped back a bit. "I dunno what happened t'the gal. She stayed behind, I guessed." He crossed his arms again and watched Logan. "'n we spent nearly 80 years together. How can ya not remember this?!"

"Coz I don't…," Logan grunted and headed back for the door. "Night."

"Yeah, whatever," Creed waved off and slumped down on the bed again, watching how Logan left the room again without another look or word.

When the feral had returned to his rooms, he was surprised to find Jean asleep next to Rachel in the middle of the bed and shook his head, smiling. He tucked them both back in and placed a soft kiss on their temples, before he slipped into bed and switched off the lights. Still he couldn't rest immediately. Again, his mind was too occupied for him to find rest and Victor's words kept on coming back to him. He couldn't picture that man, who didn't gave a damn about anything or anyone, to have cared for him or raised him or that he had stick to him for 80 years. Still, he knew that Creed hasn't been lying about it. Sighing, Logan was about to turn around when he heard someone knocking on the door. Grumbling, he got up against and went to open the door, was surprised to find Moira in front of it, even more so that she stared at him completely flustered and that her face was noticeably flushed. "What?"

"Oh, ehm…" She cleared her throat, still ogling his chest and abs, then let her eyes wander lower for a brief moment. "I just wanted to tell you that your son has woken up."

"He did?! How is he?"

"Sleeping again," she told him and heard him sighing. "He woke up for a brief moment, drank something and went back to sleep. But Hank wanted me to tell you that he doesn't give any signs of mental damage."

"Good," Logan nodded and crossed his arms. He waited for her to say anything else and smirked when she was ogling him once more. "That's all?"

"Hm?" she made and looked up. "Oh, ehm, yes. That's all. Go back to sleep, Logan. Good night!"

"Night!" he chuckled and closed the door, then went back to bed, where Rachel was occupying his side by now. He lifted her carefully up and carried her over into her room, where he put her to bed and tucked her in. "Sleep well, baby," Logan whispered and kissed her cheek, before he went back to his bedroom and cuddled up to Jean. While he looked at the redhead from aside he once more realized how much he had missed her in the past days. "Lova ya…," he whispered into her ear and nuzzled before he cuddled up to her.

* * *

"I brought you some water and chicken soup," Northstar announced after entering the infirmary and wasn't surprised to find Daken glaring at him. In the past days since the feral had woken up, he hardly said a word and if, then it were mostly insults. So that he didn't say something now was actually a good sign to him. He put the tray on the bedside table and looked at the man in the bed. "How're you feeling?"

Daken huffed and his glare hardened. "I can't feel my legs. How do you think I'm feeling?" he snarled and narrowed his eyes.

"Hank told you to be patient," Jean-Paul told him and handed him the cup with chicken soup. "You were dead, your spine was fractured… You can be happy to be still breathing and besides, just two days ago you didn't feel anything from above your navel downwards. If it's your legs only now, it's obviously getting better." He ignored the glare he was given and waited for the feral to empty the cup. "Good boy."

"Shut up…," Daken growled and sunk back against the covers. He hated lying around, hated that he had to depend on others, hated that he couldn't do anything about it… "How much longer do you want to babysit me?" he asked warily.

"Until you feel better, moron," Northstar replied and looked up when Hank entered. "Hey."

"How's our patient doing?" the furry mutant asked and grabbed the chart before he began to check on the monitors and wrote down what they told him. "Any changes?" he asked and looked at Daken, who remained silent. Hank's eyes switched to Jean-Paul and he noted down what the man told him. Afterwards he checked on Daken's temperature. "Still too high…," he said more to himself and pulled the sheets aside to make his usual check up. He startled when the feral's hand suddenly shot forward and grabbed his wrist hard.

"Don't you dare and touch me!" Daken warned him in a low growl and pushed Hank's hand away.

"I know you hate being touched by others, Akihiro, but I can not do my job if you keep me from doing it!" Hank complained and glared back.

"Keep your hands of me or I'll cut them off!"

"Jeez, he just wants to check up on you, Hiro!" Northstar sighed. "Stop bitching around and let him do his job. You're worse than a five year old…"

"Sue me!" Daken snapped and his glare hardened when he saw his father entering next.

"Any changes?" Logan asked and Hank dropped the chart on a nearby table. "What?"

"I don't know since your son doesn't want me to touch him."

The feral sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Anyway, Chuck wants t'see ya. He's in the War Room with the others."

"Something came up?" Hank asked and headed for the door.

"Yeah, somethin' in the city," Logan nodded and turned back towards his son, who refused to look at him and glared at the sheets instead. "How are ya feelin'?"

"What's it to you, old man?" the younger feral spat and turned his head away. "You never cared, so no reason for you to start with it now…"

"Hiro…," Northstar groaned and shook his head at so much stubbornness.

"What kind if father are you anyway that can't even protect his own son?" Daken added and turned his head to give Logan a look of sheer hatred. "You don't deserve to be one!"

Trying to hide the verbal punch, Logan put his hands to his hips and was determined to keep his cool. "Anythin' else ya wanna tell me?" he asked coolly and knew there wouldn't be a reply. Only nodding, he buried his hands in his pockets and turned to leave to join the rest in the War Room for their meeting. He had walked half of the way when he picked up on Northstar's panicked voice and froze on the spot to give the door behind him a worried look. He heard something falling to the ground, Jean-Paul telling Daken to stop while this one snapped back at him to leave him alone. The feral was about to head back to the room when the door opened and his son appeared, panting in exhaustion and barely able to keep himself on both feet, his hands digging at the wall for support. Confused, Logan cocked an eyebrow at him, wondered what was on his son's mind that he forced his body against its will so much…

"You can't get up, damn it!" Northstar snapped at Daken and reached for this one's arm.

"Let go of me!" Daken growled back warningly and pulled his arm free, his eyes still seizing his father up for a coffin. "So you just turn your back on me again?"

"What?!" Logan asked, his mouth agape and his mind trying to figure out what the hell was wrong all of a sudden. Maybe it was him but he couldn't remember doing anything wrong. In the end he was constantly pushed away by his son or snapped at.

"I mean sure…," Daken went on and huffed. "I'm just your mongrel of a son, why would you give a damn about me?"

"Are ya fuckin' nuts?!" Logan asked him, completely serious and watched how his son fought to stay on both feet.

"You never cared about me!"

"I didn't know ya were still alive for fuck's sake!" he snapped since he had enough of that discussion and repeating himself by now. His eyebrow rose when Daken chuckled but picked up on the despair in that sound.

"Sure… That's easier to say, right?" his son asked, his face a mask of anger and hatred while his legs began to shake in exhaustion and his breathing became even harder. "It's easier to say that you didn't know than just admitting that you don't care about a fucking, mixed-raced son!"

Letting the words sink in, Logan shook his head and made a step back. "I don't have t'listen t'this shit!" he grunted and turned around, noticing for the first time that the others had left the War Room after hearing the argument.

Watching his father leaving only fueled his anger the more. "Right! Turn your back on me like you did on that day in Japan when I asked you for your FUCKING HELP!" Daken said, barking the last two words and watched how Logan froze on the spot to give him a confused look. By now his anger and the pain were so strong that he wanted to ram his claws into something and shred whatever it was to pieces. He didn't know why he did this, why he felt so much at the moment that he only wanted to scream, since usually he was in perfect control. But somehow this wasn't the case now and he began to hate himself even the more for being so vulnerable and showing such weakness. Tears of anger and desperation stung in his eyes, made his vision blurred and his legs felt worse than jelly. Still, he wanted to keep standing and refused to give in just like that. He watched Logan scrutinizing him, guessed the older feral was still trying to figure out what he had referred to and finally saw how Logan's face changed from confused to recognizing and finally to shock. "I asked you for your fucking help and you just turned your back on me and told me to go home…," Daken said through gritted teeth, his eyes burning. "Home…," he spat. "As if I ever had one as a mongrel…"

"I…didn't know it was ya…," Logan mumbled, his heart racing as he remembered how he had returned to Japan after a quick visit to Madripoor and had wanted to visit Mariko's grave, as suddenly a boy had addressed him on the streets. He hadn't given him and thought and he had just continued his journey. If he had known that…

"And even if…, you wouldn't have given a damn about me anyway," he heard his son snarling in pure hatred and felt the stitch in his heart as he noticed the tears that streamed down his face. "Do you even know what he did to me?! Do you even care?!" Daken demanded to know in barely more than a whisper and knew his father would look down in shame. Still he was far from being finished. "Do you want to know what it feels like when you're restrained to a table and a group has their way with you over and over again, just so that you'll get used to it?! Or if you get beaten up until you can't breathe anymore, or burned by acid or fire until you wish that you'd finally die?!" he asked Logan through gritted teeth, reliving the memories while everyone in that corridor stared at him in shock.

Not knowing what to say, Logan could only shake his head and look down.

"Or did anyone ever break your bones on purpose so that you'll learn to endure the pain?!" his son went on, sounding desperate by now. "You…could have prevented all of this, if you had just looked at me and not told me to go back _home_!" he said, sniffing and his body shook in rage. "Because the first thing happened right afterwards! And you…didn't do anything to protect your own son! You…just told me to go back _home_! I don't have a fucking _home_!" Daken said, putting as much hatred into the last sentence as he could, when his legs gave way and he began falling to the ground. Still, he never hit it and felt how arms caught his fall. Thinking that it was Northstar, he was surprised to see that his father had leapt forward and caught him. Angered, he tried to fight him but had no strength left and held onto him instead.

"Ya have a home…'n a family," Logan said calmly and expected for a fist to connect with his jaw.

"I don't have a family!" Daken barked at him but collapsed completely. "I…have nothing…," he added crying and felt torn between pushing his father away and holding on to him. In the end he had hated that man for so long, had used him as a source to fuel his rage but at the moment he just felt weak and empty; Romulus words still echoing in his mind. "I hate you… I fucking hate you…," he said halfheartedly and sniffed when his father pulled him close.

"I'm so sorry…," Logan whispered with tears in his eyes and began to rock slowly. "I know I failed ya 'n your mother…"

"He fucking shot her when she was singing to me…," he heard his son sobbing into his chest and felt like throwing up as he pictured the scene. "He cut her open when she was still alive…"

Pulling his son even closer, Logan closed his eyes, not caring that he was crying, too, by now and knew his wife and son had suffered through this because of him, that he was the source of Romulus' revenge. He wondered what would have happened, if he had actually recognized his son in Japan, if he had been able to protect him. When Daken's words echoed in his mind and he pictured how much abuse his son had suffered by the hand of his biological father throughout his life so far, he felt the beast in him beginning to awake. "I swear he'll pay for everythin' he's done…," Logan growled determined and still rocked his son slowly. "'n if it's the last thing I do. I won't rest until he's dead…"

**So sorry for the long wait. I had a major writer's block on this chapter and was stuck for weeks. I hope you enjoyed it. Let me know what you think!!**

**Thanks to all reviewers! I'll try to update as soon as I can. See ya!!**


	61. Chapter 58

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

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**As LACEYLOU76 has once wished for: A scene between Rogue and Remy. Hope you like it. ; ) **

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**Then: I hope my review replies get through, if not, I'm sorry, but I always write back to those I can (meaning members) when I write a new chapter. Please, let me know if you're getting my replies! **

**I still need an answer from 2 of you concerning the wishes you were granted since you were reviewers #600 and #650!! Please let me know asap, since this sequel soon comes to an end!! **Dani2606 **and **deathtones! (since I can't contact non-members)

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 58**

From afar Xavier watched Logan holding his son, who sought comfort from his father, and gave his X-Men a sign to return to the War Room to give the two ferals some privacy. Also Jean-Paul went back into the ICU, still shocked about what he had heard before and sat down on one of the beds. In the meantime, the X-Men had taken their seats once more, most of them were caught up in their thoughts and Xavier picked up on the confusion. He knew he owed them an explanation of what they had witnessed before, knew that Daken's sudden outburst was a surprise to all of them. "I was obviously able to break through all of the control mechanisms and suppressors Romulus had planted into his mind…," he said and the team looked up at him. "But actually I'm surprised that it worked out that well…"

"Hearing about all of this makes you almost feel sorry for him," Scott said and crossed his arms.

"Only almost?!" Ororo asked and shook her head.

"Well, I won't forget what he has done so far so easily," Scott told her and Hank couldn't help but nod. "Still I'd have never thought that this Romulus guy would pull such a stunt on him… I always believed Daken sees some kind of…father-figure in him."

"In some twisted way he probably does, Scott," the Professor said and supported his arms on the table to fold his hands. His face was a mask of sadness and he seemed to be deeply in thought. "Romulus has done everything to make Akihiro dependant on him in everyway possible. Logan has suffered abuse in so many ways during his life, but his son…" He shook his hate in complete disgust. "I've never seen so much and so disgusting abuse than in his mind. The mental, physical and sexual abuse he's suffered for decades… Nothing Logan's been through can add up to this. Weapon X was nothing compared to what Akihiro's been through… It's no wonder that he has adapted such a cold persona over the years."

There was silence in the room for a good while before Hank spoke up. "What do you think will happen to him now, Charles?"

"I don't know for sure, Hank, but in my opinion Akihiro will have a very hard time to find out who he really is. The control Romulus had over him left him no room at all for any development beyond what Romulus wanted him to be. He never had friends, or a family, he doesn't know what living with people is like, has always been alone and kept in the dark. He will have to learn everything from scratch what is natural to us. He might be an adult by years but inside he's rather a child that sees the world through his own eyes for the first time." The Professor looked into the round, his face serious. "I know a lot of you are against him being here, I know what he did was wrong but everyone deserves a second chance. Besides, Logan is our friend and probably needs our support." Speaking of which, he began to concentrate and breathed slowly out, smiling a bit. "Akihiro has calmed down again. So, let's begin our meeting, shall we?" he asked and leant back in his wheelchair, still smiling.

In the corridor, Daken slowly began to realize what he had done. And it disgusted him. He couldn't believe he had shown weakness, that he had broken down and told his father everything he never wanted to tell anyone… He had let his guard down, something he never ever did. And then it had been in front of his father and practically every one that lived in this house. How could he have lost his temper so much? What had made him lose it anyway?! When he felt Logan shifting a bit he turned his head away. There was no way in hell Daken could even look at his father now. Probably not ever again. Why on earth had he told him about some of his worst nightmares? Why had he shown weakness?!

"Yer feelin' better, kid?" Logan asked and Daken hated him for using such a gentle voice with him. Why couldn't that man just leave him alone and ignore him? At least Daken would know how to deal with it… What was he supposed to do now? What to say?

He shivered and felt the pain returning to him all of a sudden. He had nearly forgotten about it in his rage but now he felt how it shot up his spine and right into his brain. He closed his eyes for a moment and heaved a deep breath. "It's cold…," he heard himself mumbling, wanted to know what part in him had just said this and opened his eyes as a hand touched his forehead first and cheek next. Why was his father doing this?!

"Yer feverish," the older feral grunted and withdrew his hand. "Well, yer supposed t'be in bed anyway." As if his son weighted nothing, he pulled him up and carried him back into the ICU. Logan exchanged a brief look with Northstar as the man looked up and put Daken carefully down in the bed, then tucked him in. He was well aware of how awkward the whole situation was, noticed that his son avoided his eyes on purpose and felt as confused about everything as ever. What was he supposed to say? Or what to do? In the end, he decided that he should probably give his son time to think about everything and then, maybe, they could sit down and finally have the talk he wanted to have for so long. "I need t'check up on the team," he announced calmly and scratched the back of his head, completely lost. "Do ya need anythin'?" he added but Daken shook his head and still stared at his hands. "'kay… Ya should try 'n sleep a bit. Yer probably exhausted anyway, I guess…" Logan truly wanted to kick himself to the moon for being so lost in a simple conversation. He always knew what to do or say, always had an advice for others, so why didn't he know one damn word he could say to his own son?! "I'll be back in a while…," he added and sighed. He was being ridiculous. Looking up, he received a nod from Northstar, who told him with it that he would stay, and nodded back at him. When Logan turned to head for the door he knew something he could say, needed to say after remembering what his son had said in tears. "One more thing," he said and looked at his son, who still refused to look back at him. "Yer an intelligent, damn handsome man. What more could a father ask for or be proud of? 'n ya have a home 'n a family, alright? Yer home's here 'n yer family, too! Don't ya dare thinkin' somethin' else," Logan grunted determined and exchanged a brief look with his son, who had looked up in shock and confusion. "Sleep," the feral added and left the room to join the others in the War Room.

"How's he doing, Logan?" Charles asked after the man had taken his seat.

"Dunno," Logan shrugged and heaved a deep breath. He knew who was responsible for the sudden outburst and change. "Thanks, Chuck."

"Of course," the bald man nodded.

"So what's wrong? Some damsel in distress?" the feral demanded to know and crossed his arms. "Or the typical _Muties rod in hell_ stuff?"

"No, but you're very close!" Tony said and switched the lights off in the room.

"What?" Logan asked mockingly. "Yer still around?"

"Yeah, actually I'm sleeping with Jean behind your back. Thought you had already figured that out," the Avengers replied while setting up his computer.

Logan snorted. "If that was the case, not a single restaurant in the world could tell yer body from ground meat, bub…"

"Oh, they could. I taste better." Tony cleared his throat and winked at Logan briefly, before he paid attention to his computer again. "Jarvis, please show us what Steven has sent over."

"My pleasure, sir," the computer generated voice said and soon pictures were projected at the wall behind Tony.

"Cap sent me those big and ugly pictures. Intonation being on big…and ugly," Tony said and looked at Logan. "He wanted me to ask if the name Trask rings a bell by you?" When the feral's face darkened, he nodded. "Anyway, I did some research with the help of Raven and what we found is big…and ugly. Jarvis, the plans, please." He waited for them to show up and looked into the round to see their reaction, was surprised when the X-Men only exchanged confused looks. "What?" he ask, feigning shock. "I expected loud gasps or _Oh my God look at those huge, huge, mean looking things_! I assume you know those big, ugly things?" he asked with a nod at the wall behind him.

"Yeah, Sentinels," Scott said coolly. "We have several programs in the Dangerroom that includes them. What's so special about them? As far as we know the military…"

Tony chuckled. "Oh, yes, the military… The military intended to use those things for military purposes, logically, but decided that it was too expensive and would be quiet useless. The robots were too huge and too heavy, meaning they used up too many resources and every jet was a better tool in war than those things. But!" He made a dramatically pause. "This here is NOT the Sentinel you might know. It's the new version built by Trask, who…" He paused and waited for someone to finish it.

"Hates mutants…," Logan grunted. "As his father 'n grandfather already did before with other…people. Or better said, as Hitler did because the latter worked for him…"

"I see you paid attention in history," Tony commented and used his pen to extract a hologram from his computer. He laid the whole Sentinel out on the table and began to turn the robot slowly. "This buddy here was specifically designed to detect and terminate mutant DNA. Which means those things can track down anyone who is a mutant, even if those persons don't even know about it themselves, and kill them instantly. Now insert the shocked gasps and _Oh my God_'s, please." He turned his head when Ororo actually did it. "Thank you!"

"But…how does it work?" Scott asked, slightly confused. "I mean, how can a robot actually detect DNA?! Let alone kill them instantly?"

"Easy answer," Tony said and started a simulation. "I let Jarvis create a program which should be close to the real thing. Jarvis, start the simulation, please!"

"Yes, sir."

The X-Men watched how two people appeared in front of them, then a Sentinel and watched how the robot shot a beam at them, vaporizing them with it.

"Oh, my God…," Hank said shocked and leant back in his chair.

"I actually expected her to say it, but…," Tony shrugged after nodding at Ororo, "it's fine with me."

"First the cure, now this…," Logan grunted angrily. "What's next?!"

"Mutant extinction, probably," the Avengers shrugged and ended the program.

"Ya said Cap sent those?" Logan asked and received a nod. "Who sent 'em first?"

"Reed did."

"'n Reed got 'em from where exactly?"

"I don't know. I'm not the post guy, you know?" Tony said and switched on the lights again. "But this is real and it's a real threat. Trask is flirting with the president who, as we all know, isn't fond of mutants. If Trask can convince him to mass-produce those Sentinels, we are fucked." He stopped for a moment. "Okay, you are actually. I'm not a mutant…"

"Knowin' Trask he already has mass-produced 'em…," Logan grunted. "He always does things secretly, especially when money's involved. So ya can bet yer asses that he already has some of 'em somewhere…"

"We know that he is in New York so I tried to locate facilities large enough to house them," Raven said and handed Scott and Logan a paper. "The only reasonable place that I could come up with, was this one."

"The Purifiers' HQ?" Logan asked and cocked an eyebrow at her. "That building's too small."

"But they have the necessary information in their computers," Raven smiled back at him. "Since the Purifiers and Friends of Humanity joined forces, we can be sure that they are backing this project. So logically, they have the necessary information in their computers or files."

"Which is confidential and besides, there's no way in hell we can get in there without being detected," Scott disagreed. "They have mutant localisators. As soon as we are getting too close the alarm will go off… Not even Paul would be quick enough."

"True," Logan agreed. "It wouldn't be a problem for me t'sneak in, but not with those localizators around…" He looked at Tony and cocked an eyebrow.

"Ah, ah, ah!" the Avenger immediately made and raised both hands. "I'm not the secret agent guy either. So forget it!"

"We thought about this already, Logan," Raven said. "I went through their files. All we need is a specific clearance card. With this card we can access their files from here by hacking into their system." She leant back in her seat and rested one hand on her belly, unconsciously stroking over it.

"'n how do we get that card?!"

"By finding that guy here," Tony announced and held up a picture.

Logan couldn't help but chuckle. "His son?!" he asked sarcastically. "Right. No problem. Do ya have any idea how careful that guy is? The only way t'get him would be by shootin' him from far, far away. 'n even that won't work considering that Larry's a mutant 'n has the power of precognition. He'd see us comin' before we'd be even there. So forget about shootin' or capturin' that guy!"

"Which we can't do anyway because it would alarm his father," Scott reasoned. "We need to plan this carefully…" He looked at the paper in front of him and began to think about a plan. "Do we know anything about his private life? Places he likes to go to?"

Tony put his hand to his chest. "I'm not a babysitter either. I am the tech guy, okay? Which means I invent things. I don't know shit about observing people. That's his business." He nodded at Logan, who looked rather displeased with the world.

"I could track him down if ya have anythin' with his scent on it," he grunted while looking at the picture. "Or…I do it the old fashioned way…"

"Which is?" Hank asked.

"Kickin' some guys' asses…" Logan threw the paper on the table. "If they produce those bots secretly, they need supplies. They probably get 'em underground, which means that's where we have t'go."

"Black market…" Scott nodded and crossed his arms. "No one of us has experience with doing such stuff, Logan."

The feral smirked. "Don't get yer panties in a bunch, Slim. I know the right addresses."

"Why am I not surprised…?"

"I need Vic for this."

This alarmed nearly everyone. "Hold on, what?!" Raven asked.

"No way!" Scott shook his head. "He's uncontrollable."

"He'll listen t'me. Besides the guy I've on mind knows us 'n he also knows that he shouldn't be messin' with us. If I turn up there alone or with one of ya, he won't tell shit," Logan explained and got up after telling the Professor to tell Victor to come downstairs. "'n as ya already said… He also knows that Vic's uncontrollable." Looking up, when the door opened and Sabretooth stood there, dressed in black and glaring at them suspiciously, Logan walked over to him. "Remember Tony?"

Confused, Victor looked at the Avenger in the room and then back at Logan. "Is that a joke?!" he asked disgruntled. "I was nappin'…"

"Not him. Mad Tony," Logan said and suddenly, Victor grinned, his eyes shining with bloodlust.

"Sure do."

"Good. We gonna pay him a visit. I want ya t'keep yer mouth shut 'n ya do as I say!" Logan ordered and received a growl from a more than displeased Victor, who turned and towered over him.

"I don't like yer bossy attitude, runt," he snarled and Logan huffed.

"Live with it!" Logan growled back and beckoned him to follow him. "Tell Jean I'll be back around 6," was all he said before the door went shut behind him.

"I don't think this is a good idea, Charles," Hank protested worriedly.

"I know what you mean, Hank, but we have to trust Logan with it. In the end Victor at least listens a bit to him…"

"A bit. That's the problem!" Scott muttered and shook his head sighing. "Well, let's wait for their return and then we decide about what to do. If those robots already exist, then we really are in trouble…" He threw the paper he was holding on the table and got up. "Anything else?"

"No, I actually wanted to pay Akihiro a visit and see how he is doing," Charles said and wheeled towards the door. "He is probably pretty confused about what happened. If you hear anything from Logan, let me know." He smiled briefly and left the room, making his way towards the ICU, where he found Northstar sitting next to the bed in which Daken was sleeping. "How's he doing?"

"I don't know," Jean-Paul said in a hushed voice and put the book he was reading in down. "He didn't say anything after Logan brought him back here."

Nodding, the Professor wheeled closer and noticed the book the man was reading. "And how are you holding up?"

The speedster gave the book a look and shrugged with a sigh. "I don't know. I'm reading through the stuff of which the Professor told me was relevant for the final exam, but I don't really keep anything in mind… It's been too long ago obviously…"

Smiling, Charles came to a halt next to him. "Don't put too much pressure on yourself, Paul. You still got a whole month for studying."

"I know…," Northstar replied but didn't seem satisfied. "And I'm grateful that you made it possible for me to finish my college diploma, but…" He shook his head. "I don't think I can make it until then…"

Still smiling, the Professor put a reassuring hand on the other man's arm. "I'm sure you will do just fine, Paul. I don't have any doubts that you will. In the end you're studying day and night, aren't you?" he told him and looked at the sleeping feral in the bed. "I'm glad you're taking care of him…," he said after a moment and received a confused look from aside. "After what he's been through he needs a friend he can count on." Giving Northstar another smile, the Professor wheeled back to the door. "Don't forget to rest, Paul," he told him and the doors went back shut.

* * *

"You're back?" Rogue asked and looked through the narrow crack between the frame and door, watched how Remy closed the room door and gave her his casual sly smile.

"Oui."

"Was it something important?" she asked concerned.

"Hm…you can say dat," he said and tilted his head, frowning. "What's mon chérie doin' dere?"

"I was about to take a bath," Rogue relied and turned her head briefly. "Or better said I'm taking one now, since the bath's ready." Smiling at him, she shut the door a bit and dropped her towel on the toilet, before she sat down in the warm water with a loud, satisfied sigh and closed her eyes.

"'n mon petite doesn't want to ask Remy?" the Cajun suddenly said right next to her and made her startle.

"Jeez, Remy… Don't sneak up on me like that!" she complained but he only chuckled.

"Where are de kids?" he asked and slowly began to undress himself unseen from her.

"Isa's with Bobby and Jean-Luc is playing with Jamie, Tommy and the others," Rogue explained and noticed how his grin widened. "Oh, no! You can so forget about this! I want a nice, calm bath and not…" She hid her face in her hands when he jumped into the tub with her, the water splashing into her face. "Remy!"

"Oui, chérie?" Remy asked and leant in to kiss her but she backed away.

"No! I won't give in this time," Rogue said self-assured and received another grin from her husband. "Not this time! The last time the floor was flooded. Besides anyone could come in and…"

"De door's locked," Remy cut her off, smiling and leant slowly in, his eyes never leaving hers. "'n Remy will gladly clean de door for mon petite," he added, grinning and, before she was able to protest, pulled her into a passionate kiss. "'n besides… Remy needs attention."

Rogue playfully slapped his arm. "You're getting attention enough," she scolded him with a smile and pulled him on top of her to kiss him again. "Don't be so greedy…"

"Remy likes to be greedy," he mumbled into her mouth and went on kissing and nibbling on her neck instead, while one hand supported him on the edge of the tub and the other caressed her body. He smirked against her throat when she let out a tiny squeal. "'n Remy likes dis, too," the Cajun added grinning and attacked her mouth again.

* * *

In his room Scott lay with his head resting on his pillow next to Raven and stroked absently over the small bulge that was her stomach. "I don't understand how the Professor can be so calm about it…," he complained and looked at what his hand was doing, while Raven stroked through his hair. "In the end we're talking about Creed here…"

"I know what you mean," she agreed. "But Logan's with him and for whatever reason Victor listens to him."

He huffed. "Yeah,…I wonder what their relationship was before all of that. I mean, seriously, all this _he's my brother so don't you dare and touch him_ stuff that Sabretooth has going?!" he asked and looked up at her with a shake of his head. "He acts like Logan was his property or something…"

"Well if what he said was true and they've been together for nearly 80 years…," Raven said with a shrug. "Then he probably sees him as his property."

"I don't like him being here…," Scott muttered. "Not at all… It's like sleeping on a time bomb. You never know when it goes off…" He was about to cuddle up to her when an explosion could be heard and the windows vibrated while the walls shook. "What the hell was that?!" Alarmed he sat up, his hand ready at his visor. "Where did it come from?!"

"I…I think from down the hall…," she said and had a protective hand on her belly. About to get up, Raven noticed his sign to stay behind her and she followed him out of the room. There, students and staff members where staring up and down the corridor on a search of the source of the explosion. "Where did it come from?" Raven asked and Ororo shook her head.

"I've no idea."

"Is Logan back already?" Scott asked and positioned Raven next to the weather goddess, who shook her head.

"Haven't seen him, why?"

"Let's say… I'd bet my money on him and Jean having another…" He made quotation marks with his fingers, "…_fight_. Keep an eye on her, please. Just in case." He gave Kurt and Hank a nod and jogged down the corridor with him.

"The door!" Kurt suddenly noticed and teleported towards it. He looked at the splintered wood on the ground and gave the room a careful look. "Hello?!"

"What the hell?!" Scott asked and looked up when Remy appeared in the frame, a towel around his hips, his skin and hair still dripping. "What the hell happened?!"

"Well…," the Cajun said, trying hard not to laugh and scratched the back of his head. "Let's say Remy got a bit too excited…" He shrugged apologetically and looked behind him where Rogue appeared, face red and looking embarrassed like never before.

"I'm sorry, Scott…"

Scott groaned. "First, Jean blows up the entire windows, now you blow up a whole room, what's next?!"

"Actually, Remy blew up the…," Rogue began but Scott raised his hands quickly.

"I don't want to know!" he said and gave the door another look. "You're going to repair that. Alone!" Only able to shake his head, he gave Hank and Kurt a sign and turned back around. "Okay, go back to your rooms!" he told the students and went back to Ororo and Raven. "Seriously, if people keep on blowing things up around here…"

"Or destroying fridges," Raven said and leant into him.

"Logan hasn't destroyed a fridge in months," Kurt replied and joined his wife's side.

"True," Hank nodded. "I'm actually missing his scratch marks on it…"

"Oh, don't even start!" Ororo groaned. "Well, if there's no danger we can go back to what we were doing, dear," she said with a loving look at Kurt, who smiled back at her.

"Which hopefully doesn't include blowing up windows or rooms," Scott remarked and took Raven's hand.

"No, blowing up something else," the white haired woman replied and made him groan loudly.

"I don't want to know, okay? Just… Just go back in there and do whatever you did before!"

"You've got a dirty mind, Scott!" Ororo scolded him playfully. "I wasn't talking about _that_."

"I'm NOT listening," he said and pulled Raven quickly with him.

"I was actually talking about…"

"I'm so NOT listening!" she heard him calling before his room door went shut again.

Hank laughed and shook his head, then looked down the corridor where Remy, now dressed in jeans only, was eyeing the door curiously. "Well, I better help him with it. We know he has two left hands when it comes to this, don't we?"

"Do you need help?" Kurt asked but he waved off.

"No, thanks. Go back to setting up that water bed of yours," Hank chuckled. "Just make sure we don't wake up at night and the whole corridor is flooded, or Scott will get a heart attack in the end."

"Any word from Logan?" Ororo asked.

"No, not yet."

"Then Scott will get a heart attack soon enough," she said and went back into her room, followed by Kurt while Hank went over to help Remy with the door.

* * *

From their position they had a good overview of the alley underneath them. Up to know they hadn't been able to spot the person they were looking for and instead sat on the edge of the roof and waited for him to appear. While Logan kept on looking around, analyzing whoever he saw, Victor was rather disinterested and watched him from aside. They hadn't spoken a word since they had arrived and he didn't like it at all that he couldn't roam freely.

"How can ya even live like that…?" Creed finally asked the question that he'd been wondering about for days by now.

"Huh?" Logan made since he hadn't paid attention and cocked an eyebrow at him.

"I'm talkin' about that domestic shit you've been goin' on," Victor grunted and glared at him from aside. "How can ya live like this without goin' on a killin' rampage?"

Logan huffed and shook his head, his eyes back on the alley. "I don't have t'discuss this with ya, Victor…"

"No?" his half-brother mocked and threw a stone to the opposite side of the roof they were sitting on. "I tell ya what. Coz ya don't know it either!"

"If ya say so…" The feral next to him shrugged.

"Ya have a mate that's nuts 'n a bunch of annoyin' cubs…"

"One more word about Jean or my kids 'n I rip ya a new one!" Logan hissed with a look aside, but Victor remained unimpressed.

"Ya live all domestic 'n act as Xavier's lapdog…"

"Victor…," Logan warned, a growl building in his chest as he got angrier.

"Ya can't tell me ya don't miss it, Jimmy," Creed went on and was looking back at Logan now. "The wild, huntin', goin' where ya wanna go, do what ya wanna do… Instead ya live the life on a housebroken dog…" He snorted and chuckled. "She got ya at yer balls, eh?"

After seizing him up for a coffin, Logan looked back at the alley and glared down at it, the words still echoing in his ears.

"I'm still waitin' fer the day you'll finally get it," the feral next to him added after a moment of silence. "We're not like'em. We'll never be like'em. No matter how hard ya try, no matter what ya do, yer an animal 'n that will never change. So stop dreamin' of bein' a man. That will never happen!" Angrily, Creed got up and walked over to the opposite side of the room where he looked down. He watched how people went by and despised them. Even back then he had never understood why Logan was so fascinated with society, why he was drawn towards them when they hated them for what they were in return. He had always tried to keep him away from it, had enjoyed their way of living and now he felt once more like his brother had abandoned them. Had he completely forgotten about what they had been through together? How he had always taken care of him? Their promise to stick to each other no matter what? Growling under his breath, Creed gave the banister a harsh kick and began pacing. He needed to get out and have a good kill before he'd go nuts.

"Victor…," Logan said, sounding rather demanding. "Calm down, alright?"

"How can ya not go nuts in this…shit hole?!" the other feral snarled, his eyes shining with lust for blood and he approached Logan slowly.

"Stay down!" Logan warned him once more and clenched his fists in case Creed would pounce on him. He figured that Victor was on the edge and needed release and that quickly before he would attack random people around him. "Go huntin' in the wood, kill a deer or whatever else is runnin' around there. Just get a fuckin' grip!" he grunted and turned his head as he picked up on voices. A careful look down the alley made him grin. "There he is…," he muttered and gave Victor a sign to get ready.

Inside his hideout Mad Tony was looking through some papers and thought about the profit he could make, if he agreed to the formalities when there was a knock on the front door. "Go away!" he barked and tend to the numbers in front of him again. If he agreed, he could make a whole lot of money that was for sure… Once more a knock interrupted him, this time a more demanding one that told him whoever was in front of his door wouldn't go away so fast. "For fuck's sake!" he said angrily and went over to tear the door open. "Wha…." The word remained stuck in his throat half way as he recognized who stood in front of the door. "L…Logan…," he stuttered and swallowed hard, his eyes looking aside and at the table where his gun lay on.

"Long time no see, Tony," Logan greeted him casually and smirked. "I heard ya were doin' some not so nice things again 'n thought I might have t'pay ya a visit."

"Piss off, Logan!" Tony sneered and was about to shut the door again, knowing that the feral alone was a threat but had also heard that he was rather…tamed…as word had it.

"Ya remember Victor, don't ya?" Logan asked and had expected the reaction his opposite was giving him now as Creed appeared behind him, eyes dark and face hard. "I see ya do." Without another word, Logan stepped inside, followed by Victor. He knew Tony was terribly nervous, about to shit his pants actually. "So… Wanna tell us what yer doin' with Trask or do we have t'go the hard way?" he asked, sounding casually as ever and turned around to look at the man that now stood between Victor and him.

"Don't know what you're talking about, Logan," Tony shrugged and backed off slowly, further into the direction of the table.

"Grab the gun 'n I'm gonna cut yer hand off, understood?" Logan warned him, eyes hard and he saw out of the corner of his eyes how Victor grinned darkly. He knew the other feral hoped Mad Tony wouldn't listen. But the man did and raised both hands briefly. "So…," Logan began and lit a cigar. "Where's Trask buildin' those Sentinels?"

"What Sentinels?" Mad Tony asked back and the feral huffed.

"Don't play that shit on me, Tony. Ya know exactly what Sentinels are!"

Tony noticed how Creed turned into his direction and began sweating. He made a careful step back and realized he was trapped in the corner. "Look, you come here, invade my personal space and start asking me some shit about robots. What's this shit about, huh?! Who gives you even the right to…"

Logan smirked satisfied. He knew bringing Victor would come into handy. "Never said a thing about robots, Tony…," he said and the man swallowed. Slowly, Logan released the smoke in his mouth and kept his eyes on his prey, considered his next step. "Still don't know why we're here?" he asked but the man remained silent. Dramatically, Logan sighed and extinguished his cigar while getting up. He carefully put it away and turned to face Tony, who still considered whether to reach for the gun or not. "Look… I'm hungry, okay? 'n I get into a pretty foul mood then. 'n Victor here… He's pretty much on the edge lately 'n dyin' for a good kill. So ya either tell us now what we came for or…I'll let Victor here have some fun with ya. So what's it gonna be, huh?"

Tony looked from him to Victor, who grinned back at him darkly and had his nails already extracted. Swallowing, he pressed himself further against the wall, felt the gun touching his hand and considered what to do. He knew the sadistic streak Creed had and also that Logan could be equally sadistic, if necessary. The urge to run dominated him even if his brain told him that it would be useless to do so.

"So what's it gonna be?" Logan asked once more and narrowed his eyes. He had hardly time to duck as Mad Tony suddenly pulled the gun and shot the first bullet at him, while the second to fourth landed in Victor's chest and stomach. While Creed was hunched in the ground, Mad Tony ran out of the door leaving Logan cursing.

"Ya okay?" he asked as he stopped at the door.

"I'm gonna kill him…," Victor snarled and was out said one before Logan could stop him. Instead, he ran after his brother, who was chasing after Mad Tony on all fours. This one ran, and Logan had to give him that, out on the open street where lots of people were. It would be easy to track him down, not so much to keep Victor from lashing out at innocent people.

"Victor, stop!" Logan barked but the other feral ignored him. With a loud roar he leapt at Creed and landed hard on this one's back, both of the hit the ground and Logan knew Victor's rage would now focus on him. As he had expected he was grabbed and thrown into the next wall.

"What the fuck do ya think yer doin'?!" Creed snarled at him and kept Logan pushed up against the wall, his nails digging into the skin and drawing blood.

"We can track him down later. We can't chase after him in the open, damn it!" Logan growled back and used his legs to kick Victor away.

"Do this again…."

"'n what?"

"I'll break yer fuckin' legs 'n use 'em as toothpicks!" Victor growled whereupon Logan huffed.

"Yer welcome t'try asshole!" the younger feral snarled back and felt his claws beginning to pierce his skin, knowing that his opposite was unpredictable at the moment. The pair stood frozen, staring at each other with hate and fury in their eyes, knowing that their threats were real.

"You'll see, runt!" Creed growled and was still standing in his attack stance. "One day I will…"

"I told ya yer gonna listen t'me, understood?" Logan snarled back and both began to stare each other down.

"I won't take orders from ya, Jimmy!" Victor hissed back and his eyes were gleaming with the thirst for blood.

Relenting, Logan made a step back and heaved a deep breath. "Save it, Victor. We got more important shit goin' on." He looked down the alley and sniffed. The scent was still strong…

"We should have just beaten him t'a pulp!" Creed complained and gave a garbage can a kick. "Yer too soft, Jimmy! Never wanna do what's necessary t'get yer job done."

"Like what? Killin' innocent people?" Logan spat back and felt the inner rage becoming stronger once more. "I don't have t'put up with yer shit now!"

"Ya always were a focused, altruistic, lil' twerp!"

"Yeah, whatever… Opposites attract big brother, live with it!" Ignoring him, Logan went back into Mad Tony's room and began searching through the papers. His eyes quickly read through them and threw aside what he considered useless. "Make yerself useful, will ya?"

"I could… But not by playin' cleanin' lady," Victor grunted and leant against the doorframe, his arms crossed and looking pissed as ever. "What did they do t'ya, huh?" he asked and it angered him the more when he was simply ignored. By now he just wanted to smash his brother's head. "I asked ya somethin', Jimmy!" he said with force and underlying threat in his voice.

"Shut up, Victor!" Logan replied and looked at the notebook on the table. Not being the technique freak that Raven was, he took it and the Blackberry, too. "We'll leave. 'n I don't wanna hear another word from ya." When he had walked past Creed, who was seizing him up for a coffin, he expected to be grabbed by the pissed off feral. Surprisingly, nothing happened and Victor followed him. Silent, but boiling within and Logan knew he was probably in for a brawl as soon as they'd reach the mansion again. After he had put everything into the car he considered whether to track Mad Tony down or not. In the end the man had been warned and would probably tell Trask about them being on his trail… His head jerked aside as he heard sirens from afar and his own began to ring. He knew _those_ sirens... "It's the M.R.D.," Logan cursed and opened the door o his side of the car. "Get in!"

"What do ya wanna do?" Creed asked and had barely closed the door when Logan sped off. He watched how they closed in from behind them as soon as they had reached the highway, counted at least three heavily armed trucks that were definitely meant for them. "They're getting' closer…"

"I know, damn it!" Logan snapped and pushed the accelerator down as far as possible.

"Told ya t'not let him go…," Victor smirked but kept his eyes on the cars behind them.

"Shut up!" Concentrating on the street, Logan saw out of the corner of his eyes how Victor peeled himself out of his duster first and opened the window next. "What the fuck are ya doin'?!"

"Gonna have some fun," Creed smirked. "Ya go 'n get those files back t'that shit hole of yers. I'm gonna have a party."

"Victor!" Logan barked as the other feral began climbing out of the window. "Get yer ass back in here damn it!" He heard how Creed was on top of the car and saw that one of the cars was nearly next to them.

"Get closer, Jimmy!" he heard Victor saying and considered what to do. One of them alone stood no chance against those M.R.D. soldiers, he was sure of it. Then again, he knew the X-Men would probably never find them again if both of them got caught, because word had it that what the M.R.D. caught disappeared forever from the face of the earth. No one knew where those mutants landed or what happened to them.

"Damn ya, Victor…," Logan cursed as he realized that his half-brother knew that, too, and also after understanding why he did what he was about to do. Angrily, he turned the wheel into the direction of the military car next to them and instantly, Creed leapt at it with an angry roar. "Ya better come back t'the mansion, asshole, or yer gonna wish ya have never been born!" he added, knowing that Creed would hear it and used the next exit to escape from his followers.

* * *

Jean didn't know what to look at more worriedly. Her eyes kept on switching between the digital clock on the Blu-Ray recorder to the feral on the couch; the latter looking half asleep and completely exhausted, while the first made her stomach itch. She knew it was useless to reason with the feral, he was as stubborn as a brick wall. Like his father… Thinking of him, her green eyes looked back at the clock and she shook her head. So much to being back at 6…

"Maybe we should check the news…," Scott suggested for the at least 6th time by now and Jean began to think the same.

Still, she knew that Logan would have contacted her mentally, if anything had gone wrong. Her eyes switched back to the feral, who had cuddled up to the corner of the sofa and was looking at the screen through heavy lidded eyes by now. "Akihiko, go to bed," she said gently and received a brief glance from him. "You should be in bed anyway, you're still healing…"

"That's what I told him about four times already…," Hank said in a rather scolding way.

"I'm fine…," Daken grunted and kept his eyes on the television, looking rather annoyed.

"I'll switch in the news now," Scott said determined and did so, much to the annoyance of the younger X-Men.

"We were watching that movie!" Bobby complained and rolled his eyes as he didn't get any reply. Not that he had expected one. He groaned and grabbed Jubilee's hand after retrieving the Blu-Ray disc from the player. "C'mon. We go on watching in our room!"

On his way out, followed by Jubilee, Kitty and Peter, he nearly bumped into Tony, who quickly stepped aside but took a look inside. "Wow… I expected him to do that 6 hours ago already," he commented on Scott and went inside. "Guess who's back!"

"Logan?!" Jean and Scott asked hopefully at the same time and Tony slumped down on the last free chair.

"No, me!"

"Certainly not the right time for jokes!" Scott cursed and switched through the channels until he stopped at FOX News, who, as he figured, had something important to say. "I swear to God if I only hear so much as dead bodies…"

"With Logan in the city?" Tony asked. "You bet!" He looked aside and at Daken. "Don't you want to get your sweetheart a pillow or another blanket?" he asked Jean-Paul, who could only roll his eyes. "He looks rather…_cold_…" He smirked at the double meaning and sipped on his wine that he held in one hand.

"Stop calling him my sweetheart, Tony," Northstar said and got up, just to come back with another blanket, pillow and something light to eat. "Here." He handed the feral the pillow and spread the blanket over him, then handed him the food. "And they are right," he added while sitting back down next to him. "You should lie down in bed…" He turned his attention back to the TV and began to frown. He didn't like at all what he saw there…

"Shit…," Scott cursed before anyone else could say it and he leant back to watch the announcement on television.

"_As President Baker announced today,"_ the female reporter on telly announced and gave the riot behind her a rather worried look, _"Bolivar Trask, the head of the anti-mutant group Friends of Humanity that recently joined the branch of the Purifiers, was announced the new head of Mutant Affairs…"_

"They have got to be kidding me…," Hank said shocked and leant forward, his mouth agape.

"…_an interview was not given but the President's spokesman announced that a press conference will be held in about ten minutes from now. Behind me, as you can see,…"_

Ororo shook her head. "If he's dealing with mutant affairs from now on… We're in trouble…"

"You can say that…," Scott said and watched the anti-Trask protest behind the journalist, knew what kind of fight this would stir up. "If Magneto sees this…"

"Don't even start thinking about him!" Jean replied, knowing what he meant. If Magneto saw this, there would be a war for sure…

"Who is that guy?" Jean-Paul asked since he had no idea.

"Trask is _the _mutant hater at the moment," Hank told him, his face grim. "He hates everything that he doesn't consider normal. That means mutants, blacks, people of other religions and cultures or…" He gave the speedster a meaningful look and received a nod.

"Homosexuals…"

"Precisely," the furry mutant nodded. "With Trask being in the Senate all of a sudden we can be sure that we've got hell to pay…"

"Except we can make it public that he builds those robots for entirely different purposes than protecting people…," Ororo said and Scott huffed.

"You can be sure that they won't give a shit as long as they can get rid of us!" He gave his watch a look and leant back to pull Raven close. "Where the hell is Logan?!"

"He's in the garage," Jean said and hugged herself, her eyes on the television. "He said he heard it on the radio…" She looked up when said man entered the room and handed Scott the papers and Raven the Blackberry and notebook.

"Why…are you alone?" Scott asked after waiting a moment and doing so in vain. "Where's Creed?!"

"M.R.D. showed up," Logan grunted and sat down next to his wife.

"They caught him?" Raven asked and received a shrug.

"I dunno. He jumped at their cars so that I could get away…" With a grim look he glared at the television and then aside. "What's he doin' outta bed?" he asked Hank with a nod at his son.

"He didn't want to stay downstairs anymore. I told him it was not good for him but he refused to listen. Said he can't stand the smell," Hank explained and Logan nodded.

"True. Can't stand it either," the feral grunted and looked at his son for a while longer before he turned into Jean's direction. "Kids in bed?"

She nodded and snuggled up to him. "My father's with them."

"Good," he said and pulled her close with one arm.

Scott, who had briefly looked through the papers, looked up when the press conference was announced. For the moment he put the papers aside and paid attention to what was happening on the screen. He knew it was bad news for them. When Raven took his hand he gave her a concerned look from aside. She, too, looked worried; something that only happened if their son or their unborn twins were concerned. Entwining their hands, he pulled her close and looked back at the TV when the media was told that only one question per newspaper or channel was allowed. Then Trask was announced. "Son of a bitch…," he murmured and leant back in the sofa.

"_Mr. Trask, how do you intend to deal with the mutant phenomena?" a woman asked and Trask smiled._

"_As you all know my company and group has long tried to find a solution to the mutant problem," he said arrogantly and self-assured. "After long discussion with my team we came to a solution that we find necessary and that is long overdue."_

"_Which is?" they heard the woman asking and Trask's smile widened._

"_A very easy one, dear, and I wonder why no one else has thought about it before," he announced. "While we speak the Senat is deciding over a law that all mutants above level 2 are no longer allowed to reproduce. Mutant children that already have been born have to be tested and categorized. If their level is above that of 2 they will be put through a medical procedure that will sterilize them. Mutants that fall into the categories 1 and 2 will have to report to their districts and will be tested, too. Same goes for their offspring. Any mutant that refuses to do so will face punishment and imprisonment!"_

"You've gotta be fuckin' kiddin' me!" Logan roared and stood up, claws out and a growl building in his chest.

"They can't do this! We are not some animals in a zoo!" Ororo joined him and exchanged looks with the others. "They can't do this!"

"Unfortunately, he can…," the Professor suddenly said. His face was grim and deeply concerned. "And unfortunately I'm afraid that this will mean a war. Especially when Erik watches this…"

"Hope he kills'em," Logan growled and only sat back down when Jean tucked on his hand.

"Logan…," Charles began but the feral raised a hand.

"No, Chuck! One of 'em comes here 'n only looks at Jeannie or my kids 'n they won't get outta here alive!" he growled determined and fought hard to keep Wolverine down. All he wanted to do right now was to track Trask down and cut him into little pieces. "Fuckin' piece of shit!" he cursed and went back glaring at the television when the next question was asked. Huffing, Logan gave Northstar a dark look. "There ya go, Paul…"

_Trask laughed. "Of course not! Homosexuals are as abnormal as mutants. I don't recall our Constitution saying that abnormal things have rights. It refers to people and the people of the United States of America. Not abnormal things," he stated coolly. "My scientists actually analyzed something that will convince you about my opinion. If a sick gay man and a mutant had intercourse and the mutant would be infected, the virus will mutate and could end up killing random people. It's an unpredictable threat, my fellow Americans and we can't let this happen, can we? I know our old President was kind enough to add new laws for gay people, but if you ask yourself… What if my just stated scenario came true? What if it is the beginning of a whole new epidemic? I say it is just wise to restrict abnormal people in any way possible. For the greater good! So the new law will not only forbid them to marry, to reproduce but also to adopt children or act as foster parents for them. WE have to protect our kind in any way possible or WE will face extinction!"_

"Switch that shit off, Summers, or ya need a new TV…," Logan growled, clearly on the edge.

"Reproduce…," Jean-Paul huffed, his face angry. "Did that moron ever heard of two guys or women reproducing together?"

"We need to do something!" Scott said and switched of the TV. "If my gut feeling is right, there will be war on the streets tonight!"

"I'm afraid so, Scott…," Charles nodded and considered what to do. "Where's Victor, Logan?" he asked and looked at the feral, who was about to say something as his eyes switched to something behind the Professor.

"Where the fuck have ya been?!" Logan roared and got up.

"Had some fun…," Victor grinned nonchalantly and chuckled as his half-brother gave him and angry, harsh push. "Aww, missed me, Jimmy?" he teased him.

"Shut the fuck up!" Logan grunted and put his hands to his hips. He shook his head as he looked at Creed further. The black shirt was torn, the coat, too, the pants dirty and everything a bloody mess. "Go 'n take a shower. All that copper stink makes my eyes water," he growled and turned back around to pace. The tension in the room was no secret to him. They all knew this meant bad news for them especially if Magneto was concerned. Still, they needed to do something… After he had ran both hands through his hair he stopped and looked at the depressed and angry team.

"Hey, did you hear that on telly?!" James suddenly asked and entered with Heather, Narya and John. A look at them was enough. "You did…"

"Any suggestions?" John asked and crossed his arms.

"How about killin' him?" Logan growled, eyes dark and heart beating fast in fury.

"We are not assassins, Logan!" Hank scolded him.

"I am…," the feral replied and glared at the now switched off TV. He only needed an OK and that guy would be history. Hell, he'd even do it on his own…

"I will make some phone calls," Charles announced and left the room, leaving the others to contemplate the whole mess.

"So? Any plans?" James asked and sat down with Heather half on his lap. The redhead looked more than concerned.

Scott thought about it for a moment, considered what they could possibly do without making the whole situation even worse. Before he could say something, Logan spoke up. "We need a strike team ready."

"And then what?" Hank asked.

"In case the situation in the city gets outta hand," Logan grunted and turned around. "'n we know it will. The school should be in lock down constantly. Just in case… No word t'the kids or students either. Not yet."

"I agree." Scott nodded. "We should call other teams, work out a plan so that we cover the city just in case."

"That's my call," Tony said and fished for his phone. "I'm sure Cap already misses me…"

Logan watched him leaving and considered what else they could do. "I call Reed. That's all teams we have…"

"Why do you even bother?" Daken suddenly asked, tiredly but attentively and all eyes turned towards him. "They hate you, they want to destroy you… So why bother protecting them?"

"Because not all people think alike," Scott grumbled.

"Yeah? So what? Let them speak up for themselves," the younger feral replied and sat slowly up. "If they are too much of a coward…don't bother. They're not worth it."

"Says you, huh?"

Daken shrugged and leant back against the sofa. "You want to destroy their power? You need to get to the source and destroy it. That's the only way you be successful."

Scott sighed in annoyance. "And you would know, right?"

The feral smirked darkly. "Of course. I didn't do anything else in my life besides bringing the powerful down. It's a game. You need to understand the rules, you need to know their weakness. You found it, you aim for it. But in order to do that you have to be willing to do it."

"I honestly don't give a shit on your…"

"No, he's right," Logan cut Scott off and all eyes were on him now. "Trask's son is a mutant… He's trying to hide that fact. So Larry is the weak link here…"

"And what do you want to do, Logan? Kill him? Torture him? Kidnap him?" Hank asked and shook his head. "That's not what we stand for! We don't do such things."

"That's why you will lose," Daken commented.

"They are out for war, Furball," Logan grunted. "They stepped over a line, they ain't only after us but also after our children 'n they wanna decide our fate. Maybe ya wanna give yer freedom up but I won't. Neither will I sit back 'n let 'em come after my family. Ya wanna do this, fine. Then don't get into my way!"

"Don't threaten me, boy!" Hank growled and got up, a snarl escaping his chest.

"Logan is right here, Hank!" Scott intervened. "We always said we would protect people, fight for our life in this world… But by what they are doing now…" He shook his head. "They go too far!"

"I say we go after Larry. Through him we get that damn card 'n by doin' that we can find out where those damn Sentinels are," Logan grunted and Scott nodded. "We just have t'find out how t'get t'him…"

"I can locate him," Jean said. "That's not a problem. You should rather be concerned about his mutation. If he has the power of precognition, he might see what we are up to." She looked up when Tony entered the room.

"Switch on the telly! FOX news!" he said and Scott did so. "Your war has obviously already begun."

"…_as eye witnesses said anti-mutant groups have attacked the peaceful demonstration of a mutant group," the man explained and looked at the burning house behind him. "From what we have been told M.R.D. arrested several mutants that tried to get into the press conference room. Other eye witnesses assured us that it was in fact the M.R.D. who…"_

"That's what they want," Ororo said. "They are deliberately picking fights with mutants so that they can arrest them under false charges…"

"We need to intervene before this gets out of hand. That building he just showed. The one that was burning," Hank said and gave Scott and Logan a concerned look. "It's known for housing mutant fugitives from other countries."

"'kay," Logan nodded and walked over to the door. "Jean tries t'find that Larry guy. Team suits up."

"I'll come, too."

He stopped and cocked an eyebrow at his son. "Yer still healin'!"

"Oh, I actually feel very good," Daken smirked and got up, stretching. "Besides, they need more than you to take enemies down and I'm dying for a good brawl."

Logan considered it for a moment. "Ya sure yer up t'it?!" he asked and received a look that spoke volumes. He sighed in defeat. "Fine, whatever. Scott, Paul, 'Ro, Hank 'n ya. The rest locks down the school and patrols the grounds."

They left the room together and went downstairs, where Logan gave his wife a brief kiss before they parted. While she went to use Cerebro, he joined the others in the locker room to get dressed. While pulling on his leather uniform, he watched Daken, who reluctantly pulled on Northstar's spare uniform and returned the look for a moment. "How come that yer fine all of a sudden?!" he couldn't help but ask.

"Because I heal faster than you do," his son grunted and put on the gloves then boots. "Obviously…," he added mockingly and tested the fit of the gloves.

"You should stay here…," Jean-Paul said and pulled up the zipper of his upper jacket. "Seriously, your spine was fractured and you couldn't walk just a few hours ago."

"That was in the morning." The feral got up. "Can we go now?"

"Why are you so determined to leave as quickly as possible?" Scott asked suspiciously and adjusted his visor.

"Simple," Daken said and crossed his arm. "I need to get out of this _little house on the prairie _environment as _quickly_ as possible or I might get sick again. You're worse than the Brady bunch…" He left the locker room to wait outside for them, whereas Scott shook his head and Ororo shrugged.

"Obviously he feels better indeed…"

* * *

They had expected chaos but not in the way they were facing it now. The M.R.D. still fought against mutant groups that fought back and tried to protect each other, houses were burning, people screaming and some where still locked in and couldn't get out. While Logan enjoyed cutting through the anti-mutant group and didn't even bother to hide it, Cyclops and Beast tried to find a way into the burning refugee house. Northstar and Daken used their special attack to keep the M.R.D. away and it didn't take long for The Avengers and Fantastic Four to contact them and tell them they had two other parts of the city under control.

It wasn't before the M.R.D. shot an escaping mother with child that the whole situation got out hand and a group of mutants fought back with everything they got. "Forget about it!" Storm said and landed next to Cyclops. "We can't stop them, it's getting out of control!"

"We still need to help them!" he replied with a nod at the burning building. "They are still people inside!"

"Fuckin' M.R.D.," Logan grunted and joined them his claws still dripping with blood and a rather huge hole decorating his right side. Storm cringed when she saw the adamantium laced ribs. "We need t'leave!"

"The house, Logan!" Beast said and startled a bit when Northstar came to a halt next to him.

"What's the plan?!" the speedster asked and let go of the feral.

"There are still people in the house," Cyclops said and still looked for a way in.

"I hear a kid cryin'," Logan told him and looked up the burning building. "Third floor on the right. Can't hear anyone else."

"Shit…" Cyclops cursed and shook his head. "Storm, can you do something against the flames so that we can reach the child?!"

"I can try," she said and rose into the air, using rain and strong winds to fight against the hot flames.

"Works a bit," Logan grunted and looked up. "We could try t'get in from there. Climb up the wall or somethin'…"

"You…will stay here with that injury of yours!" Beast scolded him and held him back. He gave the fight between the M.R.D. and mutants far behind them a worried look. They were definitely coming closer… "Damn it…"

"We can get the kid," Northstar said, receiving a full _are-you-kidding-me?!_ Look from Daken next to him. "I can give him enough speed and by jumping he…"

"Who said I'd go into a burning house just to save a kid?!" the feral snapped at him and received an angry look from the speedster.

"It's gonna die!"

"So?"

"Fine, then I'll go. Just forget it!" Northstar snapped back and sped off before anyone could stop him.

"Shit…," Cyclops cursed and Logan growled when Beast held him back once more.

Inside the building, Northstar tried to cover his nose and mouth as good as possible but still breathed in smoke and started coughing. On the outside Storm did her best to keep the flames as low as possible, still to him they seemed to be everywhere. He quickly followed the terrified cries of the child, nearly threw up when he noticed the burning bodies on the ground and ducked as the ceiling made squeaking noises. He knew he had to hurry and get out of there again. He walked carefully down the burning corridor and towards a door, the cries becoming louder as he approached it. Inside, he covered his eyes as flames burned brightly and found the child sitting in its bed. "Hey…," Northstar said and had barely pulled the boy up as something in the corridor collapsed. Shielding the boy from the flames, he looked back at the door and his eyes widened. He was definitely trapped…

"What's taking him so long?!" Cyclops asked and his eyes switched from one window to the next, waiting for their teammate to approach.

"He's trapped…," Logan told him as he picked up on what Northstar said to keep them informed. "Something collapsed 'n he's trapped in the room with the kid." He concentrated harder and looked at the window to their right. "He's tryin' t'get through there," he said and pointed at it.

The group jogged over and looked up, ducked when the speedster used something to free the way through the window. "He can't jump. It's way too high," Beast said and looked around for something they could use.

"No, but we can climb up," Logan said but his son was quicker. The feral cocked an eyebrow and furrowed his brows. He watched how Daken ascended the wall quicker than he would have ever been able to do it.

"Get on my back!" Daken grunted and waited for Northstar to do so before he climbed back down, where the speedster collapsed and started coughing.

Beast was immediately at his side to make a quick check-up and looked at Cyclops. "He needs medical attention and the child, too. We should leave here and get back home."

"Agreed!" Logan grunted as the fight worsened. "Leave that for the cops…"

After Storm had landed safely on the ground they made their way back to their car, Daken supporting Northstar, who held the child that was tucked between his jacket and chest, and Beast ordering Logan to sit on the back so that he could take a look at his wound.

"It's healed, Furball!" the feral grunted and nodded at the speedster. "He 'n the kid need more help than I do."

"Was there anyone else in the house?" Storm asked, while Cyclops drove back. Her eyes switched briefly towards the riot on the streets and all she could do was to shake her head.

"Dead…," Northstar said huskily and coughed. "They were all dead…" He looked down at the still sniffing child when Beast handed the boy back over.

"He's got a healing factor," the furry mutant announced and eyed the half Asian child curiously. "Could be your son actually… From the way he looks I mean."

Daken's eyes narrowed. "Need a haircut?"

"It was a joke!" Beast said and opened his uniform a bit. "At least he's fine with that mutation of his. Not so much for you," he said with a look at Northstar. "Stupid boy!"

"Well he survived, didn't he?" the speedster leant back and closed his eyes after making sure he wouldn't let the boy fall. His lungs and throat burned like hell but right now he didn't care.

"You will spend tonight and tomorrow in the ICU, my friend!" Beast said and checked on the speedsters pulse. "Better hope you don't have smoke poisoning…"

From next to Cyclops Storm leant over the seat to have a better look at the boy and she smiled. "Hello there, cutie," she cooed and made Daken roll his eyes. "What a fine little boy you are, huh?"

"Do we have a bucket?" the feral asked with a look at Beast, who turned back around and immediately gave Northstar a worried look.

"Why? Does he feel sick?"

"No," Daken replied. "I do." For emphasis he looked at Storm, who looked back at him rather sourly. "What do you intend to do with that thing?" he asked and nodded at the boy, who was sleeping in the speedster's arms.

Beast shrugged. "We have to wait and see…"

"I'll keep him…"

Logan cocked an eyebrow, while Storm smiled and Daken looked ready to open the door and jump out. "What…?!" was all the younger feral could say.

"I'll keep him," Northstar repeated. "He doesn't have anyone. His whole family was burning in that house. Besides he's a mutant baby and you've heard what they wanna do to them."

Daken snorted and couldn't help but give a painful grin. "That thing won't sleep in my room!"

Northstar shrugged. "Then he sleeps in my room."

"You sleep in _my_ room!" Daken grunted and narrowed his eyes as if someone was about to take away his property.

"Well then he has to sleep in there, too."

"The hell he does!" the feral snapped angered.

Hushing him, Northstar coughed. "Keep your voice down, okay? He's sleeping and my heads about to explode."

"I think it's a good idea," Storm said after they had parked the car in the garage and headed for the locker room. "Paul's good with kids and makes a great father. Besides he's right. They would probably kill the boy instantly just because he's a mutant baby and if his family is really dead… He needs someone to take care of him." She took the boy from Northstar as Beast led him to the infirmary and gave the child another curious look. "And Hank's right…," she added with a look at a more than displeased Daken, who couldn't get out of the uniform soon enough. "He could really be your child…"

"What the…," Daken said as she handed him the boy and went to her side of the locker room.

"You're already dressed. You can go upstairs and give him a bath. I'm sure someone can spare some of their children's clothes," she told him from behind the lockers and peeled out of her uniform.

"I could also smash his head on the ground…," Daken growled and held the child as far away from him as possible. "It stinks…"

"That's why I said _bath_!"

Logan sighed and closed his locker, then walked over to take the boy from his son. "I'll take him until Paul's better," he grunted annoyed and cradled the boy in his arms. "Coz I've nothin' better t'do than carin' for another kid," he added sourly and left the room. His son followed him to the elevator and both of them didn't say a word the whole time through. When the elevator opened and they went down the corridor they ran into Jubilee, who just left the kitchen. She of course spotted the boy instantly and came over.

"Who's that?" she asked smiling and looked from him to Daken and back, then grinned. "So much to Paul saying he's not pregnant with twins," she said, giggling and remembered the encounter too well. "How did that happen? I thought you were out to save the world and not to make babies?"

"Just shut up!" Daken growled with force in his voice and stomped past here, whereas Logan gave her a scolding look.

"Don't tease him when he's already about t'explode," he grunted and aimed for his rooms.

"But where did you find it?"

"Him!"

"'kay, so where did you find him?" she asked and he gave her the short version, which made her coo at the boy.

"Poor fella… Anyway, Jean's upstairs," Jubilee told him and patted his shoulder with a grin. "Then congrats, Wolvie. You'll make a great grandpa!"

"Jubes!" Logan growled but she was already gone. "Damn kid!" he cursed and went upstairs where he found Jean in the bedroom. "Don't ask! 'n no jokes!" he begged her after seeing her questioning look.

"Who's that?" the redhead asked and came over to look at the boy, who looked back at her with big eyes. "Mini Akihiro…," she said with a smile whereupon Logan growled and pulled the boy up. "Let's get you cleaned up, hm? And then the big grouch can explain who you actually are."

Only shaking his head, Logan went to have a shower, then checked on his children and patted the dogs on his way to the bedroom. In bed he told Jean about what had happened in the city and that the whole situation was even worse than expected. When he came to the part with the burning house the redhead made a sympathetic noise and looked at the boy between them. "Did ya find Larry?"

She nodded while stroking over the boy's head. "Yes. As I said it was easy…"

Logan heard the strange undertone. "Did somethin' happen while ya used that thing?"

"No… But…" Jean sighed and looked at him. "I'm just worried about that whole Trask thing…"

"They won't get our kids, Jean," Logan assured her. "No way in hell!"

"I know. I'm rather worried about what it will mean for all the minorities…," she said and stroked absently over his hand. "If already innocent babies are in their focus…" She gave the boy a look and remembered what she had seen in her coma, how mutants had been treated as slaves… If their son was mutantkind's only hope… "When your other me warned me about Jamie he said that Jamie was important and I needed his power…"

Logan cocked an eyebrow at her. "So?"

"If things are already getting out of hand…how is he supposed to be of any help?" Jean asked him. "He's just two years old…"

He sighed and shrugged. "I dunno… 'n t'be honest I don't wanna think about this shit right now. Had enough of it today…" Logan sat up and put the sleeping boy on his side, while he moved over to lay behind Jean.

"What are you doing?" she asked confused as he cuddled up to her.

"I don't know his scent. I might stab him accidentally when I wake up," he grunted and placed a kiss to her neck. "Let's sleep, okay?"

After she had switched the lights off with her powers, Jean looked at the sleeping boy next to her for a while. "He's not going to stay with us, right?" she asked in a hushed voice.

Logan chuckled. "Nah… Paul wants t'keep him…," he mumbled into her neck and nuzzled her.

"I don't have any objections to Paul… He's good with kids. But Akihiro and a child in the same room…," she said and turned in his arms. "That's not a good idea…"

Logan nodded. "Someone makin' fun of the kid bein' his is even worse…," he mumbled sleepily against her neck and pulled her closer. "Wanna sleep, Jeannie… That fuckers got a big chunk outta my side…"

"Well, he could be his child…," Jean said more to herself and turned in his embrace to pull him closer, too. "Good night," she whispered and kissed him but realized that he was already deeply asleep. Smiling, she stroked over his cheek and closed her eyes, too…

**I know the new chapter came way earlier than expected. My muse had to come back when I actually need to write on those academic papers. Anyway, here's the new chapter. Let me know what you think!! Oh, and since it's only two more chapters to go: ****Let me know what you'd like to see !!!**** See ya!!**


	62. Chapter 59

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

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**At ****LACEYLOU76**** : The problem must be with your email client. Try to switch to another one or use Twitter. Your email address didn't get through either. You can't type them in the normal way. FF net will delete it. Type it like this: Email(at)provider(dot)com This will get through. ; )**

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**As some of you wished for: No… I won't tell. Read yourself. ; )**

**The Japanese curse words are from a Japanese page since such stuff can't be found in any Japanese dictionary (unfortunately). So no guarantee that they are right. My lecturer won't teach me such stuff. ^^**

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**Thanks to MidlifeCrisis for helping out!!**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 59**

"What do you mean _no_?" Jean asked and gave her husband, who lay flat on the bed a reprimanding look. "How can you say no to that?"

"Coz I can," he grumbled. "No way in hell, Jeannie!"

"Logan…," she sighed in annoyance and crossed her arms but he cut her off.

"No!"

"But…"

"No!"

"You…"

"No!" he insisted and sat up. "No way in hell!"

"Why not?" the redhead asked and tilted her head, waiting for an answer.

"Coz…," Logan began and looked for an answer that would have her convinced. "It's stupid!"

"The children like it! And the others around her do, too."

He shrugged. "I don't…"

Jean groaned and shook her head. "You're impossible, really. Your children want to have fun, we want to have fun to forget about what's going on lately and you…"

"…are the only one who sees it for what it really is. Somethin' stupid," he cut her off and crossed his legs on the bed.

"I give up….," he heard her muttering and watched how she got something out of the wardrobe, then seemed to reconsider it and grabbed something else.

"What's that?!"

"My costume," she smiled too sweetly at him and soon, he heard the bathroom door being shut.

"Costume my ass," Logan grunted and lay back down on the bed to doze a bit. It didn't take long and something heavy jumped on the bed. "Freakin' dogs…," he growled playfully and pulled Miloh and Callie closer to cuddle with them for a moment. As his eyes caught sight of his wife, he sat up quickly. "Yer not gonna wear that!"

"Why not?" Jean asked innocently and looked down on herself. "I like it… Besides, it was you who bought me the top."

"No way in hell!" Logan insisted and got up. "Yer ain't gonna go out like this!" To make his opinion clear, he blocked the door. "Get changed!"

"Not before you have picked a costume, honey," Jean said and smiled sweetly at him.

"Are ya bribin' me, darlin'?" he asked and cocked an eyebrow at her.

"Me? No…" She shook her head innocently, still smiling and crossed her arms in front of her chest, which gave her best two arguments another push. She knew the black, corset-like shirt he had once forced her to buy, would come in handy one day. She had also picked the shortest skirt she had on purpose, knowing full well he would rather jump into a tub with acid than letting her go like this. No way in hell she would actually leave their rooms in those clothes anyway… "So?"

"Get changed. Now!" Logan insisted and didn't give any sign anymore that he was in a playful mood. "Yer ain't gonna leave this room dressed up like this."

"Then…pick…a…costume!" Jean replied but he shook his head. "Logan, it's Halloween! We decided to have a party, the children are excited and they will be disappointed, if their father refuses to play with them!"

"I'll play with 'em but not dressed up like an idiot!" he grunted and gave her a gentle push backwards to the wardrobe, where he began to open her shirt and skirt with one hand and fished for the costume she had actually picked for the day in the wardrobe.

Jean sighed and rolled her eyes. "You're one big grouch…"

"'n yer not gonna dress up like a hooker, if I have a say in it!" he grumbled and tried to ignore how good she actually looked in underwear only. "Where's that damn thing?"

"Here," she grumbled back and pulled her witch costume out from between her clothes. Holding it, she made her way to the bathroom again but not before stopping at the door and looking at him. "Big…grouch! Pick a costume!"

Logan huffed and sat back down on the bed, glaring at the door. He wanted to kill whoever had come up with the stupid idea of having a Halloween party. As if it wasn't enough that he felt sick like hell because of all the scents that lingered in the air, no, his devil wife wanted to force him into wearing a costume. No way in hell…. He looked aside when Miloh nudged him with his wet snout and reached out to stroke through the wolf's white fur. "Women are nuts…," Logan told him and received a low _wuff_ for it. "Yeah, I see ya got it…"

"I'm downstairs," Jean announced and he ogled her tight black dress for a moment. "Pick a costume and join us!" To make her standpoint clear, she pulled him up with her powers and gave him a gentle push towards the wardrobe. "Get going, honey. The children are waiting!"

Huffing once more, Logan heard how the front door was closed by her and crossed his arms. He was well aware of the fact that she would keep on bugging him, if he appeared without a costume. But not her, also Storm and the others. Especially the women had made clear that the men shouldn't dare to show up without a costume. Not to mention his kids…. "Great…," he growled and opened the wardrobe reluctantly, thinking about what the hell he should dress up like. As he thought about how peaceful his life had been in the woods of Canada, a smirk became visible on his lips and he began fishing for a specific kind of clothes. "Gotcha, Jeannie…," he said to himself and grinned devilishly. "No way ya can complain about that…" Feeling victorious, he began undressing himself.

In the meantime, Jean had helped Ororo, Moira, Kitty and Rogue to brink the drinks and food to the ball room they usually used for parties. "I think that was all…," the weather goddess said and looked around to make sure they hadn't forgotten about anything. "What do you think, girls?"

"I think you're right," Rogue nodded.

"And I think the guys will be the ones to tidy up afterwards," Kitty added.

"Oh, you're so right," Moira nodded and brushed her dark hair back. "So let's see… It's decorated, we've got drinks and food, snacks, music… Sweets for the children, games… Yes, I think we've thought about everything. Ladies, good job!"

Smiling, Jean used her powers to dim the light and together they looked at the decorated room. Pumpkins and little lights were lying or hanging around the room and gave it a cozy atmosphere. The room smelled good and she was really satisfied with their work. "Yes, good job indeed…," she nodded.

"Too bad that Paul is sick," Narya said after entering the room and dropped another bowl on the table at the stove. "He loves Halloween."

"Maybe he feels a bit better today," Moira shrugged. "But I doubt it as much as he was coughing and wheezing yesterday."

"And knowing him, he'd rather stay locked up in his room than risking we will get sick, too," Narya concluded and hugged herself. "Who'll be getting Kazuki from him?" she asked, referring to the boy the man had rescued out of the burning house and taken care of every since. By coincidence he had figured out the boy's real name when he was doing the laundry and saw that the name had been written down on the label of the shirt. As Logan has guessed before he had been proven right that the boy was indeed half-Japanese and that he didn't seem to understand English that well. Of course Daken had refused to communicate with the child at all and teach him English, so the Grey children had volunteered to do so.

"I'll get him. I need to bring Paul his meds anyway," Jean said and left the room, just to stop dead in the tracks. "Logan….," she groaned and gave him a reprimanding look. "What the hell is this supposed to be?!"

"My costume, darlin'," he smirked and went over to pull her close and kiss her.

"Costume?" she asked and nodded ironically. "Wow… It's awesome…," she added in a sarcastic voice and looked at him. "Jeans, wife beater and a buttoned shirt…. It's not like you never wear that at all…"

"It's a costume!" he insisted, smirking.

"And what is this supposed to be?" she demanded to know, which made him chuckle.

"Canadian lumberjack, darlin'. Thought ya had figured that out," he replied, proudly and gave her another kiss on the neck. "I'm with the kids."

"Canadian lumberjack?!" he heard her asking aloud and laughed loudly. "Logan!" Shaking her head, Jean let out another groan. She should have known he'd pull such a stunt on her.

In the end, she made her way to the second floor and knocked on Northstar's door. "Oh…," she said as he opened and looked even worse than the days before.

"Thank you. You look great, too…," he replied in a hoarse voice and made room for her to come inside. "Kazu's in his room. Thanks for getting him."

"Of course," she smiled and handed him the medicine. "Take two of those before you go to bed. Tomorrow you take three of those in total. And don't forget to drink a lot!"

"Alright…," he nodded and slumped down on the bed, coughing.

Jean watched him for a moment and really thought her friend looked miserable. In the end he really had a hard time lately. He took care of Kazuki during the day, studied for his teaching license at night, was fighting with Daken as soon as the two of them ran into each other… "Do you need anything?" Jean asked after getting the boy and pulling him up.

"No, thanks. I'll just try to sleep…," Jean-Paul said after swallowing the pills she had given him. "That is if my head won't explode…," he added and sank back in the covers with closed eyes. "Just make sure Kazu has a good time."

"If you want he can sleep over at our place," she suggested. "You should really get some rest and he'll probably wake you up at night again."

"I don't want to cause you trouble…"

Jean waved off. "Jamie can sleep with Logan and me and Kazuki can sleep in Jamie's bed. That's not a problem at all. Really! Isa or TJ are sleeping over so often. We are used to take care of more children than just ours," she said and winked at him, which earned her a weak smile. "So, stay in bed and sleep. And don't forget to drink enough!"

"I will. Thanks, Jean!"

"My pleasure," she smiled and stopped at the door when the boy returned the wave he was given.

"Bye, Kazu. Have fun!" Northstar said as good as he could.

"Bye!" the boy replied and held onto Jean's shoulders, while she closed the door and carried him over to the party room.

"Would you like to play with Jamie, Alex and the others again, Kazuki?" she asked him and received a nod. "Okay, then lets see where they are."

"Mommy!" Lily screeched and jumped at her from around the corner. "Daddy is a Canadian lumberjack wolf and he wants to eat me!"

"So now he is a Canadian lumberjack wolf…," the redhead nodded and then shook her head with a sigh as she watched how Logan, with Laura and Rachel on his back, chased after Isa and TJ on all fours. "He's such a big child…"

"That's because he's a man, mommy!" Lily lectured her and received a surprised look from her mother. While she tucked on her cowboy hat, she added, "Aunt Jubes said that all men are in fact big children and that their mental development stops at 12!"

"How true…," Jean nodded and received a look for that comment from her husband, who had heard it of course. "Would you take Kazuki with you, Lily?"

Smiling, the girl nodded and took the boy's hand. "C'mon, Kazu. We go and steal candy from my daddy. But you have to be careful! Daddy's a wolf today and might try to bite you," she warned the younger boy and smiled at her mother when she giggled.

When Jean heard footsteps, she turned around. She looked at the man, who wore black, perfectly fitting pants, black shoes, a black shirt with three buttons open and gave her an annoyed look. "Where are you going, Akihiro?" Jean asked as he motioned to walk past her and received a brief glare.

"Out!" he said and put over a black, tailored jacket, which, too, fit his frame neatly. "And I told you to stop calling me that. It's not my name!" he added angrily and moved further down the corridor.

"When will you be back?" she called after him.

"When I'm back," he said and closed the door to the garage behind him.

Only able to shake her head, Jean went into the room where Logan was still playing with the children on the ground, who now used him as a horse all at once. "Don't complain about back pain later, honey!"

Huffing, he growled at the children playfully and caught Rachel and Isa in his arms. "Gotcha!"

"Mommy, he wants to eat us!" the little redhead squealed.

"Yeah, because Uncle Logan is a Canadian lumberjack wolverine and they eat little children!" Isa squealed next and laughed when he growled into her back.

"I thought you were a wolf?!" Jean asked and gave him a confused look.

"I'm many things, darlin'," Logan shrugged innocently but his look spoke volumes.

"Dirty mind!" she scolded him mentally and went back to join her friends in the party room.

Not much later everyone was gathered in it. The adults that did not take part, watched how the children got ready to play games to obtain sweets. It was then, that Logan suffered the shock of his life…

"Daddy, look! My costume's done!" his son cheered happily and posed in front of him. "Isn't it totally cool?!"

Clearing his throat and beginning to sweat, Logan looked around to make sure no one had actually noticed his shock. "So, uhm…," he began and crossed his arms. "Who are ya supposed t'be, huh?"

Jack cocked an eyebrow at his father and crossed his arms with a tilt of his head. "I'm you, daddy!" To make it even more obvious, he showed him his plastic claws and growled dangerously. "See?"

Only capable to stare at the yellow spandex that was nearly identical to his old Alpha Flight costume, Logan shook his head and sighed heavily. "Never thought it really looked _that_ stupid…," he mumbled. After noticing his son's look, he cleared his throat once more. "So, uhm…," he began and kneeled down, checking his surroundings. "Who exactly told ya that I…paraded around like that, huh?"

"Uncle Scott did," Jack shrugged and stormed off when Hank announced the first game of the evening.

"Uncle Scott did…," Logan repeated and smiled sweetly at the man at the other end of the room, who was talking to his fiancée. "I think daddy has t'thank him in person…," he growled but began to think. Scott couldn't know about the costume… But then again, he had mentioned yellow spandex when Logan had joined the team. Glaring suspiciously at the man, who gave him a questioning look back, Logan's eyes fell on James. He knew his cousin sometimes loved to make fun out of him, so he was sure it could have been only him who had spilled Logan's dark secret. About to go over to _thank_ him personally, he felt how a hand took his.

"Not now!" Jean warned him sweetly and pulled him away so that they could watch their children together.

"Are ya in it, too?!" he asked her suspiciously.

She smiled. "You were sending, honey," she soothed him and pulled him with her. When they had reached her original spot, she turned around to place her hands against his chest and smiled. "This old uniform wasn't sexy at all…"

He growled. "Don't mention that darn thing!"

"Yellow isn't your color, baby," she went on, still smiling while he narrowed his eyes.

"Ya won't let me see the end of it, will ya?!" he asked her and received a kiss and a firm hug.

"At least you look damn sexy in our uniforms, hm?" she whispered into his ear and could tell he was smirking.

"Do I?" Logan asked cockily and his hands wandered down her back and towards her hips. "Which part do ya like the most, huh?" he whispered huskily into her ear and made her shudder.

"Not now, honey." Smiling, she turned around to watch the children.

Logan chuckled when a blind-folded Isa accidentally hit Jack on the head with one of the sticks she had to use to hit the piñata above her. Hearing it, Jean gave him a nudge into the ribs. "Hey!"

"Stop laughing about it! She can't see him in the end."

"Well, he got beaten up by his girlfriend…," he smirked and nudged another attack by her. "Sadist!" he sulked playfully and pulled his wife close to wrap his arms around her from behind and rest his head on her shoulder.

"Meany!" Jean returned the favor, leant back against him and entwined their hands. "Laura, don't run Jamie over, he's right behind you!"

"I know, mommy," the girl sighed and jumped to snatch the candy from her older brother as the piñata broke open and sweets poured out of it. Sulking, Jack growled at her when she stuck out her tongue at him in return.

"Heightened senses, darlin'!" Logan reminded his wife and nuzzled her neck. "We know yer there before ya have even arrived…"

"I know. I just tend to forget it sometimes….," Jean replied lost in thoughts.

"Daddy!" Rachel, who was dressed up as her current book hero Hermione Granger, suddenly whined and made him look up.

By the way she had called his name someone could think it was a life and death situation. "What's wrong, pumkin?" he asked and kneeled down beside her, trying to figure out her problem.

"I don't wanna do this. It's disgusting! There are worms in there, see?" she blurted out and pointed at the cold noodles in the pot.

"Baby…These are noodles. They won't bite ya," he tried to calm her down. "Besides yer not supposed to dive in there, okay?"

"NO!" the little redhead whined and wrapped her arms around his neck to hide her face from those disgusting worms. "Jack said they can burn my hand off!"

"Sissy!" Laura, who was dressed up as a vampire, mocked and, while being blindfolded, went fishing for the candy in the pot, not caring about the noodles at all.

"I'm not a sissy!" Rachel snapped.

"Hey! Stop it, both of ya!" Logan quickly said before the situation could escalate. Thinking about what to do, his eyes fell on huge dark brown one's that looked curiously back at him. "Ya know what we do, kiddo?"

"No, what?" Rachel sniffed and looked at him from aside.

"I'm pretty sure Kazuki will help ya out, what do ya think?" her father smirked and kissed her on the cheek, before he waved the boy over to them. As soon as he was there, he pulled him on his lap and explained him what to do. "Understood?" Logan asked, received a nod from the boy and helped him to reach into the pot. Much to his dismay, Kazuki rather enjoyed the splashing of the water than actually fishing for the candy.

"I already know who is going to mop the floor…," Ororo said and went on filling glasses with wine cooler for the adults.

"Remy dinks Stormy should pay attention t'er fils," the Cajun suddenly said next to her and made her frown.

"My what?"

Instead of replying, he pointed at something behind her. "Dere, chérie."

"Oh no…," the woman groaned. "Jean! They found the cookies," she cried and waited for the redhead to join her side. "They nearly ate all of them!"

"Jamie…," Jean sighed and pulled the Cookie Monster up, who was still happily munching on his food. "You're going to be sick as much as you've eaten…"

"Perfect costume for him, Jean!" John laughed and received a playful glare from her.

"And my little monkey isn't any better…," the weather goddess sighed and took the cookie box from her son, who instantly started to whine. "No, Tommy. You already had way too much."

"No, mommy!" the boy cried and tried to reach the box she was holding. "Gimme cookie!"

"No, baby. No more cookies for you," she said determined and pulled him up. "I wonder where you got your sweet tooth from…"

"Oh, I could tell you," Jean winked and pulled Jamie up. "I remember someone who…"

"No, you don't! You so don't!" Ororo quickly said and fled to her husband, who was just pulling up TJ, who wore a pirate costume.

Much later, after the children had finished the games, gathered enough candy worth a lifetime supply of sweets and spending time with their friends and parents, the grown-ups ushered them to bed and began tidying up again. "That was fun!" Jubilee cheered and clapped her hands together.

"Yeah. Better than the shit that's going on in the city," Bobby agreed and held the garbage bag open for her.

"Ah!" Scott made and held a hand up. "You just used the forbidden word!"

"Sorry…" Bobby mumbled and looked around the mess the room was. "Why do we have to tidy up again?!"

"Because the girls did all the work," John explained him and handed Scott another garbage bag.

"Yes, I know… I was rather hinting towards a specific, grumpy group leader, who is nowhere to be seen," Bobby said. "Or does he count as a girl now?"

"Hm… I'm not so sure about that. If he puts socks into his pants, maybe," Tony suddenly said and watched the whole scenario in the room. "And before you ask, I won't help you. I might break a nail."

"Done working on the jet?" Scott asked and looked up from his work.

"Nearly finished," Tony confirmed. "Anyway, ladies, I wish you all a good night. The man of the mansion needs some rest!"

"Always the darling…," John grumbled and helped Scott with the little pumpkin shaped lights. "But he's right, where's my dear brother?"

"You didn't hear?" Jubilee giggled and he shook his head. "His little Cookie Monster ate too many cookies and threw up all over daddy. And I really mean _all_ over daddy. Hair, face, shirt… You get my point."

Chuckling, the feral nodded. "At least the kid's aiming's not off."

* * *

Upstairs, Logan rested lazily against the white sofa in their apartment, one arm dangling from it, the other holding the redhead close, while both of them were wrapped in a blanket. He had taken a thorough shower and thought he could still smell his son's vomit. The children were already in bed and sleeping, whereas the two adults intended to finish watching a movie and then going to bed. But something wasn't quiet right, as Jean figured.

Her head was resting against Logan's chest, her hand, too, while she lay between his legs and had one entwined with his. He on the contrary was lazily stroking up and down her side. Of course had his hand sneaked under her shirt, it always did, and she was sure that it wasn't his belt she was feeling through their clothes.

"Logan…," she began and looked up at him a bit, her hip moving automatically with it and making him wince.

"No," he simply said without even knowing what she meant. Still, he could guess it…

"Do you have a…?" Jean tried again, stretching so that she had a better look at his face.

"No!" he grunted, her move making him shift once more. "Would ya just lie still, please?"

Only able to shake her head, she settled back against him. "I can't believe you've got a…," she began and sighed. "Men…"

"It's only half a tuffy, 'kay? Besides it's yer own fault!" Logan complained and sulked.

"_My_ fault?!" the redhead asked and turned again, which made him groan.

"Stop movin', damn it! 'n yeah, yer fault!"

"How can it be my fault, I'm just lying here and…"

"…rub against me like a cat!" he said matter-of-factly.

Jean's eyes grew wide and her jaw dropped. "I'm so not rubbing against you, Logan!" she replied and shifted her position.

"See?" he said. "Ya did it again just now!" To stop her from doing it, he wrapped both arms around her and pinned her to his chest. "So stop movin', please! It's uncomfortable."

"It's so typical for you men to get excited by just watching TV…," the redhead said and shook her head, sighing.

"As I said…. Yer own fault," he grumbled and shifted his position on the couch. "Why do ya have t'smell so damn good anyway?"

"Would you prefer it, if I stank?" she asked back and made him chuckle. "See?" To return the favor she accidentally pressed against his groin, which made him breathe in sharply. "Oh, I'm sorry…," she purred and hid her grin in his shirt. "Did he feel uncomfortable?"

"Jean…," Logan growled and narrowed his eyes. "I swear I'm gonna throw ya on the bed…"

"Hm….," she made and rubbed against him once more, which earned her another warning growl. Jean just giggled quietly at his warning and turned back around, fixing her eyes back onto the screen in front of them. Logan tried unsuccessfully to calm his breathing and to concentrate on the film, but to no avail. The scent of her hair kept on tickling his nostrils and the warmth of her body so close just made him feel more uncomfortable in his pants. Throwing a hand over his face in frustration, he gave up on trying to hang onto his self control and grabbed Jean's hips between his hands. With one movement of his muscles, he had her beside him on the sofa and not a second later, he smothered her surprised squeal with his lips. Breaking the kiss and looking down at her, he saw her raised eyebrow and shrugged as best as he could. "Told ya it's yer own fault, darlin'. Maybe use a different shampoo the next time, eh?" As he was about to kiss her again, she stopped him by putting her hands against his chest. This, too, earned her a cocked eyebrow.

"Not in the living room. The children can wake up and walk in on us…," she scolded him gently and thought she had destroyed the mood when he sighed. But instead she was thrown over his shoulder, the TV switched off and he carried her to their bedroom, where he locked the door and, as he had told her before, threw her carefully on to the bed.

"Well, they won't here," Logan said huskily and stripped out of his shirt, which he threw into the next corner. He smirked as he noticed her excitement and slowly began to open his belt and zipper, then stopped.

"You tease!" Jean complained and threw a pillow at him, which made him chuckle and approach her slowly.

"Excited, darlin'?" he growled playfully and ascended her body like a predator, while pushing her t-shirt slowly up by pressing kisses on her belly. He smirked against her skin when she shuddered noticeably and sat up to help him getting out of the shirt. "Ya smell damn good…," he grunted huskily and traced her navel with his tongue, slowly drawing circles around it until she shuddered again. "Damn good…," he repeated and kissed his way upwards slowly, taking his time with her most sensitive parts until he had reached her neck and began placing loving kisses and bites on it.

"You tease!" Jean sighed and pulled his head closer with both hands, while she wrapped one leg around his hip, drawing him closer that way, too. Another shudder jolted through her body as his groin pressed firmly against hers and she felt his erection. "Not so half a tuffy anymore, hm?"

"Yer fault…," he growled into her neck and peeled her out of her panties with his hands, while he wiggled out of his jeans at the same time. To his surprised Jean used her powers to push him onto his back. "Eh?"

Only smiling, the redhead brushed her hair back with one hand after straddling him and leant in to kiss him passionately. "You don't always have to be on top, mister," she teased him back and gave his neck, chest and stomach the same attention he had given hers. When she reached his navel, she smirked and looked up at him but decided to only brush lightly over his groin, which made him groan impatiently. "Patience, darling," Jean mocked him playfully and bit gently into his lower lip. She smiled when he growled playfully against her lips and squealed as she was suddenly turned around and was once more on her back. "Hey!"

"I wasn't finished, yet," he smirked victoriously and, before she could sit up again, pinned both of her hands gently above her head to the bed. "Ah, ah!" he made and leant in to trace her lips with his tongue. "Ya can sit on me as long as ya want later, baby," he said huskily and let his free hand wander down her soft skin until she breathed in sharply and arched her back. "But now it's my turn." Having said so, he sealed her lips with another deep kiss and went on stroking her into sheer madness.

* * *

"What do you want to have for your birthday?" Jean asked after a long and very satisfying session with him, while playing with his chest hair.

"Nothin'…," Logan grunted and pulled her closer with one arm while he had his eyes closed, still basking in the afterglow.

"Unacceptable, baby," she immediately said and rolled on top of him. "120 will be celebrated!"

He cracked one tired eye open and looked at her. "I hate parties, Jean…"

"I asked what you would like to have for your birthday, dummy," she said and rested her head on his chest while looking at him.

"Nothin'… Ya know I don't need things. Got everythin' I ever dreamed of," he yawned and rolled them over so that he could cuddle up to her. "A nice date with ya. That's all I need…," he mumbled into the crook of her neck and closed his eyes.

"Hm…," she made and stroked lazily through his hair. "I'll think about something nice, honey," she promised and kissed him. "Love you…"

"Love ya, too…," he mumbled sleepily and pulled her even closer.

* * *

"Morning!"

Hearing the usual cheerful tone, the group looked up in surprise. "What kind of meds did you give him yesterday?!" Moira asked Jean and watched how the speedster greeted his foster son joyfully.

"Actually…normal ones…I thought…," the redhead replied and she, too, watched the man hopping onto his usual chair as if nothing had been wrong with him in the past 3 days. "What happened to you?!"

"Hm?" Jean-Paul asked and looked to and fro between the two women.

"How come you feel perfectly fine today?" Scott translated for him and received a chuckle.

"I'm a speedster, ladies, which means I have a very fast metabolism and therefore need a healing factor. Mine's not as fast as Logan's though," the Canadian explained amused. "I'm usually never sick for longer than a day, so…" He shrugged and went on piling eggs on his plate. Nevertheless, his joyful mood dropped instantly below zero when he noticed someone entering the room and turned his head to give the reason a brief look.

Logan watched the person walking over to the fridge, shirt half open, hair disheveled and turned around to give the clock a brief glance. They had slept in, it was nearly 11 a.m. and he just couldn't believe his eyes. "Don't tell me ya just came back home…," he grunted, clearly displeased and narrowed his eyes even further.

"So?" Daken shrugged and stifled a yawn before he emptied the coffee mug in nearly one gulp and rubbed his eyes.

"Jean said ya left around 4:30 p.m. yesterday 'n ya just came back in?!" Logan asked again, still not believing it.

Daken heaved a deep breath, rolled his eyes and glared back at his father. "I think you didn't understand my rhetorical question before, so I'll repeat it just for you, Logan," he growled back. "SO?"

"Watch yer mouth, kid!" Logan warned him and received a chuckle.

"Or what, _daddy_?!" his son mocked and dropped the mug in the sink. "I mean you might have forgotten about it, since you've never been there, but I'm of age!" With another glare he moved towards the door. "So mind your own business, Logan!"

"Yeah, and acting oh so grown up…," Jean-Paul mumbled more to himself and shook his head, not noticing that Daken had frozen on the spot.

"Did someone ask you?" he snapped and the speedster turned around.

"Did someone talk to you?" he asked in return and the tension between them became once more too noticeable.

"Guys…," Narya tried when the feral and speedster began to stare each other down and gave the impression they were about to start a brawl. "Come on…just leave it!"

"I don't know," Daken shrugged arrogantly, crossed his arms and kept glaring at the man in front of him. "I thought I heard a _fag_ talking to me." He smirked and tilted his head, ignoring the reactions of the others about his insult.

Northstar tried to give him his sweetest smile and got up. "And I think a pathetic _slut_ has just mistaken me for himself," he replied and mimicked the feral's stance, who had slipped a warning growl. "Am I right?"

While he kept his glare, Daken looked up at the slightly taller speedster. "I wouldn't risk such a big mouth, if I were you…," he snarled and Northstar snorted.

"Sure," he nodded cockily. "There's just the problem that I am much faster than you and know the same fighting styles your father does, because he trained me," he listed mockingly and acted as if he was thinking hard. "Oh, and wait! I also know your fighting styles and dirty tricks, so…" He shrugged and winked at the feral, who was ready to snap but was grabbed by Logan and pulled out of the room.

"Let go!"

Doing so, Logan pushed his son against the wall and slammed one hand against it. "Ya will go, shower, clean up 'n then join us in the gym. 'n I don't care if yer wasted or tired! Ya knew we have a session after breakfast 'n yer gonna take part in it. 'n ya WILL show up, understood?" he grunted warningly and left his son glaring at him, whereas he went back into the kitchen.

When he was later observing the team and watched them trying out what he had taught them before, he kept a watchful eye on his son and the speedster, who had been given the task to practice their special attack. A simple task, as Logan figured, since all they had to do was…actually doing it. Daken had to hold onto Northstar, Northstar had to steady him, Northstar had to run, Daken had to aim and slash out, Northstar had to use his power to create light. Simple. Just as he liked it. But of course he wouldn't be himself, if things actually went according to plan. And he was rapidly running out of patience… If that was even possible to happen faster than usual. When both mutants crashed onto the ground, accompanied by curses, bitching and insults that were thrown at each other for the at least sixth time, Logan had enough. He wished he had just stayed in bed with Jean…

"What's your fucking problem?!" Daken snapped at the speedster and pushed him against the wall.

"I'm telling you for the last time now that I can't cope with both of our weights and come to a halt, if you put all your weight onto my left side! Don't you get that?!" Northstar snapped back and had to suppress the strong urge to slap that arrogant grin out of his opposite's face.

"Then I'd suggest you start training your muscles in a gym and not in bed," Daken replied and his smirk widened when Northstar's eyes narrowed in anger.

"I'm not the one banging everything that has two legs lately!" the man replied.

"Jealous?" the feral mocked.

"Of a manwhore like you? No!"

"Damare!" Daken snarled in his native tongue and grabbed Northstar by the collar, but another hand grabbed his wrist and pulled him harshly away.

"No, you both will shut up now!" Logan barked and brought a distance between them. "I don't give a fuckin' shit what yer problem with each other is lately! Yer affectin' the team, so get a fuckin' grip or get the hell out!" Glaring at both of the angrily, he received an embarrassed nod from Northstar but his son would have none of it. Of course not. He would have marked the day with a big red X on his calendar, if his son did as he was told just for once. "Don't push yer luck, kid…," he warned him on the edge of his patience. "Practice yer goddamn attack without bitchin' like a girl!"

Daken snorted. "Kutabare," he muttered under his breath and looked away.

"I'll give ya _fuck ya_!" Logan said angrily and grabbed him by the collar but his son slapped his hand away. "Get a fuckin' grip!" When his son threw a hateful look at him he pointed a finger at him, not realizing that the others had stopped what they were doing and had come closer to be able to intervene, if the situation got out of hand. "Fuzaken ja neyo!" (Don't try to fuck with me!) he warned Daken, who narrowed his eyes. "Baka yatten ja neyo." (Stop acting stupid)

"Dokka ike yo!" (Fuck off) his son snapped at him and made a step forward to glare him straight in the eye, which looked rather funny considering that he was just 5'9, while Logan measured 6'2.

"Ii kagen ni shiro yo, kid!" (This is the limit) Logan growled and moved closer, too, a move, which alerted Hank, Scott, John and Peter at the same time. "Itta tori ni shiro yo!" (Do as I say)

"You wish!" Daken snarled and gave him a push, whereupon Logan wanted to make a move but was held back by Colossus and Hank.

"Get the fuck out of this room!" Logan snarled and got even madder when he couldn't free himself out of Colossus's steel grip. "Dokka ike yo!" (Get out) he barked at his son, who huffed and extracted his third claw on the inside of his left arm, which mimicked Logan's middle-claw stance that he loved to give Scott.

"Shine!"(Go to hell) Daken hissed and turned to leave, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Let me go!" Logan growled and tried to free himself once more but Peter and Hank held him in a firm grip.

"Not before you've calmed down," Colossus insisted and pulled the feral even firmer against his chest.

"He's not worth shredding the gym, showers or fridge, my boy," Hank added and patted Logan's back, while the feral heaved deep breaths to keep the berserker down. "I didn't understand a word you were saying to each other, but I can imagine that they were far beyond nice…"

"He's going too far!" Scott said and crossed his arms. "And to be honest, I have enough of this arrogant, self-centered asshole. Since Paul isn't around him anymore he became…" He stopped when Logan's head jerked aside and focused on the speedster. "No need to beat him up, he got your warning!"

"Let me go!" Logan grunted once more and pulled his arms free. "John will take over," he ordered and his brother gave him a puzzled look when he took Northstar's wrist and dragged him over to the changing rooms. "'n we have a nice chat now." Closing the door behind him, he crossed his arms and glared at the man in front of him. "What happened?"

Sighing, the speedster put his hand to his hip and looked at the ground, then shrugged. "I told him a dozen times already that my left leg can't withstand the weight of both of us combined," he began and looked up. "You know that my left leg is the bad leg. He complains that he can't attack with his right hand as good as with his left hand, since he's left-handed and insists that I hold him on my left side, which is not possible with my former leg injury." When Logan cocked an eyebrow at him, he began to frown. "What's the matter now?!"

"I don't give a damn."

"You just asked, Logan!"

"Yeah, _what happened_ meant what the fuck happened between the two of ya that ya keep on bitchin' about each other?" Logan asked and noticed the sudden change in his opposite. The heart had jumped and was beating faster, he had broken eye contact so that the feral couldn't read in them, his breathing had speed up a bit… He was about to cover it up. Logan was sure about it. "Ya know I can tell when yer lyin', right?"

"Nothing has happened," Northstar simply said and looked away.

"See? There it goes. Lie!" Logan grunted and leant back against the wall. "The two of ya were inseparable, Paul. Ya shared a room, ya shared a bed, ya actually managed t' make Akihiro open up 'n even smile 'n laugh!" he went on and shook his head. "What the hell happened that he's back t' bein' the devil's child?! Why do ya ain't getting' along anymore?" he asked and waited for an answer. But it never came. "Is it the kid?"

"Kazu's one reason, yes…," Jean-Paul confirmed.

"Why?"

"I can't tell you, Logan…"

"Sure ya can," the feral insisted and stepped closer. "Is Akihiro jealous coz yer takin' care of the kid 'n he has t'share ya now?"

Northstar huffed and looked at the ceiling for a moment. "I wish it was that simple…"

"Then what?!" Logan asked impatiently. "The change happened from one day t'the next. So it must be somethin' big." He waited. Silence. "Did he hurt ya or force ya t'do anythin' ya didn't want t'do? Is that it?"

"No…"

"But?" The feral remained persistent. Nevertheless, he didn't receive an answer. "Listen, I'm just tryin' t'understand why he's so different all of a sudden. 'n somethin' must have happened between ya 'n him." Once more, he waited and held Jean-Paul's gaze. When he was about to give up and turned around with a sighed _Fine…_, the man finally spoke up.

"I caught him with that blonde chick at Tony's… When he invited us over to get a new suit."

Logan froze and cocked an eyebrow at the man after turning around. "Carol?!" he asked and received a shrug.

"I don't care," Northstar said. "Anyway, we got into a fight since he didn't like it that I moved out and he called me a faggot and that I was a cheap fuck anyway and I don't think that I have to take this shit from a slut like him, right?" he asked in a rather sour voice and moved back over to the door to leave, frowning, since Logan gave him an odd look. "What?"

"I told ya t'not do this…," the feral said and sighed. He ran a hand over his face and through his hair.

"Do what?" Jean-Paul asked, confused and crossed his arms.

"T'fall in love with him?!" Logan replied in a sarcastic voice and sounded rather displeased.

"I'm not in love with him."

He snorted. "'f course not. That's why ya sounded jealous just now, huh?" he asked and shook his head. "Settle this shit, it's affectin' the team 'n we don't need it right now. The whole mess is already difficult enough."

"Well, I'm not the one picking fights here…," Northstar grumbled and looked away.

"No, yer the one bitchin' back when he starts bitchin'."

For that comment the speedster shot him a sour glare.

"It's true. He tries t'get a rise outta ya 'n yer reactin'," Logan grunted. "As I said, settle this."

"I'd love to, but there's one problem," the speedster said and Logan furrowed his brows. "The Professor asked me to move back into Daken's room, since he needs my room…"

"Damn…"

"Yeah." Northstar nodded. "And damn is actually a big understatement. He hates Kazu, we're constantly fighting and I don't want to be close to him. We're either going to kill each other or…" He shrugged.

"So what yer thinkin' about t'do?" Logan asked and received a shrug.

"Maybe going back to Canada… I don't know."

"Ya can't be serious?!" the feral asked rather surprised. "Alpha Flight's yer family."

Northstar sighed. "I know… But I can't stand being around Akihiro anymore… So I think the best would be to leave for a couple of weeks, let us calm down and then…"

"Then what? Goin' back t'how things were?" Logan mocked and received a rather angry look.

"Of course not. That won't happen again," the speedster insisted and noticed how Logan cocked an eyebrow at him. "Really! We had some fun with each other and that's it." When Logan's look didn't change at all, he tilted his head. "I'm not in love with him, I don't even have a crush on him. It was fun, it's over, that's it."

Nodding, Logan opened the door but gave him a look before he left. "Keep on tellin' that yerself, kid."

"It's the truth, Logan!" Jean-Paul called after him and ran a hand through his black hair. Thinking about what to do, he decided to go and look for the Professor once more. There was no way in heel he could move back in with Daken without the two of them being at each others throats within mere seconds. He didn't have to look for long and ran into him on the corridor. "Professor?"

"Yes?" Charles asked and smiled kindly at him.

"About moving back in with Daken…"

The Professor nodded and folded his hands. "I know, Paul. But unfortunately there's no other way at the moment. Due to the fights in the city more and more mutants seek refuge here and the only people with a single room and Daken and you. Jean's father already gave up his room and moved in with Logan's family."

Northstar sighed and put his hands to his hips. "It will end in a disaster…"

"Let's hope not," Charles replied. "Or would you rather move in with Victor?"

"Hell, no!"

Smiling, the Professor motioned him to follow him to his office. "I know the situation between Akihiro and you is tensed and difficult lately. But unfortunately I can't expand the mansion at the moment. It wouldn't make much sense before next year or during winter. I already talked to Akihiro and asked him to hold back with his insults. If it's really not going to work out then we'll have to think about another solution."

"It won't work out, trust me…," Jean-Paul mumbled rather depressed and buried his hands in his pockets.

"How about your studies? The exam is in a week, if I am not mistaken?" Charles changed the subject and the speedster nodded. Noticing the worried look, he smiled kindly. "You studied so hard, Paul, I am sure you will do well."

"I hope so…"

"I am sure of it," the Professor replied and came to a halt in front of his office. "If you'll excuse me now, but I have to talk to an old friend."

"Of course," Northstar nodded and sighed. "I guess I start moving then…" With a last nod he turned around and headed for his room to pack his and Kazuki's things together. After he was done, he went to get his foster son from Rogue and Narya, who were on baby-duty again, and headed with a heavy heart towards his old room. "Let's see if this works out for more than a minute, shall we?" he asked Kazuki and placed a kiss to the boy's temple, before he knocked and went inside. He had barely stepped inside as two piercing eyes zoomed in on them and narrowed. "Don't give me that look, I'm not happy about this either."

"Did I say something?" Daken asked and his eyes settled back on the book he was reading. "Right side in the closet's free," he added mumbling and turned the page. He watched how the speedster put Kazuki to the ground and went over to said closet to fill it with his and the boy's things. "That Russian guy put a bed for the kid into the other room…"

"That Russian guy is called Piotr or Pete," Northstar replied and could tell that Daken shrugged. He went into the additional room and was surprised to find a nice bed for Kazuki and a small closet, too. When he was done, he decided to give Kazuki a bath and bring him to bed, in the end it was already late for the boy.

"Kimi!" the boy demanded and looked around the bed panicky.

"Where did you put him?" Jean-Paul asked and looked into his bag, thinking that he might have forgotten the bear in it. "Did you leave him in the living room, Kazu?" he asked and looked at the boy, who was thinking hard.

"Kimi!" he suddenly said happily and pointed at something behind the speedster, who turned frowning and couldn't help but narrow his eyes a bit.

"Thanks," he said rather coolly and took the bear from Daken, who watched the interaction in front of him frowning and left again to take a shower.

After he had read a story, Northstar tucked Kazuki in and placed a kiss to the boy's head. "And now sleep, okay?" he said in a hushed voice and left the room. He had barely closed the door when the feral left the bathroom, exchanged a brief look with him and headed for the shower himself. In it, he leant back against the tiles and sighed heavily. He was really considering sleeping on the floor or couch. In fact he wanted to be anywhere but here with the feral. Knowing that he couldn't hide in the bathroom forever, he washed his body and hair and left the room to get clothes to wear.

"Nothing I haven't see before…," Daken grunted as the speedster wanted to go back into the bathroom to get dressed. He smirked when Northstar went into it any way but looked up as someone knocked on the door. "What?!"

"Is Paul here?" Ororo asked and turned her head towards the bathroom when the door opened. "Hey."  
"Did something happen?!" Jean-Paul asked and figured that the woman looked rather nervous.

"The college just called…," she began slowly and he came closer, frowning.

"So?" he asked and crossed his arms in front of his bare chest, his hair still slightly damp from the shower. "What did they want?"

"The exam doesn't take place next week. One of the professors got a call from overseas and has to be there on that day," she explained and bit her lip, not knowing how to break the news for him.

"And did they set a new date?"

She nodded.

"When?" he asked and his frown deepened because of her odd behavior.

"Tomorrow actually…," Ororo said calmly and waited for his reaction.

"Tomorrow?" he repeated in a rather monotone voice and she nodded. "You're joking, right?"

"I wish I was…," she replied and could tell that his mind still had to process the news. "I'm sorry, Paul, but it's the truth. I just wanted to let you know."

He watched how she left and heard the click of the door, the news slowly sinking in. "Fuck!" was all he could say and buried both hands in his raven black hair. "Fuck, fuck, fuck!"

"Calm down!" Daken grunted and received a death glare.

"Calm down?! I only got this one chance to do the exam because that friend of the Professor actually gives me a chance to finish my education. If I fuck up, then that's it!" Northstar snapped. "Tomorrow… I don't believe this…," he cursed and thought his heart would burst in his chest. Shocked and feeling scared, he slumped down on the bed. "Fuck…"

Behind him Daken sighed and put the book away. "If you're shitting your pants now, what will it look like tomorrow?"

"Shut up, you don't understand!"

"No?" he challenged and moved over to sit behind the speedster. "You worked your ass off, you studied day and night, you know the books by heart by now. If you won't pass that stupid test tomorrow, then I don't know who will."

Surprised about the words, Jean-Paul turned around and looked straight into sincere dark hazel eyes for a chance. His heart began to beat faster as he noticed how close they actually sat together, felt the heat the feral was radiating and that his opposite's intense eyes were switching between his eyes and lips. When Daken began to lean in, he got quickly up and cleared his throat. "I…ehm… Kitchen," was all he could say and left the room as fast as he could.

"Hey, I already heard about it," Narya greeting him in the kitchen and got up to hug him. "That sucks so much."

"Yeah, I need to get out of that room and that quickly," he replied and went over to the fridge to get something cool to drink, not seeing that she frowned.

"I actually meant the exam…," she replied and earned a confused look from him.

"Ehm, yeah. That sucks, too," he waved off and drowned the liquid at once.

"Paul…," Narya began and walked over to him, forgetting about her tea for a moment. "What's wrong?" she asked, sounding concerned and could tell that he looked unhappy. In the end, the two of them had always been very close and were best friends. She could tell instantly when something was bothering him and it was clearly the case now. "It's Akihiro, am I right?" she asked and had the answer when he wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his head on her shoulder. She sighed and hugged him back.

"Why do I always have to fall for jerks and assholes?!" she heard him mumbling into her neck. "All I want is a normal, nice guy."

"It's his looks, sweetheart," she tried to soothe him and kissed his cheek, whereupon he turned his head a bit to look at her.

"Why can't you be a guy?"

Narya smiled and stroked through his hair. "Why can't you be into women?" she asked the question she had asked him dozens of times before.

"Fair enough…," he sighed and raised his head but still hugged her back.

Smiling at him, she touched his cheek. "You'll pass that exam tomorrow, okay? And then you can finally teach," she tried to cheer him up but could tell that it didn't help at all. She knew his bad luck with men. "You'll fine someone nice one day, "she promised him and gave him a reassuring smile. "And this someone won't cheat on you and treat you good like you deserve and will also not take you for granted, okay?"

"I hope so…," he mumbled and closed his eyes when she gave him another kiss.

"You'll see. And don't worry about tomorrow, you'll kick ass!" she assured him and received a weak smile, letting slowly go of him in the end. "And now?"

He sighed. "Now I'll go back into the lion's den…," Northstar grumbled with a roll of his eyes. "Good night."

"Night," Narya replied and kissed him back on the cheek. "Tell him I'll kick his ass to the moon, if he's mean to you!"

He chuckled. "I'll try…"

Thoughtfully, she watched him leaving and returned to her seat to go on drinking her tea. She hated it that her friend had such bad luck with partners and always fell for the wrong guys. It wasn't before a hand touched her shoulder that she startled. "Tony…"

"Yes, sweetheart, that's me," he replied in his usual flirtful manner and pointed behind him. "Trouble in paradise?"

"Don't ask," she waved off and sipped on her tea. "What's the matter?"

"Oh, I actually wanted to tell Mr Grumpy-Claws that the jet is finally done but I think he's occupied with his sweetheart," he shrugged and grabbed a beer out of the fridge, then slumped down on a stool next to her. "Hey, since the Professor is rearranging rooms, how about moving in with me? I'm even willing to share my bed and bathtub!"

Narya laughed and shook her head. "I think my boyfriend wouldn't like it, Tony," she replied and got up to put the cup into the sink. "How about moving in with Victor? He still got a single room in the end?"

Playfully thinking about it, he shook his head. "No, I'm not into manly man with claws and fangs. But thanks for the consideration," he said and threw the bottle into the trash bin. "Anyway, in case you run into the Professor or anyone else that has a say here, tell them the jet is ready and can be tested by tomorrow. Good night, sweetheart!" Tony winked and returned the smile he was given. "And if you'll get cold at night, my bed is always nice, comfy and warm!"

"I'll let Victor know!" she returned the favor and switched off the lights in the kitchen, then returned to her rooms.

* * *

The X-Men and Xavier looked at the new jet in awe. Tony Stark stood next to it, a proud smile on his face. He knew they would love it. "So….," he began and nodded at the jet, "ready to take a flight?"

"Is it safe?" Scott asked and earned a questioning look. "I mean did you test it?"

"Of course I did," Tony huffed and shook his head in mock hurt.

"He always tests things on his own," Logan mumbled and walked around the jet a bit. "Military style, huh?" he asked and received a nod. "Extras?"

"Enough weapons to wipe out a whole city, four full defense and offense systems, which scan the surroundings miles ahead, six board computers that calculate non stop, every seat has an own evacuation device," Tony explained and took a deep breath. "All in all enough gadgets and I promise this jet is unique!"

"Stealth mode?"

"Of course. Every seat has its own stealth technology too," he said. "There's no device in the world up to now that would be able to detect you. It also has a full heat and freezing protection." He paused and watched how the other X-Men joined Logan in examining the jet from all sides. "And, the jet doesn't need a pilot. You tell the computer where to go and where to land. It's also able to fly directly above water. All in all…the jet's capability is practically limitless."

"What if a rocket or something like that hits us?" Scott asked, remembering too well what had happened in Japan.

Tony smirked. "It must be a really big rocket that was fired from close by to even leave a scratch. The jet's exterior is coated with metal that's nearly unbreakable."

"Like adamantium?" Logan asked and cocked an eyebrow.

"Something like that," Tony nodded. "It's not unbreakable, but it's very hard to destroy it… So, how about a flight now?" he asked and looked around. Since the X-Men exchanged unsure glances, he walked over to Logan in the end. "You learned how to fly jets in the military, right?"

"So?" the mutant asked.

"You can fly jets?" Ororo asked shocked. "He always refuses to fly them."

"Hate flyin', that's why," Logan snapped.

"Well, if he flies like he drives…," Scott said and quickly looked away when the man next to him growled. "If he flies then I want Jean on the jet, too."

"Why?" the redhead asked.

"Because your powers can stop the jet if necessary."

"I doubt Logan will risk your life, Scott," she said and crossed her arms, but he raised both hands.

"Have you ever been with him on the freeway?!"

"He's a good driver!" she insisted.

"Yeah, when the kids are in the car maybe, but not when I'm around. He's nuts!"

Logan shook his head. "How fast is that thing?" he asked while they entered the jet, his eyes scanning the interior. Tony's smile was answer enough. "I don't have t'ask for protection, right?"

His friend gave a surprised look and faked shock. "I never do it without! Thought you knew that! You never know what you might catch, my friend."

"The jet, jerk!" Logan grunted and crossed his arms.

"You won't notice a thing," the man assured him. "To answer your previous question the jet flies five times faster than a normal jet on supersonic speed."

"Five times faster than supersonic speed?!" Scott asked, his jaw dropped. "That's possible?!"

"With the right equipment," Tony shrugged. "So, ready?" he asked Logan and sat down on the co-pilot seat. "You should be familiar with the technology. I made it as easy as possible and I bought it from the black market. Just for you to feel at home." He watched how Logan eyed the dozen buttons and levers. "Okay… See? This button here says _Start_, this lever here says _Stealth_ and this one…"

"Shut up, Tony!" Logan growled and buckled up. He began to push some buttons as he heard movement behind him.

"He really knows how to fly the jet?" Scott asked from somewhere behind them and Logan guessed that his teammate was probably completely pale, sweating and close to vomiting.

"No, I'm guessing only," the feral mutant grunted and hardly noticed how the engines roared to life. "What kinda insulation did ya use?"

"Good, huh?" Tony smiled proudly. He leant forward a bit to watch how the basketball field opened and back again when the jet began to ascend.

"Logan?" Ororo asked and sounded very insecure. "You really know what you're doing, right?"

"No, I don't," came the reply from the front and the X-Men grabbed the armrests even harder when they began to rise higher.

When the jet was hovering in the sky Logan gave Tony a look. "How long does it need to Japan?"

"Japan?" he heard Scott asking from behind him.

"Not long," Tony replied and entered a command into the computer. It didn't take long and a man could be heard. "Hey, Rhodey!"

"Tony…," the man sighed on the other end of the phone. "Let me guess… A test flight?"

Chuckling, Tony smiled. "How come you know?"

"Because I _know_ you," the man addressed as Rhodey replied. "I can't promise that you won't have any tails. Where are you?"

"On a world tour."

"World tour?!"

"Yeah, felt like it, you know?"

"Man….," Rhodey groaned. "World tour as in world tour or as in bombing bad guys tour?"

"What do you think?" Tony asked Logan first, who shrugged. "No bombing this time."

"Promise?"

"Yeah, promise. Thanks, Rhodey!" Tony said and pushed another button. "Everyone ready?"

"No!" Scott said and gave Jean a pleading look. "You'll save us, right?" He saw how Tony gave him a look.

"Logan can fly, trust me. He just does it…well…"

"Well what?"

"Military style…," Tony replied and looked at Logan. "Can I call it like that? I mean you can do this military…" He made waving motions with his hands and received a cocked eyebrow and a shake of his friend's head. "Cap told me you can."

"Ya don't want me t'do this," Logan grunted and eyed the hypersonic button again, which was the last one in a row that read normal, high speed, supersonic, ultrasonic and hypersonic.

"That's why I picked you as the pilot. You are the perfect pilot to test the jet for extremes," Tony said.

"Extremes?!" Scott asked. "Where is Kurt? I want out!"

"Give him a bit more credit," Jean said.

"I know how he drives!" he replied. "He's reckless when it comes to speed."

"I wasn't the one who came in his pants coz of a car," Logan grunted and watched the hologram next to him that showed the position of the jet on the world map. "Next stop, Japan," he announced and before someone could protest he pushed the ultrasonic and stealth buttons. The jet roared to life and Logan was surprised that he hardly felt any pressure against his body. His eyes followed the jet's route on the map.

"And?" Tony asked him after less than a couple of minutes.

"Fast enough…," Logan nodded impressed and unbuckled.

"Where are you going?" Ororo asked after he had landed the jet, which was still in stealth mode.

"Be right back."

"You just have to love him, don't you?" Tony asked Scott, who only nodded slowly. When the speaker made a noise, he reached out to push the button. "Yeah?"

"Hey, it's me," Jubilee said cheerfully. "I just wanted to make sure you're still alive and not dead on the ground of the ocean."

"Nice…," Scott groaned. "Is that all?"

"No, I also wanted to tell you that Paul passed the exam," she added.

This caught Scott's attention. He paused briefly as he noticed the smile on Daken's lips, which vanished as soon as the feral noticed that he was being stared at. "Ranking?"

"Oh, you'll start crying," he heard her saying and his jaw dropped. "He beat you by five points."

"Never!" Ororo said in surprise and started laughing. "Poor, Scott! Logan will throw a party that a Canadian beat you."

"There must have been a mistake in calculation…," Scott sulked and sank back into his seat.

After over an hour Logan reappeared and closed the hatch behind him again.

"Where have you been?" Ororo asked, watched how Logan dropped a plastic bag next to Jean's seat and returned to his own in the front. "Hello, someone there?!"

After buckling up, Logan eyed the computer for a while and thought about where to go next. If he had such a nice toy to play with for the moment and could decide which places to visit, he wanted to really enjoy it. Nevertheless, he didn't reckon with Scott suddenly shouting:

"You bought 5 Sailor Moon mangas?!"

Turning his head very slowly, Logan noticed that all looks were on him. "Yeah, so?"

"Again…Sailor…Moon…mangas?!" Scott asked again, trapped between shock and the desire to start laughing.

"Got a costume in my wardrobe, got a problem with it?" the feral mutant asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Lily and Ray like the show," Jean said and snatched the bag from her ex. "And you know he taught them Japanese…"

"And what do you dress up as?" Scott smirked at her.

"As my naked moon bunny," Logan grunted from the front, whereupon his son could only roll his eyes and looked back out of the window.

Rolling her eyes, too, Jean began to rummage in the bag and shook her head. "The store still had some books?"

"Well the kids need input, right? We hardly have any Japanese stuff."

"True…" She nodded and put the bag under her seat. "Where to now?"

"Canada," Logan grunted before anyone could say otherwise and hit the necessary buttons. "I ran outta beer and cigars…" Considering his idea, he shook his head. "No, first we have t'make another stop…"

"And where?" Tony asked.

"Jasmin Falls."

"And what's there?!" he asked, confused and followed Logan's gaze when this one looked at his son.

"His mother's grave," Logan explained and noticed that Daken's head shot up, eyes wide with surprise.

**Yeah, I know I posted on Twitter a couple of minutes ago that I'd update on Wednesday. lol Anyway, I'm sorry for the wait but I am quiet busy with college and never back home before 8 p.m. So I don't really find the time to type my stories. I'll try to update Weapon X next. And I'll promise you one thing for the next chapter, which will be the Sequel Finale: It will literary go out with a Bang. Think about what this might mean. ; ) Thanks to all reviewers. I hope my replies will get through! See ya!!**


	63. Finale Part 1

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

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**I have to split the finale in 2 parts. While typing it I came up with too many ideas. So see it as my Christmas present to you guys. ; )**

**Let me know what you think, okay?**

**Christmas present one: long chapter. ^^**

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**Itadakimasu is said before meals in Japan!**

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* * *

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 60: Sequel Finale Part I**

"Magnificent… Truly magnificent," Hank muttered and looked at the x-Rays and results from the tests before. "Who would have thought…?"

"Something wrong, darling?" Moira asked and looked up from her paperwork that included checking on the dates of the latest check-ups from all team members.

"You need to look at this!" her husband said and got up, stepped over Nick, who was crawling on the ground and playing with his toys. "We were so wrong!"

"Wrong with what?" she asked in complete confusion and frowned at the papers and x-rays he showed her. "Those are Akihiro's…," she noticed and took the x-rays from him, took a look at them and still couldn't figure out why her husband was so overwhelmed with astonishment. "Dear, I still don't understand why you're so…"

"Compare the claws!" he hinted and opened the files of Logan on her computer, quickly searching for the latest x-rays and showing them to her. "What do you see?"

Moira looked to and fro between the pictures. "Logan's look silver, Akihiro's don't," she replied and her frown deepened. "But…this can't be right… Adamantium glows silver on x-rays…"

"Exactly!" Hank smiled and put the papers he was still holding in front of her. "Remember when we had to do the surgery on Akihiro's spine? I told you his bones were unnaturally black."

"Yes, I do…" She nodded and took a look at the papers in front of her.

"I did several tests on the example I've taken back then," he went on and his eyes switched to the x-rays once more. "We were completely wrong! Akihiro was never bonded with adamantium. Whatever Sinister had done to him, he didn't bond anything but his inner wrist claws. I compared the metal of those claws with Logan's adamantium and it wasn't a match. Up to now I still don't know what kind of metal Sinister had bonded to them. The rest of Akihiro's bones were untouched."

"But…his bones are black," Moira said and looked confused. "Bones are never black…"

"I know. That's why I did some extra tests on them," Hank told her and pointed at the papers on the table. "His bones have a natural metallic compound in them. My guess is that throughout the years Logan's adamantium must have bonded deeper with his bones than it was intended to do. That's why his healing factor slowed down to a great rate probably. I think the metal then changed parts of his genetic structure or something was added to it, which again gave the information to Akihiro when he was created. The tests clearly indicate such a procedure because of the metallic compounds I found in his bones. His bones are stronger than normal bones, more durable and my guess is he can cut through nearly everything with his claws." He paused for a moment and looked at the results once more. "Still I'm wondering why Sinister went though such great extends for just bonding the inner wrist claws… Whatever that metal on them is, is probably very dangerous…"

Moira thought about everything she had just heard. Then, she recalled what Fury had told them on the day when Akihiro had stolen the Muramasa blade. "Hank… I think I figured it out…," she mumbled and looked at him with big eyes. "Nick Fury said that Romulus intended Akihiro to be a killer who is able to kill Wolverine. If I remember correctly his words were that Logan was able to kill pretty much everyone, so Romulus needed someone to take Wolverine down for him. That's why Akihiro was ordered to get the Muramasa blade. Logan said the metal on it could kill him since it nullifies a healing factor. A part of the blade burst off…"

"So you mean that Akihiro's inner wrist claws are now coated with the metal of Muramasa?" Hank asked and she nodded. "But this would kill him…"

"Not if Sinister included some sheaths to shield the claws from any tissue." She held up the x-ray and pointed at something. "This could be it. It looks like a claw but my guess is that it's the sheath."

Concentrating on it, Hank looked at the spot for a moment and nodded. "Could be…," he agreed. "Well, I wonder if Akihiro knows… I better tell him to be careful with using the inner claw. If it breaks or touches his tissue, then he's in trouble…"

* * *

"What's taking them so long?!" Ororo groaned and leant back in her seat. "They are gone for nearly two hours already..."

"I'm starving...," Scott agreed and sighed.

"Just give them time," Jean said and went on looking out of the window. "Akihiro has never been to his mother's grave before. He's probably overwhelmed by it and..."

Tony chuckled at the front and turned in the co-pilot's seat. "Daken and overwhelmed in one sentence? I highly doubt it. He probably picked a fight with someone, has killed Logan and is now on the run." He frowned when he noticed the looks he was given. "Damn, I was right, wasn't I!?"

In the meantime, Logan was sitting on the porch of his old home and waited. He had showed the house to his son and had given him time to get to know what would have been his, if he hadn't been stolen from his parents. While Daken had taken a look around and taken his time with his mother's things, Logan had remained silent and watched him. To him it appeared as if his son was a different person for the time being. He seemed to be far more tensed, restless and thoughtful than he usually was, took his time with everything as if he wanted to force his brain to memorize the tiniest bits. Logan wondered of his son tried to picture a life with his real parents, what it would have been like for him, if he had turned out different…

Then Logan had led him to the graveyard and given him privacy, was now waiting for him to return. From afar he could seen Ken nodding at him and he nodded back politely. From what he had picked up on his son was stressed out, overwhelmed and if he wasn't mistaken, he had also picked up on fear. It was no surprise to him. Graveyards crept him out, too… Still, he'd like to know what his son was doing or thinking…

In the meantime, Akihiro was still kneeling in front of his mother's grave and stared at it. His mind was blank, he didn't know what to do or whether to say something. In the end, he had never imagined to actually ever see and visit his mother's grave at all. Now, he was lost for the first time in his life and actually longed for support. He guessed his father wanted to give him privacy and time to work things out by himself, but still he didn't know what to do. He knew the Japanese culture and traditions by heart but he never had given much about praying, didn't know who to pray to or what to ask for. In the end he thought that if there was a God at all that one didn't deserve his thanks or time. He had taken his mother from him, had forced him into a miserable childhood and given him a mother that had hated him but acted as if she had loved him, had made him into something more than an animal but less than human… No, he would definitely not start praying… Carefully, his hand reached out and wiped the snow away from the cold stone, his hand lingering on it for just a while longer… His thought returned to the drawn picture that his father had given him, remembered the features of the woman's face by heart and knew that what his father had told him as true. He had inherited the looks mostly from his mother, had her beauty but compared to her dark eyes that even seemed to be alive on paper, his were dead. He was well aware of his handsomeness and attractiveness, had learned to use them to his advantage in the past decades, had used the attraction of others and his body to achieve what he wanted. Being with someone, sleeping with someone had been meaningless to him. It's been an act, never more, never passionate or loving, just getting it over with, finishing the mission and getting what he wanted to further his agenda. But this had been back then, back then when he had been Romulus mere pawn without realizing it.

The feral clenched a fist at the thought of his former father figure and his eyes narrowed in sheer hate. He had trusted him, loved him like a father, followed him and done and endured everything for that man. Getting to know that the past 42 years had been a sheer lie, that he'd been used and abused for nothing, that he _had _nothing… It was true, as he realized. He had nothing. The only person he'd lived for was the man he now wanted to kill. Sure, he had his real father back but the man was as much a stranger to him, as Daken was to Logan. So who was he kidding? He was even more alone in this pestilent world as he'd always been…

"She'd loved you very much," a man suddenly said behind him in Japanese and made him swirl around. Daken's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the sight of the old man. "Your father, too. He'd been so happy and proud when your mother's pregnancy was announced. They would have made such good parents…" Ken shook his head and sighed. "It's a shame, really… That things had to turn out this way…"

"Can't change that now…," Daken grunted in his native tongue and looked back at the stone, his eyes hard.

"No?" Ken asked and buried his hands in the sleeves of his winter kimono. "So is that not your father sitting in front of his old home and waiting for you? Is it not him that brought you here to give you a chance to get to now your mother's old home?" he went on. "Even a blind man could tell that your father loves you very much and is desperate to get to know his son, Akihiro-sama. It's not only you who was betrayed and can't get back what's been taken from him. Whoever did this to your family cheated out your father from being there when you're born, he never had a chance to feed you or change your diapers, to see your first steps or hear your first word. He never saw you growing up or had a chance to teach you his values. It's the crulest punishment for a father to be seperated from his child. But he's there now and only a fool would push away an offered hand."

"What the hell do you…," Daken began on English and turned back around but had to realize that Ken was already gone again. "Strange old man…," he mumbled and looked back at his mother's grave. What would she have told him, if she was here, he wondered and had to realize that it probably would have been the same words than he had just heard. She would have been angry with him for blaming his father, for using him as the scapegoat… If someone as beautiful as his mother could have loved his father, why shouldn't his son be able to at least try to give him a chance…? He heaved a deep breath and kneeled down in the snow to bow deeply in front of the grave. "Okaasan, ganbaru…," (Mother, I'll try my best) he promised and remained in this position for a moment, as if to await her approval. Then, he got up and walked back down the path to join his father at the house…

When the jet's engines began to roar once more, Daken kept on staring out of the window to his left; his mind still occupied with what he had seen and learned. It was then that he remembered something. Something he had forgotten about in the past years…

"Father…?" he asked carefully, the word still sounding foreign to him and the jet's occupants became silent at once. Every one of them was staring at the feral in surprise. They were used to his mocking _Daddy_ or _Logan_ that he loved to spat out with a passion. But right now he sounded too sincere…

"Yeah…?" Logan asked back, he, too, surprised about the way his son had just addressed him.

"I need to visit another place before we go back," the younger feral said absentmindedly and looked back out of the window. "If that's okay, that is…"

Cocking a surprised eyebrow at him, Logan exchanged a look with Jean, who could only shrug. "Sure. Where is it?"

Not much later, while the rest of the group was sitting at a restaurant and finally getting their dinner, Logan followed his son down some streets and was now heading towards a backyard that was well hidden between several houses and could only been reached by passing a labyrinth-like alley. Frowning, he watched how Daken kneeled down in front of a stone, wiped the snow away and exchanged the very old and more than dead flowers with new ones, which he had bought before. He heard him mumbling something and, after taking a good look around, stepped slowly closer to have a better look at what his son was doing. When he was able to take a look over Daken's shoulder and at the stone, he wished he hadn't… His heart had immediately begun to beat triple rhythms in surprise, while his mind kept on telling him that the name was common in Japan, that it couldn't be the same person and that it was just a stupid coincidence.

When Daken was done and felt his father's presence behind him, he turned his head and furrowed his brows, wondered why the man looked so shocked and pale all of a sudden. He got up and cleaned his pants quickly. "Is something wrong?"

Logan awoke out of his day dream and gave his son a disturbed look. He felt very much confused. "Who was she?" he asked in a monotone voice and nodded at the stone behind his son.

"A woman I spent some time with.…," Logan heard Daken saying in a low voice and thoughtful manner. It made his frown deepen. "I met her in a park close by where she was enjoying hanami. We started talking and began to meet on a regular basis for a while… She was older than me but didn't seem to mind…," his son explained calmly and buried his hands in his pockets, a small smile becoming visible on his lips for a very brief moment. "I believed I could hide her from _him_…" He turned to give his father an indefinable look. "On that day she texted me and said she wanted to meet me at her place. When I arrived she hang from the ceiling, naked and cut open from her throat downwards…," he told his father as if it was an everyday thing, his voice cold and monotone. The way he spoke made Logan once more wonder what kinds of horrors his son had experienced in his life… "Of course he was there… He told me it was you who did this. That you had tracked me down and were jealous of my happiness, that you had sworn to make my life the same living hell I had made yours by simply existing…"

Logan looked up, brows furrowed.

"I believed him…," Daken went on and snorted with a shake of his head. He clenched his fists in fury. "I always believed him. Every goddamn lie..." He turned back around and looked at his father once more. "Because he was the only person that gave a damn about me, the only one I could rely on… So knowing this, knowing that it was you who did not only kill my mother but also her… I swore revenge. I wanted to become stronger to make your life the same living hell you had made mine…"

"I didn't do this," Logan insisted and his son met his gaze.

"I know…"

Stepping closer, Logan felt once more how a lump began to build in his throat. "That woman…," he began and couldn't keep his eyes away from the simple letters that read _Amiko_. His heart was clearly racing in fear. "Did she live or knew a woman named Yukio?"

"Yes, she was her foster mother as she told me…," Daken replied and frowned when his father paled first and turned around to walk a few meters, then buried his face in his hands. "Why? Did you know her?!" he asked and waited but there was no reply. "Father?"

Swallowing hard, Logan heaved a deep breath and tried to calm his nerves. "Did he…send ya t'that park ya met her at?"

Still confused, Daken tried to remember and nodded in the end. "He wanted me to meet up with someone who never appeared," he replied and tried to figure out the wave of emotions that he picked up on. "Why?!"

Turning around and looking at him in a very grim way, Logan smiled sadly. "Coz he planned this…," he told his son, his voice flat and devoid of emotions. "He knew ya would notice her…"

"I still don't understand…," his son cut him off and shook his head. "Where do you know her from?!"

"Amiko was my foster daughter. I promised her mother t'take care of her when she died… When it became too dangerous for her t'have me around, I left her in Yukio's care," the older feral explained and smiled sadly as her remembered how he had to leave at night, since his first attempt to leave had awoken the girl who had started a tantrum. "He must have known… He wanted ya t'get close t'her 'n emotionally involved so that he could manipulate ya even further… T'play us against each other." Only able to shake his head, he let out a heavy sigh and ran a hand through his hair. He truly couldn't believe how deep the whole manipulation from Romulus went, how many people were already involved… "What about Yukio?" he suddenly asked and hoped that the woman was still alive.

"Died a couple of days before Miko did… _Accidentally_, I assume…," his son grunted knowingly and looked at the stone thoughtfully for a while. He already began to feel uneasy by just thinking about it. "Do you think…he's after Paul, too?"

Logan looked at his son from behind and had an eyebrow cocked. "Yeah… That's if he has seen the two of ya together…"

"He did…," Daken replied calmly. "When Paul was upset on his birthday…"

Logan sighed. "Then yeah…," he grunted. "But he won't lay his hands on him."

His son snorted. "He always finds a way," he muttered in thoughts and crossed his arms.

Letting the silence fall for a while, Logan watched the man further and tried to figure out what to do or say. To him it was still difficult talking to his son. He didn't know the man at all but wanted to know everything at the same time. His senses picked up on the conflict within the man and he drew his own conclusions out of it. "Ya like him, don't ya?"

"No, I just know what Romulus is capable of," Daken grunted a bit too quickly as his father figured out. He gave the stone a last look and aimed for the alley.

Logan followed him for a moment but reached out to stop him against his better judgment. "If ya like someone, ya have t'fight for this person 'n be able t'protect him or her," he told him and went past Daken into the restaurant where the others were still eating.

* * *

"Okay, you smiling like this can only mean something great did happen…," Heather commented and looked at Jean-Paul, who beamed at her and went over to hug Narya.

"Did you win a million dollars?" James asked and stopped eating his cereals. "If so, then you'll have to share!"

"I'm afraid no, James, sorry," the speedster said and pulled the blonde aside a bit. "Can you do me a very, very huge favor?"

"Doing what?" she asked back, smiling and crossed her arms knowingly.

"Babysitting Kazu?"

"Hm….," she made playfully and acted as if she had to think very hard about it. "Someone has a date and didn't introduce his special someone to me, as it seems!" Narya teased him playfully and her smile widened when he bit his lip to hide his grin. "You've got a date?!"

"He got a date?!" James mimicked her and dropped his spoon. "Who?!"

"Do we know him?!" Heather asked and reached out to wipe Taylor's mouth. The boy, who sat in the high chair between her and James, watched the whole discussion attentively.

"Mike," Jean-Paul shrugged and was about to address Narya again when James spoke up.

"Mike?!" he asked loudly. "Your ex-tutor Mike? This tall blonde guy?!"

The speedster sighed. "Yes, the tall blonde, very cute guy, James," he replied and looked at the blonde next to him again. "Would you watch Kazu tonight?" he begged her and tried to give her his best puppy-face look.

"You plan to stay over at his place?!" James asked. "You only do that when…"

"…when I date someone for awhile, yes, James. Thanks for reminding me of my habits!" Jean-Paul mocked him playfully and received a look for that comment.

"You date him for awhile already?!" James asked and exchanged a surprised look with Heather. "When did that happen?!" he demanded to know and received a shrug in return.

"_Awhile _go…obviously," Narya teased him and touched her opposite's shoulder. "I'll watch him. No problem. Anna loves him anyway."

"Thanks, darling!" the speedster said happily and gave her a kiss, then went off to shower and get dressed.

"Did you know he was dating his tutor?!" James asked Heather.

The woman shook her head and gave him a sign to pull Taylor out of his high chair. "No… But Mike seems to be a nice guy. Nicer than you-know-who…"

"Baby, everyone is nicer than you-know-who!" her husband said and gave his foster son a kiss on the cheek. "Time for little boys to get a new diaper, buddy. When's the appointment?" he asked and James looked at his wife expectantly, then at the clock which showed 8:20 a.m..

"At 10:30. That is, if Jean's back by then…," Heather said and looked at the clock, too. "What time is it in Japan now? Does anyone know?!"

"I think around 10:20 p.m.," Narya said but shrugged. "But I'm not so sure."

"I wonder what they are doing there that long… I thought they only wanted to test the jet," James mumbled and left the room.

* * *

"Irashaimase," the waitress greeted politely and looked at the two ferals that had joined their group at the table.

"Watashiwa osashimi nitsu to aka wain o nihon onegaishimasu," Daken ordered and she nodded, then turned to Logan, who was once more in thoughts. "Watashi no otousan osushi nitsu to biru o ippai onegaishimasu," Daken ordered for his father and nodded at the waitress politely, then turned to the feral. "Sushi and beer okay for you?"

"Hm?" Logan made and looked up. He waved off. "Yeah..."

"Is something wrong?" Jean asked in concern and touched his arm.

"It's nothin'...," he said and went on brooding.

"You know," Tony said after wiping his mouth and looked at the younger feral. "You could have ordered for us before leaving. I bet she thought we were pantomimes by the way we were talking with our hands and feet."

Daken shrugged. "Not my problem." He scratched on the inside of his arms when they began to itch once more. "Chikushou…(damn)," he cursed and gave his wrists a glare, wondered why his wrists and insides of his arms were hurting all of a sudden.

"Somethin' wrong?" Logan asked but his son shook his head. He looked up when the waitress put down the food and drinks in front of them. "Arigatou gozaimasu," he thanked her.

"Doso," she nodded and went off again.

"Itadakimasu," he and Logan said at the same time after taking the chopstick and pressing their hands together with a brief nod of their heads.

"Wow...," Tony said and received odd looks from the two ferals. "You really got the full thing going, haven't you?"

"Shut up!" Both ferals looked at each other after having spoken at the same time once more.

"If you start hugging next, I'm out of here!" Tony warned them and sipped on his drink, frowned when he saw Jean looking at her husband as if she was concentrating on something.

"What happened, Logan?" the redhead asked him mentally and received a brief look from aside from him. "You can't tell me nothing's wrong. I know you better than this…" She watched him swallowing his sushi and sipping on his beer for a moment. When he looked her straight in the eye afterwards, she knew that she was right. Something was wrong. "Did Akihiro do something?"

"No, Romulus did…," he replied on the same way and broke eye contact. He knew she was watching him intently and waited for his reply, but how could he reply to a question that hadn't been asked, yet, while he still had problems to accept the answer?

"What did he do?"

"Remember the girl I told ya about? The one Mariko 'n I adopted?" he continued their mental conversation and she nodded. "He killed her 'n a friend I left her with…" Logan didn't look up to see the shocked look on her face, he knew her well enough to what kind of look she was giving him. Before she could reply, he looked at Scott, his look sour. "When we get back we go after Trask. I wanna get this over with," he announced to the surprise of everyone and went in eating as if nothing had happened; his mind still brooding.

* * *

As he had announced Logan gathered the team on the next day and met with them in the War Room. Jean had located Trask's son once more and Tony contacted The Cap to tell him when they would meet later on.

"Too bad I can't witness your cats and mice game," Tony sighed and closed the back door of his car. "So…when you go into the city later," he said and patted Logan's shoulder. "Don't cross the traffic light when it's red, watch the cars, watch your wallet and…"

"Tony," Logan grunted and glared at him. "Just shut up and drive home!"

The Avenger feigned shock. "Such harsh words!" he mocked and went over to hug Jean, a bit too long for Logan's taste. "If that bad rude guy over there is mean to you, just call me, sweetheart!" he winked at her, ignored Logan's warning growl and smiled back at her, then shook the Professor's hand.

"Thank you so much for your help, Tony!"

"It was my pleasure!" he said and waved at the rest of the team before he entered his Audi and drove home.

"Ya got his phone number?!" Logan asked his wife suspiciously and received a huge smile from her. "When?!"

"I won't tell you, honey!" the redhead replied and went back inside.

"When?!" he called after her and heard her laughing. "Jean! Throw it away!"

"Speaking of jealousy…," Ororo sighed and shook her head. "Who's leaving for the mission, Scott?"

"Logan and I. Daken wants to join for whatever reason and we need Paul in case we need a speedster. We then meet up with the Cap and some other Avenger names Bucky," he told her and went back inside, too. "Logan wasn't so happy when he heard that name…"

"Wasn't Bucky the guy who murdered Daken's mother under Romulus influence?" she asked. "At least I think he was that guy…"

"Might be right." He shrugged. "Let's hope he doesn't pick a fight with him…"

Later, the Cap and Logan watched how the man sat down at the counter and ordered a beer. Mentally, they tried to work out a plan on how to get their hands on that ID card they needed.

"He's known for being very careful," Bucky told them and sipped on his beer. "So approaching him directly won't do."

"We can't just capture him, too. They'd be warned…," the Cap added.

"Maybe we can lure him out somehow?" Scott suggested and saw how Logan breathed in sharply and shook his head.

"He'd notice…" The feral sipped on his beer and watched the guy intently. "He smells relaxed, so he probably doesn't know we're here…"

Steven sighed and shook his head. They were in a very difficult situation and he had no idea how they could solve it. But they needed that card no matter what…

"I can do it!"

Every head at the table turned into the direction of the speaker.

"How?" Bucky asked sarcastically. "By going over and kiss him? That guy's married and straight as an arrow."

Daken chuckled and put down his Martini. "I _can_ do it," he repeated and his eyes had an evil shine in them. "I could even get you into my bed."

Bucky huffed. "I doubt it!"

"Only fools condemn the lie…," the feral replied and still smirked as Bucky's eyes narrowed. "I can get that card without him getting suspicious."

"How?" Logan asked and watched his son intently.

"I have my ways… The thing that matters is that I can get that card for us. You just have to trust me with this."

"And that's a thing I can't do," the Cap said determined and Daken shrugged.

"Then have fun figuring out another way."

Thinking about it, the Avenger had to realize that this was nearly impossible. "You'll get that card, you'll hand it over, understood? No games, no betrayal!"

Daken only smirked. "As you wish,…_sir_!" he mocked and emptied his Martini before he got up to sit down at the counter on the opposite site. He gave his target a look and began to concentrate.

"Wow…," Bucky commented with a nod. "So he gets the card by staring at the guy… Impressive!"

"Shut up!" Logan grunted and had already picked up on the changes in their target. It didn't take long and the man looked up, directly into Daken's face. He watched how his son gave him the sweetest and most innocent smile possible, picked up on the change of heartbeat of their target and realized that the man began to feel confused. He was impressed by his son's additional mutation and his skills of seduction, watched intently how Daken acted innocently and not suspicious at all. He just appeared to be a normal guy, who had taken interest in another person. Logan knew that if the target had been him, he wouldn't have noticed the trap at all. "It's workin'…," he muttered and sipped on his beer again while watching the flirting exchange.

"What's working?" Steven asked, frowning. "He doesn't do anything besides sitting and staring." Confused he turned his head and suddenly noticed that their target kept on looking up, back at Daken and then quickly looked around, as if he was looking for someone. "He's getting suspicious!" he cursed and clenched his fists.

"No," Jean-Paul replied a bit sourly. "He wants to make sure no one else is watching him… That there's no one close by he knows. He obviously did this kind of thing before. It's a usual reaction of a supposed-to-be completely straight guy…"

"Why?" Bucky asked, his eyes still on their target.

"Coz he doesn't want t'be caught," Logan grunted and emptied his beer. He looked aside to give Northstar a look. "It ain't real!"

"I know that…," the man sulked and crossed his arms. "Still I don't like it..."

"Jealous?" Scott teased him and earned a death glare. "Answer's yes…"

"I couldn't care less, if that's what you mean!" Northstar huffed and sipped on his drink.

"I still don't get what you're talking about!" the Cap said. "Damn it, he's paying his drinks!"

"Just wait!" Logan snarled in annoyance and watched how the man looked around once more, before he walked past Daken and dropped something on the counter, then left. He saw how his son looked up at him and nodded, then followed the man out of the back door to the outside. "He did it."

"I still don't understand…," Steven said, completely confused and exchanged a look with Bucky, who wore the same expression. "What on earth did just happen?!"

"You'll see. Better hope he won't kill that guy," Logan grunted and waved for the waitress to come over to their table.

"What's the matter, sugar?" she asked sweetly and smiled brightly at him.

"Another beer, darlin'."

"Sure thing," she winked and took his empty bottle with her.

Scott watched her casting looks at Logan from afar. "I'll so tell Jean," he teased and received a glare. "She's waiting for you to look at her."

"I don't care," Logan grunted.

"You sure?" Bucky asked mockingly. "Back then you did…"

"Well this ain't back then, this is now." He gave the waitress a brief smile when she dropped the beer in front of him, smiled at him and left again.

"See? I'll so tell Jean that you got that girl's phone number!" Scott teased him and snatched the note the girl had attached to the bottle. "Aww, she even added a little heart. How cute!"

"Summers?" Logan grunted and snatched the note from him to tear it apart. "Shut up or I rip ya a new one!"

"You should better rip your son a new one, if he disappears with that card!" the Cap said impatiently. "Or am I the only one wondering what he's doing?"

In the meanwhile, Daken had followed the man across the street to an apartment complex. He looked at the scribbled note and entered the elevator to go up to the 6th floor, where he began looking for the correct room number. Once he reached it, he knocked and it didn't take long before the man opened and nodded for him to come in. The feral scanned the rooms quickly, couldn't pick up on any one else or anything that might pose a threat to him, so he turned around and smiled at the man. He knew his opposite was clearly nervous and he began to use pheromones to make him feel more comfortable. "Ever did this before?" he asked, knowing that the man hadn't and smiled sweetly when this one shook his head. "Well no need to be nervous about this. I don't bite."

"I…,uhm,…I usually don't…," the man stuttered and Daken chuckled.

"Pick up guys?" he finished the sentence and received a nod. "Well,…then why me?" he asked, feigning interest and tilted his head a bit, still smiling.

"Honestly, I don't know…," the man replied and opened his tie a bit in a nervous manner. "I'm not even interested in guys…"

"Well, obviously you're interested in me," the feral said and approached him slowly, letting his pheromone control do the rest. He wanted his prey to feel comfortable and do as he had planned. "What's you're name?" he asked and chuckled after a moment of silence. "You don't have to tell me you're real name, you know? What do you want me to call you?"

"R…Rick?"

"Well then, _Rick_…," Daken said and stopped in front of him, so close that they were almost touching but he didn't want to scare him off. His plan was entirely different. He could force the man to do whatever he wanted, but he wanted to take the softer route, to make him feel relaxed about this. "What do you like?" he asked and kept his eyes on his opposite's, whereas this one stared at him in utter fascination. Daken was used to such behavior, knew how people reacted to his looks and was well aware of being handsome and attractive.

"Actually,… I like…kinky things…," Larry admitted and looked down ashamed, surprised that Daken touched his chin to make him look back up.

"Sounds good. Want to do it here or in your bedroom? Your choice."

"You haven't told me your name, yet," Larry said after leading the way to the bedroom and began undressing himself.

Still smiling, Daken grabbed a blindfold and used it on the man before he pushed him gently down on the bed. "I can be whoever you want me to be," he replied and began his work.

* * *

The Cap looked once more at his watch and shook his head. "You can tell me whatever you want but I bet he has taken the card and left!"

"Just wait another five minutes," Logan grunted annoyed and emptied his fifth beer.

"No, I won't! We're already waiting for nearly forty minutes!" Steven disagreed and got up just to look at an approaching figure in surprise. "What has taken you so long?!" he hissed and sat back down, refrained from saying anything else when the waitress approached once more.

"Here's your beer, boys. Anything else I can bring you?" she asked sweetly, hoping for Logan to say something.

"Do you have wine actually?" Daken asked and her eyes fell on him.

"Unfortunately, no," she said and eyed him curiously. "Something else, gorgeous?"

"Another martini then, darling," he smiled back and watched her leaving.

"So?" Logan asked and crossed his arms.

"So here's the card," his son replied and handed it over to the Cap, who gave him a suspicious look.

"What has taken you so long?!" Steven demanded to know and took the card from him, handing it over to Bucky. "Is that guy still alive?"

"To the second question, yes, he is," Daken replied and returned the smile he was given when his martini landed on the table. "To the first question, I checked his computer and notebook and copied everything he had on the project. Plus, I read through some files and went through some other ID cards he had, but they were of no use for us. And then, of course, I had to leave the apartment as it was before, so no one would get suspicious," he answered in mocked reply and smiled at him provocatively.

"Where is the copy?" Bucky asked.

"Right here," Daken smiled and showed him a small USB stick, withdrew it when the Cap reached out to take it. "You've got the card already. Don't be so greedy," he mocked him and handed Scott the stick. "The files stay with us. Equal rights for everyone." Smiling, he emptied his martini and leant back.

"So what did ya do t'him?" Logan asked and wondered why his son seemed to be so happy and relaxed.

"Let's say I doubt he'll be married for long…," his son only said amused and gave Northstar next to him a look as this one paled noticeably. But before he could ask, he was once more addressed

"Don't tell me you actually did that guy!" Steven asked rather disgustedly and Daken huffed.

"Not in a million years… I just had my fun with him," he said and smiled at the latter, but began to frown when Jean-Paul suddenly leant forward and buried his face in one hand. "What's the matter?" he asked.

"Dizzy…," Jean-Paul mumbled and leant back, his eyes close. "Is it just me or is it hot in here…?"

"Well you're sitting between Logan and his son, who both got that girl's phone number, so…" Scott shrugged after eyeing the note the waitress had left Daken, but startled when this one suddenly reached over the table and grabbed Northstar's cocktail glass to sniff on it. "What's…?" he began as the feral cursed and jumped up to head for the counter. "What's gotten into him?!"

"From the moment I saw him, I knew he was nuts… I mean he's Logan's kid in the end…," Bucky mumbled, ignoring the growl from the other side of the table and watched what Daken was doing.

"I said I need salt! Quickly!" the feral demanded and tore the glass from the startled waitress as soon as she had wanted to hand it to him. He then aimed for the faucet and filled the rest of the glass with cold water, before he went back to the table and pulled the panting and sweating Northstar up. "Come on!" he said and dragged him out of the back door and into the ally, where he forced him to drink as much from the liquid as he could. It only took two seconds and Jean-Paul started retching and vomiting, his fall caught by Daken, who watched him from aside. He didn't turn his head as the back door opened and the others joined them, still confused about what was going on. "Drink the rest, all of it!" the feral demanded and made the man in his arm swallow the rest so that he started vomiting again.

"What's wrong?!" Scott asked and thought Northstar would throw up his intestines as hard as he was retching.

"It was poisoned," Daken snarled and reached out to search for the man's pulse while he lay rather limb and panting on the ground.

"I didn't smell any poison on it…," Logan said, frowning and watched how his friend collapsed on the ground, trying to fill his lungs with fresh air and holding his stomach in obvious pain.

"_He_ got it in Russia," his son snarled, his voice full of hatred as he thought about Romulus and helped Logan to pull the shaking Northstar up. "It's tasteless and smells like cherries. You won't notice it until it's too late."

"Deadly?" Scott asked concerned and followed them down the ally and towards one of their cars, watching how both ferals half carried a completely dazed Northstar.

"Yeah…," Daken hissed and touched the speedster's cold forehead. "It's already in his system, we need to bring him back to the mansion and that quickly!"

"If Romulus knew that we're here, I bet he also knows that we're after Trask," Logan said and handed him the car keys. "Paul's only a distraction t'keep us busy."

"You go to that facility, I'll bring him back home," Daken suggested after he had buckled Northstar in and had closed the door. On a weak nod from his father, he got into the car and started the engine, then drove away quickly.

"We're wasting time! If what he said is true, we need to get going and reach that facility before they can get rid of the evidence!" the Cap said and headed towards the second car.

"I'll drive!" Logan said and snatched the keys from Scott, then got into the driver's side.

"Remember that this is my car!" Scott demanded and had barely closed the door when Logan already pressed down the accelerator. "And…we won't be able to achieve anything, if we reach the facility dead, Logan!" he added and buckled up quickly.

"I'll call Tony and the others for backup," Steven said and reached for his phone, while Logan took a sharp turn. "72 years, Logan… And your driving style is still the same…," he commented with a shake of his head, while the feral chuckled. "Tony, it's me," he said after a voice echoed through the receiver. "Tell them Avengers assemble!"

* * *

When they reached their destination and were joined by Tony, Spider-Man and Hawkeye, Logan quickly introduced Scott to them and waited for his team members to arrive. It didn't take long and a _Bampf _could be heard that announced the arrival of Nightcrawler, who was accompanied by Gambit and Daken.

"Him again…," the Cap said and received a glare in return.

"Not amused to see you again, too," Daken snarled and joined his father's side, then frowned at the facility. He knew it… "I know that one…"

"Ya do?" Logan asked and received a nod.

"But I've never seen Sentinels in it before…," his son said and gave the Cap a look. "You sure you got the correct information?!"

"You sure you're telling us the truth?" the Cap returned the favor and crossed his arms, receiving a sweet smile in return. "How do we proceed?"

"We can't go in with the whole team," Spider-Man said and shrugged when he received weird looks. "Hey, I'm just observed! Cut me some slack!"

"I suggest we make teams," Scott said after looking at the facility for a moment. "According to the data we have the Sentinels are being produced way underground. Some of us should sneak in, the rest secure the grounds on the surface."

"We only 'ave two sneakers," Gambit said and crossed his arms.

"Three," Spider-Man replied and pointed at himself. "I'm just the really quiet sneaker compared to your all-bloody-snikt sneakers!"

"I'll go in, too," the Cap said determined and gave Daken a look, who looked back at him emotionless. "Because I still don't trust you!"

"Who's that guy anyway?" Hawkeye asked and looked from the Cap to Daken and then Logan.

"My son," the older feral grunted and rolled his eyes when Hawkeye began comparing the two of them. "'kay, the four of us go in. Kurt, we probably need ya, too!"

"Okay…," Nightcrawler nodded insecurely.

"Ya guys will be alright?" Logan asked Scott and Gambit, who both gave a nod and received one in return. "'kay. Jean's connected t'me. She'll keep ya updated. Let's go!"

While he watched them leaving, Scott looked around and tried to find a better spot for them to observe the whole place. He spotted a tower and reached out to touch Tony's armor. "Can you fly us up there?"

"Sure can," Iron Man said and grabbed the two of them, then went back to get Hawkeye and Bucky, too. "So what's the plan? Sit and wait?" he asked and settled down next to Hawkeye, who had already begun to analyze his surroundings. He watched how Scott pulled out a device that showed the map of the facility and studied it for a moment.

"According to the facility's structure the underground tunnel begins right there," the X-Man said and pointed towards a gate. "I guess every transport arrives and leaves there, too."

"Then we better keep an eye on it," Tony suggested and used his technology to be ready for any incident possible.

On the inside, Logan and his team had sneaked in and were now climbing down an air shaft to the lowest level. After reaching it, Logan gave the team a sign to wait, sniffed, concentrated on his surroundings and began localizing every man he was able to pick up on. "5 on the level beneath us."

"4 on the far left, one on the right," Daken added and moved over a pipe to look out of the shaft. "I can see him…"

"We can't be caught by all means!" the Cap whispered and knelt down next to him. "The platform underneath us looks safe…"

They climbed carefully down and ducked. Spider-Man risked a look over railing and hunched back down next to Nightcrawler. "He's right in front of us!" he whispered and pointed down.

While Logan thought about a plan, Daken looked up at the ceiling. He was trained for silent infiltration like his father but he also knew that he was much faster and more agile than him. His mind was already way ahead of the group and had calculated the outcome of each step he could take. "Let me do it!" was all he said before he pulled himself up the exit of the shaft and climbed further up towards the ceiling.

"What the…?!" the Cap made and cursed when he couldn't stop the feral anymore. "What's he doing?!" he asked and watched how Daken used everything he could grab to climb quickly over to the other side of the room, jut to disappear next.

"He's pretty fast…," Nightcrawler said in astonishment and gave Logan a look. "What's his plan?"

"No idea…," the feral grunted as the soldier's suddenly barked commands at each other and ran over to where Daken had disappeared; clearing the way for the group. "Let's go. Quickly!" he ordered and jumped over the railing, followed by the others. He led the way down some stair and corridors, gave the others signs to stop each time he detected someone and took care of those in their way. When the reached a huge double door that had a yellow _Restricted Area _– sign glued at it, he came to a halt and looked at the ID panel on the left. "Damn it…"

"The card doesn't work?!" Spider-Man asked and checked the hallway they had just come through.

"No…," he grunted and leant against the door to listen in. "Machines… Computers,…at least 15 people…"

"I don't see any other way in either," the Cap noticed after he had taken a good look around. "I'll contact Tony. Hold on."

On the outside the Avenger gave his team a sign to remain silent for a moment. "It's Steven," he told them and listened in to what the man told him. "Okay, hold on."

"What is it?" Scott asked.

"They are in front of the place where they are probably developing those Sentinels but the ID card doesn't work," Tony explained. "Jarvis, can you hack into their system without leaving any traces?"

On the inside Logan and Spider-Man were both searching for a way in, while the Cap was waiting for a reply and Nightcrawler teleported back and forth the hallway to make sure no one was coming. "Useless…," the feral cursed with a shake of his head. "No way in…"

"Damnit… We're so close," the Cap said and looked up when someone above them made a hissing sound. Alarmed, all of them went into an attack stance and looked up, just to realize that it was Daken.

"Up here," the feral commanded and pointed at his position far above their heads.

"How did he get there?!" the Cap asked, still being suspicious about where the feral's loyalties lay. He watched how Spider-Man and Nightcrawler easily joined Daken far above him and scowled.

"Watcha waitin' for?" Logan asked him to come over to him. "Climb on my back!"

"Great…," the Avenger mumbled and did so, his arms holding on to the feral as this one climbed up the wall and dropped his friend on a large pipe.

"We can go through there," Daken said and pointed at another air shaft that went right through the wall.

"How come you know?" the Cap asked and followed the team.

"Because I'm attentive," the feral mocked in return. He led the way through the shaft to the other side and towards a spot where they could easily hide. "There are your beasts… Twenty in total."

"Holy shit…," Spider-Man gasped and stared at the huge robots in shock.

"Worse than we expected…," the Cap said and activated the small camera he'd been carrying. "Tony, do you record this?"

"_On it!"_ the Avenger replied from the other side and Steven began to film what they saw.

"Jeannie?" Logan asked mentally and waited for her response. "Does your seeing through my eyes work from farther away?"

"_I don't think so,"_ she said. _"But I heard how bad it is. Tony is sending over what Steven films. Everyone here is pretty shocked."_

"Not only ya…," Logan grunted and sighed. "No idea how to destroy 'em…"

"As far as I know there is a main Sentinel called Master Mold. He controls the rest and acts as the super computer," Daken informed them and received once more a suspicious look. "What?!" he snarled at the Cap, who turned his attention back to the camera and closed it.

"We can't do much more here. Let's see that we get out and that quickly," the Avenger suggested. His eyes fell then on Daken. "And let's hope we're not miraculously attacked…"

"Yeah, that would suck, wouldn't it?" Daken mocked and returned the glare he was given, only broke it when his father touched his shoulder.

"What's the easiest way out?"

"He could teleport us. That's the fastest way," Daken suggested with a nod at Nightcrawler.

"I could try…," Kurt nodded and waited for everyone to touch a part of him, as suddenly a loud voice echoed through the room

"_Mutant DNA detected! Mutant termination program started!"_

"Did he say….termination?!" Spider-Man asked and watched how five sentinels came to live, their eyes glowing and their limbs beginning to move. "Fuck!"

"Kurt!" Logan barked and closed his eyes when Nightcrawler teleported quickly. Back on the outside they ran over to where the rest of the group was and had barely joined them as the ground began to vibrate underneath them.

"What the hell happened?!" Scott shouted over the noise and looked up when 5 Sentinels appeared from out of the ground at the facility. "Shit!"

"Jarvis, run the analysis and tell us their weak spots!" Tony ordered and waited for the screen to point out where to hit the Sentinels the best.

"What now?!" the Cap asked and looked over at Logan, who watched how the Sentinels came to a halt above the facility and began to scan the surroundings.

"I took out one of 'em in our simulation but I need to get up there!" He pointed at their heads. "Kurt can ya teleport us above their heads?!" he asked and was grabbed next.

"There's a small spot at the front between their throat and head," Tony told them and zoomed in on that spot. "It's a small red dot."

"Great… I can't see it," Hawkeye cursed and lowered his bow. "He's too far up for me…"

"Not for me, give me the bow!" Daken demanded.

"Yeah, sure!"

"Give me the bow, damnit!" the feral snapped and just took it from him, then ran over to a spot where he had a better view on his target.

While Iron Man began to fire his blasts at one Sentinel and Kurt waited for Logan to cut through another Sentinel's head, Daken aimed the steel arrow at the third one and waited for the perfect hit.

"That bastard took my bow!" Hawkeye cursed but realized that they had just become the target of two other Sentinels. "Shit…"

"_Mutants detected. Termination initiated!"_ one of them roared and aimed his hand at the group.

"Remy doesn't dink so, mon ami," Gambit said and loaded some card, threw them at the Sentinel to their right, while he ran over to the one on the left and jumped at the beasts feat. While he began to focus his powers on the robot, Spider-Man had set off to throw webs at the robot and tried to bring it down. From afar they heard how two Sentinel's exploded and the head of the third one fell to the ground, indicating that Daken' arrow and Iron Man's blasts had hit, whereas Logan had managed to cut through the metal.

Together they now began to attack the remaining two Sentinels.

"Make room, mes amis," Gambit shouted, his eyes glowing red and dodged the hands of the robot that tried to grab him. "Remy's gonna blow dat damn ding up!" he announced and gave the machine everything he got, covered it in pink light before he blew it to pieces. "Now dat was fun…" The Cajun smirked and looked behind him where Logan was just done beheading the last Sentinel.

"'n now let's go before they send even more after us!" the feral grunted and retracted his claws.

"That was too easy!" Scott said while running back to their car.

"I know. That's why I said _let's go_!" Logan replied and started the engine the moment the door where closed. While Iron Man flew back to the Stark Tower and Nightcrawler teleported back to the mansion with Gambit and Daken, he chose the longest route possible on the streets to make sure that no one was following them.

"You can tell me what you want, Logan, but your son sold us out!" the Cap grumbled angrily and tore his mask off his face.

"What?!" the feral grunted and his eyes narrowed.

"They knew we were at the bar and they knew we were at the facility and strangely as it is, both times your son was with us!"

"Leave my kid outta it just coz yer paranoid, Steve!" Logan warned him and parked the car in front of Stark Tower.

"He did it!" the Avenger insisted and unbuckled himself. "You're just blinded because he's your son, Logan. But I'm sure he did it! He's playing you and your team!" he added and left the car together with his two team members.

"I hate to admit…," Scott said from next to him as Logan drove off again. "But he can be right…"

The feral snorted. "'f course ya say this…"

"No, Logan, let's be reasonable here," Scott said and raised a hand. "There have been too many coincidences lately that hint to the fact that we have a spy on our team…"

"'n of course it's my son," Logan grunted and glared at the street ahead of him.

"Who else besides Creed or him?" his teammate asked but received neither an answer nor a look.

* * *

When he came to his senses, he felt like someone who had received a very hard blow to the midsection. A groan escaped his lips and he tried to shift a bit, but found that he was pressed against something. What on earth was going on?!

"Back from the dead?" a familiar voice asked and he opened his eyes a bit. "You had us scared, Paul," Moira smiled and reached out to touch his forehead. "Hm… You're still a bit too hot for my liking," she noticed and wrote it down on the chart. "How are you feeling?"

"Is _like shit _a medical category?" he asked, his voice weak and heavy with sleep. "What happened?"

"You were already unconscious when Akihiro brought you here. We had to pump out your stomach and to clean your blood, since the poison was already in your system. Additionally to the dialysis, we gave you a serum that Hank once managed to extract from Logan's healing factor and thankfully, it worked out. But you would have been dead for sure, if Akihiro hadn't reacted so fast." Smiling, she went over to get a glass of water for him. "Here."

"Thank you," he mumbled tiredly and drank it. "Where's he?"

"Who?" she asked and put the glass aside.

"Hiro…," Jean-Paul said, using the nickname for the first time again in several weeks, and wondered why she chuckled amused.

"Well, turn around. He's right there," Moira told him and he did as he was told, just to notice that it was the feral's fault his movement was so restricted. "He has stayed at your side since he returned from the mission and must have been pretty exhausted in the end. You were shivering pretty much and didn't react to anything we tried, so he warmed you."

In thoughts Northstar contemplated to reach out to brush the feral's black hair out of his face, but didn't do it in the end. Watching them, Moira cleared her throat. "Well I guess he cares more about you than he wants to admit," she noticed and winked at him. "Anyway, you might want to rest a bit more. I'll get you a bottle of water and some soup. Oh, and Mike called a couple of times. He was very worried. I'll let him know that you've finally woken up." Still smiling, she turned and headed out of the door, while he settled back into the covers.

* * *

"I don't think so," Jean said and shook her head while she sat on the bed and leant against Logan. "What would be the sense of luring you into that facility when those Sentinels could be so easily defeated? That doesn't make any sense."

"Tell that the rest of the team!" Logan growled displeased and shifted their position.

"He is no spy. Charles and I would have picked up on it when we went through all of Akihiro's mental control mechanisms," she insisted. "He hates Romulus and everything that has to do with him. So why would he lure you into a trap? That doesn't make sense!" She turned in his arms and gave him a look for a moment, then leant in to kiss him. "Stop thinking about it, Logan. They are wrong! Besides he wouldn't risk Paul's life. Even if he doesn't admit or show it, but he means a lot to him." She thought about it further. It was no secret to her that he was boiling from deep within. The fight he had with some of his team members before that shared The Cap's point of view only added to his bad mood. "Hey, it's your birthday in three days," she cooed and straddled him. "Don't let their idiocy get to you."

He huffed and looked away, determined to be moody.

Jean sighed and wrapped her arms around his neck to make him look at her again. "Not now, okay?" she asked and pressed another kiss to his lip but his demeanor remained unchanged. "Logan, come on…," she whined playfully when he remained completely unresponsive and sighed. Pouting always helped, so she did exactly that and gave him her best _unhappy-wifey_ look. When he heaved a deep breath she knew she had him. Smiling, Jean ran her hands through his still damp hair and bit his lower lip lovingly. "Forget about them!" she mumbled against his lips and kissed him once more.

"Help me with it…," he grunted against hers and wobbled his eyebrows.

"Is your mood that bad, hm?" Jean asked playfully and he nodded quickly. "Hmmm…," she made and ran her hand down his chest and up again. "And what can I do about it?"

He shrugged and stroked up and down her waist. "Dunno… Somethin' nice, maybe?" he asked and pulled her as close as possible against him when she leant in to kiss him once. Still his mind was too occupied as that his mood could get any better. Not even after they continued making out for a couple of minutes. "It's useless… I ain't in the mood…," he grumbled and made her sigh heavily.

"Logan…," Jean cried and, while she rested her head on his chest, looked up at him. But she could tell that he was honest to her and knew that nothing would help to change his current mental state. "Fine, then it's just cuddling… As long as you're in the mood on your birthday," she teased him playfully and cuddled up to him from the side.

"Why, did ya plan somethin'?"

"Maybe…," was all she said before she got settled between his shoulder and chest. "Good night!"

* * *

He had trained for about an hour and was now taking a shower. To his greatest surprise it had been like being on holidays to actually have the room and bed for himself, since Daken had fallen asleep in front of the TV in the living room and no one had bothered to wake him up. Finally no one who nearly squeezed him to death during a nightmare or that he had to free himself from arms and legs on the next morning, when the feral came too close at night. He couldn't remember the last time he had actually slept through a night without any interruption from the man…

Blindly, Northstar searched for the towel and wiped his face, then wrapped the towel around his hip and stepped out of the shower and back into the changing stall. He debated of what to do later. His first lessons wouldn't start before after New Year, so he had practically nothing to do. Maybe he could sit down with Kazuki and teach him something? He had just taken a hold on his jeans as someone grabbed his shoulder in a painfully hard grip and turned him roughly around.

"Didn't I tell ya t'get outta my way?" Creed snarled and had a dark, dangerous glint in his eyes. That the feral was smirking evilly didn't help to lighten up his dark aura either.

"Sorry, I wasn't told that the shower belonged to you…," the speedster replied and turned back around to finish getting dressed. Of course this angered the already pissed feral only the more.

"I don't like yer cocky attitude!" Victor growled and bared his fangs, watched how the man turned his head to give him a brief glare back. This was another point he absolutely hated: someone daring to glare back at him. He could tolerate it from Logan but he wouldn't tolerate it from anyone else. Growling deep in his chest, he gave Northstar a hard push that sent the man actually flying against a locker.

"What is your fucking problem, man?!" the speedster snapped after catching his breath and startled when Sabretooth slammed his fists into the lockers, right next to his head. He didn't like the murderous look he was given at all. His gut told him that he should leave and that quickly. "Just let me get dressed and I'm gone, alright?" he said as calm as he could and wanted to retreat slowly, as he was grabbed again and thrown back against the lockers. His back hurt and the pain shot up his spine. His hand reached down to hold the towel around his hip in place. Northstar looked at his angry opposite and began to analyze the situation as quickly as possible. He had three options. A, he used his speed to hit the feral in front of him, which would very likely cause Sabretooth to go into a berserker rage, hunt him down and kill him for good. B, he used his speed and ran out of the room as quickly as possible, which would very likely have the same consequences as A. Or C, he would stay where he was and just do nothing, wait for the feral to calm down again and just try to get out of the whole situation without a fight…and in one piece… If he was honest to himself, A to C sounded equally stupid… He snapped out of his thoughts when Sabretooth growled loudly once more.

"I told ya t'watch yer back, fag," the feral snarled and moved further in, a move that made Northstar press himself against the locker. "Yer pissin' me off!"

"Mind to explain why?" Jean-Paul asked calmly and closed his eyes when the right fist slammed into the locker again, this time much closer to his head. "I guess that's a no…," he mumbled and hissed when Creed grabbed his face hard.

"Ya got a nice bone structure…," the feral growled. "It would only take a few cuts t'expose it…" For emphasis he extracted his nails and let them stroke over the speedster's cheek. "I bet yer a screamer…," he added and chuckled low as he picked up on how fast the man's heart was beating. "Scared?" he asked and tightened his grip. "Ya should be!"

Forgetting about the consequences, Northstar made a fist and used his speed power to slam it right into Creed's face, whose head flew back and left him dazed for a brief moment. Making use of that chance, the speedster ran to grab his clothes and aimed for the door. A cry escaped his lips as his left knee snapped and sent him to the ground, the feral's heavy weight pinning him down. The fact that he had a berserker Sabretooth on his back, claws digging at his skin and sharp fangs close to his neck, would have scared the hell out of him, if it wasn't for the immense pain that shot up from his knee and blinded him.

"I'm gonna kill ya, ya hear me?" Creed growled completely pissed off and his nails bore further into the skin. "I'll cut ya into lil' pieces!" he threatened and turned his victim around before he pinned him down again. Chuckling at the attempt of defense, he grabbed the speedster's hands with one of his and pinned them to the ground. "Is that all ya can do?" He grinned mockingly and licked his lips and fangs. He didn't have a good kill in what seemed like forever and the domestic life, the rules, the constant reminder to behave was getting on his nerves. He wasn't domestic, he wasn't a man, he was an animal, a predator that had just found his prey and he intended to play with it before he would kill it. Chuckling, as he saw the terror and heard a whimper, he grabbed his victim's neck with his free hand and began to squeeze for a moment. "Scared?" Creed asked lazily as Northstar tried to fill his lungs with air again and grinned darkly. He decided it was more fun to terrorize him if his prey couldn't see what he was doing, so he pressed him face down to the ground once more and kept the speedster's arms secured on the back. "Told ya t'get outta my way, fag…," he growled into the man's ear.

"Let me go…," Jean-Paul panted and his breathing became even harder in fear when he realized that the feral actually got off on this. He knew how unpredictable Sabretooth could be and the fact that Daken was scared of him didn't help to control his fear at all.

"Oh, I don't think so…," Creed replied and breathed hard, his eyes shining with blood lust. "I'll have my way with ya… Still think yer a screamer." His eyes went lower and he pressed himself further against his victim.

"No, let me go!" Northstar instantly gasped and tried to free himself which only earned him a chuckle.

"Ya can't escape. No one ever did," Creed snarled and tightened his grip. "Besides… Ya owe me a scream," he added in a very low growl and bared his fangs.

* * *

"I dunno…," Logan shrugged and sipped on his beer. "Why can't we just leave it like that?!"

Akihiro sighed and gave him an annoyed look. "Because it will be much easier to find them. Those books don't have any specific order. I wasted two hours on finding volume five!"

Scratching the back of his head, his father shrugged. "Blame Chuck, it's his fault!" He noticed the look he was given. "Look, it'll be a helluva work t'bring an order t'em."

"But Akihiro is right. The library is mess!" Hank agreed and sipped on his tea.

"See?" the younger feral said. "Besides you need new books. I already read though them."

Scott's jaw dropped. "ALL of them?!"

"Yes, that's actually what _I read through them_ indicates," Akihiro mocked and shook his head. "You lack good psychology books by the way. And I've seen better history books, too…" He put his wine glass down and began to frown. "Thinking about it, you could use some books on folklore. The ones you guys have suck and suck is a big understatement."

Cocking an eyebrow at his son, Logan exchanged a look with Hank and Scott who only shrugged. "So what do ya suggest?" he asked and frowned when he noticed that his son was furrowing his brows. He was about to ask again when the younger feral suddenly jumped of his stool and stormed out of the room.

"Does that mean he has an idea?!" Scott asked in complete confusion, when also Logan suddenly left in a sprint. "I guess that's a no…," he sighed and slid of his stool next to follow Hank in a jog. "I bet ten dollars that Creed's involved!"

"Make it fifty and you'll win!" Hank grunted and heard Logan's angry roar from down the hall. "Told you so, my friend…"

* * *

"Ya like that, don't ya?" Creed chuckled and twisted the speedster's arm further until he received another whimper from the man. "Just wait until I get really started…" He was about to break it when the door in front of him opened and Akihiro stood in front of him. Snarling at him, he bared his fangs, knew the man was afraid of him for whatever reason but Creed didn't reckon with the younger feral to lash out at him and leaving two deep gashes in his face. The sudden attack sent his berserker completely over the edge. "Kill ya…," the beast snarled deep in his chest and leapt at Akihiro, who growled back and dodged the attack easily. While Creed crashed into the door and tore it out of its hinges, the younger feral took a protective stance in front of Northstar and his growl became louder and angrier.

Sabretooth got up, blood dripping down his face and his furious eyes zoomed in on Daken. He would kill him and rip him to pieces. About to leap at him again, something crashed into him from behind and he was once more on the ground, an arm around his neck and another one pushing him down.

"GO!" Logan barked at his son, who pulled Jean-Paul up and disappeared, and knew the target of Creed's wrath had just shifted. "Dammit, calm down, Victor!" he cursed and tried to keep Sabretooth on the ground but he knew his attempts were in vain. The older feral could easily throw him around like a soccer ball. He had barely thought this as Creed already searched blindly behind his back, took the first thing he could grab from Logan and threw him against the next wall. Angered, Logan's eyes blackened and he extracted his claws, snarled back at his half brother and took his usual attack stance. They stared each other down, growling, eyes narrowed and muscles tensed to the maximum; waited for the other to only move the tiniest bit.

"Yeah, I won…," Scott said and came to a halt. He looked back and forth between the two ferals and thought about what to do. "Is Jean in her rooms?"

"I don't know…," Hank replied. "But we better hurry up and find her, my friend."

They had barely turned around and started jogging again when the growls turned into full roars and both ferals leapt at each other. Claws and nails scratched and pierced skin where they could, teeth and fangs bit into anything that came into their way. The corridor was filled with snarls, angry roars, the sound of bodies slamming into walls or the floor, whimpers and outcries when an attack was especially vicious. Roaring, Sabretooth leapt at Wolverine, who had just crashed into the wall once more and slammed this one's had into the edge of it.

When the feral went down, dazed, Sabretooth used his chance to track down Northstar, knowing that Daken was with him. He'd be damned if he let the younger feral get away.

"Damn, he's gone!" Scott noticed and came to a halt with Jean next to him, who ran over to Logan.

"Are you alright?!" she asked him in concern and took notice of the deep gash at the side of his head that was just healing. Blood still dripped out of the wound and on the floor.

Logan looked at her, then Scott, the room still spinning around him. "Where's he?!" he mumbled and got slowly up with the help of the redhead.

"I don't know," Scott shrugged. "He's probably after Daken as furious as he was…"

"Dammit," the feral cursed and went after his half-brother in return.

* * *

"Stay in the corner!" Daken growled at Northstar after dropping him off. He took notice of the audible wince of the man and picked up on the pain he was in. But he also heard how Sabretooth came quickly closer and was tracking him down. He extracted both pairs of claws and went into an attacking stance, waiting for the door in front of him to open. It didn't take long and it was nearly torn out of its hinges, as Sabretooth, blinded by his berserker rage, went inside and zoomed in on him. Snarling in return, Daken used his pheromones on the feral, confused him and used his chance to stab him from aside. While Creed lashed out to his right the other feral was already on his left and went on attacking him. He left deep gashed everywhere, was focused on keeping Creed's attention on him and way from the speedster, who still sat in the corner and held his left knee with a pined look on his face.

"What's wrong, big cat?" Daken asked and chuckled as his adversary lashed once more out to the wrong side. "Confused?!" He jumped aside and rolled off, got quickly up again and kicked Sabretooth hard in the stomach before he leapt at him with his claws and brought him down. His eyes dark in fury as he remembered what he had suffered through. "You might not remember what you did to me," Daken growled, his voice even lower than usual. "But I do… I'll never forget!" Controlling his enemy with his pheromones, he placed his left hand underneath Sabretooth's jaw, both upper claws extracted, keeping the head steady. "You're gonna pay for what you've done, you hear me?" Daken asked and received a confused look in return. "Any last words?" he added and was about to go for the kill when something invisible slammed into him and pushed him aside. Snarling, he looked up just to realize that it had been Jean, who had attacked him, while his father went into a stance between him and Creed.

"Enough!" Logan demanded and gave Victor an angry look. "What the hell has gotten into ya?" he roared and pulled his half-brother up.

"Are you alright?" Jean asked Northstar in concern and could tell the man was still in shock. She helped Daken to pull the speedster up, while Logan pulled Creed with him to the outside. "What happened?"

"I just took a shower. Don't ask me!" Jean-Paul grumbled and shifted most of his weight away from her and on the feral.

"Why did you stop me?!" Daken snapped and glared at the redhead, who returned it.

"Because we don't kill people out of cold blood!"

"You don't know what he did! So stay out of it!"

"Would you both stop yelling into my ears? Thank you!" Northstar intervened and hobbled towards the elevator. "If he tore my ligaments, I'm going to kill him myself!" he added angrily and leant back against the wall of the elevator, his left foot not touching the grounds.

"Did you tear them before?" Jean asked and looked at his knee.

"Yeah…," he replied calmly and indicated with it that he didn't want to talk about it. He looked away when she gave him a suspicious look first and helped him towards the infirmary next. "We'll do an x-ray first," she told him and gave Daken a sign to help the speedster over to the machine. While she worked on the computer and set it up, she opened his patient's file. As she had guessed there was no entry about any past injury. "Was it your right or left knee and when did it happen?"

"Left. And I don't wanna talk about it…," he snapped and pushed Daken's hand away as this one wanted to help him.

"Paul, I hate to say it but we need complete files to be prepared in case of injuries or diseases," Jean insisted. "A cruciate ligament doesn't tear by itself and not that easily either…"

"Jean!" he warned her and gave her a look that she had never seen him using before. "NO! If you are so desperate to know ask James or Heather. I won't talk about it. End of discussion!" he insisted in return and lay down when she came over to set the machine up and prepare him for the x-ray.

After the pictures were uploaded on her computer, she took a long look at them and then at her patient. "You were lucky. They are not torn but probably overstretched," she told him and heard his sigh in relief. "Still I'd like you to use a splint for about three days that will prevent you from bending your knee. Just in case…," she added and went over to search in their cabinet. "Akihiro, would you be so nice to help him into his jeans?"

"I don't need help with it!" Northstar said and backed off when Daken touched him.

"Stop acting like a kid!" the feral grunted. "How do you intend to reach your left foot when you're not supposed to move your knee, huh?" he asked and didn't receive a reply. "Idiot…"

"Shut up!"

"Shut up yourself!"

"Guys, please!" Jean sighed and waited for the bickering to stop and for the feral to be done with his work. She then applied the cast and noticed her patient's look. "I assume you had one before?"

"Nice trick. Won't help!" he replied and pulled his hoody over his head and was about to jump off the table when she handed him crutches. "You can't be serious…?"

"I am. Doctor's order for the next three days," Jean smiled sweetly. "You should lie down and put ice on your knee. I don't want to see you hobbling around today!"

"Yes, mom…," Jean-Paul groaned and limped out of the door and towards the elevator, slowly followed by the feral, who refused to look at him. He felt bad for snapping at Akihiro. In the end the feral had helped and protected him. "I didn't mean to snap…"

"Yeah, whatever…" Daken leant back against the wall, hands in his pockets and waited for the elevator to arrive upstairs.

"No, really. It's just a sensitive topic…."

"As I said… Whatever…," he grunted and waited for Northstar to hobble out of the elevator. "Bed! Now!"

"But…"

"Now!" Daken ordered and gave him a look that told him not to argue with him.

"Fine… Kazu's still with the pre-school group. Either you have to get him or tell someone to bring him," Jean-Paul said and hobbled into his room and towards the bed. After he had lain down, he slammed his fist into the mattress and let out a curse.

He was surprised that Daken actually brought him ice for his leg and something to eat and drink, but his animosity towards Mike was no secret to him. Both men stared each other down, Daken Mike even the more with the most hateful glare Jean-Paul had ever seen him using. Without another word the feral left the room and left Mike staring at the room door.

"I still don't get why you still share your room and bed with your ex…," the blond said.

"Because we don't have enough room at the moment. I'm not happy about it either," his opposite replied and leant back into the covers, smiled when Mike put the ice back into position.

"You had me worried in the past days."

"So I've heard…" Northstar looked down when the blonde took his hand and couldn't help but compare his touch to the feral's. Somehow it didn't feel right.

"Something wrong?" Mike asked and frowned at him.

"No… Just thinking…," the speedster said in thoughts and gave him a weak smile.

"You look tired. I should go…" The other man said and kissed him before he got up. "Get well soon, okay?"

"I'll try," Jean-Paul nodded and watched him leaving, still in thoughts.

He had dozed off a bit when he heard how the door was opened and cracked an eye open. "Hey, you found back all by yourself?" he asked Kazuki, who smiled at him and came over to climb up the bed and sit down on the man's lap. "Had fun?"

"Yeah…," the child nodded and turned towards the door, pointing at it. "Chicken!"

"Chicken?" Northstar asked confused and looked at the door, trying to figure out what Kazuki meant. Before he could ask the boy sniffed and nodded, as if to confirm what he'd said.

"Chicken," he said once more and looked at the speedster with his big, dark hazel eyes, while the man stared at him, his mind setting pieces slowly together. Black hair, dark hazel eyes, half-Japanese, healing factor… How could he have been so blind and not notice?

"I don't believe this…," was all Northstar was able to say and leant back into the covers in shock…

**Okay, this was the cliffy of part 1. The promised "will go out with a bang" will happen in the next part! Part 2 will follow asap!! Let me know what you think and review please!! See ya!!**


	64. Finale Part 2

**Author's note: **Also those of you that are not members here can leave a review. So please do it! ; ) Thanks to those who have reviewed the last chapter!!! : )

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**This chapter contains a scene that I would ****rated M****, even if it's not explicit!! You guys wanted it that way. ; ) Hope you like it. ^^**

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**The second part has become even longer.**** I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!!**** Please review!! I had to cut out lots of scenes, which I will onclude as flashbacks in later chapters.  
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**IT WILL HELP TO READ THE BOATSHOUSE SCENE OF CHAPTER 49 AGAIN!! THIS HERE INCLUDES A FLASHBACK!! OH, AND YOU SHOULD PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO WHAT LOGAN THINKS DURING HIS ALONE TIME WITH JEAN!! IT'S IMPORTANT!**

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**Changes Sequel – II. Covenant Part 60: Sequel Finale Part II**

"So….big party or big party?" Bobby asked and looked into the round, receiving a glare from one specific person at the table. "What? No big party then?!"

"No party at all!" Logan grumbled and dived into his food again. "Don't even think 'bout it!"

"But you'll turn 120, Logan. This has to be celebrated!" Rogue disagreed and most of the mutants nodded in agreement.

"The hell it has…," he grumbled.

"Remy dinks a nice party wouldn't be wrong, non?" he said and chewed on his piece of bread. "In de end da Wolverine turns 120 'n dis 'as t'be celebrated."

"I agree!" Ororo nodded.

"Well then celebrate, I won't be here," Logan shrugged and got up to put his dishes away.

"What? Where are you going?!" Moira asked him and looked to and fro between him and Jean, who waved off.

"He's joking. Don't mind him," she said.

"No, I ain't."

"Yes, you are, honey, and you know that as well as I do," Jean smiled sweetly and put her dishes away, then kissed him.

"Ewwww!" Jamie made and hid his face behind his hands.

"Jamie, you rock!" Jubilee laughed and even the more when the boy nodded in agreement. "You'll get your birthday party, Wolvie, and there's nothing you can do against it," she added determined. "And I already know the PERFECT present!" she said excitedly which made him groan.

"A box of Trojans?" Logan asked bored to death but she shook her head. "Anythin' else that I don't need?"

"Noooo! And what makes you think I'd tell you, huh?" she challenged him.

He shrugged and pulled Jean close to cuddle up to her. "What makes ya think I care, huh?"

"Don't be mean," the redhead scolded him with a nudge into his ribs.

"I ain't."

"No, as always the sweetheart…," Scott mumbled and handed Raven the bread basket. He looked up when the back door opened and a rather pissed looking and wet Sabretooth stomped inside, dropping snow everywhere. "Damn… And I thought he was gone for good…"

Logan watched his brother for a moment and took in what his senses told him. "Feelin' better?" he asked after having sent the feral on a hunting trip.

Creed huffed and went past him, determined to get into his room where he could be alone. Of course he had barely reached the door next to Logan, when he ran into the person he least wanted to see. "Get outta my way, fag!" he snarled and pushed Daken aside, who crashed into the wall in the kitchen.

Growling, the younger feral's eyes narrowed and he stared Creed down in return, threw the same hate and animosity he was met with back at the man. "What's the matter, Vicky?" he mocked and received a death glare. "Didn't get laid? Too bad. I would offer but I don't do animals. It's against the law, you know." He shrugged and a smirk became visible on his lips.

"Stay down," Logan warned his half-brother but the man would have none of it.

"Never got a good beatin', eh?" Creed growled and reached out but Daken slapped his hand away, whereas Logan stepped between the two.

"I told ya somethin'!" he growled at his brother, who kept his eyes fixed on his nephew.

"Then keep that fag away from me," Creed snarled back and aimed for the door, watched by Daken.

"Tell me, Victor…," he heard the younger feral asking in a casual voice. "Did you always get off doing those things to me because you were bored, or because daddy touched you and you liked it?" he asked and extracted his claws quickly since Creed spun around, teeth bared and claws out, too. "Which is it?"

"That's enough!" Jean thundered and held both ferals back with her powers. "If you want to beat each other up, do it somewhere else but not here!"

"Yer dead, ya hear me?" Creed snarled, his eyes merely more than slits. "Dead!"

"Think I'm afraid of you?" Daken asked back and only stepped back when he was pushed by Logan.

"Stop provokin' him!" he hissed and turned his head into Creed's direction. "Just go t'yer room."

Huffing, Sabretooth left and the slam of the door could still be heard downstairs.

"Do ya have a death wish or somethin'?!" Logan asked his son.

"Me? No," his opposite replied and retracted his claws before he walked over to the fridge. "But he'll pay for what he's done to me," he added with a glare, looked up when he noticed someone entering the room. "You're supposed to stay in bed!"

"Agreed. That's actually what I ordered you to do," Jean said rather sourly and crossed her arms. "Mind to explain why you are up?"

Jean-Paul shrugged, his eyes never leaving Daken who had noticed the angry look. "Someone _smelled _chicken," he simply said, received a frown from the feral who gave him a suspicious look. Akihiro began to wonder why Northstar actually gave him a death glare and smelled furious. "Right, Kazu?" he asked sweetly and put the boy on a free stool.

"Still you should go back to bed!" she insisted and watched how he cut the chicken for the boy.

"I'll sleep over at Mike's. He's coming to get me," he replied and heard how the door of the fridge was shut.

"What?!" Daken asked and stepped closer, brows furrowed. "Why?!"

"I don't have to explain myself to you," Jean-Paul replied coldly, trying to keep his anger under control. "Besides… I think you know why," he hinted and looked him straight in the eye.

"No…," the feral replied and put the water bottle on the table.

The speedster snorted and shook his head, knew that they were being watched by the others. He watched Kazuki eating for a moment and reached out to stroke through the raven black her, smiled back when he received one.

Jean shook her head with a heavy sigh. "I don't think it's a good idea, Paul. You need to rest your leg and…"

"I'll rest it at Mike's," he cut her off.

"Why all of a sudden?!" she demanded to know and looked to and fro between him and Akihiro, who still tried to figure out what the speedster knew.

"Let's say I hate liars…," Jean-Paul replied, smiled when he saw the blond in the doorway. "That was fast."

"Well you sounded urgent," Mike shrugged and greeted him with a kiss, which made Daken narrow his eyes. "Did something happen?"

"Nothing that's worth to be mentioned," Northstar said and got slowly up. "Would you be so nice to get the two bags I placed on my bed? I'll be right there."

The man shrugged, still looking confused. "Yeah, sure…"

Daken's eyes were narrowed to slits. "You're taking the kid to his place?" he spat and received a look that spoke volumes in return.

"I don't think it's any of your business."

"I don't like him!"

"I don't care," Jean-Paul simply said and held Kazuki's hand when the boy hopped off of the stool. "Kazu why don't you go and get Kimi, hm?" he asked and watched the child storming off. "See you tomorrow," he told the others and was about to hobble out of the room when a hand grabbed his wrist. "Three seconds to let go of me!" he warned the feral, who stood next to him, breathing heavily and eyes looking furious. "Let go, Daken!"

"Do you know what's wrong all of a sudden?" Kitty whispered towards Jubilee while watching the two men staring each other down.

"Unresolved sexual tension!" the woman whispered back. "Kidding! No idea…"

"Mind t'explain what's gotten into the two of ya?" Logan grumbled and remained leaning against the wall, arms crossed. It was no secret to him that both men were boiling with anger and close to snap.

"Why don't you ask your son?" the speedster said, his eyes remaining on the feral. "Makes a nice birthday present what he has to tell you."

"Tell me what?!" Logan asked and looked at his son, who shrugged.

"Don't know what he's talking about," Daken grumbled. Of course it was not true. He had figured it out and wanted it to remain a secret. "Shut up!" he hissed and his eyes narrowed further.

"You know what?" Northstar asked and slapped his hand away. "We are done! I'm not friends with a liar like you."

"Think I care?" Daken chuckled and looked at him arrogantly. "I can find someone like you at every street corner."

While the rest gasped about the insult, Jean-Paul simply smiled. "Well a slut like you shouldn't have any problems doing so, that's true," he replied coolly. "But maybe you should use protection next time or visit the biology class again," he added with a meaningful look at Logan and turned to leave. "And now get the hell out of my way!" he hissed and pushed the feral aside.

"Don't you dare talking to me like that!" Daken warned him and it angered him even the more when the speedster simply ignored him. About to go after him, he was stopped by an arm blocking the doorway. A look aside and he looked right into his father's angry face.

"That kid's yer son?!" he demanded to know and the death glare was now directed at him.

"Who fucking cares?!" the younger feral snapped and went past him.

"Stay here for fuck's sake!" Logan barked after him. He heard how his son's room door was slammed shut and let out a curse.

"Wow…," Scott said after a long moment of silence and was at a loss of words.

"Indeed wow…," James agreed and cleared his throat. "Well then….congrats…"

Seeing that Logan was about to snap, Jean quickly put her hands against his chest. "Calm down, please!"

"Calm down?!" he asked angrily and made a step back. "I definitely won't calm down, dammit!"

"Logan, please!" she begged but could tell that he was too close to snap. "Before you destroy the fridge again, go outside, please!" Jean added and watched him doing so. She let out a sigh when the backdoor slammed shut.

"Again, wow…," Scott said and just looked at her. "And I thought Mini-Akihiro was just Kazuki's fun-nickname…"

"See? Remy said da kid looks too much like da man," the Cajun said to his wife. "Wonder how da speedster figured dat out… 'e said da kid smelled da chicken, non? Remy bets dat was da moment…"

"Whatever Sherlock, our son needs to go to bed," Rogue said and patted his knee. "Come one."

"Damn it!" Jean suddenly cursed and slapped her forehead. "I totally forgot that…," she began when she already spotted her son in the doorway.

"I thought we wanted to watch the movie together…," Jack said and sulked noticeably.

"I'm sorry, baby. I…," she began when he already rolled his eyes.

"Great…," he cursed and ran back upstairs.

"I love this day…," Jean said and shook her head. "I really love it…"

"Better go upstairs before he gets really angry," her father said and patted her back. "I'll tidy up here for you."

"Thank you…" Hugging him, she wished the rest a good night and made her way upstairs, where her children were already sitting on the couch and waiting.

"It has already begun!" Jack said and glared at her.

"I know. I said I was sorry," Jean apologized and sat down next to Rachel, who cuddled up to her.

"Where is daddy?" the little redhead asked and looked up at her mother.

"And why did he yell at Akihiro?" Lily asked next.

"Because he screwed up," Jack commented and grabbed another mouthful of popcorn when his father entered, still looking grim. "The movie already started, dad!"

"Yeah, I know," Logan grumbled and sat down next to him. He watched it half-interestedly and thought about what he had just learned. He couldn't decide whether to be angry or seriously pissed off.

When the movie was over and it was time to bring the children to bed, he tried to at least smile at them. In the end it wasn't their fault. "Night, baby," he said and gave Lily a kiss and the cheek, whereupon the girl hugged him.

"Are you mad, daddy?" she asked and looked at him with her hazel eyes.

He smiled and shook his head. "Not because of ya, darlin'."

"But because of Akihiro," Jack noticed and received a look. "We heard you yelling at him…"

"'n what else did ya hear?" Logan asked and sat down on the edge of Lily's bed.

"Nothing…" His son shrugged.

"Jack…," his father said knowingly.

"I didn't pay attention, dad. We only heard you yelling at him," Jack grunted and tried to get comfortable in his bed.

"Right…," Logan sighed and got up. "Night!" he said once more and closed the door behind him, joining Jean in the bedroom. "I can't fuckin' belief it!" he cursed in a hushed voice and slumped down on the bed.

"You can't change it, Logan," she replied and began undressing herself. "I actually had my suspicions about Kazuki…"

He looked at her. "'n ya didn't say one fuckin' word, Jean!" he snapped.

"Don't snap at me now, mister!" she warned him and put her clothes on a nearby stool before she pulled out her PJs. "To be honest I didn't expect your son to say one word. He made it pretty obvious that he can't stand children."

"He was so stupid t'make one, so he can damn well take care of it," Logan growled and undressed himself.

"Stupid?!" his wife asked and he groaned.

"I said _he_, Jean!"

"Stop snapping at me, damn it!" she snapped back and gave him an angry look before she went to the bathroom. She was in the middle of brushing her teeth when two arms wrapped around her waist.

"Sorry…," Logan mumbled into her neck and placed a kiss to it. He reached out for his toothbrush and began working on his teeth quickly.

"See it like that…," Jean said while brushing her long hair. "You're 120 soon and already a grandpa…"

He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Was that supposed t'be funny?"

Only smiling at him, she kissed his cheek and put down her brush. "Tomorrow will be funny, honey."

His other eyebrow shot up. "Why? What's tomorrow?!"

* * *

"Why do I need a new suit?!" Logan grumbled for the tenth time and stood behind his wife, arms crossed, a scowl very much visible on his face while she went through the pants and jackets.

"Because yours is decades old…," she replied and pulled up a black, tailored jacket.

"It's tailored….," he stated the obvious and received a look from her. Logan shrugged innocently. "I'm just observant…"

"It's your size," Jean said and handed him the jacket and pants. "Try them on." To make her point clear, she gave him a gentle push towards the changing cubicle.

"This sucks…," he grumbled but did as he was told. While he went inside, Jean sat down on one of the stools with a heavy sigh.

"Don't worry, John was being childish, too!" Narya tried to cheer her up and sat down next to her. She looked aside and watched how the third feral in their round went through the clothes easily and disappeared in another cube. "Well at least Akihiro has a sense for fashion…"

"Not from his father….," Jean said with a playful roll of her eyes. When the curtain was pushed aside by Logan, her heart made a leap. She thought he looked very good in the suit but he looked clearly unhappy. "I like it!"

"I don't!" he grumbled and tilted his head when she came over to him and began looking at him from all sides.

"It looks good," she said once more and watched for a moment how Narya tried to convince John that the suit looked good on him, too, by gushing all over him. Still, Logan looked uncomfortable. "Honey, you look good in it, okay?" Jean assured him and leant in a bit, smiling at him. "I like your backside," she whispered and made him smirk.

"'n what are ya gonna wear, hm?" he flirted back and pulled her close with his arms.

Thinking playfully, she shrugged and ran her hands over the fabric. "Something nice…"

"Hm… Can I pick it?" he asked and bit his lower lip, smirking while his eyes gleamed.

Jean smiled. "Too late for that, honey. I already bought it."

"Some sexy underwear, too?" he asked her playfully and received a look that spoke volumes. "For Christmas or my birthday?"

She giggled. "I won't tell you."  
"Why not?" Logan sulked.

"Because not knowing is what's called a surprise, honey," Jean lectured him playfully and gave him a slap on his behind. "Now hurry up. I'm getting hungry!"

"Did ya just slap my butt?!" he asked her playfully shocked and winked at her before he went back into the cube.

"Men…," the redhead sighed and shook her head.

After they had paid and had joined Mike, Jean-Paul and Kazuki on the outside, they waited for their pizza and the feral, who was still trying on clothes.

"Man, he needs longer than I do…," Narya said with a shake of her head, drew on her straw and watched Akihiro through the window.

"Try sharing a bathroom with him…," Northstar said without looking up and fished for Kazuki's food in his bag. "There it is." He smiled back at the boy when this one saw the cut apples and smiled happily. "Here you go, kiddo."

"Damn, he looks good in this…," Narya suddenly said and earned a rather jealous look from John, while the rest looked towards the window and watched how the feral straightened his black waistcoat in front of the mirror.

On the inside Akihiro was then pulling up the sleeves of his grey buttoned shirt and fastened the chain on his black trousers so that it hang on the left side of his hip. He then gave himself a critical look in the mirror.

"He's worse than any woman...," John commented with a shake of his head and received an elbow to the side. "Hey!"

"At least he doesn't complain about having to pick a suit!" his girlfriend mocked in a playful way, which made him growl in return. "Grouch!"

"Did you already pick a suit?" Mike asked Jean-Paul out of interest to tear the man's look away from the feral in the shop, who had obviously decided to keep the clothes on.

"Hm?"

"A suit," he replied and hid his annoyance. "Did you pick one already?"

"Yeah," Jean-Paul nodded and wiped Kazuki's mouth with a tissue. "Are you coming over for Christmas?"

"If I'm allowed to…" Mike shrugged.

"Sure," Jean said and frowned when she picked up on the jealousy of the man. A look at Logan and John told her that they had picked up on it, too.

"What about later today? Are you coming over again?"

Thinking about it, Jean-Paul shrugged. "I'd love to but I don't want to leave Kazu alone…" He looked at the boy, who had taken an interest in the balloon of another child.

"You could bring him," Mike suggested and met the man's blue eyes. "I don't mind him being around."

"I won't allow it!" Daken suddenly grunted behind them and all eyes were on him as he slumped down on the last free stool at their table, putting a Cesar's salad and a bottle of water in front of him.

"Excuse me?!" Mike asked and gave the feral the same glare back that he was receiving.

"I don't think I have to repeat myself, do I?" his opposite asked arrogantly and sipped on his water.

"What's your problem?" Jean-Paul asked sourly.

"I won't allow that you take the kid to his place," Daken said matter-of-factly and began eating his salad. "Wherever _that_ is…"

Mike snorted. "And you have a say in this because…?" he asked and received a smirk, while the feral chewed slowly on his food.

Daken swallowed. "He's my son, so I think I have a say in it, don't you think?" he struck and chuckled to himself when Mike's face paled a bit. It was no secret to him that the man didn't know and it amused him to have achieved the shock he had aimed for. "Oh, you didn't know? Too bad…" He shrugged innocently and went on eating his food, ignoring the glare Northstar and his father were shooting at him on purpose.

"Narya, would you take Kazu over to that guy and buy a balloon for him?" Jean-Paul asked sweetly and she understood why she was supposed to do it. He waited for her to be far enough away. "You don't give a fucking shit on your son, so don't act as if you do all of a sudden!" he hissed and while he gave Daken a warning look, the feral still smirked.

"Take him to his place and it's called child abduction," Akihiro smiled sweetly.

Northstar gave a brief laugh, shook his head and crossed his arms. "You're an asshole!"

"Took you a while to notice."

"'kay, that's enough!" Logan intervened and made it clear that the fight should end now. The tension in the air became too obvious to him.

"How about staying over at our place?" Jean-Paul asked Mike and the glare returned when Akihiro smiled. "What?!" he asked in complete annoyance.

"Is he supposed to sleep on the floor?" Daken asked amused and wiped his mouth with a tissue. "No guest rooms available, remember?"

He received a smile in return. "Our sofas' are day beds, remember?" the speedster mocked and the feral's smile faded.

"Yes, and people still want to _sit_ on them!"

"It's none of your fucking business!"

"Hey, calm down!" Mike begged and put a hand on Northstar's, which earned him another glare from the feral.

"Sorry…," the speedster said and heaved a deep breath. "Wanna stay over?"

"Sure," Mike shrugged and returned the smile he was given.

"Cute…," Akihiro mocked and got up to throw way the empty bottle, watched by his father critically.

"Ya know that he's jealous?" Logan asked Jean-Paul after they had reached the mansion once more and he had pulled him aside.

"Logan, I don't care, okay? I'm not his property and…"

"Ya should care!" the feral said and made his opposite frown. "Remember what I told ya about lettin' Akihiro bite ya?" he asked and Northstar surely did remember the incident…

"_Ya let him bite ya?!" Logan asked incredulously and stared at the clearly visible bite mark on Jean-Paul's shoulder, while the man frowned at him. _

_He didn't understand what was so shocking about it. "Better say he bit me. I didn't notice before his teeth sank into my shoulder," he replied and put ice on it. "Why? What's so bad about it."_

_Logan sighed and shook his head. "Yer stupid, that's all I'm gonna say about it."_

"_Why?!"_

"_Coz yer stupid!" he repeated and threw the bottle into the trash can. "Ya have no idea what it means, right?"_

"_It means that my shoulder's hurting," Jean-Paul said and pressed the ice against it. He noticed the look he was given and his heart sank. Logan looking at someone or something like that always meant bad news… "Okay, how bad is it?"_

"_Very!" Logan grunted, crossed his arms and leant against the kitchen isle. "He marked ya."_

"_Marked me?!" his opposite asked confused. "Marked me as what?"_

"_As his mate…"_

"_So?"_

"_So?" Logan asked and cocked an eyebrow. "So yer practically married t'him!"_

_Northstar laughed and shook his head. "Good joke, Logan. You almost had me. And it's not even April's Fools Day…"_

"_Stay here!" the feral demanded, left the room just to reappear with Jean. "Tell him what it means when I bite ya durin' sex," he told her and received widened eyes first and a blush from her next. "Coz that idiot let Daken bite him'n thinks I'm makin' fun outta him."_

"_It means that you're his partner, his mate or partner in life," Jean explained without looking at Northstar, who had begun to frown. The whole situation made her uncomfortable. Talking about something that intimate which she only shared with Logan, wasn't something she liked to do. But she also knew that Logan wanting her to talk about it meant that it was important. "Logan told me once that a wolf mates for life and Daken obviously chose you… Or his feral part did without him realizing it. But biting you means that he and you share a bond from now on."_

"_Which again means that yer practically married t'him 'n that ya have t'stick t'him from now on, no matter what!" Logan added. "Till death do ya part. Congrats!"_

_Shocked about it, Jean-Paul lowered his gaze and stared at the ground. "Shit…," he said more to himself than his opposites._

"_Shit indeed!" Logan grunted and sighed. "Look, I don't care that yer doin' him, alright? I also don't care that my son swings t'both sides of the fence… I just want ya t'realize that he has issues 'n can snap at any second! Ask Mac and Heath what I've been like back then. Ya can't control this impulse of him'n that's why it's dangerous for ya. Next time he might stab ya."_

"_He's different with me, Logan!"_

"_Sure it's not his pheromone control thing?" Logan challenged. "He can control how ya feel, he can make yer comfortable when yer not. Ya can't tell if he really means things the way he says'em! Not with that mutation of his."_

"_He wasn't controlling me," Northstar insisted and received two skeptical looks. "I can't explain it and to be honest, it's awkward talking to you about it considering that you're his father! He's different with me and actually tries to relax around me. He's trying to trust me."_

"_He marked ya!" Logan growled._

"_Fine, then he did. I can't change that now anymore, can I?" Jean-Paul said. "I'm no fool, Logan! I know he's very dangerous, but I also know that he needs help to get back on the right path. He can't do this alone. I know more about him than you do and don't bother to ask, because I won't tell you since I respect him, too, as much as I do you. Just trust me with this."_

_Sighing, Logan gave Jean a brief look and shook his head. "Don't say ya haven't been warned if somethin' goes wrong!"_

"Damn…," Jean-Paul said and ran a hand through his raven black hair.

"Damn indeed," Logan agreed and crossed his arms. "He sees ya as his property 'n t'him Mike is another wolf that tries t'steal his mate away. It's instinct!"

"You think he might attack him?" his opposite asked in deep concern and Logan shook his head. "But…"

"He's _gonna_ attack him," he replied in a very serious voice. "It's only a matter of time 'n knowin' him, Akihiro will go for the kill. At least when he stays over." He grabbed the bags that he had dropped on the ground once more. "Kazu can stay over at our place," he hinted and left the speedster deeply in thoughts, just to run into the Professor next.

"Logan, I was looking for you," the bald man said matter-of-factly. "I already told Jean that I need the two of you to travel over to California."

"California?!" Logan grunted, brows furrowed and followed him down the corridor. "What's in California?!"

"I picked up on a mutant there that would come in handy," Charles explained. "Jean is already packing some of your things. Don't worry, we'll watch over the children and it should only take a day or two to locate that mutant. I gave Jean all the information I have."

Thinking about it, the feral smiled. Going on a mission with Jean meant he wasn't home for his birthday, which equaled that he couldn't take part in any party or other stupid idea his teammates came up with. "'kay… Where exactly are we headin'?" he asked and Charles smiled gratefully.

"I located her at Golden Bear Cottages. My guess is that she works there or spends her holidays there. At least she never left that place while I checked up on her. It would be nice, if you could approach her. I'm afraid that it becomes too dangerous for our kind to be on our own these days," the Professor explained. "I already booked a flight for the two of you."

* * *

"Why would Chuck send us here? Couldn't he just contact her mentally?" Logan grumbled and dropped their bags next to the bed. The flight had been hell, at least for him. The food had sucked, the pilot had been as ass – at least Logan would call everyone an ass that sucked as much at landing than Scott and they hadn't even served vodka or anything that could help him getting his mind off the fact that he was sitting in a plane. He hated flighting. He looked around the lodge and had to admit he liked it. It reminded him of his cabin in Canada, much as the whole area did. The double bed was neatly done, the fireplace in a spot that made it possible to look at it from the bed and the carpet in front of it looked nice, too. He considered coming back with Jean and the kids for a holiday maybe next year… "Hm?" Logan made as a hand touched his shoulder.

"I said you could already go and check the surroundings," Jean said and went over to their bags. "I'll call home and tell them that we arrived here safely. I'll join you later."

"Ya don't wanna walk around here all by yourself?" he asked surprised and received a look from her.

"Honey, it's a holiday resort. I doubt someone will attack me here," she replied and turned back around to rummage in the bag. "Just go and take a brief look around. The mutant must be somewhere around this place. I'll just need to do something."

"'n what?" Logan asked, frowning.

"Logan…," Jean sighed.

"Fine. I'll go," he shrugged, sulking. "But I'll be back in thirty minutes t'pick ya up. No way in hell I'm gonna let ya walk around alone here."

"Do whatever you want, honey," he heard her saying and closed the door behind him.

He then took a good look around. The sky was already dark, stars visible and it was very chilly. From afar he could hear the trees rustling in the wind and the snow creaked underneath his boots. It truly reminded him of Canada and the mountains. After inhaling the fresh air, he buried his hands in his pockets and began walking around a bit. Due to his sensitive hearing he could hear the animals in the forest and the people at the resort, most of them talking, sleeping or doing other things that he refused to listen in. At the same time he let his nose lead him. He knew they were looking for a woman, but to his greatest luck he picked up on at least 20 of them, Jean included. How on earth were they supposed to figure out who the mutant was they were looking for?

After he had searched the area for awhile, he decided that it was time to pick up Jean. With her help they could way easier locate that mutant and maybe have some alone time left before they had to return home. The closer Logan got to the lodge they were staying in, the more excited he became. It reminded him too much of their honeymoon all those years ago, in which he had returned to his cabin after going hunting and she had already awaited him, stove ready for whatever he had caught. How he'd love to do this again. His hand reached out and turned the doorknob, pushing the door open. "Jeannie, this sucks," he began and turned to close the door behind him again. "There are at least twen…" His breath caught up in his throat and his eyes widened a bit when he noticed her.

"At least what?" the redhead asked, stretching on the bed like a cat and smiled at him seductively. "Cat got your tongue?"

Logan needed two attempts to find his voice again, pointed at the door behind him. "I thought we…"

"…are supposed to find that mutant?" Jean asked and he nodded. "Hm….no." She couldn't help but laugh at the confused look on his face. "You don't really believe Charles would send you off on a mission a day before your birthday, dummy!"

"No?" he asked absentmindedly, still ogling her curves in the sexy dark red negligee.

"No," Jean smiled, noticing his heated gaze. "Like what you see, honey?" she asked, tracing her curves with one hand, a move that made him lick his lower lip.

The candles that had been placed around the room threw shadows all around her, but to him she seemed to be glowing. When she patted the empty space next to her he finally began to move, dropped his boots and jacket on the way to the bed. He immediately aimed for a deep kiss, a shudder passed through his body when their tongues met and he began to notice how uncomfortable his jeans suddenly were. The fabric rubbed against his groin in a way that made his breath hitch. When they broke the kiss he took her full sight in once more. She looked so goddamn beautiful to him that he felt like a worthless thing in front of a goddess. Her red hair fell partially over her full breasts that were covered in a sexy dark red bra, her equally sexy panties emphasizing her perfectly shaped butt, slim waist and long legs.

"Jesus, darlin'…," Logan could only mumble and shook his head, wished that his jeans would just disappear. He had to force himself not to jump her right here and now as Wolverine wanted to do. He was way too excited to see his mate like this and knowing that it was just for him didn't help the situation either.

Smiling at him, Jean sat up and knelt down in front of him, her hands stroking through his thick but soft hair. She pulled him close and into another long kiss, shuddered when his hands grabbed her gently, but possessively and pulled their groins together. Unconsciously, she grinded against him which made him growl against her lips. Her hands reached between them and began working on his belt. She giggled when he let out a relieved sigh as she finally freed him from his jeans and pushed him down to the bed, where she straddled him. She was still amazed how nervous he could make her but knew that she could do no wrong with him. No matter what she would do, he'd love every tiny bit of it. He never needed much to be satisfied, only her. After she had kissed him deeply again, she nodded at the bedside table.

"Strawberries, huh?" Logan smirked and sat up, holding her close in his lap and looked at what else she had there. "Honey, chocolate sauce 'n whipped cream…," he noticed and chuckled amused. "Naughty lil' Jeannie…"

"Jeannie just took a page out of her hubby's book," she replied and bit her lower lip, smiling.

"Is that so?" Logan teased and reached out to take a strawberry, holding it up for her to bite into it before he ate the other half. He breathed hard while he watched her chewing on it, couldn't deny how much he wanted her.

"Wolverine making trouble already?" Jean asked and sat up further, placing one of his hands between her breasts and holding it there.

"You've no idea, darlin'…," Logan grunted, voice hoarse. His heart was racing in his chest, his blood hot with need and desire, he knew it was becoming too dangerous with his darker side scratching at the bars that much. "Jean…," he began and wanted to push her gently off of him, but she pushed him back down again instead, covered his body with hers and kissed him once more.

"It's okay," she assured him and rubbed against him, feeling like a teenager who was humping her first boyfriend dry. A gasp escaped her lips as he shifted their position just a bit to be able to reach between them. "Logan…," Jean moaned and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulled him closer as he began to place gentle kisses and bites all over her neck and collarbone, his hand still working between them. It was as if she could hear his strong heartbeat in his chest, was sure their hearts were beating against each other when their chests touched for the merest moment. She wanted him and that badly, reached out with her powers to read his mind and her eyes widened when she was able to see what he wanted to do with her, wanted to act upon it and show him what she wanted to do to him in return. Inside of her Phoenix snickered, made promises of heights she was unable to reach without her and Jean shuddered at the thoughts. His darker eyes told her that he was willing to let his guard down and so she silently agreed on it.

Not much later her underwear lay forgotten on the floor, the fire in the fireplace illuminating the room and threw their shadows against the wooden wall. While she was on her back, grasping at the sheets and everything above her head that she could reach, he was buried between her legs and worked his wonders on her. It took all of her control not to scream loud enough for their neighbors to hear and she still mewed even after he was once more kissing her. She didn't want to waste time and returned the favor to him, loved to have such power over a strong individual like her man and to make him gasp, whimper and beg. She knew that he was well aware of her powers working on his most sensitive spot, loved the heights she brought him to and was still amazed that she never pulled back, just licked her lips and kissed him again; driving him wild once more. For them it was just foreplay, a way to tease each other and get ready for a long ride. He never needed long to be ready for her again, thanks to his healing factor and she, too, didn't need a long break in between. The excitement of things to come was too strong for her as that she wanted to miss it.

She once more dug her nails into the mattress as he drove her crazy and steadily closer to completion behind her. She had long given up to care about what their neighbors would think, knew that her powers could block out most of the noises they made. When he suddenly stopped and slid out she gave him a confused look, a protesting moan escaping her lips even if she was desperate to fill her lungs with as much air as possible. The confusion was soon replaced by anticipation as she saw how he grabbed the bottle from the nightstand and she shuddered as the coolness slid between her.

"Naughty girl…," she heard him whispering into her ear and felt him nibbling at her neck once more, before his weight pushed her gently down on the bed and he slid carefully into the upper level. "Fuck, Jeannie…," he cursed and he had to hold back for a moment, gave her time to adjust to him and himself to come down from the height a bit. As soon as she entwined their hands he settled back into his pace, the sound of skin on skin and them filling the room once more. It felt like heaven to him. Tight and warm and slick and her scent filled his nostrils like no other. No matter if she became someone entirely else, he would find her, he would be able to find her anywhere. Stars exploded in front of his eyes as he heard her moaning his name from afar and soon afterwards he found himself back on his back with her perfect form on top of him. He loved that woman to death, he knew that, both sides of him. He'd do anything for her, knew he could be his true self with her without fearing rejection. She and their children were his life, everything that mattered to him and he wouldn't be able to live without them. To him there was no meaning or sense in a life without them. He'd be a dead shell walking.

While she moved her hips, her body glistening with sweat and her scent becoming even sweeter to him, he began to wonder if he had ever felt that strong towards anyone besides her and he knew that this wasn't the case. They were soul mates, bonded by their deep psychic link and no matter if the world ended right here and now, he would die a happy man. She had given him everything he had every dreamed of, even things he hadn't dared dreaming of, he would simply die for that woman as stupid and cheesy as it sounded to him.

He watched her throwing her head back in a moment of pure bliss and helped her to ride it out, while he began thrashing next and found his release. When his senses returned to him, she lay cuddled up to him on his chest, listening to his heartbeat and stroking lazily over his waist. Spent and happy he turned his head to check up on the fire but noticed something entirely else. "Sunrise…," Logan said more to himself and Jean turned her head, sleepily. "Jesus, how late is it?!" he asked and reached out to look at his watch which read 7:48. Amazed he put it back on the nightstand and looked down on the redhead, his hand stroking through her hair.

"You know what that means?" he heard her mumbling and nodded.

"Yeah… One helluva good night."

Jean smiled and looked up at him, kissing him deeply. "No, it means it's December 2, dummy, so Happy Birthday!" she said and kissed him once more.

Smiling back at her, he pulled her closer and returned the favor. "Thanks for the surprise, darlin'."

"Liked it?" she asked him teasingly and kissed his chest, which made him chuckle.

"If I got a present like this each year, I'd love t'have birthday every day," Logan replied and rolled them over so that they lay next to each other. "Wildcat," he teased and kissed the tip of her nose.

"Wildcat?!" she asked playfully outraged. "I'm the one who is sore, mister."

"'n I'm the one with scratch 'n bite marks, baby," he shrugged and nuzzled her.

"So not true!" She shook her head and wrapped her arms around his waist. "Hmmm….sleepy…"

"Oh, yeah…," Logan agreed and reached out to tuck her into the duvet. "We made a mess of the bed."

"I so don't care…," she mumbled and snuggled up.

Chuckling, he kissed her forehead and inhaled her scent. "I love ya, Jeannie. Ya have no idea how happy ya make me," he mumbled into her hair and rested his head on hers.

"I love you, too…," he heard her muttering already half in oblivion and smiled contently; knowing that heaven could never be better than this for him.

* * *

Ororo looked up and smiled when she realized who had just entered the kitchen. "You are already back?" she asked and hugged Jean first, then Logan; placing a kiss on the latter's cheek. "Happy birthday." She looked to and fro between them, noticed how happy and at ease the couple seemed to be. "I assume you had a good night then?" she asked knowingly.

"Hm…. You can say that," Jean smiled while hugging Logan's waist happily. "Did the children behave?"

"I didn't hear your father complaining," her best friend said and shrugged. "Did you plan anything else for today?"

"Yeah," Logan nodded and took Jean's hand into his. "No party!" Pulling her with her, he intended to make his way upstairs when Ororo spoke up again.

"Oh, and Logan!"

"What?"

"Your son and Paul had a pretty nasty fallout and Akihiro hit Mike," the weather goddess told him and he rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Told Paul so actually," he grunted. "What now?"

"Paul's with Mike and I haven't seen your son since then," Ororo shrugged. "Anyway… I should go and see what my husband's doing. See you later!"

"I so told him so…," Logan said and pulled Jean with him.

Upstairs they were greeted by their children and Jean's father, also the dogs and wolf coming and jumping at them happily. "Happy birthday, daddy," Rachel said and kissed his cheek, hugged him firmly and made then room for her siblings. "Laura and I made this for you," she said proudly and handed him a rolled paper.

"Ya did?" he smirked and got settled on the ground, pulled off the blue ribbon and looked at the picture that showed some mountains, a small cabin like house and people.

"See?" Laura asked and pointed at each of them. "That's mommy and you, and that's Jack, Lily, Ray and me."

"And that's Miloh, Callie and their kids and Jamie," Rachel added.

"That's sweet. Thank ya," Logan smiled and kissed both of them. He looked up when Lily handed him a blue package next, smiling at him and sitting down on his knee.

"That's from Jack, grandpa and me," she told him and watched him opening it excitedly. "Do you like it?!" she asked when he looked at the gray hoody from the national Canadian hockey team and smiled back when he did.

"'f course I do, darlin'," Logan said and hugged her and her twin next. "Thanks," he said towards John Grey, who sat on the sofa and nodded smiling in return.

"But you've gotta wear it, dad!" Jack demanded and got his hair ruffled. "Dad!" he cried and playfully glared at him, trying to bring an order to his messed up hair.

"No need t'look good for bed, kiddo," his father said and got up.

"It's Saturday!" his children whined.

"Yeah, and it's almost 10:30 p.m.," Jean replied and ushered them to bed. "Come on."

"Mom…," Jack tried but she shook her head about which he groaned. "That sucks!"

"Yeah, it does," Logan teased him and ruffled his hair once more.

"Dad!" his son growled and quickly dived into his room to prevent any further attacks.

"They did behave?" Logan asked his father-in-law after they had brought the children to bed.

John waved off with a smile. "I hardly ever see them not behaving."

The feral shrugged. "Jack can be difficult sometimes."

"The only thing he did was beating me in every card game we played and hanging out with Rogue's daughter."

Logan chuckled. "Yeah, Isa is determined t'marry Jack when they are grown ups," he told Jean's father, who couldn't help but laugh. "She told me so when she was five years old."

"Who knows…," John said and smiled at his daughter when she came over to them and sat down next to her husband.

"Jamie?" Logan asked and wrapped an arm around her.

"Sleeping like a log for a chance," she told him and placed a kiss to his lips.

"So the two of you had a good day?" she heard her father asking and nodded. "That's good."

"Bed?" Logan asked after a moment of silence, looked at Jean from aside and could easily tell that she was tired.

"Mhm, sounds good," she said and got up. "Good night."

"Good night," John replied and began to prepare his daybed.

"I'm so beat…," Jean said and slumped down on the bed. She cracked an eye open when he chuckled. "Are you making fun out of me, mister?"

"Don't know what ya mean, darlin'," he replied and lay down next to her, yawning.

"Ha!" she made and earned a playful growl. "Stone and glasshouse, Logan! That's all I'm saying. Good night!" She reached out to switch of the lights, being too tired to do so by using her mutation.

* * *

A couple of days later Logan found himself sitting on the ground in front of the ICU, legs pulled close, arms resting on his knees and staring at the speedster, whose shirt was still bloody and who reeked of fear. He had no clue how the disaster had happened, but knowing that his eldest was on the verge of death was enough for him to know to have a reason to freak out. While his senses were fixated on the speedster and what Jean, Moira and Hank were doing on the inside, he was still waiting for a reply. He wanted to know why the bathroom of Daken's and Jean-Paul's room looked like after a massacre, why the trail of blood led to the kitchen, its floor being the same bloody mess and why lots of bloody towels were scattered on the floor. He had been on the outside with the children and had returned from a snow fight, just to be met by a bloody battlefield. "I'm waitin'…," he grunted, his patience on the edge.

Jean-Paul sighed and was about to bury his face in his hands, but thought better of it when he remembered that they were red with blood. "I told you I don't know how this happened…," he said once more.

"How about startin' from the beginnin'?" Logan asked in annoyance.

"I came home with Mike, wanted to get my things since I planned to stay over at his house, I entered my room, told him to wait while I packed my things, I went into the bathroom and there Akihiro lay on the ground, the floor bloody and he was already half unconscious," the speedster told him and shook his head. "I don't know why… Maybe Creed attacked him."

"The room had no trace of Victor," Logan grunted.

"Maybe he slashed his wrists, what the hell do I know?!"

"He can't. It would heal instantly."

"I….don't…know, okay?" Northstar asked annoyed. "He's been weird lately, so who knows what's going on in his head…," he added, mumbling and looked away in thoughts.

"I told ya he's jealous," Logan said and stretched his legs.

"So this is my fault now?" Jean-Paul challenged him. "He didn't tell me that Kazuki was his son, Logan! One second he behaves like the most innocent person and in the next he's the devil. So who knows what's going on in his head!" He got up and sighed, shaking his head. "I need to clean up. Let me know what the docs say."

"Whatever," Logan waved off, angered and looked into the opposite direction.

"Fine," the speedster shrugged and left.

The elevator was barely up when the double door opened and Jean came outside, her surgeon clothes bloody. She gave Logan, who had gotten up as soon as the door had slid open, a serious look.

"What?" he asked and waited.

"It's worse than it already looked," she replied and sighed. "Hank told you that Sinister didn't bond Akihiro's skeleton with adamantium, that his bones have a natural metallic compound, right?" she asked and received a nod. "Anyway, he did bond the piece of the Muramasa blade that your son had stolen to Akihiro's inner wrist claws. A sheath was added to keep the metal from touching his tissue, but the sheath wasn't secured to his bones. It was loose. Some impact, probably during a fight or something else, must have moved it and the metal on the claws touched his tissue."

Logan's brows furrowed when he noticed something. "He was scratchin' his wrist when we observed that guy in the pub…," he remembered. "I asked him if somethin' was wrong but he waved off. The same happened in Japan…"

Jean nodded. "It must have been a reaction to it. My guess is that it must have hurt him or something else must have bothering him, so he extracted the claws to take a look. This again proved itself fatal since his wounds couldn't heal anymore because of the blade and the sheaths that weren't in position anymore. It had the same effect on him that slashing one's wrists… He nearly bled out…"

"Gods…," Logan cursed and ran both hands through his hair, shaking his head. "The Muramasa metal stops our healin' factors… That's why I let it being' forged," he told her and received a nod. "So Akihiro doesn't have a healin' factor at the moment, am I right?" he asked, his voice concerned.

"No. Hank managed to secure the sheaths to his bones this time. The claws don't touch his tissue anymore but the damage they did were severe," she told him. "For the moment his healing factor is nullified. We are not sure how long it will take him to recover." She remained silent for a moment before she reached out to take Logan's hand. "Do you want to hear my theory on this?" she asked and he nodded.

"Sure…"

"I think Romulus planned this…"

"Of course he did," Logan snorted.

"No, wait," Jean said. "I think he planned for Akihiro to kill you. That his hatred for you, which he had taught him throughout his life, was strong enough to kill you after the bonding process. If your son had attacked you with his claws, Romulus knew that you would fight back. So…"

"…so due to the impact the sheaths would have moved 'n the metal would have touched Akihiro's tissue…," Logan finished her thoughts and she nodded.

"In that way he would have gotten rid of both of you at the same time," she said and noticed how his demeanor changed. "He really used Akihiro though and through…"

"He's so gonna pay for this…," Logan growled and heaved a deep breath. "Can I see him?"

"Of course," she nodded and led the way back inside. "We hooked him up to life support. His heartbeat and breathing became very flat during the surgery. He is breathing on his own but we don't want to risk anything," she told him and watched how he took his son's hand into his as good as he could.

"We added casts to his wrist so he will be unable to move his hands for awhile," Moira told him next and wrote down what the machines told him. "As soon as he has enough blood again we will clean it. Maybe that will help to push his healing factor again."

"He's also hooked up to your blood. That should help, too," Hank added and put a hand to Logan's shoulder. "He should be asleep for a good while…"

"I'll stay here," Logan grunted and sat down on a stool. "Paul wanted t'know what's wrong…"

Jean nodded. "I'll let him know," she assured him and left the room to shower and change her clothes. Afterwards, she went upstairs where Scott and James were almost done cleaning the kitchen floor and tidying up. She helped them with the towels and put them into the garbage can with her powers, before she set off to find the speedster. "There you are," she said after finally running into him in the rec-room. The sad and depressed look in his eyes was the first thing she noticed when she sat down next to him. "Where's Mike?" she asked since the man was nowhere to be seen.

Northstar only smiled and shook his head. "Home…"

"I thought you wanted to stay over?" the redhead asked in confusion and received a nod. "But?"

"But he thought it would be better to end it before he became even more attached than he already is," Jean-Paul replied.

"He broke off with you?!" Jean said in surprise and leant forward on the sofa. "To me he seemed to be very taken with you actually…"

"That's why he wanted to end it," he said and looked at her with a look that spoke volumes. "Because in his eyes I looked at Akihiro a bit too scared…" Before she could say something he got up, shaking his head and paced for a moment. "I mean what else was I supposed to do?! He was bleeding all over the place, so of course I was scared!"

"Maybe…," Jean began and remembered what James had told her in the kitchen before, "it had to do with the fact that you were completely focused on Akihiro and forgot that Mike was actually there, too?"

He stopped pacing instantly and stared at her. "Jean, I'd love to see, if you looked at anyone else while Logan bleed out!" he challenged her and slumped back down on the couch, angrily. "I thought Akihiro was dying, so in my opinion my reaction was quiet normal." He sighed and shook his head. "But that's just my luck, you know? I finally met a guy who's normal, who has a normal job and a very good one and then he leaves me because he likes me too much and thinks I'm in love with a complete psycho…"

Jean watched him from aside for a moment, considered if she should say what was on her mind or not. "Did it actually occur to you….," she began and he furrowed his brows at her, "…that you _do_ love Akihiro?" she asked him carefully.

"I don't love him!" he simply said. "I could never love someone like him."

"To us it actually seems to be the other way around," she disagreed and he huffed. "In the end Akihiro absolutely hated Mike, too."

"Yeah, because he's a self-centered asshole whose favorite toy got taken away," he said and got up again. He shook his head. "Seriously, Jean, at the moment I wish I had never met him. I can't tell if anything he ever told me was the truth. He didn't tell me that Kazu's his son and I bet he would have never said it when I hadn't found out by accident. I think he's only toying with us and enjoys it."

"I think he's just afraid to lose you and doesn't know how to show it," she said but he shook his head.

"You know what?" he said after a long silence and after she had updated him on the feral's status. "I'll wait until he feels better. I'll help him until he can do things on his own again, but afterwards I'll leave. I've enough of this shit and enough of him. I know Logan is happy to have his son back and that he's more important to the team than I am. But I honestly can't stand being around him anymore."

"But…where do you want to go?!" Jean asked and furrowed her brows.

Jean-Paul shrugged. "Back to Canada… I miss skiing anyway." He sighed and crossed his arms. "Anyway, I still have to clean the bathroom. See you later," he said and left her still in shock.

* * *

To her and everyone else's greatest surprise he kept word and packed his things as soon as Hank took off the casts on the feral's arms. In the past week the speedster had helped Akihiro with all the everyday things like dressing, washing, eating or drinking and had ignored the bad mood of the feral as good as he could. The greater Akihiro's surprise was when Northstar announced that he would take the next flight back to Canada and actually kept word, even when the feral had joked about it.

"It's yer choice, kid," Logan said in a stern voice and his face looked grim. He had followed his son to his room after this one had thrown another insult at the speedster, when this one had said his good-bye's. "Forget yer goddamn pride for a second, get yer ass t'the airport 'n tell him yer sorry!"

"Why should I?" Daken snapped and glared at him but couldn't hold the gaze for long.

"Why?" Logan asked and crossed his arms. "Coz he's the only friend ya got. He gave ya one chance after the next 'n ya treated him like shit. Besides ya can tell me whatever ya want but ya care for him more than ya want t'admit. Yer different when he's with ya 'n I'd accept him as yer partner. I won't accept any other guy. So get yer ass t' the airport or he's gone 'n I can assure ya that he won't come back this time! Think about yer son, too, goddammit!" Angry as he was he turned around and left his son sitting on the bed.

When the X-Men were gathered at the dinner table thirty minutes later, Ororo looked at the group in great confusion. "Has anyone seen my husband?!" she asked, since Kurt was nowhere to be seen.

In the meantime, the teleporter had activated Forge's device, which gave him a normal look, and stood in front of a huge departure board. "There," he said and pointed to his right. "I think this is the flight." He started when the feral grabbed his arm and sprinted towards the first counter, where he pushed past the waiting people.

"Excuse me…."

"Sir, there are people waiting much longer than you, would you please…," the woman behind the counter said rather sourly but he cut her off, ignoring the angry people behind him.

"A friend of us is about to board the plane and…"

"Sir, I really don't care. Step back, please!"

Heaving a deep breath, Daken used his full mutation on her and made her feel what he wanted her to feel. "He forgot his wallet at home. Would you please page him? Otherwise he'll arrive in Canada without any papers or money," he said as sweetly as he could, even if he was about to stab her and the annoying crowd behind him.

"Of course, sir," the woman suddenly smiled sweetly at him and he gave her his best forced smile.

"Do you think it vill vork out?" Kurt asked rather skeptically but shut up as he received another glare. They waited for the woman to do her work and for her to turn her attention back to them.

"Sir, I suggest you go to gate T-7. It's where the check in for all flights to Vancouver are. Your friend should appear there soon," the woman smiled.

"Thank you," Daken smiled back and pulled Kurt with him again. "Where's this stupid gate?!" Before he had a chance to look more closely, the teleporter pointed to his left and was soon dragged into that direction.

"There he is," Kurt said and the feral turned into the direction Kurt was looking at. "And he doesn't look happy, nein?" the teleporter noticed and decided he should step aside for the moment.

"Forgot my wallet, huh?" Jean-Paul asked sourly and shook his head, putting Kazuki down. "I should have known…," he grumbled and turned to leave again as his arm was grabbed hard. "Let me go!"

"No!" Daken insisted and held onto him. "I want you to come back with us!"

Giving a sarcastic chuckle, his opposite nodded. "Sure… I think you didn't understand the words _Glad to not seeing you ever again_, right?" he asked and narrowed his eyes. "I don't want to see you again. So leave me the hell alone!" He had barely turned when his arm was grabbed again. "For fuck's sake!" he snapped and was about to pull his arm back as he noticed the look on the feral's face. Still he couldn't be sure if the man wasn't in fact acting again to get what he want. "I need to get back to my gate. I was checking in."

"No!"

"No what?!" Northstar asked in complete annoyance. "What do you want, Akihiro?! Do you think you can just appear here and I'll change my mind or that I forget about everything?" he asked and didn't give Daken the chance to say anything. "I gave you one chance after the next, I protected you because I thought you could change and you didn't give a damn. So what the hell do you want now?!"

"I… I want you to stay…," the feral admitted without looking at him and gave Kazuki a brief look, who held onto Northstar's leg and looked at him with his big eyes.

"Too late for that," Jean-Paul grumbled and pulled the boy up again. "But that's what I actually meant by glad that I don't have to see you again."

"Do you want me to beg or what?!" Daken snapped and was at the edge of his patience. He had done what his father had suggested. He'd shoved his pride aside for the moment, he was honestly admitting what he wanted and not using his pheromones to make people do what he wanted as he usually did and then this…

Jean-Paul shrugged and kept his cool demeanor. "Do whatever you want. I honestly don't care," he replied and looked at Kurt. "I'm sorry that he dragged you into this. See you around."

While Kurt only nodded, Daken leapt forward and forced the speedster to turn around again, much to his annoyance. "I swear to God, Akihiro, if you don't let me go now I'll make you a scene you'll never forget!" he hissed angrily and could tell that two security men were already watching them. "I need to check in!"

"No, you won't!" the feral insisted determined. "I won't let you go!"

"I'm very good at making scenes, you know?" Northstar said warningly with another look at the security men and was about to tear his hand away as the feral completely surprised him.

"I know I'm a total arrogant and self-centered jerk!" he said and received surprised looks from Kurt and Jean-Paul. "I know what I did was wrong and that I hurt you and I'm sorry!"

"Wow…," his opposite mocked. "I never expected such insight from you…"

Daken went on and kept his hands fixed on his hand that was still attached to the speedster's arm. "I… I don't know how being with someone works, I never experienced it and I never wanted it before," he admitted without looking up and looked for the right words. "But…being with you feels…right."

Northstar sighed and shook his head. "And how is this supposed to work out, huh?" he asked and the feral let go of his arm. "I can't be with someone who is as unpredictable as you. I don't know if you date a guy or a girl or both by tomorrow. I can't tell if I come home tomorrow and catch you with someone else in bed. So how is this supposed to work out?" he asked and held Daken's gaze for a moment. "You are my nightmare of a partner, Akihiro. You're an egoistical, completely self-centered guy, who doesn't give a damn about anyone but himself. You are everything that I can't stand."

"Still you like me," the feral insisted.

"Yeah, and there's the problem. I don't even know why I like such a self-centered asshole like you," the speedster told him and pulled Kazuki up a bit, who had fallen asleep against him. "I probably have a genetic magnet for assholes like you, I don't know. But I'm not willing to go through such shit again. And I can tell that this will never work out by the way you are. You love to party, you love having sex with everything that has two legs," he said and his eyes became harder. "I on the contrary want a family, I want kids, I want a steady partner. Do you see the problem here?" he asked and gave his watch a look. "I need to go."

"I can change…," he heard Daken saying and stopped after making three steps to give him a sad look.

"I'd love to believe it, but I doubt it… Romulus fucked you up too much."

Daken groaned and looked for a way out of this misery. "Then stay and let's find out…"

"I can't. My luggage is already in the plane," Jean-Paul said with another look at the watch. "I'm getting into trouble if I don't board it. You know how paranoid they are…" He began walking backwards and noticed the desperate look, which surprised him. "Let's talk later, okay? I'll call as soon I'm there."

Kurt, who had given them some privacy joined the feral's side and watched the speedster hurrying towards the gate. "Vell,…he seems to think about it, nein?" he said and looked at the feral, who looked grim and suddenly turned to leave. "Vait!"

The X-Men startled as Kurt suddenly appeared in the middle of the kitchen and gave them an apologetic smile and wave. "Hallo…."

"Where have you been?!" his wife asked, still worried and waited for him to sit down next to her. "I was worried!"

"Entschuldigung…," the teleporter said shyly and placed a kiss on her cheek. "I… My help vas needed."

"By whom?" Scott asked frowning but Kurt looked down.

"Where's he?" Logan asked knowingly and stared Kurt down, who swallowed.

"He…"

Jean-Paul gave the woman, who had sat on his left a surprised look when she returned from the toilet and began to pack her things, a confused look. He wondered if she had lied and in fact didn't like children as much as she had told him and felt bothered by Kazuki now, who, after throwing a tantrum, was peacefully sleeping next to him. "He did bother you, didn't he?"

"Oh, no!" she smiled. "I was just asked to change seats."

"Change seats?!" he asked, completely confused now and furrowed his brows. "Why?"

"I don't know," she shrugged. "Anyway, it's not because of you or the sweety, okay? Have a nice rest of the flight." Smiling, she gave a brief wave and left him puzzled.

"Yeah, you, too…," he mumbled and watched her leaving. Who asked her to change seats while they were already in the air? he wondered, but shrugged it off and tried to get back to sleep. In the end he had been emotionally worked up so much that he hadn't slept at all last night. He had barely closed his eyes again as someone slumped down next to him and he felt being watched. He squinted. "Are you stalking me now?"

"Let's say I'm an egoist."

"That's no news to me, Akihiro," Northstar sighed and shook his head. "Do you even have a passport? And how did you get a ticket for this flight?" One look of the feral was enough and he nodded. "Pheromones…." After another shake of his head, he settled back in his seat. "Keep your hands by yourself, let me sleep and shut up," he said warningly and was surprised that the man next to him actually did as he was told for once.

* * *

"He's what?!" Logan asked, his mouth agape. "He's on that plane, too?!"

"Uhm,…. Yes?" Kurt said and shrugged.

"Great…," the feral cursed and got up to pace for a moment. "I swear to God I'll kill him… I didn't mean he should follow him t'Canada when I said he should get his ass t'the airport, damn it!"

"Well…," his wife began and began to put their dishes on a pile.

"No!" Logan cut her off. "I don't wanna hear anythin' that even goes into that direction!"

"It was you who told him…."

"No!"

"And now he's trying to…"

"No!" he insisted and she gave up. He watched how she began to put the dishes into the sink. "'n even if. He obviously doesn't know Paul at all. That guy can be…"

"Stubborn like a brick wall," James concluded and received a nod. "And he hurt him pretty bad. If you ask me, there's no way in hell he can talk him into coming back. Not even with those pheromones of his."

"I wouldn't be so sure of that…," Narya said more to herself and received odd looks from the men at the table. She groaned. "Men… Are you really that blind?!"

"What do you expect?" Jean said. "They are men… Emotional morons mostly."

"Hey!" Logan grunted and received a shrug. "I've never been an emotional jerk t'ya, okay?"

Jean heaved a deep breath and crossed her arms playfully. "Oh, honey, I'm pregnant with twins," she said in her voice and began to imitate his. "Great, but I don't wanna have kids, so no," she said and Logan narrowed his eyes. "Yes… You've always been a darling, honey!"

"Right… Maybe once. But never twice!" he insisted.

"Oh, Logan, it's great that you totally forgot that we just buried you, but never mind, go fight, shred yourself and…," she began and he quickly put his hand over her mouth with a warning glare.

"Alright, alright! Just stop!"

"I'm just saying," Jean said sweetly and pressed a kiss to his cheek. "And Narya is right. You guys are so blind, it's unbelievable." Only able to shake her head she left the room.

"Why blind?!" James asked confused and Logan shrugged, while Narya and Heather couldn't help but laugh.

"You are so blind, it's really unbelievable….," the redhead said and shook her head.

"Again, why?!" James asked and looked to and fro between the two women, who only sighed and left the room next, but not before Heather gave them another hint.

"Let's say… You must be a complete moron not to notice the DJ moments," she said and followed her friend.

"What the heck is DJ?!" James called after his wife and gave Logan a look, who could only shrug, too.

* * *

Both men had returned home about a week later, because of lack of clothes since he had to share his ones, as Northstar told them. Christmas was dawning anyway and it would have been a bitch to get flights back for the same cheap price, he had added and still received a cocked eyebrow from Logan. The feral got even more suspicious when his oldest son actually acted on his best and did as he was told.

"How did ya manage t'do that?!" he had asked the speedster one day and had received a shrug.

"I set rules."

"Rules?" Logan had demanded to know and had crossed his arms expectantly.

"Yeah," Jean-Paul had nodded. "I told him that he has to show me that he really means it and that we're definitely not getting back together that fast. Until I don't get the feeling that he really wants me and can stay faithful, he can totally forget about it."

"Is that the reason he cooked 'n no one was allowed t'touch it?!" Logan had asked and this time he had received a surprised look.

"He cooked?!"

"I better shut up…," the feral had mumbled and quickly left.

The next two days were completely spent on getting ready for Christmas. As usual Logan and Piotr had to get a tree from the wood, the girls had to decorate it and the mansion and Kurt was the one to teleport to the top of the tree and drop the angel on it. From afar Akihiro had watched everything and still didn't understand why they made such a fuss about a stupid holiday. He especially hated all the scents in the house and wondered how his father and siblings could keep it together that well.

"Practice," Logan had told him one day. "Try scented candles in yer rooms!"

"Paul set them up before I left…," his son had mumbled and furrowed his brows when his father had began to chuckle.

"Then have fun, son! You'll see what I mean."

And he definitely had. No one at the mansion had ever seen candles flying out of a window so fast…

On Christmas Eve, he had dressed in the clothes he had bought the day they had gone shopping. It wasn't so much that he liked the Professor's dress code for the evening, but he definitely liked the look of it on him. The looks some female students and even some of the boys gave him were enough to make him smirk and the fact that some of the older woman even blushed turned his smirk into a full fleshed grin. Still this one faded, when the speedster gave him a brief look only.

"Looks good," was all he said and turned back around to have a look at the kids chasing each other around.

"Yo, boys!" Jubilee cooed after a while in which both men hadn't moved and just stood next to each other. They frowned at the girl, who was pointing at something above them with a huge grin on their face.

"Hey, that one hasn't been there before!" Jean-Paul said and stared at the mistletoe above their heads. At least he was sure that it hadn't been there before.

"No excuse!" the woman cooed and wobbled her eyebrows. "C'mon! Kiiiiiiss! It means bad luck if you don't do it!"

"Great…," the speedster muttered and gave the feral next to him a look, who still frowned at the thing and was convinced it hadn't been there before, too. "Well, she's right. It's tradition," he said and Akihiro looked at him with an even deeper frown on his face. "Brief and no tongue! Understood?" he warned the feral, who only shrugged. "'kay… Then let's do this," Jean-Paul nodded, heaved a last deep breath and leant in, his heart beginning to race when the feral's lips touched his and his mind went blank.

Watching them deepening the kiss quickly, Jubilee gave a thumbs up towards the ceiling, where Kitty phased through and landed next to her, the mistletoe in her hand. "Phase 1 complete!" Jubilee whispered and dragged her quickly away and towards a corner. "Damn, that's hot…"

Kitty nodded, her mouth agape while she watched the two men. "I never thought it would actually go that well…," she said and looked at her friend. "Are you sure we still need phase 2 and 3?!"

Jubilee wobbled her head. "A woman can never be too sure," she replied and whistled. "So much to no tongue, huh?" she added when the men landed against the wall for support.

"So much to we're not even friends…," Kitty corrected her and tucked on the other woman's sleeve. "Come on, let's leave them alone. I feel weird spying on them…"

Together they went back into the ball room where the rest of their team and school were. The whole time through they watched the only door the two men could come through and exchanged confused glances when nothing happened. "Maybe they killed each other," Jubilee said, which made Kitty roll her eyes. "What? Maybe Akihiro bit his tongue and…"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Kitty scolded her and looked at the watch after a while. "Thirty minutes… Who kisses that long?!"

"Logan!" Jubilee nodded quickly. "Wanna bet?!"

Kitty groaned and could once more only roll her eyes. She was about to turn around when the door finally opened and exchanged a confused look with Jubilee, since Northstar had returned alone, hair a bit more tousled than before and clothes a bit out of place. Her eyes grew wide as she stared at her friend. "You don't think they…"

"Oh, they so did!" Jubilee nodded and clapped her hands together. "Damn, we are good!"

"But why is he alone?!" Kitty asked, since the feral was still no where to be seen.

This time Jubilee rolled her eyes and groaned. "They don't want anyone to notice, dummy! Akihiro will probably enter in about five minutes or so," she shrugged and was surprised that the feral was suddenly there, looking clearly angry and unhappy. "Obviously it was bad…"

"Or maybe it was good and they still had a fight," Kitty corrected her. "Anyway, before there's a real fight between them I'll drop out of phase 2 and 3. My husband is already giving me weird looks anyway," she said and smiled at Piotr from afar. "Yours, too, by the way!" she added and walked quickly over to the giant.

"When is mine not giving me weird looks?!" Jubilee shrugged and followed her.

* * *

Later, Jean-Paul looked at the glowing Christmas tree and smiled while he watched Kazuki playing with Jamie, Tommy, Jean-Luc and the other toddlers; Callie and two of her cubs following suit, whereas Miloh lay on the ground, watching them warily and Ryan stormed through the room wherever Laura was going. He was glad the boy had found friends to play with so fast.

"He is so cute!" Jubilee cooed and he chuckled and sipped on his beer. "Well he got daddy's genes, right? But those big eyes of him… Too cute!" she went on gushing over the boy and took pictures. "By the way," she added and poked into the speedster's side. "Daddy is enjoying the wine a bit too much!"

Frowning, Jean-Paul looked around the room and found the feral standing next to the window at the other side of the room. "How much did he drink already?"

"Too much if you ask me. He finds everything funny and told me what a great ass you have!" While he stared at her agape, she shrugged and playfully looked at his backside. "Well you do have a great ass. Not as great as Wolvie's but you come close. Anyway, gotta go!" Giggling madly, she went off and joined her husband.

"Done taking pictures?" Bobby asked and got his question when he was blinded. "Thanks, Jubes!"

"What? I only took a picture of my hubby," she smiled and pulled him down into a kiss, which he answered by wrapping his arms around her and nuzzling her. "I wanna do a picture book."

"About what?" he asked and looked at her.

"The past years. I've got enough material but I have to bring them into an order," she told him and looked at her camera thoughtfully. "I still need a pic of John, Narya and Anna… Oh, and…" She looked aside and watched how Daken threw his arms around a surprised Northstar from behind. "Well…that is if they are a couple…"

Bobby gave them a brief glance. "I doubt it…," he huffed, which made her groan.

"You don't like them as a couple anyway!"

"Right." He nodded. "I don't…"

"Why?!" Jubilee demanded to know and pushed his arms away a bit to be able to cross hers in front of her chest.

"Because it's…" He gesticulated and looked for the right word. "…weird for a guy to watch two other guys…kissing…" Bobby noticed the look she gave him and began to frown. "What?!"

"You guys start drooling and get hard when you watch two girls kissing!" she scolded him and poked him into the chest with one finger.

"Yeah, but that's two girls!" he defended his opinion and turned his head to watch how Jean-Paul tried to peel the feral off of him. "And I wouldn't consider them…feminine looking. At least not Paul…"

She sighed and shook her head, taking notice of another friend of hers. "Remy?"

"Oui, chérie?" the Cajun asked and stopped by with a smile.

"Are you against gay couples? Male couples?" she asked and Bobby jumped in.

"Woah, woah, woah!" he made and raised both hands. "I _never _said I was _against_ same sex couples, okay?!"

"You said…," she began and he cut her off.

"I said that I am not comfortable with them making out in front of me, that was all, Jubes!"

"You said you don't mind two girls!" she corrected him and made him roll his eyes in defeat. "So, Remy, what do you think about the two over there?" she asked with a nod at the speedster, who still tried to peel the persistent and drink feral off him.

Looking at them for awhile, Remy shrugged. "Men or women, Remy doesn't care, petite. It's l'amour. Can't change dat, non?" he asked and began to furrow his brows after a moment. "Is 'e drunk?!"

Jubilee followed his gaze and nodded. "Yeah, he so is!"

The Cajun chuckled. "Remy would love t'see da Wolverine drunk!"

"Not gonna happen, Cajun!" Logan suddenly grunted behind him, beer in one hand and gave a cocked eyebrow towards his son. "What's wrong with the kid?" he asked, since his son seemed to be complete uncoordinated, which was more than odd since he was usually unnaturally well balanced and skilled.

"Love sick!" Jubilee diagnosed and shrugged after receiving a look from him. "Well it's wine oh verita not without a reason, you know?"

"It's _in vino veritas_ but never mind, Jubes…," Logan grunted with a shake of his head and gave his son another look before his eyes fell on something more interesting. Smiling, he went over to his wife, wrapped both arms around her and placed a kiss to her bare shoulders.

"There you are," she said and returned the kiss she was given.

"Missed me?" he teased her playfully and nibbled on the spot right under her ear of which he knew she liked it.

"Of course she did, dummy!" Heather mocked him.

"Don't feed his ego too much. It's already big enough!" Jean warned her playfully and leant back against Logan's broad chest. "I suspect you already know that…," she began and received a nod.

"Yeah, no secret as uncoordinated as he is…," he grunted and watched how the speedster dragged the feral with him out of the room. "I hope he makes him strong coffee…."

James came up behind his wife and handed her a glass of water. "Well, I doubt strong coffee will help much besides give him a heart attack," he said and wrapped his arms around Heather, stroking her belly. "My son happy with the water?" he asked and looked at the bulge over her shoulder.

"Who said it's going to be a boy?!" she asked playfully outraged and nudged him with her elbow.

"What else besides a boy, sweetheart?!" he went on teasing her. "Right, Jean?"

Smiling secretive, the other redhead shook her head. "I'm not allowed to tell you, James, I'm sorry."

"Hey, I'm your cousin-in-law!" he protested but she shook her head once more. "Damn… So you really intend to make me suffer until April?!"

"So it seems, bub," Logan nodded and received a suspicious look.

"You know, don't you?!" James asked him and Logan grinned.

"No, I don't," he replied and turned his head when Jamie stormed past him, followed by his gang. "Actually, ya need t'have a girl…," he said thoughtfully.

"Why?" Jean asked him.

"Well in the first generation of kids Jack was the only boy, in the second generation of kids there are no girls, yet. Slim's girls will be the first ones," he explained and she nodded.

"True…"

"Whatever it is, I just want it to be healthy," Heather said and stroked over a belly. "In the end he or she is a miracle anyway."

"So true, sweetheart," her husband agreed and kissed her neck. "There comes part one of the dream team and he looks very annoyed…," James suddenly said and all heads turned to the left, watched how Jean-Paul came closer and noticed that James was right. The man looked very annoyed.

"I hate to ask," the speedster said and looked at Logan and Jean, "but can Kazu sleep over?"

"Is it that bad?" Jean asked concerned and he gave a dry laugh.

"He's dead drunk if that's what you mean…," Jean-Paul said and crossed his arms. "And I swear to God if he pukes over the bed at night, I'll kill him…"

Jean sighed in sympathy and touched his arm. "His healing factor should kick in soon again!" she tried to soothe him.

"I hope so!" He looked aside when he noticed a shadow moving. "I'm so gonna kill him…," he mumbled more to himself and stared the approaching figure down. "I told you to stay in bed, dammit!"

"You jus' left!" Akihiro slurred and wrapped his arms back around the speedster's waist. "'n I was lonely…," he added before he noticed that Jean's hand was still attached to Northstar's arm. He growled and slapped her hand away, a glare shot into her direction. "You can't hav'im! He's mine!"

"God, go back to bed!" Jean-Paul groaned and ran a hand through his hair in annoyance.

The feral gave him a hopeful look and rested his head on the shoulder. "Issat 'n invitation?!"

"No, it's not!"

"Then I won't go!" For emphasis he shook his head and dropped his head back on the speedster's shoulder.

James tried in vain to stifle his laugh and a snort escaped him nonetheless. He raised his hands quickly when a death glare was aimed at him. "Sorry…"

"It's not funny, James!" Jean-Paul scolded him.

"I know," his former teammate said and bit his lip, grinning. He made room when the kids ran past them and watched how the laughed and chased after a blue balloon, which Kazuki caught in the end.

"That's my boy!" Akihiro cheered and chuckled.

"Yeah… If you cared for him, I'd be even happier!" Northstar grumbled with a roll of his eyes and received a glare in return. "Don't give me that look now. Just go and try not to throw up over the bed. Just go!" he said completely annoyed and tried once more to peel the feral off him, was surprised when Akihiro actually pushed him away.

"Fine!" the feral snapped and left to the surprise of the speedster and everyone around him.

"I think you just hurt his feelings," James noticed and received a shrug. "At least I heard a hurt undertone…"

"'n I think I just heard the front door!" Logan said and gave Jean-Paul a look that spoke volumes.

"Fuck!" he cursed and ran off at full speed to catch up with the feral.

"I swear they give me headaches…," Logan grunted and leant into Jean's touch when her hand connected with his cheek.

"Papa?" he heard Kazuki crying and turned around to give his grandchild a look.

"He'll be back Kazu," Jean tried to sooth him but the boy started to whine.

"Definitely headaches…," Logan growled and went to pick up the boy.

"That reminds me…," Jean said and gave Heather and James a look. "Paul told me to ask you since he refused to talk about it."

"About what?" Heather asked and leant back against her husband.

"About his knee. How his ligaments were torn," the other redhead said and wondered why her friends' faces fell. "What? Is it that bad?!"

James cleared his throat. "He really said so? That he wants us to…," he began and received a nod.

"I need it for our patients' files," Jean told him. "But he said there was no way in hell he would tell me and that I should ask you, if I really wanted to know."

"No wonder…," Heather mumbled and looked at the ground.

"Well…," James began and heaved a deep breath. "I don't know if you know but Paul was a professional skier."

Jean was impressed. "No, I didn't know about that. So it was a skiing accident?"

"No," he said and shook his head. "Not really…," he corrected himself. "Well he was part of the Canadian national team during the 2010 Olympics. Since they were held in Canada there was of course a lot of pressure on the team. No scandals allowed, the team was supposed to present itself as the top notch."

"So they didn't know that Paul's…," Jean began when Heather tilted her head a bit.

"His team knew but they didn't want anyone else to know. He was told to keep it a secret, they couldn't use any negative publicity," she told her. "A European trainer, who knew Paul, told the media a day before the most important race that he was a gay mutant. It didn't have the negative effect he wanted to achieve. Still Paul's trainer told him that he wasn't the star of the team and he wanted their star to make the first position."

"Paul agreed on it since he didn't want to be kicked out of the team," James went on. "But then the star of the team had an accident and didn't even reach the goal. Paul on the contrary set a new record and was the new darling of the Canadian media."

"Which angered his trainer…," Jean concluded and covered Logan's arms with her hands when she received a nod.

"After he made a second gold medal and was celebrated as the new star of the Canadian winter sport team, he was miraculously jumped by five men. They smashed his left knee and beat him pretty badly that he was in the hospital for a good while," James said and sighed. "Well, the doctors said he could be lucky, if he were able to walk normally again. It took him a good while to be able to walk normally again, but skiing was something he could completely forget about. And he loves winter sport. He was really excellent at it…"

"We think it were some guys of his old team who were angry with him for getting into the spotlight," Heather went on. "But in the end it wasn't Paul's fault. If the trainer hadn't outed him and the former star of the team had run a solid race…" She shrugged. "Well the attack was something he suffered from for a good while. The doctors told us he had a mild form of PTSD and that it would take a while for him to recover… That's why he refuses to talk about it. He thought they would kill him…"

"I see…," Jean nodded and remained silent for awhile. "Did they catch those who did it?"

James shook his head. "No. It was official closed as a case of gay bashing."

"Bastards…," Logan grunted and looked towards the door, wondering if his son was either lying in the snow or trying to outrun the speedster.

On the outside Northstar had spotted the feral walking or better swaying towards the gate. "Akihiro, wait!" he called after him but was flicked off in return. "Wait, damn it!" he barked once more and ran over to him, his hands pushing against the feral's chest to bring him to a halt. "Where are you going?!"

"What do y'care?" Daken huffed and tried walking past him but stumbled.

"Jeez, how much did you drink anyway?!" Jean-Paul asked and helped him to stand. "Come back inside. It's freezing cold."

"No!" Akihiro disagreed and tried pushing him away.

"What's gotten into you?!"

Glaring at him and shivering due to the cold air, the feral huffed. "Why shoulda go back inside, huh?" he slurred and stumbled backwards. "You hate me 'n no one cares anyway!"

Northstar groaned and buried his face in his hands for a moment. "That's not true!"

"It so is!" Daken disagreed and stumbled forward again. "T'was nice before! 'n you said t'was jus'sex. Liar!"

"Jesus, Akihiro…"

"See?!" he said, pointing a finger at him. "You don'even use ma name anymore. You hate me!"

"What?!" Jean-Paul asked in complete confusion and reached out to steady the man and stop him from swaying. "Do you think I'd run outside and freeze my ass of, if I didn't care?!" he asked angrily.

"Then why did ya stoppit?!" the feral cried and sought a steady halt on the man's shoulders.

"Stopped what?" Northstar asked, still confused.

"Usin'ma name. I liked ma name…," his opposite mumbled and swayed.

"I did call you Akihiro," the speedster shrugged, not knowing what the hell Daken was referring to or why he received a hurt look once more.

"Not that name!"

"Then what…," he began as it hit him. He sighed heavily and ran a hand through his hair. "You know perfectly well that I do care about you, Hiro," Jean-Paul said after a moment and received a happy smile after saying the last word. "But I also told you that you have to show me that you really mean it! And getting drunk and on my nerves does quiet the opposite, okay? I know you're trying hard lately!" he said and tucked on the man's shirt. "And now let's go back inside before we catch a cold, damn it. Or better said let's get you back to bed where you belong for the rest of the night…," he added and managed to pull the feral with him for a few steps before arms were back around his midsection.

"I don't wanna be alone…," Daken sulked and leant into him but stumbled along with him.

Jean-Paul sighed and closed and locked the door behind them. "I'll come to bed later, okay?"

"No. Not okay…" The feral shook his head and held onto the other man's arm after being dumped on the bed.

"Hiro…," Northstar sighed in annoyance and nearly fell to the floor when the feral suddenly hugged him.

"I've always been alone… Your ma best 'n only friend!" Daken slurred and hugged him even firmer.

"I know…," the speedster played along and patted his shoulder. "That's why I bring you to bed and want you to sleep. Because it's the best for you now…"

"Please stay with me…," he heard him mumbling into his neck twice and groaned.

Knowing that it was a lost fight, he gave in in the end. "Fine… I'll stay… Just be a good boy and get out of your clothes. They are damp."

Giggling, Akihiro raised his arms and allowed the other man to pull his shirt over his head. "You like me nekkid!" he commented amused, as if it was the greatest joke he had every heard and did the same with his legs. "But I like you nekkid, too!"

"Good to know that…," Jean-Paul sighed and was glad when the feral was dressed in his night wear and let him get changed without any interruption. "I just go and say night to Kazu, okay? I'll be back in a minute. So just stay here and don't do anything stupid, please," he begged and stormed quickly off.

"T'was a minute 'n ten seconds…," Daken sulked and waited for him to lie down so that he could cuddle up and squeeze him like a teddy bear.

"Just go to sleep, please…," Northstar begged and tried to get comfortable with half of the feral on top of him, who still tried to find a satisfying place.

"T'is nice!" he mumbled in the end and placed a kiss on the speedster's neck before he finally settled down. "Night!"

"Yeah, night…," Jean-Paul sighed and could only shake his head. He was sure the feral had dozed off when this one sat up again. "What is it now?!"

"Thirsty…," Daken mumbled and stumbled while trying to get up.

"Wait!" Northstar said and got up to help him. "You'll be the death of me one day…," he complained and walked him over to where the others were, dropped him on the couch and got him a bottle with water. He waited for him to drink it. "Can we go to bed now?"

"Nno… Sleepy…," the feral mumbled and got settled on the couch, head on the speedster's lap and arms wrapped around him.

Jean couldn't help but giggle. "You're stuck with him. Live with that," she smiled and helped Logan to usher the children to bed. In the end her husband had to grab the twins and Laura in a big bear hug and carry them off, while Rachel, obedient as ever, did as she was told in an instant.

"Sooooo….," Logan made and closed the door to the bedroom behind him. He sneaked up on his wife and growled playfully into her neck while wrapping his arms firmly around her waist. "What did Santa bring me, huh?"

"I don't know, honey. I think you have to wait until morning, like everyone else," Jean smiled at him and even more so when he began sulking. "You should better hop into bed. You know how excited the children will become as soon as they see their gifts."

Sulking even more, he went into the bathroom after she returned from it and brushed his teeth. He couldn't hide his disappointment that there was no surprise in for him tonight. He had actually hoped for a hot night. Sighing, he reached out and turned the door knob, went inside and closed the door quietly as not to wake Jean's father or the children.

"Was about time," he heard Jean saying behind him and turned just to see her lying under the sheets naked. "It's getting cold, you know?" she said in a flirtful manner and stretched.

"Yer not wearin' anythin'?" he asked, came slowly closer and cocked an eyebrow at her, watched how she raised the sheets a bit to take a look at what was underneath, then looked up again and shook her head.

"No… Is that a bad thing now?" she teased him, smiling and watched him coming closer.

He shrugged. "Maybe…" On the bed, he crawled slowly closer, like a predator and went under the sheets to lie down on top of her. "Cold, ya said?" he asked and received a nod and pout in return. "Hm… I might know somethin' t'warm ya up…," he said and kissed her chest.

"Sounds good," the redhead smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him into a kiss. "But don't forget that our children will demand your fullest attention in the morning…."

Logan thought hard, playfully, and shrugged in the end. "I think the old man can manage," he assured her and reached out to switch off the lights.

* * *

"Wow, they seriously slept on the couch?" Narya asked after tiptoeing into the ball room and seeing the speedster and feral cuddled closely up to each other, still being very much asleep. "And you are already awake, huh?" she said towards Kazuki, who was lying on the second couch and looked at them.

When the other children stormed past her and John and aimed directly for the presents, she couldn't help but smile. "Well, if they don't wake up now, then I don't know…," he grumbled behind her and kissed her cheek before he led her over to where Anna was sitting.

Not much later the rest of the team was gathered around the tree, opening packages or watching their children cheering over the presents they received. "Good morning!" Ororo said and giggled when the speedster cracked one eye open and blinked. "How can you sleep on the couch?! I wouldn't even sleep alone on it…" She shook her head, smiling and looked back at her daughter, who was still jumping up and down because of her new bike. Still her eyes became sad when she watched how Taylor sat on James' lap and she quickly avoided the scene.

"How late is it?" Jean-Paul mumbled and rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"8:30," Logan grunted and shook his head. He, too, knew how uncomfortable the couch were, remembering how he had fallen asleep on them while watching hockey and had woken up with Scott half sleeping on top of him. He was still not hearing the end of it sometimes… He smirked when Jean helped Jamie to unpack one of his gifts and still couldn't believe it that Tony had really sent a Rubik's Cube for his youngest. "That guy's nuts…"

"Well it was him who had figured out that Jamie sets them back together with his teke," Jean said and sat down on his lap. "Besides it's a good way for him to practice controlling his powers," she added and watched how her son had fun setting the cube back together. "See?"

"Next year he sends him one of his suits or a chem. lab…," Logan grumbled but had to smile, too, when Jamie held the cube up for Jean.

"Daddy, look what grandpa got me!" Jack cheered and held up a shirt from his favorite hockey team.

"Well, better look what else ya got," Logan replied and chuckled when his son instantly began looking through the still wrapped gifts for another one. After he had found it, he impatiently tore the package open and squealed in joy, since he had wanted ice skates badly. "See? Now ya only need t'learn how t'skate," his father said and hugged him back.

"Does that actually mean we can finally have a hockey competition this year?!" Bobby asked and got a thumbs up from Jack. "Finally…"

"Paul, that's for you," James said and threw the package over at his teammate, then another one. "Oh, and here are two for your bf, too," he added and handed them over next, before he gave the man a thoughtful look. "Can I say bf?" he asked and received a shrug. "I think I so can and no excuse will help this time!"

"Whatever…," the speedster groaned and pulled Kazuki up to hand him his present. After he had helped him to open it, he began opening his but held in for a moment. "You're not asleep anymore, are you?" he asked and gave the feral a gentle nudge.

"Shut up…," Daken growled, still drunk with sleep and tried to pull the blanket over his head.

"Headache?" Logan asked.

"As drunk as he was? You bet!" Northstar chuckled and saw out of the corner of his eyes how the blanker was lowered a bit and a death glare met him. "Unwrap your package!" he only said and went on opening his.

In the meantime, Akihiro sat up and ran both hands over his face and through his hair. He watched for a moment how everyone around him seemed to have fun opening one present after the next and could only shake his head. Not really caring about it, he grabbed the first package and opened it, cocked an eyebrow as he saw what was inside. "Your hoody?!" he asked confused and looked at the speedster, who was currently cuddling with the still tired Kazuki.

"My favorite hoody that you love to borrow, yeah," he nodded. "I know that you love it, so just keep it and be careful with it."

Daken gave it a thoughtful look and sniffed at it, his rows furrowing. "You washed it…"

"Yeah, that's what you actually do with clothing…"

"It doesn't smell like you anymore…," he grunted disappointedly and earned a chuckle. "What?"

"I so knew that was the reason," Jean-Paul said. "There's something else in it," he added and watched how the feral opened the folded hoody and out of it fell another, smaller package.

Unwrapping it, the feral frowned at the MP3 player and looked at it from all sides. "Gackt?" he asked after going through the music and looked at his opposite.

"Yeah, that way I don't have to listen to your favorite J-rock artist anymore," the speedster replied. "I mean the music sounds good but I don't understand shit."

Daken remind silent for a moment and looked at his gifts thoughtfully. "I don't have anything for you…," he mumbled calmly and received a shrug.

"Stick to your promise, that's gift enough to me," Northstar said and handed him the second package. "That's from your father." He watched the feral opening it and got confused when this one stared at the frame that had been inside the package in shock. "What's the matter?" he asked and leant forward a bit, whereas Daken turned to give Logan a confused look.

"Ken from Jasmine Falls found it," he told his son. "He handed it t'me the last time we went there. I thought ya might wanna have it…"

"That's your mother, right?" Jean-Paul asked after taking a look at the framed picture and couldn't help but compare the feral's feature to those of the woman. "You really look like her…," he noticed but also the look in Akihiro's eyes. "Hey…," he said in barely more than a whisper and reached out to stroke over the man's cheek, whereas Logan had knelt down next to them and put a hand on his son's shoulder.

"Ya alright?" he asked concerned and was surprised when his son actually hugged him firmly. Hugging him back, he pulled him close and stroked over his back for a moment, heard the whispered "Thank you" and smiled weakly. "No problem. Merry Christmas, son," Logan replied and patted the younger feral's back before he let go of him and had to tend to his children once more.

"She was really beautiful…," Jean-Paul said and looked at the man again. "Explains your female features….," he teased.

"What?!" Daken growled.

"No kidding. It's actually what MJ, Pepper and Elektra said, too, when they came over for the BBQ in September," the speedster replied and tried hard not to laugh. "They said you had very androgynous features and combined with your deep voice and smile it's what makes you so handsome and attractive." He nodded when the glare became darker.

"I know why I don't like them…"

"They were gushing all over you anyway," he shrugged. "But they are right actually. Depending on the angle you have female features," he went on teasing him and reached out. "Your high cheekbones for example."

"Shut up!"

"The position of your eyes…," Northstar added.

"Shut up!" Daken growled and slapped his hand away, froze in his movements when he noticed that they were being watched. "What?!" he snapped at the group.

"So bf…," James said once more and sighed heavily with a shake of his head. "Just admit it or kiss him already."

* * *

A day before New Year the Professor surprised them all by saying that he had to meet up with someone because of an important matter. He left after leaving the school's business in Scott's hands and promised to make it quick.

"I wonder what is so important that he has to leave…," Ororo thought out loud and crossed her arms.

"I don't know but we have to trust him with this," Scott said. "I just hope he'll be careful…"

"It's weird that he didn't say where he's going," Jean added and Hank nodded.

"He usually lets us know…" He looked up when the phone rang. "I'll get that," he said and left the room.

"So what's the plan?" Logan asked into the small round that only consisted of the oldest members of the team. "Most students are home 'n no one knows how many will return after the holidays. With the mess the government is at the moment, we don't even know if we'll be here tomorrow…"

"To be honest I have no idea…," Scott replied and leant back in the sofa. "With Trask in the Senate and a president that wants to see us rotting in hell… The plans we stole are good enough to make them public, but Raven said that she's sure he will probably say that we made everything up."

"We would need a real Sentinel and people seeing how he attacks mutants," Jean mused and looked up when Hank returned. "What's wrong?" she asked since she could tell that something was bothering him.

"That was Warren's father…," he announced and closed the door behind him.

"Did something happen to Angel?!" Ororo asked worried.

"Well considering that Warren's father believed that his boy was living at the mansion for the past months and was wondering why he never calls lately…," Hank said and received confused looks.

"Hold on," Scott said and raised a hand. "Warren's father thought he lived here?! We thought he was back at his father's…"

"That's what I've told him, too," Hank nodded.

"Why does this smell like trouble?!" Logan asked and crossed his arms.

"What if something terrible happened to him?!" Ororo asked worriedly, almost scared. "What if…what if he was attacked and badly wounded?! Maybe he's dead…!"

"We can't change that now," Logan grunted and shook his head before she could reply. "If mutant haters are behind it ya won't find his body…"

"My God…," she made and covered her hand with his mouth. "Why didn't he call sooner?!"

"Because he received calls until three weeks ago from Warren, who told him that he was staying here and that everything was fine," Hank said darkly.

"'kay… Why does this smell weird?!" Logan asked knowingly.

"Because it does," Jean said and got up. "I can try to locate Warren with Cerebro," she offered and Scott nodded.

"Maybe he was forced to say it?" the man said after the redhead had left. "But for what reason?!" He shook his head and sighed. "Anyway, we have to wait for Jean's results. We still have enough to prepare for later. We wait for Jean and in case she finds him, we'll discuss what to do."

"And what if she can't locate him?" Ororo asked while everyone got up.

"I don't know, 'Ro. I don't know…," Scott said darkly.

In the end, the redhead hadn't been able to locate their friend. Instead they had received an emergency call from The Avengers around 10:13 p.m. and were asked to send a team for support into the city.

"This is great…," Logan grunted and pulled up the zipper of his uniform. "So much t'not bein' able to do tradition," he cursed and shut the door of his locker.

"What tradition?" Scott asked.

"As if I'd tell ya, Slim," the feral grumbled and left the room where he ran into Jean.

"You'll be careful, okay?" she begged and hugged him after kissing him.

"'f course. I hope it'll be quick so that we're back before midnight. Don't wanna miss tradition again," he grunted into her neck and heard her sighing. "What's the matter, darlin'?"

"I just…" Jean shook her head and let go of him. "I can't help but feel something terrible is about to happen…"

"Hey," he said and laid his hands on her shoulders to make her look up. "It's just a support mission, alright? Nothin' will happen."

"I hope so…," she muttered and looked aside when the others left the changing room. "Be careful," she told Logan once more and kissed him again.

He smiled at her before he turned and headed with the small team towards the jet. "Did the Cap say where exactly they need help?" he asked while buckling in.

"Not far away from here," Scott told him and started the engines. "We're probably able to see the fire from here. Everyone ready?" he asked and looked behind him, received nods from Hank, Kurt and Remy. "Good."

As he had guessed, they were really able to see the fire from the mansion. He landed the jet not too far away from the scenery and the team got out to join the Avengers that were trying to keep some of the Devils away. "There you are," the Cap said and looked aside when the X-Men team joined his. "We don't know what they want. Tony saw them attacking those people over there by accident." He nodded at a group of people behind him that were shielded by Ares and Hawkeye.

"Probably just making trouble for a chance…," Cyclops said ironically and looked at the ferals in front of them. "Where does Sinister keep on getting them from?!"

"He doesn't," Beast replied and snarled back at the beasts. "He altered their genetical structure and added the mutation of a mutant called Multiple Man. Moira and I found out about it recently."

"I don't care. I'm gonna kill'em," Logan growled and extracted his claws. He went into an attack stance and stared the devils down in return, his senses trying to figure out who the original was and who the copies. "Cap, evacuate the people."

"On it," Iron Man replied from above him and was prepared to attack in case one of their enemies only aimed for the civilians.

"So, ya wanna play, eh?" Logan asked snarling. "Yer five against what? Ten?" He had barely said it when three devils howled and multiplied. He cocked an eyebrow and made a step back. "'kay… More t'kill for me."

"Take position!" Cyclops ordered and the group went into a line, standing next to each other. "No one gets through until the civilians are in safety!"

Gambit smiled, held cards ready in one hand and his staff in the other. "Remy wants do be back at midnight, mes amis," he said slyly and loaded the cards. "No way in 'ell 'e's gonna miss da firework, non?"

"Same here, Cajun," Logan growled. "Ya'n Cyke take the left, Furball'n me the right. The Elf helps t'evacuate those people."

"On it," Kurt nodded and teleported away, whereas Beast snarled at their opposites.

"One of 'em only moves, we attack! Don't forget their weakness is their heads" Logan ordered and held his position. Of course it was just his luck that their opposites multiplied once more and initiated an attack, turning the road into a war zone, where the beams of Cyclops flew threw the air at the same time with Spider-Man's webs, Iron Man's blasts or Captain America's shield.

Logan knew he could trusts his former teammates' ability to aim and wasn't bothered at all when Hawkeye's arrows flew past him and bore themselves into their enemies' heads. He was too occupied cutting through them anyway. Growling, he shook them off when they managed to bite into his skin or limbs, cut through their bodies like paper, still searching for the original of the copies. Behind him Gambit caused one explosion after the next, jumped into the air as high as he could and used his staff to load his surroundings with his energy. It took Logan all to not being pushed up into the air after he had stood too close to the Cajun at one point. The Devils that had been too close were forced into the air, howled in displeasure just to be hit by Iron Man's beams next.

"Did you locate him?!" Cyclops barked over the fighting noises and looked at Logan for a moment. He barely saw him shaking his head as one of their adversaries leapt at him and brought him down, biting into his arm. He let out a yell in pain and closed his eyes quickly as the Cap's shield soared through the sky and cut off the beast's head. "Thanks!"

"Don't mention it," the Cap muttered, caught his shield quickly and slammed it into another beast's head. He looked behind him and watched Nightcrawler taking the last two people with him. "The people are safe!" he barked for everyone to hear it. "They'll become too many. The more we kill the more turn up!"

"Great…," Logan cursed and slashed out at two more enemies, not caring about the heads on the ground and aimed for another one, as this one disappeared and he landed on the ground. "What the…?!" He cocked and eyebrow and watched how the devils around him all began to disappear, ending up in the four originals, who growled at them and quickly retreated into the dark. "What the hell was that about? Fuckin' cowards!" he cursed and got up, quickly scanning their surroundings for other threats. "Gone…"

"So it's four?" Cyclops asked and came slowly closer, holding his arm.

"Makes sense…," Beast said and looked aside when Iron Man landed next to them. "They are probably special ones… Akihiro said something about four clones in Sinister's room. Four clones, genetically altered and able to duplicate… Four riders of the Apocalypse…"

"Fuckin' great…," Logan cursed and retracted his claws. He looked at his watch and cursed once more. "Two minutes before midnight… So much t'bein' back home in time…"

"We might make it if we 'urry up," Gambit shrugged and received a look. "Da jet's fast, Wolvie."

"Ain't fast enough!"

"Anyway, thanks for helping us out," the Cap said and shook Cyclop's hand. "Those beasts are a nightmare…"

"No kiddin'…," Logan grunted and looked once more around. Somehow all of this didn't match. There was nothing for their enemies to gain by attacking people here… It was just a simple road with a lake at which those people had probably wanted to start fireworks. Why would their enemies attack them here? "Somethin' ain't right…," he thought out loud and exchanged a look with his group. "This doesn't make any sense…"

"I couldn't agree more…," Beast nodded and looked at his watch. It was still five seconds away before midnight. "Anyone want to count from five backwards?" he asked jokingly and had barely said it as a fiery beam-like thing shot through the sky, right above their heads and landed somewhere, causing the earth to vibrate under their feet. "What on earth was that?!"

"No idea. Looked huge though…," Spider-Man shrugged and frowned when Logan began to furrow his brows. "What's the matter? If you feel the need to puke, please, not into my direction! I just washed and ironed my suit!"

Gambit had turned to give the feral a look, wondered why the man stared at the direction the beam had been shot. Before he could say something Logan spoke up.

"That's north-west, right?" he asked, his voice somehow shaky and his inner alarm suddenly screaming at him.

"According to Jarvis, yes," Tony nodded and got confused when Logan's face paled.

"It hit the mansion…," he mumbled to himself and felt how his heart began to beat even faster than it already did.

"Don't be ridiculous, Logan!" Cyclops said and shook his head but began to feel weird when he looked at his teammate's face. "It didn't hit the mansion. It probably went down somewhere in the woods."

"I'm tellin' ya it hit the mansion!" Logan snapped and began looking for Kurt, who had watched them thoughtfully. "Teleport us back. Now!"

"Logan!" Cyclops tried to intervene when a _bamf _could be already heard and black smoke was all that was left of the two mutants.

"I smell smoke…," Beast said and looked at him. "And somehow I suddenly have a very bad feeling…."

"Guys…," Tony suddenly said to get the groups attention. "Pepper's on the phone… She says that there's a weird looking guy on TV who just announced he was the head of state from now on…"

"Magneto…," Cyclops cursed and slammed his fist into his free hand. "I knew he was up to something…"

"No, she says he doesn't look like Magneto at all…," Tony replied and exchanged looked with all of them. "I don't know about you but I suddenly have more than just a bad feeling…"

The Cap began to walk backwards. "We should head back. See if everything's alright."

"Same here," Cyclops said and headed back to their jet, while the Avengers did the same.

In the meantime, Logan and Kurt were left standing in the mansion's garden and stared at the horrifying scene in front of them. The spot where the house had been was one huge fireball, the mansion and half of the garden completely destroyed and all that seemed to be left was a crate in which everything had disappeared. They could feel the heat on their faces but felt entirely cold on the inside. Their home was gone and as it seemed everyone that had been in there seemed to have been vanished as well. There was no way in hell that anyone could have survived the attack, which must have surprised them. Whatever that beam had been, it had struck and destroyed.

"Do you…," Kurt began, his voice monotone, when Logan had already begun running towards the fire and stopped in front of it, panicky searching for any signs of life. The teleporter didn't know what to do, he could just stare, feel cold and scared and didn't even realize how much he was shaking in shock. He didn't even hear the jet above him that stayed there for awhile and left again to find a spot to land. He just stared and waited for his mind to give his legs any order to move.

Logan in the meantime had run around the crate, jumped over burning wood and come to a frozen halt, as he spotted a body on the ground. His legs began to move on his own, functioned on automatic while he himself had no clue what he was doing and felt as if he was watching himself from farther away. His hand reached out to turn the body around and thought his heart would stop beating in an instant. It just couldn't be real. "No…," he begged and pulled the body up to carry it away from the fire, knelt down on the ground with it in his arms and heard himself calling a name without realizing what he was saying at all. In his mind a _nononono_ mantra was playing over and over again and he wanted to wake up out of this nightmare, wondered if Jean didn't pick up on him having it…

"L…ogan…," Rogue mumbled and looked at him through heavy lidded eyes. "What….hap…pened…?!"

"I dunno…," he replied and swallowed hard as he realized how badly wounded she was. "Don't talk, darlin', save yer strength…," he said and held her close, looked around and hope help was somewhere around. From afar he saw his team coming out of the woods and staring at the scene in horror, then scattered out to find any survivors.

"It's cold…," he heard Rogue whispering and looked back at her. Before he could reply she hissed in pain and her body went rigid for a moment. "I… I can't see you…," she told him in a terrified, weak voice and reached out to search for him.

"I'm here…," Logan grunted and covered her hand with his. "Not goin' anywhere." His heart hurt when she smiled contently and the only thing he wanted to do was howl. "I'm so sorry…," he said, his voice breaking and he lowered his head. "I promised t'look out for ya…"

"You're here…," Rogue simply said and blinked when something wet landed on her face. "Is it…beginning to…rain?" she asked and waited for any more droplets to land on her skin. "Where's everyone…?"

"I dunno…"

Hearing his hoarse sounding voice, she tightened the grip on his hand a bit, figured that something was terribly wrong during a clear moment. "Logan…? What's…," she began as she thought her insides were torn out. She didn't feel him holding her closer and trying to keep her from tearing her stomach open any further. "Oh God…," she breathed and forced as much air into her lungs as possible. "What…" While breathing hard, she clung to Logan and began to feel terrified. "I…I don't wanna die… I don't…wanna die, Logan," Rogue begged and began to cry. "Please…"

He swallowed hard and pulled her even closer, touched as much skin of her as possible. "Take what you need," he offered and waited but nothing happened. "Rogue, take what you need! I can take it!" he begged when he heard her sobbing in his arms. "Damn it, why…"

"It's not….working…," she cried and held onto him for dear life. "Why is it…," she began as she cried once more out in pain, the fit leaving her breathless.

"Darlin', try harder!" Logan begged and turned his head sharply when he heard Scott crying out all of a sudden.

"It's…too late…," Rogue panted and pulled his hand closer, fear eating away her insides. "I…I wanna see my…children growing…up," she sobbed and fought to keep awake. "They…need me…"

"Ya will do so, ya hear me?" he hissed through clenched teeth with tears in his eyes. "No way in hell I'll let ya butt out now!"

Her eyes tried to find him in the darkness and held on to his hands even the more when she was unable to see him. "Promise…promise me…that you'll…take care of…them…," she panted. "Promise…that they'll…remember me…"

"Rogue…," Logan shook his head and swallowed hard.

"Promise…me, Logan…," she whispered and he nodded, even if she couldn't see it.

"I'll promise, Rogue…," he replied hoarsely, making her smile and saw Remy running over to him.

"Marie…," Rogue breathed when Remy fell to his knees next to her and stared at her in shock.

"Chérie…"

"Remy's here…," Logan told her and looked down at her, just to notice that she was staring ahead and didn't react anymore. "C'mon, no… No!" he begged and shook her slightly, desperately searched for her heartbeat but was unable to find out. Panting, he exchanged a shocked look with Gambit in return, who was staring back at him and tried to understand what was happening around them. The fire and smoke were completely forgotten for the moment, when he laid Rogue carefully down and lowered his head, tears falling as he became aware of what he had just lost.

"Logan…?" Remy whispered and met the feral's gaze when the man looked up again.

"She's dead, Remy…," Logan heard himself saying and shook his head. "She's dead…"

"Non!" the Cajun said and swallowed hard, shaking his head in denial. "Non!"

"Yeah…," Logan replied calmly and watched how the man stared back down at the woman in front of them and reached out to touch her face, begged her while breathing hard to say something to him, to come back to him and not do this.

"Merde!" Remy barked and cried into his wife's chest while holding on to her.

Logan could just watch them blankly, still watching himself doing and saying things from aside. His eyes looked once more at the bricks and wood the mansion had once been and the fear within him became painfully strong. He looked up, confused, as a hand touched his shoulder, something in him realizing that it was Hank but he didn't understand a work the man was telling him. "What…?" he asked, shaking his head as if to try and get rid of the dizziness and helplessness.

Only shaking his head, Hank knelt down next to him, a hand still on Logan's shoulder whereas his eyes were looking at Remy. "Who did this…?" was all he could ask himself and shook his head. "We found Kitty, Peter and Bobby," he told him and watched how Kurt still looked around in search for others. "They are all injured," he went on before he said, "And Scott had a mental breakdown…"

"Why?" Logan asked like in trance and met the man's sad gaze.

"We found Raven under some remains…," Hank told him and swallowed hard. "She tried to protect Alex… Both are dead… I couldn't safe her twins either…"

Hearing the word, Logan's head shot up, his eyes being suddenly horrified. Quickly, he jumped up and went back towards the fire, directly to the spot where his rooms had been. His senses were on alert and even if the smoke was burning in his eyes and nose, he ignored it. He took only notice of Scott's crying from far, far away and was focused on finding what he was looking for. His mind kept on calling out for the only person of that he knew could hear him, his heart was bursting in his chest after the flames suddenly shot up and forced him to step back a bit.

"It's useless, Logan!" Hank suddenly said behind him and tried to pull him back. "No one in the mansion can have survived this! The attack happened to fast, even Jean…"

"NO!" Logan snapped at him and pushed him away, his eyes furious.

Hank sighed and shook his head. "I know it's hard to understand… I know you wish it wasn't true, my boy, we all do…"

"Jean is not dead!" Logan said determined and pointed at a finger at him. "She's NOT."

"Logan…," Hank tried once more and reached out to grab him but was pushed away harshly. "I'm sorry, my boy…," he said with tears in his eyes and shook his head in sadness. "As hard as it is, we just have to accept that…"

"NO!" he heard the feral growling once more and watched how he ran off and into the wood.

"Where's he going?" Kurt asked and suddenly stood next to him.

While running, Logan didn't realize where he was heading until he had reached the boathouse and came to a halt. He was panting, began to pace and buried his hands in his hair or his face in his hands. His mind was racing, his heart, too, and he kept on calling out her name, begged her to answer him, waited for any sign that would help him to calm down. When the link didn't work, he looked around the boathouse as if he was looking for anything that could help him. The stank of smoke, burned flesh and wood still reached him where he was standing and he huffed at how calm the lake was compared to him. He was far from being calm, he was scared, panicked, felt completely helpless…

His eyes dropped to the spot where they had been lying on their second wedding, thought he could see her lying there, smiling at him, holding him… Logan closed his eyes and swallowed hard, imagined he could hear her voice just now.

"_If they get to know about you being helplessly romantic…, they'll probably believe that earth is going to end."_

Her laughter filled his ears and he clutched his head, this time screaming her name mentally.

"_This reminds me of our honeymoon in Canada…" _he heard her saying next and remembered the happy smile she had given him. His heart clenched painfully, almost prevented him from breathing, as fear was now ruling over him.

"_What's wrong, Logan?"_ her voice asked next and he saw her worried face in front of his eyes. Those beautiful and honest green eyes that he had loved from the moment he had looked into them.

"_Why should you lose me?"_

"_You won't lose me, Logan."_

"_I won't leave you…"_

He opened his eyes, tears falling freely now and looked around like a helpless child that had been abandoned. His breathing was way to fast as he slumped down to the ground and closed his eyes once more. He felt dizzy, his heart barely able to keep up with his breathing. "Darlin', please reply…," he said, aloud this time and began to shake. "Jean, please answer me…," he begged and waited but there was nothing. "Ray?" he asked next and tried the next link he could access afterwards, then went through all of them. "Jack? Lil'? Laura?" He waited, kept on trying and begging but it was in vain. The links were dead and he didn't feel anything besides an empty hole in his chest, an emptiness that began to consume him as he was forced to face his greatest fear…

In the garden, Hank sighed and ran a hand through his hair, watching the flames consuming what was left of the building and garden. "He's in shock… He doesn't know what he's doing…," he told him in a monotone voice and the teleporter lowered his head. "Did you find anyone else?" he asked hopefully.

"Jean-Paul, John and James," Kurt said and Hank nodded. "They are not looking so well…," he added and lowered his head sadly, looked up when Hank touched his shoulder and pulled him into a comforting hug. "Who did this….?"

"I don't know, my friend… I don't know…," the furry mutant replied as a heart shattering howl echoed through the night and sent chills down their spines…

**As I promised: It goes out with a BOOM. I hope no one of you had this BOOM in mind and I could shock at least some of you. It's not as sad as I had pictured it but hey, it's a mammoth chapter of 69 pages in Word in the end. Still, I had wanted the ending to be a bit more dramatic and sad. But it didn't work out. : (**

**Anyway, I want to thank anyone who has read and stayed on board for the long ride up to this point. Three years of writing this story! And I had ten chapters planned originally. I will post the link to the last sequel here, so that all of you are informed. The last sequel will be called "War + Epilogue". I already have lots of epilogues scenes written but I won't give anything away. The ending to "War" will be quiet different from what you have seen here before. Please review and let me know what you think!! Thanks for reading it!! See ya!!**


	65. Author's Note: Teaser Sequel 3

**Author's note:**

**

* * *

  
**

Yeah, it's just a quick A/N, sorry for that.

It's final exams time at college and I've to write 7 alone between Feb 1 and 4, plus a physical final exam in P.E. (basketball) the week afterwards.

So, as you can guess I'm busy learning and even if I told some of you that I'd update mid January, I simply can't make it. : (

It's too much to read and learn for those damn exams (I hate them with a passion…) and my muse isn't really striking.

**So, I thought: Let's try something new.**

Everyone knows **teasers**, so I had the idea of give you some fort he upcoming last sequel. **Those are random scenes that were pre-written before. One scene is completely finished but I won't tell which one**. ; )

I'll try to type the first chapter of the new sequel as soon as possible after my exams. 10 pages are already finished and I roughly know what's going to happen.

**I'll post another chapter here and will let you know when the sequel is finally uploaded.**

Until then: **Some TEASER** (which includes my favorite word in writing: TEASE ^^ ; you know I'm evil. XD)

Have fun with them! I'd love to get some feedback on what you think about them and what you guys expect from the sequel. ; )

Thanks for reviewing the past chapter. I'll get back to those as soon as I put the new chapter up. : )

* * *

See ya and now: **THE TEASER (including scenes and sentences that are NOT in the correct order! I excluded most names so that the surprise will still work in the end):**

The air was freezing cold while the sky was black. There were no stars, no moon… Just the never ending darkness above him, the same that he felt within. Far underneath him the streets were empty, only few people were running around, trying to escape their ultimate fate. From afar he could hear the shouts and screams of some that hadn't been fast enough. Gunshots echoed through the streets like cars during rush hour, the smell of fire, blood and corpses seemed to be everywhere. Still, he couldn't care less, he didn't care at all. He could jump down from this building or throw himself in front of a train at full speed. It was just physical pain he'd feel, inside he was already dead…

While his eyes stared down the long way of nothingness that lay underneath him, his right hand absently traced the two rings on his left ring finger. To him life didn't matter anymore, it had lost its reason completely, for him all that was left were decades of loneliness and solitude, things that he didn't want anymore, that he couldn't endure anymore. He wanted his family back and to be happy again, wanted to hear the, feel them, had enough of the life he had before them. If he wasn't able to get his old life back, he'd rather have no life at all. To him nothing made sense or was worth living for anymore without her and his children in his life. This life wasn't worth living anymore anyway with all the death and destruction surrounding them. Maybe they would live through a day, maybe a week but in the end the same fate would await them anyway.

His eyes left the rings for a moment to look back down. The building had 93 stories, it would be a helluva long fall…

**

* * *

**

"_My fellow homo-superiors. Today is January 1 2018, the day of the beginning of my reign, the end of the United States of America and the beginning of Utopia," he announced self-assured. "From now on, there will be only my law, no more constitution, no more human rights. No more humans! Those who do not yield to me will face extinction and those mutants that refuse to obey will face things worse than hell itself. It's for you to choose which side you are on. The side of the past or the side of the powerful future!"_

* * *

"Who is the third leader of your team?" the Cap suddenly asked him and Hank looked at the man.

"Ororo was the third one, Jean the fourth… There is no one left."

* * *

"Do you think I like being stared at in public, to be called names or face prejudice or bashing constantly?! Still I can't help it… I could never be with someone I don't love just to pass as…._normal_. I am normal. Or is it suddenly not normal anymore to fall in love with a person?! Because that's what humans do… We fall in love with a person's nature, not with their age or gender…" Northstar sniffed and heaved a deep breath. "I just wanna be with the person I love and be happy, what's wrong with that?!"

* * *

"Don't worry," they heard Sinister snicker somewhere to their right. "It's only for the way out. You'll be able to watch each other hanging. You can thank me later for it," he said and smirked. "But then again….you won't be able to do so in the end, right?"

* * *

"We have to evacuate!" the Cap said and looked up, his face clearly worried.

"I know, I know!" Tony said from his far right. "But this is not as easy as it looks, Steve."

* * *

He knew what kind of uproar a public execution would cause in the mutant world. It was what his master expected and waited for. They wanted to lure their enemies out and would go down every road possible to achieve that goal. To them there was enough scum still hiding from their ultimate fate and his master was convinced that by executing two X-Men, and a couple nonetheless, would cause the necessary fear. In the end, their enemies would get careless and then they would strike…

Continuing his act, he turned to face both mutants, one glaring at him in sheer hatred, the other holding his head lowered and shaking like a leaf in fear. "You were sentenced to death by hanging by short dropping. You will slowly suffocate and die the miserable death your kind deserves. May your damned souls rot in the fires of hell forever!"

* * *

"They started something that they won't be able to end. I at least don't intend to hide and simply watch from afar. Do you?"

* * *

While the executioner came back over to them, he began searching the roofs and crowed for any familiar faces. His own fell quickly as he realized that there was no one he knew and he looked aside to meet eyes that were so full of fear that his own heart sank. "Don't be afraid…," he said once more and realized he could hardly ask for something that he himself couldn't ignore anymore. They wouldn't see tomorrow, no one would be coming for them and the reasons, whether it was because the team couldn't find them or simply didn't care, didn't matter anymore. Their lives were about to end and he knew that nothing was waiting for them on the other side. Except never ending darkness.

* * *

"We can't leave before Reed and his team are here," Tony said grimly. "They are still looking for Johnny, Elektra and Mat. We are not leaving before they are here!"

* * *

"I don't care as long as we have another shot. I just wanna be with you…"

* * *

After they had reached their new refuge and landed both jets on the hidden heliports, they gathered at the front and took a confused look around. No one of them could tell what awaited them here or if they hadn't just trapped themselves in this huge coffin made of metal. When two big metallic door went open and they realized who approached them, their surprise was evident…

* * *

"Tell you what…," he said in the end and pressed their foreheads together, "if there's another life,…I'm gonna find you. Okay? We'll be together no matter what.."

* * *

"Jaden and Jayce."

"Jayce?! Sounds like a girl…"

* * *

"I've been so stupid...," Jean-Paul cried in despair and self-loathing. "I mean he tried so hard to show me that he's serious about it and I..." He lowered his head, shaking it and gritted his teeth. "I just pushed him away because I was too afraid of being hurt again... I told him on Christmas that it was just sex and didn't mean anything to me... He's looked so hurt..." He looked up to meet sypathetic eyes. "Why didn't I just tell him the truth?! Now it's too late..."

* * *

"The X-Men do not kill, Hank. That's true. But the X-Men are dead," Scott said and looked up, his face grim and a mask of hidden agony. "This…is X-Force. And I'm done playing nice. They want a war, they can have it!"

* * *

**Hope that I made you at least a bit curious. Let me know what you think and what you expect. I'm always open for wishes. ; )**

**See ya!!**


	66. War 1 will be up soon!

Changes War 1 will finally be up by tomorrow 8 p.m. my time.

I'm sorry for the long wait but I was so busy with all the exams at college. :(

I hope you will enjoy the first chapter. It was a bi*ch to write. -.-

Thanks a lot for the patience! I hope you'll stay with me during the next sequel + epilogue.

See ya!!


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